The internet is a weird place, where people do, buy, and sell weird things. If you’ve been on Beyonce’s internet, then you’re probably used to it. Nothing shocks us anymore. We scroll past random things all the time and barely blink.
Still, we were pretty surprised when we found out that there is an entire community of people selling collectible Cheetos. Yes, you read that right: cheetos.
Writer Tove Danovich took a dive into this weird world of online Cheeto sellers for The Outline, uncovering Cheetos vaguely shaped like Michael Jackson, Ron Jeremy, and Game of Thrones character Tyrion Lannister—all selling for hundreds of dollars.
Danovich traces the origins of this collectible Cheetos craze to Andy Huot, the man who runs Instagram account @cheesecurlsofinstagram, and explores this weird cheesy world where a unicorn-shaped Cheeto won $50,000 at Frito-Lay’s Cheetos Museum at Ripley’s Believe It or Not in New York City’s Times Square.
Who are the people purchasing these oddly shaped Cheetos? It’s not quite clear. The wealthy? Sure, and maybe a few people who just really like strangely-shaped foods.
To us, these Cheetos just look like Cheetos. But to some, these Cheetos are rare collectibles just waiting to be sold online.