Zhu Zhu Pets have been universally declared the hottest and hardest-to-get toy of this holiday season. Shipments of the pink-nosed critters sell out within hours of arrival at stores.
"It reminds me of the Furby craze back in the late '90s," said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TimetoPlayMag.com. "People are actually camping out at the stores waiting for deliveries."
"It's building the whole environment -- the house, the car, the wheel, the ball. All those accessories, to me, is what makes it special," he said.
"When I saw the hamsters ... I scratched my head and said, 'Why hasn't anybody thought of this?' " added Silver, who's been in the toy business for 26 years. "I thought it was brilliant."
The toys are made by Cepia, a small St. Louis-based company started by industry veteran Russell Hornsby. He created them late last year and now has factories in China cranking out Zhu Zhus as fast as a hamster on a wheel.
"Millions of hamsters have been shipped. And millions more are coming," Cepia's marketing director, Natalie Hornsby, promised in a Time magazine interview.
Alas, the supply will never meet the demand this season. The hamsters are just too hot. And stores have likely held some back in anticipation of Friday's shopping surge.
"Although retailers don't always admit it, they do save some hot toys for Black Friday and the holiday weekend because it's a way to drive people to their stores," Silver explained. And at this time of year, few shoppers buy just one thing in a store.
He predicted many retailers will have Zhu Zhu Pets in stock when doors open Friday and that "sometime either Friday or Saturday they'll be out again."
Stalking the Elusive Zhu Zhu Pet
So what's a hamster-hunting parent to do?
WalletPop's Lou Carlozo put some shopping strategies to the test and rated eBay as the best online source of Zhu Zhu Pets. (Click here for details.) However, some scalpers on the Web are asking -- and getting -- up to 10 times the retail prices for the coveted toys.
For those who hold out hope of bagging a Zhu Zhu at a store, making calls and getting friendly with salespeople works best, according to Silver. The employees usually know when shipments are arriving and if you ask nicely, they'll clue you in.
Even with the best connections, there's no guarantee of finding a Zhu Zhu or any of this year's other most-wanted toys.
"Without a doubt there are going to be more shortages of the top 50 toys than I've seen in a long time," Silver warned. With the economy tanking, retailers were "very conservative" when they placed orders last December through February.
Silver has been though this before -- as a toy industry analyst and a dad. His advice is to decide how many gifts a child is going to get and then have the kid make a list that's twice as long.
"They learn very early on you do not get everything on your list. It's important because it's a great life lesson," he said. "Try to get some of their favorites, but if you teach them early on, then you never have disappointment."
Don't Be Like Arnold
Grown-ups need to manage their own expectations, too.
"Parents absolutely get crazy," said Silver. They get "wrapped up" in having to buy the most popular toys, like a real-life version of "Jingle All the Way" -- the 1996 movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger flexed his comedy muscles as a dad hell-bent on finding the super-hot, sold-out-everywhere "Turbo Man" action figure for his son on Christmas Eve.
"Personally, I don't think any parent should be desperate. Just move on to another toy," Silver counseled.
There may be no Zhu Zhu Pets, but there are thousands of other toys on the shelves. And if you find a good one, don't hesitate to buy it. A few suggestions from Silver:
• Bakugan Battle Brawlers, which debuted last year, are on lots of boys' wish lists again. They combine a card game with action figures inside small spheres. This year, there's a Bakugan 7-in-1 Maxus Dragonoid that connects smaller pieces into one big battle monster.
• Transformers and Legos are also perennial favorites. Like Zhu Zhu Pets and Bakugan, Silver noted, there are basic items that sell for less than $10 but also more elaborate sets for those who want to spend up to $100 or more.
• Girls are going wild for the new Barbie Fashionistas, which can strike more realistic poses than classic Barbies and have hipper clothes and packaging designed to appeal to a slightly older set.
• Lots of adults, as well as kids, have their eyes on Mattel's Mindflex, a game that uses a player's brainwaves to move a ball that rides on a column of air. "That's new and it's been blowing out. I don't think there will be any left after Thanksgiving weekend," Silver predicted. (Click here to see a demonstration from Engadget.)
So if you absolutely, positively must have a robotic hamster for the holidays, you can go online and pay through the nose. Otherwise, you can console yourself in knowing you're not alone by singing along to Carlozo's new music video, "The Black Friday (Can't Get No Zhu Zhu Pet) Blues."
