New Commercial... Interesting Articles!

Good Morning, Zhu Zhu Hunters!

Many of us are getting back into the daily routine today, with kids going back to school from the Christmas/New Year holidays.  I hope you all have a good day and a smooth transition. Cepia recently added a new 2010 Zhu Zhu Pets™ commercial to their homepage featuring the newest vehicles, outfits, and hamsters.  I just saw it on Nickelodeon for the first time, so hopefully it means that these newer items will be more widely-distributed soon!

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Obviously, the Zhu Zhu Pets™ craze generated a large amount of publicity during the Christmas season.  Recently I came across a couple of very interesting articles that go beyond the run-of-the-mill info:

Not child's play: Missouri attorneys counsel the maker of this year's hot toy : An interesting, behind the scenes interview with the lawyer who represents Cepia, LLC.

Rumble Robots inventor does it again: Probably one of my favorite articles to date (thanks Laura!).  You get a peek into the father-daughter(s) team of Cepia, LLC. and some background on how Zhu Zhu Pets™ came to be!

Zhu Zhu Pets™ Showing up Everywhere!

Good Morning, Hamster Homies!

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

Happy hunting everyone!!

New Hamsters have ARRIVED in store!

Good Morning, Zhu Zhu Hunters!

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!

Good luck, everyone!! Let the hunt resume!!