MILAN — In the 2019 thriller film “Uncut Gems,” NBA star Kevin Garnett — playing himself — is being flaunted with a rare gem by Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner, an increasingly over-his-head jeweler in an iconic scene from the movie.
Exasperated when told he can’t purchase the stone, Garnett snaps at Sandler’s character, a little bit more colorfully than we can print here.
“Why would you show me something if I couldn’t have it?”
You could say all of Italy knows how Garnett feels right now.
The runaway stars of the Milan Cortina Games are not the biathlon medalist trying to win back the girlfriend he cheated on or the American figure skater pursuing new levels of dominance. Instead, the hottest ticket at the Olympics is for Tina and Milo, the universally adorable, anthropomorphic stoat mascots who fans can’t get enough of — literally. Trying to purchase a Tina or Milo stuffed animal has become a sport in itself.
“All I know is that they’re super adorable and definitely getting a lot of attention,” said Kira Mish, an American studying abroad in Milan.
“I think they’re super cute,” added Makayla Chang, her classmate. “I have a bunch of friends back at home that are huge fans of them, so every time I send them a picture and stuff it’s like it’s very memorable.”
But both Mish and Chang have had no luck trying to purchase a Tina or Milo as a souvenir.
“No, we’ve actually been looking for them,” said Chang.
Added Mish: “We went to the store today and we weren’t able to find them. So we were a little bit bummed about that.”
For some, even just photo evidence they were in the presence of Tina and Milo is something to write home about.
“Oh my gosh, they’re so cute, and I was so fortunate to get my picture with both of them,” said Stephanie Watson, a United States fan. “It’s so hard. You got to track them down, you got to stalk them. But it’s worth it.”
Not even waiting in line up to two hours at the Olympic megastore guarantees an opportunity to buy a plush Tina or Milo. The flagship store in Milan was sold out of the plush toy, and they are not available for purchase online in the Olympics’ official store. Some stores have even advertised the toys in the window, even if they do not actually sell them inside.
“They’ve been sold out for a week now. I don’t know if more will arrive. We volunteers are already fighting over the ones left on display in the showcase,” one of the workers at a megastore told NBC News.
In real life, the stoats are an endangered species. Across northern Italy’s mountain ranges, stoats are confronting winters that are no longer as they used to be.
For thousands of years, stoats survived Alpine winters thanks to a remarkable adaptation: Each November, their brown coat turns white, blending into snow and shielding them from predators.
Now, that advantage is becoming a liability. As climate change has shortened winters over the past few decades, stoats still turn white, but the snow often arrives later, melts earlier or fails to accumulate at all. The result is what researchers call a “camouflage mismatch,” leaving them exposed against dark ground and vulnerable to predators.
While the animals adorn much of the merchandise in Milan and Cortina — from T-shirts to magnets and everything in between — it’s clearly the toys that are most prized.
As of now, unless you’re willing to spend an inflated sum on the secondary market, there’s seemingly only one way left to leave Italy with a Tina or Milo: Win a medal.
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