Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Guide

If you don’t know by now, there’s a new toy in town that is set to dominate the holiday season. The name of the toy line used to be Go Go Pets but is now known as Zhu Zhu Pets. The initial roll out by Cepia LLC was beyond their wildest dreams. They had expected a great reception but found that they were inundated with orders after the furry little robots plush toys were displayed.

There are the five current hamster characters in the interactive toy line. They come with a host of creature comforts that would make any real pet envious. They have been built with what seems to be rudimentary AI (artificial intelligence) that works through their sensors. This all sounds very sci-fi but when you hold one of these animatronic plush toys in your hands, it responds in a very life-like way.

You can set the toy’s response mode to Loving/nurturing or Explore/adventure. They zip along on any hardwood or tile floor and seem to know what they are doing. The sensor underneath their bodies seems to get them to react to their environment. This is evident especially when they are in their personal habitat. The Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters will emit a variety of sounds depending on their surroundings. When they enter their bathroom, you will hear brushing of teeth or flushing sounds. They emit sleeping sounds when they are in their beds.

You can get quite a few accessories for these little scampering balls of fur. Here are few “must have” accessories for the kids:

• Hamster funhouse
• Hamster wheel and tunnel
• Hamster-mobile and garage
• Spiral slide and ramp
• Adventure ball
• Surfboard and sleep dome
• Skateboard and U-turn
• Pet bed and blanket
• Pet carrier and blanket

You’ll want to keep an eye on the wallet because they will be coming out with more items if the expected reception for Zhu Zhu hamsters continues to reach fever pitch. The prices for the individual pieces are going up. Who knows what will happen if you decide to wait until the holiday shopping season begins? Collectors are already stocking up in hopes that this is the next big thing. They are looking at the line up and hedging their bets on the hamsters.

These robotic interactive rodent creatures are definitely the start of a new trend. If they take off at the level everyone is anticipating, next year you’ll see even more advanced versions of these types of toys. For now they are appealing to the younger audience ages 3 to 5 and as old as eight, but it won’t be long before they’re able to take other toy market niches to a whole new level.

The sophisticated computing that goes into creating the life-like movements in the Zhu Zhu Pet hamsters is just the start of a trend that will eventually lead to more advanced products. For now I’m pretty excited about the furry little robots.