10 years of tickles

I cannot believe it's been 10 years since "Tickle Me Elmo" first hit the shelves.

I was producing the news on the weekends back then and I remember doing stories about how stores couldn't keep the furry Muppet in stock. I also remember showing a radio station promotion where they ran over an Elmo doll with a steamroller. And I remember closing our newscast one night with a closeup of Elmo sitting on our news set.

We eventually wound up with one of these contraptions in our house several years later.

Today Fisher-Price took the wraps off the 10th anniversary edition of the doll, code named T.M.X. for "Tickle Me Extreme" of "Tickle Me 10." This version can stand up and then fall over laughing when tickled.

Retailers are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again. I predict the toy will be popular, but won't match the craze from 1996.