(Sent to me from @FireMaiden (Twitter), of the empty Zhu Zhu Pets™ pegs at her Walmart)Hello, Zhu Zhu Pets™ Trackers!
Who all braved the crowds and went to claim a piece of the Zhu Zhu pie on Saturday night/Sunday morning? It sounds like many were able to get their hands on at least one hamster or accessory. Some went out of necessity...others for the thrill of the hunt!
From the hundreds of posts I have read, by and large it seemed like Walmart wasn't nearly as prepared as TRU. No two stores seemed to be on the same page. Limits ranged from 2/person to 1/household. Lines started anywhere from electronics, automotive, Customer Service, Site to Store, among a number of other spots.
Some Walmart stores had ZERO hamsters, others had up to 30 or 40 in stock. Some stores had massive lines waiting for several hours.... others had no one buying at all!
Over on the Gottadeal.com thread, Laura4444 kept us all informed in real-time. Being on the East Coast (Pennsylvania), they were the first to reach 12:01 a.m. Her husband stood in line at electronics, texting her photos of the crowd. It was a lot of fun to watch the first massive ZZP sale going down from the comfort of my home☺
Laura4444 came to the conclusion that the official outfit for the ZZP blitz seemed to be jeans and a gray sweatshirt! LOL Did they send out a memo??
(rjncmj's photo of the first Walmart (Washington state), where they plunked the box of hamsters down on the floor)
Of all the posts I have read about this blitz, rjncmj's really stuck out to me. I will repost what she had to say:
"I got to my Walmart around 9:30 and found someone in toys that had no idea what was going on. I told them I just needed to know where the line was going to be. She called a manager that said they had no clue where to start the line and the hamsters wouldn't be out till 12:01(duh, I already knew the time). So this very nice employee directed me to a bench in front of electronics and said I was now the line.
Right after that another customer showed up and he became second in line. He talked my ear off for over two hours about his ebay business and how much money he's making on Zhu Zhu's. In his defense he was a very nice man but it was upsetting to hear his stories of wiping out store supplies so he could resell them. He even told me of a friend of his that drove up and down through Oregon wiping out all the stores there and ended up with more than 400 hamsters. Then 5 minutes to midnight 3 ladies showed up and waited with us. Then an employee with a box came out from the back and plopped down the hamsters, about 20 of them. I picked out my two and left...."
(rjncmj's 2nd Walmart, where they were keeping them behind a register, next to bags of churro's! LOL)
"...I then decided to drive to another Walmart about 20 mins away and they still had some left. They were keeping about 20 of them behind a register and I was only the 3rd person to buy some. So I got two more. Then the ebay reseller shows up at the 2nd Walmart and told me he managed to get 9 from the previous store because he paid a couple people to buy some for him and then he went in a second time and bought 3 more. So much for limits. Oh and then his Oregon friend shows up with a couple women and they buy up 6 of the hamsters. This ebay guys tells me that he found like 16 starter sets at Shopko recently and bought them all. Like I said, he was nice but so self absorbed I don't think he even realizes how he and people like him impact families trying to buy toys for their kids. "
Unfortunately, I read more stories like this than I would like... resellers recruiting strangers to buy a limit for them. The stores attempt to impose limits to help spread the wealth, but shady people will always try to find a way around it.
Donna, from Maryland, and her best friend were the first two in line at her Walmart, 6:45a.m. They found the above sign posted on the door. The hamsters were held at Customer Service, approximately 30 of them. Later on in the day, she was able to pick up the last hamster at TRU! Lucky her ☺
CrazyMomAli made it a family event! With daughter's in their pj's, they went to Walmart at 9:30 and were the first in line at Site to Store. (If you look closely behind them, you can see a pile of Zhu Zhu Pets™ behind the counter!). It was limit 2 per person. She took this photo of her daughters with their aunt, holding their money up proudly!
Lori (aka friholic) was not able to get any hamsters at her Walmart. She went to her TRU and stood in line!
This is the ticket Lori was given at TRU. Though a couple dollars more expensive, it seems like TRU had a more cohesive gameplan than Walmart. At least Lori was able to score at TRU!
Another friend, GeorgiaPeach717, went to TRU, also. That is just the line inside...I'd imagine there were more people standing outside as well.
Look at her son, proudly holding their "ticket"! Putting all of the eBayers, scalpers, and hoarders aside, THIS photo right here sums up the entire event. It was for our KIDS! These are toys, to be played with and loved! And it just goes to show, we will stand in line for hours, exhausted and grumpy, to see that truly excited look in a kid's eyes when they received something that they REALLY wanted!
Congrats to everyone who was able to complete their shopping lists! And thanks to everyone who took the time to take and share their photos!!!
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