Misc. Zhu Zhu Pets™ Musings

Good afternoon, hamster homies!

This week I am elbow-deep in pie crust and turkey brine, so you may notice I am {being forced to} taking a slight bit of a break from the blog. However, that doesn't mean I won't be around if something exciting takes place!

First of all, a HUGE congratulations goes out to Cepia LLC and CEO Russell Hornsby for winning the "Toy Inventor of the Year" award for the Zhu Zhu Pets™! What a great accomplishment, and I am just so proud for them. It is so exciting to see a small company succeed in such a big way. This is a holiday season I am sure they will never forget on so many levels!

It has come to my attention today that CVS pharmacies are getting in a special shipment of Zhu Zhu Pets™ and accessories! There are a lot of reports of people finding them for $10 each on shelves. Other stores have confirmed they are expected in during this next week. I have been told that this is a one-time shipment, just for the holidays. If anyone gets lucky at CVS, please post about it!

As far as Black Friday goes, the only place I have heard that is definitely supposed to have Zhu Zhu Pets™ is ToysRUs. The latest I heard is 100 pets/store, with half being released at midnight and the other half being released at 6 a.m. Your best bet is to contact your local store and ask what their plans are.

As for other stores having ZZP on Black Friday? I haven't heard a thing! They are not mentioned in any of the ads I have seen. I suppose it is possible that Walmart and other stores may have been hoarding stock (like they did for 11/8)... the shelves and the online retail stores have been empty for quite awhile! And as the weekend and Cyber Monday roll around, will ZZP merchandise start showing up online?? Keep your Zoolert open and find out!

(If anyone has plans to stand in line at TRU for Zhu Zhu Pets™ on Black Friday and can snap some photos of the line, display, etc., I would be happy to post them here on the blog!)

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If I don't "see" you again before, I hope you all have a very happy, family+friend-filled Thanksgiving! Oh, and a safe and Zhu Zhu-filled Black Friday!

This SUNDAY: Walmart and TRU

Good Morning, Zhu Zhu Chasers!

Wow, I am exhausted this morning. Yesterday was a busy (but fun) cyber-day! I attended the Time to Play webcast yesterday afternoon on MomTV.... then the #hottoys Twitter party hosted by Resourceful Mommy last night! I know at least 2 of my friends from Gottadeal.com won toys during those events. Hopefully we are all geared up for the HUGE #zhuzhupets Twitter party Monday night!!!

Many of us will be participating in a "mini-Black Friday" tonight/tomorrow morning. As announced on Cepia's Zhu Zhu Pets™ website, Walmart has been hoarding stock for the "official" release of the Toy Book on Sunday. It seems like distribution plans are varying quite a bit, store to store. I have heard some stores will be putting them out at 12:01 am... others at 8 am. Some stores it will be a "free for all", and others will have a limit of 1 or 2 at the Customer Service area. I even heard some stores may be passing out tickets.

Incidentally Walmart (and other retailers) are being swamped with telephone calls re: Zhu Zhu Pets™. Some customer service people are getting rude or just not giving out accurate &/or true information. At this point, I think your best bet is to go into Walmart and try to find someone who actually works in the toy dept. They will probably know more than anyone at customer service. Ask how much stock they have on hand, limits, and what time they will be putting them out.

I checked with my own Walmart toy person, and she says they have only received 20 hamsters in the last 4 weeks. Eight of them were accidentally put on the shelf, so as of 2 days ago, they were only going to have 12 hamsters to put out.

NOTE: There will be NO NEW RELEASE HAMSTERS sold. Several people have emailed Cepia about this, and their responses mesh with what Cepia has already told me in the past: new hamsters will not be shipping until closer to the beginning of December.

I don't know what kind of turnout my Walmart will have, considering we are a fairly small city. I haven't decided 100% yet if I am going to go document this event or sleep in! LOL If I thought there was a chance of new hamsters, I would be there in an instant.

In addition, Toys R Us is supposed to have a supply of hamsters first thing Sunday morning, supposedly to coincide with an ad or sale. Many people have said they are planning to camp at Walmart, then hit TRU when it opens!! I wish them all luck!!!


(If any of you are going to do the Walmart &/or TRU thing....and wouldn't mind snapping a few photos .... I would love to document this event here on the blog! Of course, I wouldn't expect it during a mad rush, but a few pics of the line, the display, customer service counter, parking lots, or whatever would be awesome! I think it would be neat to see how this plays out around the country☺ Email me: gumby8@hotmail.com )