An already ugly doll with the addition of realistic-looking human teeth? In some parts of the world that’s not a toy, that’s called voodoo. Thankfully Fugglers, which started popping up in 2010, can be played with without the fear of summoning the ghost of your dead ancestors into your home. Probably.

The Fuggler website prompts interested parties to “look deep into the vacant eyes of all the Fugglers up for adoption. Narrow it down to the one that repulses you the least.” This process seems similar to online dating, and comes with far fewer strings attached. 

A 2016 Business Insider article tells of the early origins of Fugglers. Their maker, known as Mrs. McGettrick, stumbled upon a set of fake teeth for sale on eBay and wondered what they would look like in the mouths of stuffed bears. Not a standard A to B route there, but the idea took off. She made the first bears herself, and sold them on Etsy. In 2018 Canadian toy company Spin Master Ltd. (same makers of Hatchimals) purchased the rights to the dolls. Seems like they’re definitely on to something when it comes to churning out products for goobers of all ages that are intentionally/unintentionally ugly, but in a pleasurable way. 

Poopeez is both an animated web series, as well as a line of toys. First introduced in 2017, they’re a super affordable $4 and each rubbery, squishy bodily function comes in its own tiny roll of toilet paper. You can also get a Poopeez Launcher Playset that allows you to load, flush, and then launch your little poops. Seems reasonable. 

“When I started showing the brand a few years ago, everyone was shocked by it,” Poopeez creator Ashley Mady told The New York Post in 2017. The following year, she was put in charge of conceptualization of new sustainable brands for Basic Fun!, the company that licenses Poopeez, and Mady’s other creation, Cake Pop Cuties. Seeing that she went from making plastic lollipops with animal friends concealed inside, to squishy poops and pees, it’s no wonder people were a bit shocked. 

Toys that center around bodily functions have definitely seen an increase in popularity. An article that made the rounds via Associate Press in 2018 details how once-conservative toymakers such as Mattel are now scrambling to make their own poop-related toys. And it credits the invention of the poop emoji with being ground zero for poop fever. Really though, fart jokes and poop gags have been around forever. 

In 2011, a Spanish company called Berjuan Toys made a doll intended to teach children the merits of breast feeding. The doll is called The Breast Milk Baby because, what else would it be called? Included in the box with the doll is a halter top of sorts with flowers where a human person’s nipples would be. When you hold the doll to one of these flowers it makes a suckling noise, as though breastfeeding. After it’s done feeding, which is made known by the sudden cessation of the suckling racket, children are supposed to burp it until it makes a loud belching noise. 

While it was already on sale in Europe, when the doll launched in America some people too issue with it. A Facebook page called for a ban, and Bill O’Reilly voiced his opposition.

In 2012, a writer for VICE contacted an anonymous representative for Berjuan Toys to get a clearer understanding of their mindset when they decided to make this doll. The nameless mouthpiece said, “You need to understand that there are little girls who breastfeed their babies all the time — there’s nothing new here. Little boys breastfeed their fire trucks, too.” Dennis Lewis, the U.S. representative for Berjuan Toys, supplied a statement to CBS News saying they received a lot of support for the doll from breast-feeding organizations, but acknowledged backlash from people who have “problems with breastfeeding in general,” or chose to see the doll as something sexual. What is wrong with everyone?

When you hear the words “virtual reality math,” the first thing to pop in your head might be, “Oh! Is the new season of Black Mirror out?” Math is not fun. Some might even go so far as to say that math is hell right here on Earth. Knowing that this is the case for most, companies such as Heromask are doing their best to create products intended to make math more entertaining. 

A 2019 Forbes article points out that people “retain more information and can better apply what [they] learned after participating in virtual reality exercises.” An even more in-depth article on Scientix describes how virtual reality helps children better grasp math concepts by putting them in virtual situations where they need to be applied. That being said, when given the option of opening up a box under the Christmas tree filled with math, or opening a box filled with socks, most kids would probably happily take the socks. No matter how cutting-edge the math.

But parents might want to consider buying some VR math for themselves as well. A 2018 NPR feature breaks down the many ways in which kids actually pick up negative feelings towards math at home, well before they enter the classroom. 

A good way to avoid a potentially awkward conversation about STDs is to bring a stuffed version of whatever you’re referencing into the mix. GIANT Microbes makes stuffed versions of all the big ones: gonorrhea, herpes, HPV, and the cutest of them all … chlamydia. 

Featured on NPR’s Wait Wait.. Don’t Tell Me!, stuffed Chlamydia is available in standard size, a larger 12” size, or as a cute keychain for those times when you need to drop a subtle hint that yes, you do have something you need to talk about, and it’s that you have chlamydia. If you’re having trouble deciding between green cutie and any number of other stuffed ailments, you can find it included in the STD-4-Pack along with Clap, Herpes, and Pox.

GIANT Microbes was founded by former lawyer Drew Oliver in 2002. In an interview with JDBliss Oliver says the toys were “originally intended as educational products to help children understand diseases.” But adults probably find them more useful.