I’m really annoyed this morning. Two things my daughter really wanted for the holidays were Zhu Zhu Pets and Paperoni. She got them both over the weekend for Hanukkah — and both turned out to be crap toys.
She giggled uncontrollably last night as her Zhu Zhu hamster scuttled across the floor, bumped into the wall, backed up and turned around. It was pretty cute. This morning she played with it again and it wouldn’t move across the floor. New batteries were installed. No improvement. I inspected the critter for hair wound around the wheels or other problems. Can’t see any issues, other than the wheels just not turning fast enough to move the pet. Perhaps I just got a lemon. It’s really disappointing.
Then we moved on to Paperoni. Opened the package and immediately noticed the tweezers were missing. There is a distinct spot in the packaging where they *should* be – and it’s empty. No big deal, I have tweezers (but still? annoying.). Then we tried to squeeze out the glue. This is how it looked:
Lumpy. Nearly hardened. Grrr… So we’re trying it with good old Elmer’s glue. We’ll see how that goes.
She did get one gift that is really terrific: The Fairytale Spinner Game
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a shame. It stinks when cute little kids are disappointed because companies don’t do proper quality control. Hopefully you can find their Twitter site and give them hell!
PS: I’m the same way about CommentLuv. I love that feature that shows your last post, but it works about 50% of the time for me. I’ve opened 3 tickets with them, but it’s still hit ‘n miss. Grrrr.
Most frustrating – I’m aiming at buying ‘natural’ gifts for my daughter, once she gets a bit older, like your spinner game. Things that encourage imagination. Hope she gets better gifts for Christmas! (Do you celebrate both?)
Well, it’s a complicated situation that probably would make an interesting blog post. My husband is Jewish, but very reformed. I grew up in a non-practicing catholic environment, but am now atheist. When we married, I agreed to raise the kids with Jewish traditions. So we do Hanukkah in our home, but visit my family and do Christmas.
This is good to now! My daughter will be getting a zhu zhu too, and I hope that ours doesnt turn out this way. I might just hold off on buying any accessories just yet.
Shannon´s last post: Holiday Lantern From a Balloon
I don’t think my boys know what a Zhu Zhu pet is. Saw the Paperoni in Walmart and did not buy it. Is it bunched up colored toilet paper?
I hate when kids get disappointed after wanting something all year.
Amanda´s last post: Let It Snow!
Amanda, it’s rolled up pieces of crepe paper – like streamers. It actually worked OK with regular Elmer’s glue. My daughter made a unicorn and she can play with it – although rough play would cause it to fall apart. Still, not a total waste of money. :-)
Shannon´s last post: What Not To Buy For Christmas
Thank you so much for putting this info out there. I saw Paperoni at Target the other day a wondered about. I absolutely don’t get the Zhu Zhu pet phenomenon, but I guess it’s better than cleaning a real hampster cage, right? I’ve been really disappointed with the ever-declining quality of toys. Every year they seem to get junkier and junkier. So sad. Where’s Gepetto, when we need him?
As a Mom to teens, I am thankful that I will not be caught up in the Zhu Zhu pet thing. However, I do remember that I got suckered into the FURBY thing……..It’s never a good thing when the dream toy does not function properly! Hope Christmas morning goes better! Enjoying your blog~ I found you through twitter @saramomof2
Sara Broers´s last post: Our life with a teen driver in the house!
Twitter: aintyomamasblog
December 19, 2009 at 2:27 am
Ugh, that’s terrible! I hate junky toys.
I’m with so many others – I just don’t get the Zhu Zhu craze. But I have a two year old boy that could play a paper towel roll all day, so what do I know?
Aimee @ Ain’t Yo Mama’s Blog´s last post: Foodie Friday: Lotsa Latkes
Don’t u just love when that must have toy turns out to be crap!? Ugh , my DD wants a Zhu Zhu pet badly but I am not sure if I am sold on them yet …. she already has so many toys, can’t she want something useful or crafty we can do together?! Happy Sits Sharefest Saturday!
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I hate when toys don’t ‘work’ out the way they are supposed to.
:(
Visiting from SITS…wanted to say hello and happy Saturday.
The Rambler´s last post: Dear Grumbly Letters…
Sorry that her toys did not work out. We actually bought our son a cheap spin on the wheel hamster for about $5. I am hoping it works. He doesn’t care about Zhu Zhu pets or anything. He just loves Baby Einstein and one of his favorite parts is a toy hamster spinning on a wheel. Wish me luck! Stopping by from SITs by the way.
Marie´s last post: Watching God Made Christmas
Yea, maybe you got a Zhu Zhu lemon. Ours zooms all over the place with each new battery. I’ve never heard of Paperoni… Sorry those didn’t work out.
Twitter: dawneing
December 27, 2009 at 8:38 am
My 12 yo got a Zhu Zhu Hamster… it ran across the floor without a problem, actually it went up my pant leg no problem too… then smart child that she is reads the instructions and see that is should not be put near hair…Why? she wonders as she sticks the darn thing on her head of long brown hair… Well now she knows why… darn lucky kid did not have to have the hamster cut out of her head… too bad I was thinking a big bald spot might be good for her…
Don’t know if the thing works after the ‘in the hair’ episode, but if it doesn’t she is not getting a new one… only got that one cuz it doesn’t eat or poop… it can not do those things while not roaming the house … means it can’t crawl up my pants anymore too… works for me!
Dawn´s last post: Dawning: Someone actually said "Happy Christmas Day 2" to me yesterday and I thought, "Who the Hell made it into a Sequel? The original was painful enough!!!"
I have had no luck with Christmas toys. Most are already falling apart–Barbi three musketeer carriage, door fell off as i was opening package and will not go back on- Dora wont connect to the internet-etc.etc.– I usually tell everyone not to buy the “in” toys but this year i thought i would let my girl get all the commercial toys they had been wanting, so i let the grandparents go crazy, NONE OF THE TOYS WERE WORTH THE PRICE! Well ok mabye BABY Woopsie doo, I like her but only because my 4 year old loves her, why ,who knows but she is getting lots of love.
Next Year we will not be wasting everyone s Money.
Hey, Zhu Zhu Pets rock!(sometimes obviously not)
Thank you for you Blog Post, now i know what i will NOT Buy!
My boys weren’t into zhu zhu pets but last year it was the remote controlled helicopters. One worked for about a day and the other was broken in the package. Apparently someone broke theirs and returned it to the store. The store put it out on the shelves. Christmas morning two of my boys open similar gifts and one’s a dud. The real kicker is about two weeks after Christmas, I had already returned the broken helicopter and went looking for another one. Don’t you know, that I found the same broken one on the shelf. I took it to the store manager who cut the box so it couldn’t be sold again.
That’s a shame that neither product worked. I don’t get the whole attraction of the Paperoni, it seems like kids could roll or wad up their own paper and make stuff out of it. More creative and less costly! A bunch of tissue paper costs, what, a dollar?! Construction paper is pretty cheap too! My kids see the ads and want Paperoni too, but so far they haven’t gotten it.
My kids both have ZhuZhu pets and so far, so good. I resisted because another mom told me about the hair entanglement issue, and my daughter just turned 4 and has long, fine hair so I was worried she wouldn’t understand. But both she and her 8 YO brother got them and for the moment anyway they’re working fine! They both want a real live pet of their own so the ZhuZhus are a good alternative. 8-)
Isn’t it amazing how much fun kids have with the Zhu Zhu pets? Such a simple idea that provides hours of entertainment. I’ll have to check out the Fairytale Spinner Game. We’re a household of game lovers but I never heard of this one.
Tina @ Ride on toys´s last post: Push Ride On Toys That Help Your Toddler Walk
It may sounds crazy to everybody but I want to install some classic hardwood floor at home for this Christmas and as well buy a new digital camera. May be I can handle it with the floor but the camera that I want will be a bit more on top, so probably next Christmas.