The Webkinz Pet Toys Reviews

Are Webkinz the next TY Beanie Babies? This article looks deeper into the Webkinz craze to find out.

The Webkinz Craze
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Rufus_Jones]Rufus Jones

It has been a while since the last toy craze, I believe it was the Tickle Me Elmo toy that sparked the last one. Before that the Beanie Babies craze was in full swing and collecting was fun and often quite lucrative. The newest is the Webkinz craze. It is hard to predict how long the Webkinz craze will continue. The Beanie Babies craze seemed to bottom out overnight, leaving serious investment collectors holding a lot of toys that were suddenly not worth a hill of beans.

Since these stuffed toys also offer a one year membership to each child that registers a new Webkinz or Lil’Kinz toy on the Webkinz website, their popularity may hang tough in the long run. The Webkinz site promises to add new and exciting activities on a regular basis. I believe if they do keep the website interesting, the Webkinz craze will last a good, long time. One thing is for certain, kids need a stimulating reason to continue on with an activity, most of them have a shorter attention span.

The Webkinz website offers many different activities for kids, and a chance to earn KinzCash that is used to keep their virtual pet happy and healthy by purchasing different items for them at the Webkinz store. I believe the KinzCash can be used to purchase other Webkinz at the store. Any child with access to a home computer is a likely candidate to be a Webkinz pet owner. This is the reason I believe the Webkinz craze will last longer than the toy manias of the past. I think the Webkinz craze could last quite a few years.

Ganz, the makers of Webkinz, have very clever marketing strategies in place. First of all the idea that a subscription to the website will only last one year, and then another Webkinz must be registered, which will extend the subscription for another year, and so on. This assures future sales of the toy because the child will not want to give up the subscription and most parents will comply. The second ingenious marketing strategy is the fact that all Webkinz are retired after a certain time. This creates a huge demand, and a scramble to get that particular toy. This drives the price of the toy through the roof, check out some of the high prices on Ebay if you want to see just how much they are going for. We may be in for some bloody battles among parents as they fight for that elusive toy which is, of course, the only one their child thinks they need.

Not only are kids of elementary school age crazy about Webkinz, but more often kids in their teens are into these cuddly stuffed toys with a virtual side. Right now the Webkinz Clydesdale is not readily available, not because he is retired, but because his debut has been delayed. This also causes a scramble and a flood of pre-orders to assure the ownership of the toy. I think that Webkinz are a great toy for kids, not only does it teach responsibility, but it will allow younger children to learn how to use a computer and the internet. In this information age, it is essential to know these things to eventually get a decent job and a head-start couldn’t hurt.

Many parents have voiced a concern over letting their children participate in an online chat. The Webkinz website has strict precautions in place when it comes to that. Younger children are not allowed to type an answer in chat, they need to choose one of 900 pre-designed phrases in a drop down menu. No personal identification is asked for, so there is no way to find out anything about another. Older children are allowed to type when chatting, but must use those words that are predetermined in the website dictionary.

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Does your child want a Webkinz Cheeky Dog or Cheeky Cat? Have you checked the price for the retired Webkinz Cheeky Dog lately? It’s very far from the low $9.99 or $11.99, as most current webkinz sell for. How much is it and why is it so much more? What other retired webkinz will have the price go so high in the future?

Retired Webkinz – Investment Strategy For Your Retirement?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Igor_Simak]Igor Simak

Webkinz and Lil Kinz toys are becoming more popular every day. What are Webkinz? If you have an elementary or middle school kid in your house, you already know the answer to this question. If not, in 2006 GANZ company opened a Webkinz World web site for kids and started producing two kinds of plushy toys – Webkinz (the bigger ones) and Lil Kinz (the smaller ones). These “cute critterz” quickly gained popularity among kids and their parents in 2007 and 2008.

In 2007 GANS company started “retiring” some of their webkinz. It does not mean however that they will not “work” any longer. Retired webkinz can still be adopted and their secret code should still work with the Webkinz World web site. All it means is that the GANZ company will no longer produce and sell particular webkinz. These webkinz and lil’ kinz will be discontinued or “retired”.

Right after GANZ announces retirement of some webkinz, that’s when the webkinz community quickly jumps on buying up the to-be-retired webkinz. The more people want to buy, the more demand grows for these webkinz and lil kinz, and they quickly disappear from the store shelves. And, of course, people start buying just retired or to-be-retired webkinz on the Internet which results in shortage of webkinz. Shortage of these virtual pets and more people still wanting them increases the price of these “critterz”. The basic law of economics tells us that more demand and less supply drive the price for goods higher, so some of retired webkinz prices simply go through the roof.

For instance, let’s examine what happened to the Retired Webkinz Cheeky Dog. Since GANZ discontinued it in Summer 2007, it has become one of the hottest and hard to find item on the market. Most places now have it out of stock or with a very expensive price tag. But a year ago you could easily find this plushy toy for only $11.95 or less in many retail stores. But look at it now – PriceGrabber returns two listings for Amazon: $989.95 and $1,199.99. That’s 10,000% difference in price! Friend of mine mentioned to me recently seeing a lot of 6 Cheeky Dogs for $3,600! That’s $600 per retired Cheeky Dog – not a bad deal you may think – but spending that much on a small plush toy? Even $600 is 5,000% – the numbers are insane!

Another example is the Retired Webkinz Cheeky Cat. Similar story, except the price tag is not as high yet. You can still find it for around $200 on the Internet. It’s currently listed on Amazon for $299. That’s still a huge profit – 2,500% from the original $12.

Are you thinking about adding the next retired webkinz or lil kinz to your retirement portfolio? What other investments will give you such a high return? And these numbers are just after 1 year!

Well, this may be a stretch. Who knows how long the webkinz craze is going to be around and nobody really knows what webkinz are going to rise in price as much as the Retired Webkinz Cheeky Dog and Cat did, but even if the price of the future Retired Webkinz goes to $25, that’s 100% return. Not bad at all.

You can often find a good deal for retired webkinz online.
Here is a good place to search for retired webkinz and lil kinz: http://webkinz.mystoregate.com/Webkinz/Retired-Webkinz

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