Have you seen those cute pink critters with the hard-to-pronounce name that are all the rage? That’s right, we’re talking about axolotl (ax-uh-lot-uhl). Most adults who come to our store are shocked to learn that they are, in fact, a real animal. Minecraft added them as a video game character a couple years ago as part of an initiative to raise awareness about endangered species, and thus began their meteoric rise to fame. Their frilly faces are popular with elementary-school children, tweens, and teens alike. We spent a good part of 2023 ordering almost anything axolotl we could find, which initially was quite difficult. But thanks to increasing demand, adorable axolotl toys, stuffies, jewelry, and tchotchkes are popping up all over the place.