If you're looking to buy a pint-sized replica of a controversial killing machine, you may be out of luck. Amazon has sold out of the "Predator" drone toy this week, Slate first reported.
Following a barrage of snarky reviews, which publicized the scaled-down model, the Maisto International Inc. drone toy quickly flew off the digital shelves.
Slate's Ryan Gallagher noticed the toy was "currently unavailable" on Amazon's site Wednesday. While several upset users had previously demanded the drone replica be removed, the "Tailwinds" line toy was actually unavailable because it had sold out, an email from an Amazon representative confirmed.
Even so, other merchants featured on Amazon still offer the Maisto drone toy, albeit at inflated prices, the lowest of which costs $49.99, plus shipping. The controversial toy -- for children ages 3 and older -- initially sold for about $10.
As Gizmodo notes, aside from the many parody reviews, Change.org and Facebook group Question Your Government also brought attention to the polemical children's plaything. On Change.org, Katie Falkenberg of Boulder, Colo., started a petition demanding the toymaker discontinue production of the drone model.
"We should not be glorifying murder, and we certainly shouldn't be teaching our children to," the petition's prompt states. "By signing this petition you declare that all our children are created equal and have the right to a life free of fear and racism."
So far, the appeal has garnered 1,148 of the 2,000 signatures needed to send the petition.
President Barack Obama addressed drones in his State of the Union speech Tuesday, pledging to work with Congress to ensure greater transparency on the government's targeted killing program. The president further insisted on the need for checks and balances, saying he would work with Congress to develop such a "mechanism" for the drone program during an online chat Thursday.
While the total number of drone strikes executed by the U.S. remains unclear, a report from the New American Foundation estimated 350 drone strikes were launched in Pakistan alone since 2004, killing between 1,963 to 3,293 militants and civilians.
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