America's next toy craze, the Zhu Zhu Pet!
Move over Tickle Me Elmo and bust a move Beanie Babies — there’s a new toy in town. This Christmas, kids across America will be
pestering Santa Claus for their own Zhu Zhu Pet hamster, a new “smart” toy somewhat
reminiscent of last decade’s lovable talking Furby.
Looking more like a child’s furry slipper than a real hamster, the Zhu Zhu seems to have the same kind of sensors that make the Roomba vacuum cleaner work, so when the critters are dropped into their habitat (sold separately), they appear to navigate about as well as a living rodent. There is a level of artificial intelligence in the Zhu Zhu’s OS and it can make over 40 noises depending on the stimuli. The little Zhu Zhus appear to have minds of their own as they dart around the room, zip up the ramps of their habitat and ride in their own little cars. It’s actually a pretty amazing toy and unlike real hamsters won’t poop, smell funny or procreate furiously!
There’s only one problem with the Zhu Zhu Pets: there aren’t enough of them to meet the demand. Predictably, they’re showing up on EBay and via Amazon Marketplace dealers at vastly inflated prices. But it’s not like the Zhu Zhu Pets are an endangered species, so you might want to just chill until they show up again on the shelves of your local retailer at their normal $9.95 list price.
But if you can’t wait, the Experimental Mommy blog has some helpful tips for you on how to nab a Zhu Zhu Pet against the odds. Most of them are even legal.
-- Richard Metzger
Image courtesy Cepia LLC
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Its crazy how much interest there is in them, and out of nowhere too. I'm surprised the company is able to make enough to keep up with demand no wonder noone can find any anywhere
Posted by: ZhuZhu | 11/10/2009 at 02:36 PM
These look strangely fun and also possibly very annoying.
Posted by: Jon | 11/10/2009 at 09:36 PM
Does just reading about this year's Tickle Me Elmo make you feel tired? The holidays are supposed to be a time to relax and have fun, not to get stuck running endless eleventh-hour errands to find elusive toy hamsters. We need to slow down Christmas, and start enjoying it. Kids need limits. This might be a good year to stick to 1 or 2 presents per kid under the tree, and focus on doing holiday activities together instead of buying all that junk. Just like there's pressure to keep up with their classmates' Christmas presents, my guess is if any of the other parents hear that you've opted out, they'll be thrilled and relieved that they can do it too. Sanity is contagious.
Posted by: Porter McConnell | 11/11/2009 at 09:03 AM
Nicely put. We need to spend more quality time with our kids instead of buying them a lot of junk that 2 weeks after Christmas will end up in the bottom of their closet. Kids want quality time with their family. That is where the memories come from. We are each giving one well thought out meaningful present to each other this year. There are 8 of us so we will all have 8 presents and those presents will mean more than 20 presents bought for quantity. This will really make us give meaningful presents to each other and they will be more appreciated. All this buying has to stop some where. The Zhu Zhu pets are a great toy and the kids just love them. If you can find them at a store they won't break your budget. A small store in my town has 10 just sitting there. You'd be surprised who has them. Be patient if you can.
Merry Christmas to All
Posted by: mikes mom | 11/15/2009 at 12:36 PM
I like your story and thanks for the link to the mom blog~!
I got some for my little girl off here --- http://bit.ly/zhu_zhu
Keep up the great writing,
Tod~
Posted by: Tod Robers | 11/23/2009 at 04:18 PM
I’ve been hearing about Zhu Zhu pets for a few days now. It doesn't seem all that special, except that it was "chosen" to be that one must-have Christmas toy
Posted by: Samantha Laury | 11/30/2009 at 12:00 PM
What is with these "crazes" for toys? Do we really let our kids control us like this? Okay, okay... yeah, I'm guilty too. But I will say this, I checked these out at the toy expo BEFORE they were huge and fell in love with them then. Too bad I didn't know they would be this popular. I could have ordered several right away. Instead, I've been hardpressed to find some of these for mysel... erm.. I mean, my kids. I attempted the whole Black Friday thing, but was too late (really, is 5AM too late???). I finally broke down and bought a set (1 or each) from the getzhuzhu site. I should get them later this week or early next. That's all fine and good, but this morning I read there are 4 NEW hamsters. Ouch. Maybe next year...
Posted by: Shane | 12/02/2009 at 07:24 AM
What is with these "crazes" for toys? Do we really let our kids control us like this? Okay, okay... yeah, I'm guilty too. But I will say this, I checked these out at the toy expo BEFORE they were huge and fell in love with them then. Too bad I didn't know they would be this popular. I could have ordered several right away. Instead, I've been hardpressed to find some of these for mysel... erm.. I mean, my kids. I attempted the whole Black Friday thing, but was too late (really, is 5AM too late???). I finally broke down and bought a set (1 or each) from the getzhuzhu site. I should get them later this week or early next. That's all fine and good, but this morning I read there are 4 NEW hamsters. Ouch. Maybe next year...
Posted by: Shane | 12/02/2009 at 07:26 AM
I am using Outofstockitems.com to track Zhu Zhu Pets Amazon.com, it sends you an alarm when the item is available in Amazon inventory so you can grab it fast.
Good luck to other parents
Thanks
Posted by: ZhuZhuFan | 12/03/2009 at 01:35 PM
It is great that they are nwo back to being very cheap. It got a little crazy before christmas and they were selling for as much as $60 each.
Posted by: Zhu ZHu Pets | 01/02/2010 at 06:47 AM
I found it in Poland too
It's look greate
http://www.akupiszmi.pl/interaktywne/zwierzatka/zhu-zhu-pets.html
Posted by: Mugly | 02/28/2010 at 07:30 AM