Webkinz...HA!

[Linkavitch]

Hello, everyone. All right, who else has a little sister(or brother) who is completely obsessed with Webkinz? I mean, for those of you who don't know(lucky), Webkinz are stuffed animals, which you can buy anyway, and they come with an online code, which you can use to play free games online. Which you can do anyway. And then, you need to log in your pet so it won't die. So tell me, who agrees with me? Webkinz, on a stupidness scale of 1-10, these are an 11.

[Helanna]

HELL YES.

Seriously. This is one of the absolute worst money-making schemes. I understand most toy makers try to take advantage of children, and I find it despicable at the best of times, but this? This is just awful. Combining stuffed animals with free online games and then way over-charging you for both. And people still buy them! :smallconfused:

My sister spends more time with her friends online at Webkinz than she does in real life, which is kinda pathetic seeing as you can't say anything except some pre-set sentences (as far as I know, anyway).

I have to wonder at some of these marketing techniques. Of course they'll advertise and try to make their product seem best, but have you SEEN some of the crap they're putting out? I think what I hate most is probably the makeup for little girls. I've always been of the opinion that 6-year-olds should NOT look like little sluts, but apparently some people disagree. :smallannoyed:

If there is a redeeming feature to webkinz, someone let me know! I'd be interested in hearing this.

[Muz]

I hadn't even heard about this. My niece is nearing that age, so I'm sure I'll be hearing more about it. Wow. I miss the "good old days" when all we got were half-hour commercials for toys disguised as cartoons that would eventually get made into Michael Bay films.

...And those were cool, dagnabbit! :smallbiggrin:

[Volug]

Both my sisters. (They have seperate accounts)

And my mother, that uses my little sister's account, mostly to play Mahjong.

Wacky Zingozs!

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

You still get those commercials. Just with a new name. I'm foaming at the mouth looking for Animated Soundwave and Grimlock right now. 'Sall I'm sayin'.

Webkinz is, essentially, the unholy union of TY and Neopets (incidentally, TY's gone for the online thing too, now. I think Neopets has been branching off into real-world merchandise for a while...). Yes, it's vaguely horrible.

But it's cute to see the kids drool over them. "If I wuz you I'd get this one!" "Well if wuz you I'd get--if I wuz myself I'd get this one!" (real conversation I saw between two kids)

Okay, sorry. I really had nothing to add to this. I enjoy the children's outbursts too much.

[de-trick]

my 2 sisters were at a concert thingy for something or other, and there was a draw for a webkinz and we're like what in the h is that, and then some woman who was siting infront of us(we were making alot of noise about it) told us its a stuffed animal, Im like wow, thats so stupid, and then in my newspaper they have a ad for them(something like there weekly buddy) and I live in a small town.

Then when i was in the mall, my little sister grabbed some little stuffed animal, and im like no, its my computer, im not loosing computer time for u to play with a furry

[Kool-Aid]

I just don't get what all the hype is about, my 5 year old brother has one and I tried playing it but I was bored out of my mind, I don't know how it can hold the attention of even a 5 year old. Whatever happened to mario and sonic the hedgehog...

[Jack Squat]

Whatever happened to mario and sonic the hedgehog...

They're duking it out in Brawl.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6206/large20071010shashbrossnp3.jpg

[Thiel]

I've never heard of it before, but then again my kid ister is 17 so that probably explains it.
It reminds me of those little electronic toy that was popular some 8-10 years ago. Tamagochies, I think they were called. Granted, they didn't require you to keep purchasing stuff, but they did require something like hourly attention. My mom confiscated my littlesister's because she started to wake up at night in order to "feed" the damn thing.

[Moff Chumley]

I feel your collective pains. :smallfrown: My little cousin has become obsessed...

[King_of_GRiffins]

I've never heard of it before, but then again my kid ister is 17 so that probably explains it.
It reminds me of those little electronic toy that was popular some 8-10 years ago. Tamagochies, I think they were called. Granted, they didn't require you to keep purchasing stuff, but they did require something like hourly attention. My mom confiscated my littlesister's because she started to wake up at night in order to "feed" the damn thing.

Please don't remind me of that. My sister bought it when it was cool, then gave it to me once it started getting annoying. At least in the end I learned a valuable lesson about how to rip the batteries and living soul out of of an electronic device. :smallbiggrin:

As for this latest abomination, I don't need increased versatility of my stuffed animals. Isn't one of the lures of having a fuzzy critter on top of your computer the fact that it doesn't require your constant attention? Honestly, I think a toy that lures a 5-9 year old to spend all day at a computer taking care of a 'pet' is as bad as letting them sit 6 inches from the TV for 48 hours non-stop.

[de-trick]

I've never heard of it before, but then again my kid ister is 17 so that probably explains it.
It reminds me of those little electronic toy that was popular some 8-10 years ago. Tamagochies, I think they were called. Granted, they didn't require you to keep purchasing stuff, but they did require something like hourly attention. My mom confiscated my littlesister's because she started to wake up at night in order to "feed" the damn thing.

never mock my pet, kidding i didnot like them that much, me and my sister were into beenie babies, have like 2 tubs of them somewhere, with the tags on and unplayed with. My mom thought they would be worth alot of money but aren't, are they?

[Helanna]

Me and my sister had Tamogatchis when we were younger! They died. . . a lot . . . and we got bored pretty fast. Same thing with Furbies, and . . . well, pretty much anything that required an attention span. I weep for those parents that finally give in and buy a webkinz, just for the kid to get bored 3 days later.

My own sister's fascination tends to fade in and out. Must be a family trait, I do that all the time. One day I'll spend 8 hours playing a computer game and then won't play it for 2 months.

[Thiel]

Hype toys rarely are. Especially if they involve electronics.
Try taking a stroll down memory lane and see if you can find a single hype toy from your childhood that's worth money today.
Cappers (Plastic and cardboard discs with monsters on them - 13 years ago) certainly isn't and neither is Spinners (Same as Cappers, only now you don't shoot them with the plastic "clicker" but spin them like coins - 13 years ago) or Blobz (Brightly coloured plastic monsters - app. 10 years ago) for that matter.

What?

[Mr. Scaly]

I'm happy with my stuffed animals being cute and cuddly and not needing constant attention to survive, thank you very much.

[King_of_GRiffins]

I'm happy with my stuffed animals being cute and cuddly and not needing constant attention to survive, thank you very much.

A fellow after my own heart. :smallsmile: