Hot hamsters are hard to find
The hamster hunt is on.
Heading into the holiday season, Zhu Zhu Pets are the hottest, hardest toy to find. Retailers, from Walmart to small independent shops, can't order enough of the little motorized hamsters that squeak and dart around the house. And the accessories - including a pet bed and blanket and hamster wheel and tunnel - are just as hard to find.
When word got out that Glen Ellyn's Learning Express toy store received a shipment of Zhu Zhu Pets, about 150 people lined up before the store opened and the supply sold out quickly.
"The phone is now ringing off the hook with people asking for the toy and its accessories," said store owner Randy Horn.
"Zhu Zhu Pets and all the accessories are huge," agreed John Flanagan, owner of Learning Express in Algonquin.
He received a shipment of 160 of the hamsters a couple of weeks ago, and they sold out in four hours, he said.
"I wish I would have ordered 1,000 of them," he said with a laugh.
With names like PipSqueak, Chunk and Num Nums, the little critters that fit into the palm of your hand sell for between $10 and $15. The demand has sparked a furry of sales on eBay where the pets are selling for more than $40.
"It's a huge hit," said Rick Derr, owner of Learning Express stores in Lake Zurich and Barrington. He sold out of his shipment of 144 hamsters in about three hours. Derr said he's hoping for more of the toys by the end of the month.
Part of the attraction is that the animated hamsters are programmed with "artificial intelligence" that allows them to know what room of their hamster habitat they are in. They make toilet-flushing or teeth-brushing sounds when they enter the bathroom, for instance, and sleeping noises and alarm-clock sounds when they go into their bedroom.
Toys R' Us, also sold out of the hot toy, is using the pet hamster as a Black Friday promotion. The first 100 customers in line at the toy stores will be given a ticket for an opportunity to purchase a Zhu Zhu Pet. Stores open on midnight on Thursday, Nov. 26.
Other retailers, including Derr's Learning Express stores, will announce when they receive shipments through Facebook.
"We want our valued customers to have first crack at them," Derr said.
Retailers are attempting to determine if the hamster is a quick fad, or if it's a toy that will stick around for a while. Whatever the case, the pets are popular for elementary-aged children. The toy was tested in Arizona in May and took off.
"It's a perfect storm in terms of hot toys," Horn said. "They have tried to ramp up the production, but they can't keep up. Everyone wants what they can't find."