Zhu Zhu Pets Mania
Unless you're living under a rock (or in a hamster cage), you probably know that this year, Zhu Zhu Pets are the "it" toy for the holidays. Not since Tickle Me Elmo had parents throwing punches on Black Friday in 1996 has a toy received so much press coverage, or caused such a frenzy.
I've hopped on the bandwagon. And now that the Zhu Zhu has been declared safe by the Consumer Product Safety Commission after a consumer website caused a brief uproar by claiming that one of the pets had a toxic level of antimony, a chemical that has been linked to heart and lung problems, I'm staying there.
I've fallen for these robotic hamsters because they're adorable to hold, make comical sounds at random, and act somewhere "intelligently," which gives kids a good substitute for the real thing—minus the droppings and changing water.
Clearly, I'm not the only one. It seems that everyone who has come across a store that actually has any Zhu Zhu in stock has subsequently scooped up every piece of the set (which includes a surfboard, car, wheel, skateboard, exercise ball and more) and listed the items on eBay, often for many multiples of their retail prices. And people are buying: eBay's just-released Zhu Zhu holiday heat map shows the activity level of Zhu Zhu purchases around the country in the month of November, when a total of 206,466 Zhu Zhu Pets and related items were sold.
Hungry for more Zhu Zhu stats? Here goes: Although residents of Alameda, CA bought more Zhu Zhu Pets on eBay than any other single ZIP code in the country, Minnesota purchased more Zhu Zhu Pets and related items on eBay than any other state. Chunk is the most desired Zhu Zhu Pet character, according to price points on eBay. (At his highest price, Chunk is listed for $61, with other characters’ highest prices ranging from $42.29 to $58.) 146,872 Zhu Zhu Pets and related items were sold on eBay between October 15th and November 15th; nearly quadruple that of the total sold since January 2009. Further, "Zhu Zhu" has been the top searched term on eBay since the start of Thanksgiving week.
Still not sold on what the heck we're talking about here? Check out this video of my Zhu Zhus, Mr. Squiggles and Chunk doing their mesmerizing thing:
If you're going to go the road of Zhu Zhus this holiday season, I suggest scooping up the following:
1) Two out of the four total hamsters, so you can watch them react and interact with each other.
2) A Funhouse, so you can see them crawl from room to room and amazingly sense their surroundings.
3) The Hamstermobile & Garage because watching them get in the car and cruise off is one of the more hysterical things I've ever witnessed.
Cat Schwartz is eBay's technology expert.