In November of 2009, Jennifer and I were on the hunt for the elusive Zhu Zhu Pet which was THE toy to have for the holiday season.  Our persistence paid off and we both scored Zhu Zhu Pets for our kids!  Fortunately, all of our hard work was well worth it as our children LOVED their new pets and still play with them to this day.

Now, the Zhu Zhu craze has expanded with the addition of many new pets including puppies, bunnies, and even Zhu Zhu babies!  There’s a whole Zhu-niverse out there to explore!  Did you know that some of the Zhu Zhu Pets have turned into quite the little furry Divas?  These well dressed fashionistas have sparkly outfits (complete with accessories) as well as their own closet and runway to show off their sense of style.

My two daughters got to try out one of the Zhu Zhu Pets with fashion outfit as well as the Zhu Zhu Pets Runway.  We quickly put together the play set, dressed the Pets and promptly began the Fashion Show.  The runway lights up as the Pet makes their way around the Fashion Circle to make their runway walk FIERCE!

The Zhu Zhu Pets Fashion Runway and Outfit was a welcomed addition to our Zhu-niverse!

GIVEAWAY

One winner will receive a Zhu Zhu Pet and one Fashion Outfit!

How to Enter:

1. Tell me your child’s favorite product in the Zhu-niverse!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and Zhu-niverse (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) and @Zhuniverse on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Limited to 10 a day, please. (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Zhuniverse on Facebook.

5. Place my blog button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on September 29th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This post is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy. Others may have a differing opinion of the product. While a sample product was received to facilitate this review as part of a promotional campaign from MomSelect, all opinions remain 100% honest.

Lots of winners to pull today!  Thanks to everyone who participated!

Constructive Playthings gift card:  Joanna

Zhu Zhu Pets:  Laura

Nestle day 1:  Debbie S.

Nestle Day 2:  Nancy S.

Nestle Day 3: Sarah

Nestle Day 4:  Janet

Nestle Day 5:  Jennifer R.

V Reader: Andrea K.

Sunglass Warehouse:  Diane W.

Slix:  Gianna

Ice Box Bakery:  Peggy

Hersheys:  Karen G.

Chili’s:  Bacallsmom

Sleepjoy:  Diane R.

1800Flowers:  Geoff K.

Congrats to all the winners!  You will all be emailed shortly.  Please respond within 72 hours to claim your prize!

The new Kung Zhu products by Cepia will be tons of fun and provide a twist on my girls’ favorite Christmas toy.

Thanks to Mom Select, we received a generous box of the most popular Kung Zhu toys inlcuding the Battle Arena, battle hamsters, battle armor, buzzsaw tank, and many other accessories.  About Kung Zhu:

“Introducing the hottest new line from Cepia evolving from of Zhu Zhu Pets…Kung Zhu Pets! These warrior hamsters are far from being the cute and cuddly Zhu Zhu Pets that everyone fell in love with. But make no mistake, these ultra cool, tough pets will be a sure competition to the original Zhu Zhu Pets! With eight original characters split into two battling groups called Special Forces and Ninja Warriors, Kung Zhu Pet owners will have the thrill of training each character to transform fighting, battling warriors. While these Kung Zhu hamsters may start of as “cute” and “mild-mannered” once they are sent into their main training grounds, smart chip technology will actually allow you to hear a distinct personality transformation of fighting ninja and warriors.“

Last Christmas, I lost my mind and decided to stand in long lines in the wee hours of the morning to buy a $10 hamster that my daughter had her heart set on.  And I was not happy about it.  At all.  But, it turns out that it was the best $10 that “Santa” spent this year because both of my daughters still play with their beloved Zhu Zhu Pets almost daily.  Our Zhu Zhu family has grown to include some accessories and a few more “pets” but nothing like what showed up on my doorstep last week.

The cute little Zhu Zhu Pet hamsters have turned into lean, mean, fighting machines…..Kung Zhu!  Two hamster groups (the Special Forces and the Ninja Warriors) can don armor and fight it out in training grounds and ultimately in the battle arena!  Undoubtedly an attempt at attracting more boys to their customer base, I was worried that my daughters would not be a fan (after all, NONE of them are pink.)

We joined a friend and her two sons for a little Zhu Zhu party and all four kids went to town playing with the Kung Zhu sets!  My daughters jumped right in and battled with the boys and had an absolute blast.  The track was easy to set up and the battle armor snaps right on.  Once the armor is on, the hamster transforms from cuddly to courageous and his personality becomes one of a warrior!  My daughter’s favorite part?  The buzzsaw tank!!

This June, Cepia launched a new line of Zhu Zhu Pet, called the Kung Zhu!  These hamsters transform from lovable pets to sparring warriors when dressed in armor and placed in the battle arena.  While the set appears to be geared towards boys, my daughters had no problem jumping into the middle of the playset and becoming part of the competition.  You can find the Kung Zhu line for sale at Toys R Us now!

GIVEAWAY

Ready to challenge your Kung Zhu Pet to a dual?  Experimental Mommy has a great prize pack including the Battle Arena, Rhino Tank, Battle Hamster Sarge, Battle Armor “Rivet/Thunder” and Battle Armor “Thorn/Strike” for one lucky reader!

How to enter:

1. Visit Kung Zhu and tell me which hamster you like the best!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and Kung Zhu (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog on Facebook.

5. Place my blog banner on your sidebar.

6. Subscribe to my Feed.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on July 16th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This product review is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy. Others may have a different experience. Mom Select supplied me with samples for review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

Bridgette and I are still in a state of shock over the traffic and attention our recent post about How to score a Zhu Zhu Pet generated.  Our article was featured in a post by the LA Times which brought thousands of new visitors to The Not-So-Blog!  Best of all, our readers gave tips on how to really accomplish the nearly impossible feat of scoring your very own Num Nums or one of his cuddly buddies.  Zhu Zhu fans came together on our post for one common goal and many have found the coveted hamsters due to the generosity of strangers.  Thanks, faithful readers!

Lo and behold as word of Zhu Zhu mania traveled, Bridgette and I were giddy with Zhu Zhu delight.  Katie Couric even had a feature about Zhu Zhu Pets on the CBS evening news!   I was grateful to Katie for validating the Zhu Zhu craziness as many people thought I was clinically insane for waiting in line at the Wal Mart for hours to get one.  Katie helped prove that I did not need to be carried off by the men in the white coats.   Thanks, Katie!

Luckily, both Bridgette and I have acquired the coveted hamsters and some accessories for our girls for Christmas.  The best part is that we were able to get them without swallowing any acorns or formally changing our names to Mr. Squiggles and Num Nums.   A few days ago, my phone starts chirping like crazy with multiple text messages.   It was Bridgette, asking if I am sitting down, because she has REALLY.  BIG.  NEWS.  I thought for sure it must be Oprah, wanting us to come to her show and talk about the infamous Zhu Zhu.

"You get a Zhu Zhu! And you get a Zhu Zhu! Everybody gets a Zhu Zhu!"

Your kids think Santa just *knows* what they want to find under the tree on Christmas morning, but what happens when Santa doesn’t really *know* what to leave?!?  Cool Baby Kid and The Not-So-Blog have compiled a list of the things our children are asking for this holiday season in hopes of helping parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and even Santa himself select a gift that brings magic, fun and a smile to the face of your child!

Keep in mind, the kids’ lists were WAY longer than we could post, so we picked the Top Ten Best Toys of 2009 (also known as “Things we would want Santa to leave our kids for Christmas” or “Mom approved gifts for our kids….no grandma, please DON’T buy my child another farting parrot…oh yes, it DID happen” ).

1. Tag and Tag Junior by Leapfrog

2.  Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia, LLC

3. Lifestyle Grand Walk-In Kitchen by Step 2

4.  DS Lite or DSi by Nintendo

5. Explore & Grow Busy Ball Popper by Playskool

6.  Smart Fit Park by Fisher Price

7.  Netpal by Disney

8.  Ripstick by Razor

9. Little Mommy Walk & Giggle Doll by Mattel

10. Just One Kiss Princess Tiana Doll by Mattel

Do you have another excellent toy suggestion?  What are your kids hoping shows up under the tree?  Leave a link to your child’s “must-have” item this year!  Make sure you leave the gender and age of the child along with the link (ie.  Girl, age 4, Zhu Zhu Pet)!

Bridgette and I were ecstatic this week when the LA Times picked up our How to Score a Zhu Zhu Pet post.  Sweet!  After reading the Brand X article, I noticed a reader’s comment that brought about some valid questions.

“Does just reading about this year’s Tickle Me Elmo make you feel tired?  The holidays are supposed to be a time to relax and have fun, not to get stuck running endless eleventh-hour errands to find elusive toy hamsters. We need to slow down Christmas, and start enjoying it. Kids need limits. This might be a good year to stick to 1 or 2 presents per kid under the tree, and focus on doing holiday activities together instead of buying all that junk. Just like there’s pressure to keep up with their classmates’ Christmas presents, my guess is if any of the other parents hear that you’ve opted out, they’ll be thrilled and relieved that they can do it too. Sanity is contagious.”

For some reason, we were not able to reply on the Brand X site, so we wanted to share our thoughts on this comment here.  We are NOT looking for a flame-throwing smackdown here, but we do want to know what other Moms think.   We feel as if the commenter has some valid points, but to illustrate our views, we wanted to share our stories:

Jennifer’s Story: I am 34 years old, and “the” toy when I was about 8 or so was the Cabbage Patch Doll. Bridgette and I lived across the street from one another and had another friend a few houses down.  They both had a Cabbage Patch doll and I didn’t….yet.  The reason I didn’t have one yet is because you couldn’t get one, much like the Zhu Zhu Madness going on right now.  I can vividly remember news footage showing rambunctious crowds of anxious mothers with their hands raised, clawing and fighting while store managers stood on ladders and tossed out Cabbage Patch boxes to the crowds.  If you caught one, you were lucky.  If you didn’t, you had to go home and break your child’s heart.  But from what I remember, you were just lucky if you didn’t get trampled!

My parents were never the kind to try and keep up with the Jones’ but for some reason Mom decided that I had to have one like everyone else.  It was probably because she was tired of hearing me beg for one!   She called everywhere, no luck.  Finally, after a lot of persistence, she hit the jackpot.  There was a Zayre’s store right by the house (do they have Zayre’s anymore?) and they had one.  ONE.  Mom, my little brother, and I headed out early and were there when the doors opened.  The manager handed over the box encased in two shopping bags that were sealed shut so no one could see what we were getting or a riot might ensue.  Mom let my brother get the Star Wars Ewok village to keep it fair, and we checked out as fast as we could.  Mom told us that was our little “Out of school for the summer” present.  My Cabbage Patch doll is now in my daughter’s toy box.

Bridgette’s story: I am 35, so my childhood was filled with much of the same “must have items” as Jennifer’s.  I, too, reeeeaaallllyyyyy wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid, and even though my Mom and Jennifer’s Mom stood in line together to try and score a Kid, they turned up empty handed (but probably went out for coffee afterwards).  While she tried as hard as she could, it was my Grandmother who fought the crowd and was lucky enough to snag one for me.  I still remember that her name was “Esther Morgana.”  Who comes up with those names, anyway?!?  Geesh.

So the point in telling you all this is to say that both of these stories turned into fond childhood memories.  We are glad that we remember our Moms going the extra mile to try and get something we really wanted.  Thanks, Mom!  Was our perception of Christmas ruined because we got the dolls we wanted?  No!  Do we now know the true meaning of Christmas? Sure!  Did our families still have quiet time together to enjoy the holidays?  You bet!  When we look back at our memories of Christmas, we remember the “must-have” gifts, but more than that, we remember the Christmas lights, the family parties, and going to midnight Mass.

Bridgette and I found the commenter’s points to be very thought-provoking.  It brings about the question of  what lengths other parents will go to in order to get the “in” thing and do you think it is detrimental to your child?   For our children, Zhu Zhu Pets are within financial reason and are age appropriate, so we will gladly go through a little “endless eleventh hour errand”  to try and get them.  Matter of fact, I think I can speak for my  other cohort in Zhu Zhu crime (my friend Kellee) when I say we actually enjoyed our two hour stint in line at the Wal Mart!  We got to chat for two whole hours without being interrupted!  It was quiet!  We relaxed!  We had fun!  Plus, we got a few good laughs at ourselves while we were there.  When we left shortly after midnight to head home Kellee actually hollered out from across the empty parking lot, “Another memory has been made!“  It’s not like we waited in line to get our five year olds some Madonna tickets.  It was a toy!  And while Christmas IS completely about slowing down, spending time together, and of course remembering the real reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place,  it is also very much about going the extra mile for those we love.  If it’s an eight dollar hamster, I’ll do it.  If it’s the $3,500 bracelet my daughter circled in the latest Tiffany and Co. catalog, I am setting a limit.

The commenter says “Sanity is contagious.”  He is right, but to quote the wise philosopher Jimmy Buffet, “If we all couldn’t laugh we’d all go insane.”  So, if waiting in line for an eight dollar hamster gets my daughter to smile, and I had a good time doing it, I am sticking with Jimmy.

So please, comment and tell us your thoughts!  Do you try and get the “new” thing for the kids if that’s what they want?  Do you put your foot down and say no?   How much is too much?  We can’t wait to see what you have to say on the subject!

~Jennifer and Bridgette

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.”

Other crazy people waiting in line for a 10 dollar hamster!

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!