The hottest toy of the holiday season has now hatched a lawsuit.
A California mom has filed a class-action suit against Spin Master, alleging the Hatchimal toy she bought for her daughter's birthday never popped out of its egg.
Hatchimals are a plastic grapefruit-sized egg that you rub, tip, and tilt for around 25 minutes until a Furby-like interactive creature is electronically stimulated to poke its beak through the plastic. Then you can remove the top and discover whether your Hatchimal is one of five different cute "species," a "Bearakeet," "Burtle," "Draggle," "Owlicorn," or a "Penguala."
Related: Hatchimals, Barbie Disappoint Parents and Kids on Christmas
The $50 toys were the "Tickle Me Elmo" or "Teddy Ruxpin" of the year, with parents lining up outside stores chasing scarce supplies, and bidding up sales on third-party sites to $350.
But that fever turned to frustration and rage when the presents were opened and kids — and their hapless parents —couldn't get them to hatch. They flooded the company's customer service lines and vented on social media.
"When we purchase an iPhone, we expect it to make a phone call. When we purchase a yo-yo, we expect it to come back up," the lawsuit alleged. "Unfortunately, this Christmas season, millions of children and families across the globe were sourly disappointed with coal in their stockings, in the form of a bait-and-switch marketing scheme."
In a statement to CNBC, Spin Master general counsel Christopher Harrs said that the company "provided troubleshooting support and where required immediately made available replacement products for those few consumers whose toys did not work as they anticipated."
"The allegations from the class action lawyer are simply inaccurate and not based on actual facts," he added.
