Within the last couple of weeks, many lucky Zhu Zhu Hunters have found the baby ZZPs at CVS stores... some in time for Christmas! Since I first saw the photo on the back of the packages, I have been anticipating the arrival of these cuties.
Mom23 on Zoolert was able to track some down at her local CVS and was nice enough to share some photos with me.
Rather than the brightly-colored "prototype" babies pictured on the Zhu Zhu Pets™ packaging, the released babies are much more muted in color. Personally, I rather like the more natural yellows, grays, whites, and oranges over the bright blues/pinks/purples.
Also notice that instead of being shiny hard plastic, the babies are flocked for a slightly fuzzy look and feel! I really love that, and it makes them fit in better with the adult hamsters. The storyline is that the 6 baby hamsters are the offspring of Mr. Squiggles/Num Nums and Chunk/Pip Squeak. They are not battery-powered... instead they have a metal roller-ball on the bottom. The adult hamsters can push them around inside the hamster habitat, or you can put them in the stroller and let the parents push them around that way!
Each baby retails for $6.99 at CVS. It can be assumed that low-retail at Walmart/Target will be around the $5 mark. I cannot WAIT to find these little squirts ☺
For a couple of months now, photos of soon-to-come Zhu Zhu Pets accessories have been on several of the 3rd party toy websites for presale. (Where they get these photos so far in advance, I would love to know!). Some of these were of the new funhouse add-on rooms... and within the last day or so they have started showing up on eBay and Amazon!!!
The box appears to have a check by which room it contains. There is the Disco room with pink top...
The Swimming Pool room with blue top...
...and the Movie Room with green top. Each set comes with the room, tunnel, 2 door caps and 2 U-connectors. I will assume the retail price will be $10-15 per set.
Hopefully the other new accessories and hamsters/animals will also begin to make appearances soon! Keep your eyes on the toy department!!
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Speaking of the funhouse... has anyone had the problem of the hamsters making kitchen noises in the bedroom and vice versa? I did as I was putting it together on Christmas eve, and I was utterly confused!
The "bump code" in the tunnel leading to the room is what triggers the hamster to make specific noises, not the room itself. The tunnels will say which direction to attach it so that the hamsters make the appropriate noises.
Well, sometimes the bedroom/kitchen stickers in the funhouse must be put in the wrong room...therefore, when you attach the tunnel correctly the wrong noises will be heard. According to the troubleshooting guide on ZhuZhuPets.com, simply reverse the direction of the tunnel and the problem will be fixed ☺
Last night I was surfing around and found a couple of cool new products to share with you! Cepia apparently has entered into a licensing partnership with a company called Cra-Z-Art, which specializes in kids crafty and creative items.
The "Super Fun Kit" contains stickers, tattoos, markers and various items to color and decorate. Additionally, there is a 12.5x11 inch 100-piece puzzle with a really cute beach picture of the hamster clan! Definitely fun items, and hopefully a taste of other licensed items to come in the future!
The activity set and puzzle are both available to purchase directly from the Cra-Z-Art website.
(NOTE: You will need to become a new registered user with their website before you are given the option to add any of the items to your cart.)
It looks like everyone's favorite robotic hamsters are going virtual!
USA Today reports that on December 15th, Activision and Game Mill Publishing announced the impending spring release of a Zhu Zhu Pets™ game for Nintendo DS! Additionally, it appears Cepia has made a deal for several more games to follow.
After a Christmas Day filled with Zhu Zhu Pets™ and all of the playing and assembling of "Hamster City" pieces, I hope you all are finally having a relaxing evening. As many of you know, a lot of the 2010-release accessories, like the red coupe, made an early appearance at CVS pharmacies all over the place. I am finally getting the chance to post the photos that Yesenia sent me several days ago... better late than never!
The stroller and babies (which I will have more posted about later) have been some of the most anticipated of the new accessories. The whole concept is just too cute, and little girls are going to flip for them. Adorable!
The woody wagon with surfboard is another really neat car. After playing with the set yesterday for the first time, in my opinion, the car/garage is the coolest accessory and seems to work most consistently with the hamsters. I believe that the new wagon and red coupe are made to also fit into the garage.
Along with the stroller and woody wagon, Yesenia also found the boat/dock set at CVS. This is one new accessory I was able to get my hands on before Christmas, as TRU.com had it and the single new hamsters in stock last Sunday. It is a hoot! I find it funny when the hamsters hop in the automobiles and drive off on their own.
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It came to my attention today that some of the new release Zhu Zhu Pets™ outfits have made their way into the market! The following photos were taken from eBay (seller jillewright).
Scuba outfit with mask Hula skirt with flower headband Sailor outfit with hat Flower shirt, hat, and sunglasses There is an auction by another seller for the basketball jersey with orange ball, as well. I am hoping to find out what store these have shown up in to share with you all! *UPDATE* The seller was nice enough to share that she found these outfits at HALLMARK!!
I hope you all are having a joyous and fun day with your families, hopefully playing with a whole litter of Zhu Zhu Pets™ and accessories!
Personally, I would like to thank Cepia for making the packaging on the newest batch of hamsters much easier to open! LOL (i.e The newer packaging doesn't have any twist ties ☺) I had a ton of fun getting the hamsters out and the funhouse assembled from Santa. My husband had to keep warning me to keep it down!
I apologize for the lack of posting in the last few days... busy week, obviously. I do have some photos and info to share with you tomorrow! As for now, relax and have a great rest of the day ☺
If you are still hunting for the last hamster on your list, Walmart may be where you need to run first thing this morning, or tomorrow or Wednesday mornings. I saw this posted on Walmart.com late last week, and I found a toy associate to ask about it. She said our specific store would have 66 hamsters each day, with a line forming at the "Site to Store" area of the store. She did NOT know if the new colors would be available or not.
I went back into Walmart Sunday evening, and in the area the ZZP used to be (before they filled the empty shelves with dress-up clothing), there was a flier announcing the details of the 66-hamster-a-day blitz. I will not be going since my daughter is now home on Christmas vacation, but I may end up stopping by around 8 a.m. to see what they have left and if there were any newbies. I hope any of you that take a chance will find a bit of luck!
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Two places have been super-hot in new hamster/accessories available in the last few days. First, ToysRUs.com had the 4-pack of new hamsters in stock around the middle of the week. I just couldn't personally justify spending $50 + shipping on them, especially when I already have a Jilly in waiting. However, the single new hamsters did become available on Sunday morning for 9.99, as well as the boat/dock set for 17.99. (I did cave and order the remaining 3 hamsters and the boat while the family waited in the car for me to go to church!).
The new hamsters were in stock several times on Sunday, and the odd thing is now there is a limit of TEN of each, instead of three. Apparently, TRU.com must have got a massive shipment of the new items. Additionally, TRU stores debuted the new hamsters this weekend (4-packs and singles).
Another HOT HOT HOT place to check is definitely CVS pharmacy!!! I cannot stress this enough! Items that were not slated to be released until Spring 2010 have shown up at CVS within the last 2 days, including the red sports car, woody wagon, stroller, and BABY HAMSTERS! I will have a bit more info to share with you later on in the day about these new items...but for now it is after 2:30 a.m. so I must wish you a good-night!
With Christmas fast approaching, I hope many of you have found the Zhu Zhu Pets™ and accessories that you have been looking so hard for. If you are still looking and have access to a Toys R Us store, it has been said that they are receiving ZZP shipments daily!
One category of Zhu Zhu Pets™ accessory items that are somewhat overlooked are the bed/blanket and carrier/blanket sets. These were actually my first ZZP purchase.... a green bed and purple carrier for my oldest daughter and a pink bed and teal carrier for the younger one. I chose their favorite colors and was content to get them one each.
My friend Guilliam has (in my opinion) become sort of an authority on the beds and carriers, so I asked for her help in this explaination. The beds and carriers all come in the following colors: pink, purple, green, aqua, and orange. Each set comes with a coordinating blanket, as well. In Guilliam's experience, she thinks the green/pink/orange carriers and the pink/purple/aqua beds are the more difficult to find.
Walmart's typical shipments will include pink/orange/green beds and purple/aqua carrier. They retail for $5 each set. Although the ones I purchased back in September say "Zhu Zhu Pets™" on the packaging, the actual beds/carriers are embroidered with "Go Go Pets™". You may notice this on yours, too!
Toys R Us carries exclusive sets containing a carrier, a bed, and 2 coordinating blankets.
These sets retail for $11.99 each. The color combos available are orange carrier/green bed; pink carrier/aqua bed; and purple carrier/pink bed. ☺☺☺
Until the clothing line is released early next year, the beds/carriers are the only accessory items currently to keep your little hamsters warm this winter. Plus, they make perfect stocking-stuffers...just make sure your little ones open their Zhu Zhu Pets™ packages FIRST!
Yesterday, my friend Robin really lucked out. She went into a Toys R Us store in Winchester, VA and found a single Zhu Zhu Pets™ boat/dock set! Here is what she told me:
"I walked in the front door, at lunchtime no less, and there was a table up towards customer service. This was the only item sitting on the table when I got there. I have no idea how many they had, or how I managed to luck out that late in the day."
Robin says that TRU's retail price is $17.99 for this set, which will translate to about $14.99 in the lower-end retail stores.
Currently there are 92 auctions on eBay for the boat/dock set, with 64 completed auctions already. It seems the average ending price is around the $20-30 range. This close to Christmas, even Priority mail is taking longer to reach its destination. I found this out last week with some packages I sent out. eBay prices are starting to decline, and my guess is that people are less likely to shell out the big $$$ for something that may not even arrive in time.
If you have a chance to swing by a Toys R Us, you may also be pleasantly surprised like Robin was!
As promised, Zhu Zhu Pets™ are beginning to show up in more places, with some slightly different purchasing options. ToysRUs.com posted this photo of a NEW hamster 4-pack containing Nugget, Scoodles, Jilly, and Winkie. Retailing for 39.99 for the set, it has not been in stock yet at Toysrus.com per the Zoolert tracking system. However.... for a hefty premium, you can currently purchase this 4 pack and an 8-pack of Duracell AAA batteries at ToysRUs-owned eToys.com (79.99) or FAO Schwartz (89.99). Personally, I do not recommend paying an extra $40-50 for a pack of batteries.
On a side note: ToysRUs and their pricing has been a point of contention for several months now. The newest change has been the price for the TRU-exclusive "Giant Hamster City." The original stated price was $84.99 for the first round of presales, which seemed reasonable for the amount of items it contains. This was right around the low-retail price of stores, such as Walmart, and you had the chance to buy a lot of items in a convenient bundle.
When another round of presales began (which had an estimated ship date of 11/23...that didn't happen either), the price was raised to $99.99. The $15 price increase was annoying, but many people still ordered them. Now this week, the "Giant Hamster City" playset was featured in the ToysRUs flier. No price was listed, only "Hot Price" next to the photo. Wonder why? Now that it is available to purchase in stores, the price has raised again to $129.99!!! ToysRUs's own retail price for purchasing the pieces contained in this set individually is only $104. Just another puzzling inconsistency to add to the list.
A regional store that I am very familiar with is Shopko. Now Shopko is selling Zhu Zhu Pets™ products online! They tend toward slightly higher retail price (11.99 per hamster), but still much more reasonable than eToys/FAO Schwartz/eBay. Additionally, they are one of few stores that carries the Starter Set with Patches hamster, which you can also purchase online now! At this moment, "wave 2" new hamsters are not available.
You can become a fan of Shopko on their Facebook page and you will see them post as soon as new Zhu Zhu Pets™ items are added to their website.
Walmart.com has added a few new purchasing options to their Zhu Zhu Pets™ line-up. These include a bundle of the original 4 hamsters ($32); a "choose any 2 hamster" bundle ($16); and "choose any 1 hamster and 1 accessory" bundle ($18). Obviously, these bundles reflect Walmart's individual retail price for the items. Though not in stock yet, these are a low-cost and convenient option for those scrambling to complete an online checkout.
Rumors are that Kmart and Justice girls clothing stores will be carrying Zhu Zhu Pets™ items, though it may not be until after January 1.
So, with so many more online purchasing options, how do you keep track of it all? ZOOLERT! The free Zoolert online tracking service allows up to pull up a tracking screen (or minimize it on your computer) and it does the work for you. For Zhu Zhu Pets™ items, the system checks online retailers every 60 seconds for newly posted merchandise, then alerts you with an animal noise. You can also choose to get email alerts. Additionally, there are special tracking option for Zhu Zhu Pets™ Hunters in Canada and the UK!
Currently there are 4 main tracking options to choose from:
☺ For those of you only looking for the newly released hamsters, GO HERE
☺ For those of you looking for any hamster (old or new), bundle packs, or the "Giant Hamster City" playset, GO HERE
☺For beds, carriers, and playset accessories,GO HERE
☺ If you are really desperate and do not mind paying the highest-of-high "retail" of eToys and FAO Schwartz, you can GO HERE
As if Monday wasn't bad enough to start with, I was greeted by news-coverage of the Zhu Zhu Pets™ toxicity allegations as soon as my daughter flipped on the TV this morning. To be fair, I will say that CBS did a good job of reporting on both sides of the story, and did end with the statement that the toys are safe to play with. And as I listened to our local noon newscast, the debacle was also mentioned. Cepia LLC had even gone so far as to post their testing reports on their website's homepage . To me, this exemplified their confidence in their product.
I have been waiting to hear the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) official verdict of the issue, which showed up on MSNBC.com about 2 hours ago. “ 'CPSC confirmed today that the popular Zhu Zhu toy is not out of compliance with the antimony or other heavy metal limits of the new U.S. mandatory toy standard,' agency spokesman Scott Wolfson said.". I highly recommend that you read the Associated Press article, in its entirety, at this link.
GoodGuide has also issued an official correction to its misleading statement:
"SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - December 7, 2009) - In a press release we issued on Saturday, December 5th, we published the results of our testing of chemical levels in toys and stated that certain toys we tested had antimony and chromium levels that exceed federal standards. Since issuing our release, we have learned that the testing methodology used in the federal standards (a soluble method) is different than the methodology we used in our testing (a surface-based method). Accordingly, while we accurately reported the chemical levels in the toys that we measured using our testing method, we should not have compared our results to federal standards. We regret this error. Suzanne Skyvara"
WHAT?!They just learned that their testing methodology is not in compliance with what the CPSC and industry testing leaders recognize as accurate testing methods. Seriously? If you are going to attempt to make a name for yourself in the arena of consumer safety testing, wouldn't you think the #1 item on your to-do list would be to KNOW the recognized industry testing equipment and methods? To exemplify this, let me give you one more exerpt from the AP article from MSNBC.com:
"[The] claims fell apart Monday, when GoodGuide said the way it got its test results — using a special gun that shoots X-rays into a toy and gives a reading for how much lead, antimony or other substances are in the material — is not recognized by the CPSC for judging whether a toy is hazardous."
I am sorry if I seem more than a little irritated with the allegations, because I am. This bad publicity has spread like wildfire over the airwaves and internet within the last 24 hours. I have received emails and phone calls from concerned friends, "warning" me about my beloved Zhu Zhu Pets™ because of what they saw on the news. I just hope the airwaves are just as clogged tomorrow with news of GoodGuides retraction statement and Zhu Zhu Pets™ vindication. Twitter is already buzzing, so that is a good sign ☺
There is always a silver lining to that dark, nasty cloud: even with serious allegations lodged against their product during the busiest toy-shopping-season of the year, I really think Cepia did a great job of informing the public (via the email newsletter and the website homepage) and proactively releasing its toxicity reports, giving statements to the media, and working with the CPSC to clear its good name.
I promise, I will find happier things to talk about tomorrow! Good night everyone!
Unfortunately, I am having to pop in on this Sunday with some not-so-happy information. The Good Guide report claims that some of the hottest toys of the season contain unsafe levels of toxic elements. One such claim states that the Mr. Squiggles Zhu Zhu Pet™ contains unsafe levels of antimony and tin.
PLEASE BE ADVISED, CEPIA STATES THIS IS UNTRUE.
I was contacted by the good people at Cepia LLC. to spread the information to my blog-readers, as well as my Facebook and Twitter followers. Those of you on the Zhu Zhu Pets™ email newsletter list will also notice you received an email, as well. Especially with the popularity of the Zhu Zhu Pets™ this season, and the fact that millions of them are already under Christmas trees in waiting, it is important to get the facts out to potentially worried parents.
Zhu Zhu Pets™ products are submitted to vigorous testing above and beyond industry standards, as stated in the press release. As quoted per CEO/founder Russell Hornsby,
"We are contacting the Good Guide people at this moment to share with them all of our Mr. Squiggles and Zhu Zhu Pet testing data so we can get to the bottom of how their report was founded," Russ Hornsby said. "We want to assure everyone already enjoying Mr. Squiggles or other Zhu Zhu Pets, and those planning to purchase Mr. Squiggles or another Zhu Zhu Pet this holiday season, that the toy is 100 percent safe and in compliance with all U.S. and European toy safety standards. I have been in the toy industry for more than 35 years, and being a father of children myself, I would never allow any substandard or unsafe product to hit the shelves. That's why we always test to not only meet but also exceed safety standards."
I wanted to pop in really quick and share this up-close photo of the Hallmark Exclusive Zhu Zhu Pet™ that will be available in March, Fluffy the bunny. Isn't he cute?? Sort of looks like Chunk, but with bigger ears! I will definitely have to find a couple of these for the girls' Easter baskets ☺
Yesterday my friend, Joanne in Washington, got lucky!! She was able to nab the 4 new hamsters at retail, and I am so glad for her.
From what she said, apparently Fred Meyer stores had a sale back in October. At that time Zhu Zhu Pets™ were $6.99 and before they realized the mistake, they handed out rainchecks for a day. So at first, they were hustling to fulfill those rainchecks.
Well, yesterday she received a call and was able to purchase some! Fred Meyer retail is $9.99, and they were limiting to 6 hamsters.
Here's hoping that those newbies start leaking their way eastward!
I hope everyone had a fun + relaxing Thanksgiving holiday/weekend! Did anyone brave the elements and stand outside of Toys R Us for a hamster? I still haven't seen one single hamster on shelves in about 2 months! I asked our Walmart, and they said they are only putting 3 hamsters on the shelf at a time when they do get stock in.
If you haven't already noticed, the NEW Zhu Zhu Pets™ hamsters have showed up in-hand on eBay. It appears they started making an appearance on Sunday evening. Completed listings for the pink-and-white Jilly, who seems to be the most sought-after of the bunch, range from $40-90.
From the information I have been able to gather, shipments containing the "New Four" arrived in Oregon and Washington at "Fred Meyer" stores. Apparently (as disclosed by a FM employee), the company air-freighted the stock directly in to their stores, which is probably the reason these new characters are showing up a bit ahead of schedule.
In this photo of Nugget, you can see that the back "tattoo" is now covered with a very prominent sticker that states "Please Keep Toy Away From Hair". And they all have a very large name sticker on the front of the box... no confusing Pip Squeak and Nugget now!
If more stores follow suit and begin to air-freight stock directly in, you might have a better chance at catching a newbie or two before Christmas than you originally thought!
Happy New Year's Eve, Zhu Zhu Fans!!
Also notice that instead of being shiny hard plastic, the babies are flocked for a slightly fuzzy look and feel! I really love that, and it makes them fit in better with the adult hamsters. The storyline is that the 6 baby hamsters are the offspring of Mr. Squiggles/Num Nums and Chunk/Pip Squeak. They are not battery-powered... instead they have a metal roller-ball on the bottom. The adult hamsters can push them around inside the hamster habitat, or you can put them in the stroller and let the parents push them around that way!
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