'Creepy' Kmart toy divides opinion online: 'The stuff nightmares are made of'

It’s not unusual for Kmart items to cause a stir amongst shoppers, but this popular toy might just be the store’s most controversial yet. A simple question about the budget retailer’s most popular plush toys sparked debate on social media when one confused shopper asked “I’m sorry but what is this?” after spotting a “creepy” looking set of Spongebob Squarepants toys in the store’s catalogue.

The post quickly racked up more than 600 comments from others revealing the strange-looking soft toys were part of the Fugglers range. The $15 Fugglers — or funny ugly monsters — toys are sold only at Kmart and have quite a huge following, despite their “disturbing” human-like teeth and “scary” features.

“What's this? The stuff nightmares are made of!” One person responded about the toys on Facebook.

“I work in childcare and I absolutely hate these,” said another, with a third adding: “These things in real life are terrifying. The teeth look real.”

Many people love the 'super cute' toys

But while a great deal of people disliked their “scary” look, there were equally as many who surprisingly “loved” them.

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“My kids love these! They're awful,” one person wrote with another adding: “We love them at my place. Super cute!”

“Fugglers!! They are super cute when you look at them properly. We have about 10 at home and one even featured as my son’s birthday cake at his request this year,” one person shared.

“They have a button on their butt holes, bloody cute,” said another.

The range includes “cuter” ones than others with the expressive toys having different looks and features including human-like teeth and vacant eyes, with some that even fart. The latest Spongebob range has excited Fugglers fans with some new offerings to collect.

Some argue the toys come with a positive message

But apart from being collector's items, some say the weird-looking toys are also educational.

“These toys are making kids feel better around ugly toys. Instead of pushing them to be beautiful and what social media portraits of what we are supposed to look like,” one person offered.

Others said they sent an educational message about teeth care and normalising “ugly” looking toys.

Fugglers are available worldwide and were first created in 2010 by a woman who came up with the concept after spotting real denture teeth for sale on eBay and dreamed up how they would look on teddy bears.

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Her idea came to life when she started sewing her bears with human-like teeth, seemingly making small children and some adults happy all over the world.

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