The sparkly toy dinosaur that rode along on SpaceX's historic launch is now selling out almost every
- The toy dinosaur that rode aboard SpaceX's historic launch last weekend was an instant hit, and it's already selling out at many major retailers.
- The blue and pink dino served as the Crew Dragon's "zero-gravity indicator," meaning it started to float once the spacecraft left the pull of Earth's gravity.
- The $4.99 toy is part of TY's Flippables collection, and it's now sold out through TY, Walmart, Michael's, and JoAnn's.
- Amazon has started selling knock-offs of the toy, and even SpaceX briefly offered a $25 version which has since been removed.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The sequined toy dinosaur that rode on SpaceX's historic launch last weekend became an instant star — so much so that it's becoming increasingly hard to buy online.
The sparkly stowaway served as the Crew Dragon's "zero-gravity indicator" — since the toy apatosaurus wasn't strapped in, it began to float once the spacecraft left Earth's gravitational pull. It was chosen by NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who asked their sons for help.
"We both have two boys who are super interested in dinosaurs, and we collected up all the dinosaurs between the two houses, and Tremor the apatosaurus got the vote from the boys to make the trip into space," Behnken said after the launch.
The dino was originally produced by toymaker TY and is part of the company's Flippables collection, a line of sequined plushies that change colors when you pet the sequins in different directions. TY still sells the collection on its website — the toys are listed for $4.99 on TY's site — but only the dino, called Tremor, is sold out. TY even notes on the product page that Tremor is now "In Space."
Other sites that sell the collection are also showing that Tremor is sold out. Walmart lists the dino as out of stock, Michael's says the toy is out of stock both in stores and online, and JoAnn Fabric & Craft's website says the toy is not available in both the regular and medium sizes.
9to5Mac editor Zac Hall was the first to notice how quickly the toy is selling.
The dino has also led to knock-offs, like an Amazon version called "SpaceX Sequin Dragon Plush Toy," which is sold by a vendor called Toopuu and costs $19.97, a nearly $15 price hike from TY's version. Even SpaceX created a knock-off called "Demo 2 Dinosaur Plush Toy" which cost $25. The dino has since been removed from the site.
And on eBay, resellers are offering the TY version at a significant mark-up, although there don't appear to many left.
Behnken and Hurley have since reached the International Space Station, where they will remain for 110 days before reboarding the Crew Dragon and returning to Earth. But it's not clear whether Tremor will return with them — the zero-gravity indicator from the Crew Dragon test flight, a stuffed Earth toy nicknamed "Buddy," remained onboard the space station even after the spacecraft returned.
Watch: Everything SpaceX had to get right for Crew Dragon's Splashdown
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