What happened to the Bright Starts Beaming Buggie Take-Along Toy?

The life cycle of a magical soothing baby toy.

I can't remember plus who gave me the hard plastic insect with the mesmerizing light-up wings and the only baby toy tune I've ever gotten sick of. But I remember how they described it: like baby medicine.

I was given it six years ago when I became a parent. The Bright Starts Beaming Buggie Take-Along Toy, its official name, became the magic weapon against my daughter's most intense crying spells, when her little face turned crimson, her breath barely able to keep up with her cries, expressing a hopelessness that seemed profoundly impossible for someone so new to the world. I turned on the hand-sized Buggie and the soft lullaby combined with the glittering wings would reliably soothe her sobs as she watched the musical light show. Once she was asleep, I could change the noise to the sound of ocean waves. Best of all, the Buggie had a clip to attach to the car seat, keeping it suspended and buzzing right in the center of my daughter's view, so I could drive without the annoying noise of her misery.

I think about this bug every time it's time to buy gifts for new parents. No other method has worked so well in calming my own child, so I've given it dozens of times as a gift. “It worked wonders during a diaper change just now - amazing; we are indebted to you,” one new dad said in a typical post of gratitude. I saw another mom on YouTube who tracked the time it took "the magic bee" to stop her baby's tears: 43 seconds.

But earlier this year, when a colleague was waiting, I went to buy the Beaming Buggie and found it was out of stock at Amazon, Target, and Walmart, the places it usually sold for around $12.99. it was a pandemic supply chain issue and i waited a few months but it went out of stock i found it for sale on ebay for around $100 but i couldn't Resolve to spend that much.

As the babies kept arriving and the Beaming Buggie remained unavailable, I realized started to worry. When one of my closest friends gave birth this summer, I packed up my daughter's original bug, used so well I had to make a handwritten guide to the buttons because their markings had worn off. “Thank you for the magic baby pacifier,” I messaged shortly after.

Each season has its own It toy. (My daughter, now in elementary school, is clamoring for L.O.L. Surprise dolls, something we didn't know existed last Christmas.) I'm generally aware of trends, but I hadn't realized that a toy for baby, a demographic that I consider to be rather static, would go out of style. When I realized this beloved and seemingly essential toy was no longer being made, I tracked down the company behind it to find out why.

The Bright brand Starts is made by Atlanta-based Kids 2, a family-owned company that targets the newborn to 2-year-old market. Kids 2 also has Baby Einstein, a brand I recognized from an ubiquitous colorful boombox that plays classic melodies, songs I grew tired of much faster than my beloved Buggie's tune.

Kids 2 does not sell its toys directly to consumers, but rather distributes them through retailers. Each of its brands has a philosophy, said Jill Waller, the company's global product and innovation manager. Bright Starts is about inspiring joy and Baby Einstein is about encouraging curiosity.

Ms. Waller officially broke the news to me: the Bright Starts Beaming Buggie line was dead. Introduced in 2015, it was retired in 2020, "which is a really good run for a toy," she said. "Most toys last about two or three years."

It wasn't quite as good as the Baby Einstein Take-along Tunes though; this classic boom box has been on sale since 2010 and remains a bestseller today, Ms. Waller said. Oddly enough, I was offended that the masses bestowed this honor on a different toy. ..