Ok, so who has them? You know you are hiding them somewhere! Don’t know what I am talking about? Well, then you must be living under a rock. The latest toy craze to sweep the nation is sickeningly cute, only costs eight bucks, and harder to get than front row Coldplay tickets……ZHU ZHU PETS!
So Bridgette, myself, and my friend Kellee have all been on the Zhu Zhu hunt as all the girls want them for Christmas. Our stores have been hoarding them (store managers hold the golden tickets like they have some secret nuclear code inscribed on them), only getting in a few at a time, and selling out the minute they hit the shelf. FINALLY this week we all had some success as my friend and I waited in line at Wal Mart at MIDNIGHT (for two hours) to get one, and Bridgette was able to score one at Toys R Us by waiting in line early Sunday morning. All this time waiting in line got Bridgette and I thinking of other ways you can get your hands on one of these little critters. Try some of these and let us know how they work out for you?
TOP TEN WAYS TO GET A ZHU ZHU PET:
10. Roll into your local Wal Mart or Target inside of a big inner tube, much like a hamster on a wheel. See if that impresses the manager enough for him/her to show you the secret stash.
9. Stuff your mouth with as many acorns as you can hold. Go straight to the toy deparment and demand a Zhu Zhu or you will swallow the acorns right then and there.
8. Show up in a hamster costume and tell the manager you have been sent by the people at Zhu Zhu to be the mascot for the day. You need to be paid in hamsters. Cold, hard hamsters. No, not dead hamsters. That’s another post entirely.
7. Run to the pet store and buy at least a dozen real hamsters. Bring them on over to the toy store and threaten to let them loose unless your demands are met.
6. Declare that by the toy store holding the hamsters hostage, they are committing a very serious crime against nature. Threaten to call PETA. Convince fellow line members to chant “Free the Zhu Zhu!” repeatedly for maximum effect.
5. According to @ToysRUs on Twitter, if you scream, “I LOVE GEOFFERY!” three times, the manager *may* move you to the front of the line. Or you *may* be escorted off the premises by security.
4. Wear a Geoffery costume and claim to be a store employee hired for the day to manage the crowd. After all, you ARE there to “turn their frown upside down!”
3. Formally change your name to “Num Nums” or “Mr. Squiggles.” Claim the Zhu Zhu pets are blood relatives and you have been awarded full custody.
2. Find the Santa at your local Mall. Tell kids in line that instead of cookies and milk, Santa has requested Pipsqueak. Be an elf for the day and collect “payment.”
1. Blackmail. Tell the store manager that unless he awards you with NumNums, you WILL scream out that he “keeps hamsters in his pants!” That oughta do it.
Does your child want a Zhu Zhu pet for the Holidays? Have another idea on how to find one? Leave your tips in the comments!
Still can’t find a Zhu Zhu? The Not-So-Bog is giving away one brand new 2010 Zhu Zhu Pet! The winner can choose either Jilly (the pink one) or Winkie (the black and white one)!!
This article has been mentioned at the LA Times’ Brand X website. We have written a response to one of the comments that appears in the Brand X article. Check it out and join the discussion!
I have the whole set! hehehe! I was blessed enough to get in on the Zhu Zhu Pets review through Mom Select MONTHS ago! We were given all the hamsters (plus extras to give to the kids who came to a Zhu Zhu party) and ALL of the Habitrail pieces and accessories! My girls LOVE them!
Have fun finding them!
I am totally bummed out that these are so hard to find…my little girl really wanted one & I had no clu that they would sell out so fast 🙁
HAHA You’re funny!
That top 10 list was the funniest thing that I’ve ever read. I actually think I broke a hip in laughter. The British refer to them as Go-Go Pets, so maybe you could dress as the Queen Mum, go to Target somewhere in New England and proclaim “you are there to claim what is legally yours.” They may think you are talking about the 13 colonies and should be relieved when the find out you are only there for a faux rodent. This plan could possibly work and if done early enough, you could be home in time for Tea and re-runs of great American shows on the tele.
How cute kinda reminds me of me and Jeanne (Jen’s mom) standing in line early early at Wal-mart for Cabbage Patch dolls so sorry no sympathy here!
Ok this is the funniest thing I have read in a LONG time! Thanks for the laugh!!!
hee hee “Num Nums” in the pants…..that one works all the time.
My younger son keeps asking for these. I have just ignored him. I will definitely ignore him now, as I have a policy of NOT chasing after whatever THE must have toy for Christmas is (I’m lazy and I shop early). You post is hilarious!!
My mom (age 79) and I have been trying to find these at locals stores for about a month & half. I have 15+ visits to stores and my mom has 20+ visits. My mom finally found some on the shelf at the local Walmart in Leavenworth, KS. When Mom (ie elderly grandma) tried to check out the clerk said he could not sell them because they were on recall. My mom then asked to speak to the manager. After waiting for close to an hour it was determined that the Zhu Zhu pets had been put on the shelf pre-maturely and would not be available for sale until 4 days later at mid-night. What a crock.
I just bought four Zhu zhu Pets on Ebay. There are so many on there, you can still get them for a reasonable price!
Another way to get them is to use an online tracker like zooLert – its free and its a way to get your zhu zhu pets at retail prices!
Wal-marts in north Ga bring out there stock between 9 and 11 every night.If you see pallets in toy department stacked with boxes,look for box marked Hamster Asst.that is the key to finding one.You may not find them at first so check every night.
http://www.getzhuzhupets.com always have them in stock
Ok I was in Walmart last night with my son, getting in a little Christmas shopping. I happened to go down the girls toy display. There they were with a sign that said limit two per costumer. $8.00, I got one, my son has not put it down. Even put it in my hair. Never let it get close to your head, I thought we were going to have to cut my hair off. my son 2 just giggling. I hate it but I will not pay over price for a toy that people try to jack the price up on ebay & amazon $39.00 & even $60.00. It will be there later!!
yes, but you have to buy them through Amazon at extremely inflated prices.
I was at Target this morning when they opened and found some accessory items and they had pretty much all the hamsters. I was so excited!! I just need the main set with the domes on each end
there really cool and they worth the price you pay…aside that they are cute.. they are smart…
There are still some Zhu Zhu available here:
http://astore.amazon.com/httpwwwhub037-20
You are hysterical! LOL!
I actually have 3 Zhu Zhu’s that were used for about 5 mins. I don’t have boxes though, wonder if I could sell them?
omg, this completely made my day!
You should be a comedian.
This is hilarious – the lengths we go to to make our kids happy!
I just linked to your post in my Zhu Zhu Pets review – and I do have a giveaway – one more way to get your hands on a Zhu Zhu Pet:
http://www.livingmycharmedlife.com/2009/11/holiday-gift-pick-zhu-zhu-pets-giveaway.html
This was a great tummy tickling post!
Maybe some of my Zhu Zhu Pet tips on buying for a low price could help aid if any others are looking to buy hamsters for retail price and not the inflated prices: http://wp.me/pHI2k-c
Just going to throw my 2 cents in. I personally have bought from and suggested to friends to visit a site called “getzhuzhu”. I came upon it from an online message forum. The prices were all right and I can atest, the site was a lifesaver! I placed my order there a week and a half ago and now have the bulk of my Xmas shopping complete, minus waiting outside in the cold, cold night. yay for me. Also, all parents and anyone still looking, give Craigslist a try, can’t hurt. My neighbor said she has purchased 2 sets from Craigslist, but also approved my suggestion of getzhuzhu.com (where she bought accessories and extras).
cheers, Kristal
This lady just posed a video she seems nice & she has 5 new ZZP’s that need a home! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W13zH9AM1zE
This was very funny! Gave you some linky love. Thanks for the laugh. You have a new blog reader.
….these things are stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome To Zhu Zhu Pets Hamsters! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK5CGG-Lors
Gina- You’re such a great MOM-already getting your kids the zhu zhu pets and then getting online with your comments. Let’s hope your kids don’t take after you! LOL!!!
For those that in the KY area several business are having contests in which you can win a ZHU ZHU! Just thought this might help.
Todd
We track Zhu Zhu Pets at Target, ToysRUs, Walmart, Amazon & eBay and noticed a lot of our subscribers and visitors are purchasing from Amazon and eBay.
They will be in stock online but run out quick so follow our Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/ZhuZhuHamsters). Merchants want you to shop in their brick & mortars stores and that’s your best bet – they allocate more stock in house.
If you can wait until Jan for accessories, Entertainment Earth carries a ton of stuff. See: http://www.zhuzhuhamstertoys.com/zhu-zhu-pets-new.php
Good luck!
Good Luck, it took me over 3 weeks to get all 4 hamsters & all accessories for my daughter starting back in October. My local Learning Express stocks them when they get them they are gone quick. FYI an insider Walmart Manager mentioned they will be in Black Friday ad- so all Walmarts are suppose to be holding stock until then. I did happen to get all mine from Walmart & TRU, most Walmarts in non affluent areas were always a score!
Check out this great site for Zhu Zhu Pets.. Its the Zhu Zhu Pet Hunter…
http://www.zhuzhupethunter.blogspot.com
They are not as hard as you think if you are willing to do what it takes. Find a friend at a walmart. Ask him to call you when they are on a truck. They unload at midnight. Be there, the employees will sell as many as they have to you just to get rid of them. That keeps people from fighting, yes I have heard they will have about 80 at each walmart store on black friday. I have 30 of them.
These little things are in light supply and once black firday hits.. OMG they will be gone I think . I got one for my little girl last week and she loves it.
I find this is the best place to pick up a few –
http://bit.ly/zhu_zhu
Hope it helps.
John N
Ha Ha. Actually I followed this link thinking it really told you where to buy Zhu Zhus. So far I have looked at many sites. Most of them do not have any advice I did find some tips on zhuzhushopper.com but some of the information is kind of old. Any good sites you guys can recommend?
Our Website http://wiialerts.com tracks all online stores for availability of hard-to-find products like the Zhu Zhu Pets. You can subscribe to the products you wish, and we provide Email and Cell alerts about product availability.
Our site has helped thousands of people in the last few years buy hot products like the Wii and Wii Fit and we have a time-tested and extremely reliable system to do this. But Zhu Zhu pets seem to be pretty low in inventory across the board, and the number of units in stock seems to be pretty low at most of the stores. This is unlike past sensations like the Wii and Wii Fit which were always available in decent quantities.
But whenever they’re available at online stores, subscribing to our alerts can be your best bet for buying them with the least hassle.
You can google us and search us on forums to find the testimonials of many users who have successfully used our site.
If your looking for any of the hard to find Zhu Zhu Pets, you have to check this out http://depot4.com . I just bought the Pipsqueek – Yellow and Num Nums from Amazon for $9.99 each. This little piece of software will save you time, money and alot of frustration, it’s free and really simple to use. Don’t pay those outrageous prices that you see at Amazon ($45.99 up to $57.99). You will know immediately when Amazon gets the one you are looking for in stock and can buy it at right then at retail price ($9.99).
I know parents are freaking out trying to get zhu zhu pets this year so I made this short video showing how you can get them at the retail price at amazon and not have to pay those rip off prices some people are charging. I hope this helps out some folks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGOQGLRu8Mk
I bought my granddaughter two on ebay when I first heard about them. Got two for $20.00 plus shipping and handling. Now the price is outrageous on ebay and Amazon.
http://www.zhuzhupethamsterinfo.info
The problem is they are overcharging for these everywhere if you can find them..
I am using this web site to monitor the stock at Amazon and when they are available it will let me know. This way I only pay retail, no shipping or sales tax.
http://azcapture.com/
Janet
I found zhu zhu pets on this site http://www.bestzhuzhupets.com
There is an easy to know when Amazon gets these stock and you get them at cost.
http://www.a-zgrabber.com
Let’s you know exactly when they arrive at Amazon, and you don’t have fork over fifty or sixty bucks.
This is such a fabulously funny post!! I just read it to my husband. 🙂
DON”T WASTE YOUR TIME OUR hamsters are now at the bottom of the toy box. THEy were fun for a month. NOW I have bits and peices of the Trail village all over my house. My son uses the ramp for his cars and my daughter uses the rounders for he Dolls.
IF you think about it most toys have a shelf life and the hot item is only as hot as the buyers make it…
NOW that month was a lot longer than most toys make it around here so if ya score one ya’ll at least get a huge smile and a great PIC
I’ve heard reports that Canadian retailers are better stocked on Zhu Zhu’s than many U.S. retailers — it might be worth the drive for anyone desperate enough to get one
The only way to get them at retail is by watching them to be in stock at amazon. I used http://www.atozgrabber.com (USA) and for getting stuff in Canada try http://www.atozgrabber.ca – both free sites cheers.
I got mine at http://GoGrabber.com and didn’t have to pay any more than regular retail price for it!
I know other mom’s are having trouble finding them, so I wanted to let everybody
know how I got one.
one of my girlfriends told me about gograbber.com, which is a free website that will “watch” items for you on Amazon and let you know when amazon has them in stock at regular retail price.
It worked so well I now have gograbber watching a whole bunch of stuff for me!
Lol! Good luck everybody!
People are dumb to wait in line like that! They can score a hamster and accessories pretty easy online.
Absolute best way to get a Zhu Zhu – sign up at zoolerts. http://www.zoolert.com/zhu-zhu-pets-tracker/ will e-mail you when a retailer has them in stock for a reasonable price. I signed up three days ago and already was able to purchase two funhouses and two sets of 3 hamsters for the standard retail price and free shipping (amazon had them in stock for all of 5 minutes tonight) from the comfort and warmth of my own home.
Check out this cool site for Zhu Zhu Pet adventures.. it’s great you get to read and see what this guy has gone through to try to obtain Zhu Zhu’s.. Now he is exposing Ebay Sellers.
http://www.zhuzhupethunter.blogspot.com
Go to amazon everyone! They got them! They are around 30 but hey if you must have it, get it!
I was able to find my Zhu Zhu hamster and wheel at http://www.ZhuZhuPets.cc
Come on… don’t be dumb and get rippped off. Use a site like http://azcut.com and get your zhu zhus from Amazon at normal retail price of like $9 or whatever.
Seriously people… don’t get ripped off just cuz it’s Christmas!
Well I have no clue what these are but on a whim I went to walmart.com and I guess the crazyness has died down becasue they are sellingthing in 2 packs for $16 and they are instock and will arrive before christmas it says.
It pays to be a fan of Toys R Us on FaceBook. An alert came up and I got a whole setup for 100.00 on their website. I have been trying to get them since november, but absolutely refuse to pay ginormous amounts of money. Luckily I was on at the time when an alert come on and TADA!!!
I have been everywhere looking for these cute hamsters but nothing. For living in a horrible place I expected this but never in my life did I think it would be this hard. I have tried all your links and they are not as cheap as others. I was at wal-mart yesterday lokking at their prices of hamsters. Usually the oldest four hamsters are 7 something and a tag said scoodles for 8! Could someone help me find even one hamster maybe jilly or num nums at these prices?? I ordered chunk cause mine broke but not in yet. Oh well…
Lucky for you, people, that Christmass spree is behind us. Now, you can focus on normal prices, wider chice and more of playsets. And yes, the price is more normal. Has any searched them in Target?