When I adopted "Hopkinz," my Webkinz spotted frog, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I am 24 years old, but like hundreds of thousands of kids (and some adults) who have purchased the Webkinz stuffed animals/virtual pets, I was immediately sucked into the craze.
"It's the biggest fad I've ever seen," said Blythe Nelson, manager at Go Bananas in Brambleton Town Center, where the popular toys are sold for $13.99. "I remember the Beanie Baby thing. Those were cute and collectible, but this you can actually do something with."
Webkinz are stuffed animals that each come with a personalized "secret code" that allows buyers to adopt and register them online at www.webkinz.com .
There are almost 50 different types of the little creatures, produced by the Toronto-based company Ganz, and close to 30 "LilKinz," a smaller version of the stuffed animals, also available for sale in Hallmark stores and other gift stores, craft stores and toy stores.
Once a Webkinz or Lilkinz is registered online, its owner can name it, play with it, create a home for it and interact with other Webkinz users using the chat feature.
Webkinz users can also play games, answer trivia questions and win prizes on the Web site.
Nelson said the toys are extremely popular and they're hard to keep on the shelves of her Brambleton store.
"We got 36 beagles in one shipment, and they went in three hours," she said.
Go Bananas also typically receives about 50 to 60 calls a day from parents asking about Webkinz and which ones are available in the store.
"Kids these days are so technologically advanced," Nelson said. "[Webkinz] lets them play games, but it's also a teaching tool. It's amazing how popular it has become."
After officially registering my pet, Hopkinz the spotted frog, and spending about an hour and a half decorating his lily-pad-themed room, dressing him in clothes like snazzy sunglasses and playing games to win more "Kinzcash" (the play form of money on the site), I realized I, too, was addicted.
That first evening after I adopted him, I returned home from work and proceeded to check on Hopkinz twice to make sure his health, hunger and happiness meters were OK.
"Just like with any virtual pet, you have to feed it, play with it and take care of it," said Caroline Haddad, owner of Zazu, a gift shop in Ashburn that sells Webkinz. "We're kind of all addicted to it."
The Zazu staff adopted a cat named "Zazu99" on the site, and they often play with it online.
"We love it. It's fun," Haddad said. "Parents love them. I've got four kids ages 2 to 12, and they all love them. They can all play with it."
Haddad said her 12-year-old son, Nicholas, has even abandoned some of the more violent video games he used to play for Webkinz.
"It teaches the kids how to care for an animal and how to spend money," said Lisa Chapel, of Ashburn. "My son Ian is 6 and he loves it. It's his new favorite thing to do."
Chapel said she also likes Webkinz because it's "smart downtime" rather than playing video games or watching television.
Ganz releases new Webkinz each month, and special holiday-themed animals will come out for a limited time around Halloween, Christmas and other holidays.
The company has also begun to retire certain Webkinz, making them even more in demand.
The Webkinz brand is expanding to include trading cards, mouse pads and even lip gloss, Haddad said.
Zazu has formed a Webkinz registry and e-mail list for notifications on when new shipments come in.
"We have more than 150 people on it already," said Brooke Whittington, an employee there. "We have a grandmother that calls all the time, and every time a new one comes in she buys it.
"We had one woman in here who bought a gorilla Webkinz for her husband because he was playing on their daughter's account all the time."
Haddad said selling Webkinz has increased traffic to Zazu, especially from 3 to 5 p.m. when children are out of school.
"It's been very interesting," she said. "It's like a separate part of my business."
Parents are also amazed at how quickly the trend has caught on.
"Two months ago I didn't even know what they were," said Julie Hancher, of Leesburg, whose three children, Kyle, 5, Christopher, 7, and Holly, 9, love Webkinz. "They all three love to get new ones, then they register them and they take them to school every day. It's crazy."
Hancher said each of her children has a couple of the toys, but she's stocking up on especially hard-to-find Webkinz like the new beagle and the polar bear.
"They're great birthday presents," she said. "My son just got a check in the mail for $25 for his birthday and all he wants to spend it on is Webkinz."
As for me, it's been a week since I adopted Hopkinz and he is still in good health and happy in his little home. I even earned enough Kinzcash to buy him a small backyard with a hammock where he can rest and a pool for him to swim. Maybe one day I'll adopt some more Webkinz to be his friends!
From: Whitty
cool Lol!!