Kids Are Going Crazy For Zhu Zhu Pets
If current sales returns are anything to go by then Zhu Zhu pets could well be the hot selling toy in the run up to Christmas 2009. Basically, these are a collection of five motorized hamsters which interact both with the kids and each other.
The five different Zhu Zhu hamsters – Mr. Squiggles, Pipsqueak, Chunk, Num Nums and Patches – all have their own individual personalities and little character traits. They operate in two modes “nurturing” and “exploring”. The first four are all available individually, but Patches can only be bought as part of the “Hamster Starter Set”.
In nurturing mode the hamsters respond to petting by emitting cute little noises. Each one of the hamsters has its own personal signature sound. In total there are over forty different sounds spread across the 5 hamsters.
In exploring mode the hamsters will run around – either free ranging on the floor or within their specially designed hamster habitats. The habitats can be built and rebuilt by the children in a number of different combinations and incorporate toys, tubes, tracks and even a car.
There are a wide variety of different accessories available. There’s a hamster funhouse, hamster wheel and tunnel (of course), hamster garage, adventure ball, surfboard, skateboard, sleep dome, hamster carrier and blanket etc. It’s a lengthy list of toys.
Children seem to love these little furballs. They are cute, they interact and the process of designing and building the hamster habitats in various different forms will stimulate their imagination and make sure that they don’t become bored.
One of the marketing slogans for Zhu Zhu hamsters is “pets without the mess” – and that’s a definite bonus for many parents. You don’t need to feed them, there’s no need to keep their water bowl filled up and there’s definitely no need to tidy out their cage. Putting in a couple of new AAA batteries once in a while is all the maintenance that’s required.
Because they are motorized and contain small parts, the Zhu Zhu Pets are not ideal for very small children. The target age group is children between the ages of four and ten years old.
These toys are going to be the next big thing (for a while at least). The manufacturer has launched them at the perfect moment, just enough time to generate a bit of a buzz prior to Christmas but not long enough for them to become unfashionable before the Festive gift season. If you know a child who would like to find one of these little hamsters in their Christmas stocking then it’s probably not a bad idea to get your order in well in advance.
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