First, a Catholic priest in the Philippines was suspended for riding one during Christmas Eve mass while he sang a hymn. A contrite Diocese of San Pablo said their priest had mounted the hoverboard before the final blessing. "The Eucharist demands utmost respect and reverence … it is the church's highest form of worship," a diocese statement read. "He [the priest] will be out of the parish and will spend some time to reflect on this past event." Then, a home video put up by US boxer Mike Tyson showing him falling off his daughter Milan's hoverboard went viral. In the video, a child can be heard saying, "Daddy, I don't want you to fall" as Tyson floats around on the hoverboard before falling to the ground like a battered butterfly. The boxer somehow stopped himself from chewing off his daughter's ear. The hoverboard's fate was sealed when the actor Russell Crowe whinged on Twitter that Virgin Australia had refused to allow his children's hoverboards on board.

Suddenly the hoverboard had become public enemy No.1. It's a long, long way from 1989, when the hoverboard floated into the collective imagination courtesy of the film Back to the Future, Part II. Coincidentally, in the film, Marty McFly rode a hoverboard to escape gangsters in the year 2015. But when the hoverboard left fantasy and became a toy story in 2015, reality bit hard. Almost immediately, its success was the cause of its undoing.

A plastic-and-battery equivalent of a viral Instagram joke, the product went viral and manufacturers rushed to fill demand by cutting corners. Must-have Christmas toys are usually one brand – remember the runaway demand for Razor scooters? – but hoverboards were an idea, rather than a manufacturer, that became popular. Hoverboards mostly come from Chinese manufacturers who can quickly replicate each other's designs. And not just one or two factories, but thousands of them, all of which got into the hoverboard business more or less overnight. For souls who have managed to avoid the advent of the hoverboard, there is one salient point that should be known: they do not hover; they are not the devices promised in Back to the Future II. The idea of a personal transportation device that allows you to float a few inches off the ground is still a mostly futuristic idea. Instead, what everyone is calling hoverboards are technically self-balancing electric scooters. Basically, it's a much cooler name for a hands-free Segway.

Hoverboards run on battery power. You direct them by leaning forward or back, or by putting your weight on one foot to turn. They're usually stabilised by gyroscopes that keep you upright. Hoverboards started appearing in Asian cities last March. In ensuing months, manufacturers assiduously worked at getting celebrities a free ride: Justin Bieber wheeled around on a hoverboard in April; Jamie Foxx cruised onto the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in May and in August the rapper Wiz Khalifa was tackled and handcuffed at Los Angeles International Airport for gliding without a licence. The promotion was so successful that hoverboards caught fire, saleswise and literally. Reports started emerging that they were spontaneously bursting into flames. While the causes of the fires are still unknown, consumer safety probes suggest the problem may lie with the lithium batteries or faulty plugs. In response, many major retailers swiftly announced a safety crackdown. Amazon halted almost all sales.

Russell Crowe turned the hoverboard into a First World problem by complaining about Virgin Australia's refusal to allow his sons' toys on board. "No Segway boards as luggage? Too late to tell us at airport. Kids and I offloaded. Goodbye Virgin. Never again," Crowe tweeted. The airline responded by saying the items were banned due to concerns over lithium ion batteries. The ACCC issued a warning about hoverboards before Christmas, saying that if a product's cord set and battery charger did not comply with Australian standards there was a potential for electric shock. But kids still want them.

Hoverboard sales websites have joined the post-Christmas discount rush and the device is displaying a cockroach-like ability to survive attack.