317 of 364 people found the following review helpful:
Parents don't be suckered!
This is a great toy and my little ones love them, I am angry that all these vendors are selling them for so much, be patient and go to Toys r us or Walmart, they are priced at $8.00. Because they are not in stock every where these greedy people are taking of advantage of Parents looking for the perfect gift!
144 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
this is just a cat toy really
After much hype and anticipation, we finally got mr squiggles today. The kids played with him for about 30 secs. and he was put down. I think this product was a little oversold. As far as I can tell, it does nothing but run though its toys making farm animal sounds. It also has a function where it doesn't run, it just makes cooing noises. I really don't see the...
This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
After much hype and anticipation, we finally got mr squiggles today. The kids played with him for about 30 secs. and he was put down. I think this product was a little oversold. As far as I can tell, it does nothing but run though its toys making farm animal sounds. It also has a function where it doesn't run, it just makes cooing noises. I really don't see the "personality" on display. If you buy this for your child for christmas, make sure you have a back up gift. This will probably not be a big hit by christmas afternoon.
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
This is a great toy and my little ones love them, I am angry that all these vendors are selling them for so much, be patient and go to Toys r us or Walmart, they are priced at $8.00. Because they are not in stock every where these greedy people are taking of advantage of Parents looking for the perfect gift!
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
Got this today for $8 at Walmart. Super fun and cute for my 2 1/2 year old twins BUT within 20 minutes they removed the heating vent cover and dropped it in my duct work where it is now running around..so keep away from the vents HA! And don't spend this much $$ on them...
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
My three year old got Mr. Squiggles for his birthday from Grandma--and none of us realized that there was a frenzy surrounding these toys until later. I'd say that for the amusement factor, the toy is almost worth the MSRP. It's kind of silly, emitting clucking, honking and mooing noises as it zooms around. But there's not a lot of play value--and as I suggested above, it is somewhat dangerous. The motor driving the wheels is fast and strong, and will easily wind up hair, necessitating an emergency haircut and causing a certain amount of tears. Also, the same nefarious wheels gave my wife a painful pinch on the hand. So beware. And, as a caveat, I'd certainly hope no pays out the nose for one of these. I'd predict, typically, that they'll be belly up in the toy box within a week.
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
I had never heard of this toy till recently and lucked out by stumbling upon them at TRU. It's really a cute toy, but the sounds the hamster makes are a little strange: rooster crowing, cow mooing, etc. Strange noises for a hamster, lol. My daughter really loves it, and it is adorable as it runs around on the floor. As the toy's warning states on the bottom, do not get this near your hair because it will wind it up on the back wheels. Also, it picks up fuzz and animal hair on the floor so you will periodically need to get some tweezers out to get all the crud out so it can resume normal speeds. Haven't gotten any of the accessories for this rodent because they can't be found.
That said, the stores do need to put a limit on how many you can buy then more families will be able to buy for their children rather than eBay sellers out to make a profit. When I got this one, I bought two - one for my daughter's bday and one to hold for her Christmas present. However, the store had a limit of 4. I think that's excessive in light of them being in such hot demand and short supply.
I hope I'm not in the minority who refuses to pay more than $[...] for these things (which is what I paid). Parents are nuts if they pay $[...] for this. It's not worth that much money, and your child will be just as happy with something else. Seriously.
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
With my 5 year-old's insistence in getting this toy for Christmas, I was close to caving-in and paying the inflated on-line price for this product. GLAD I DIDN'T! After considerable time and effort, I was able to purchase a hamster and maze accessory from one of the local retailers at retail price. Feeling somewhat triumphant, I decided to open the toy and see what the hype was about. What a joke! It "beeps," buzzes and hums its way along the floor and through the maze . . . and should be entertaining for about 5 minutes. Coincidentally, my child's enthusiasm over this toy began to fizzle about 1 day after I found it! Glad I didn't blow the whole Christmas budget paying on-line prices for these items! Fortunately, I reserved some funds for Rock-'em, Sock-'em Robots, Hot Wheels sets, and the other tried, tested and true toys.
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
We had been looking for one of these for our daughter (age 7) since she asked for a real hamster just a week or so ago. I finally found some of the accessories at retail, and decided to try to fight what has been termed here the "price-gouging" of these toys on Amazon by offering them at my cost to other parents. Not so straight-forward as it might sound, as it turns out.
Well...my COST (for example, the medium-sized ($18) accessory) was retail price plus sales tax (=$19.62)
Amazon charges a base fee of $0.99 PLUS 15% of an item's sale price PLUS the shipping allowance (yes, they even take a commission on the shipping charge, which in this case is $5.99) So, Amazon's commission fee is $0.99 + 0.15(23.10 + 5.99) + an additional amount I haven't figured out yet. On this particular sale, Amazon's commission would be $6.88 (as quoted by Amazon on the "sell an item" page).
Wait...it gets better. Due to the high cost of postage, $5.99 doesn't even begin to cover what it costs to mail the item to someone in PA, CT, FL, etc. Actual cost via USPS is $11-13 priority mail, and even more via parcel post (as if that makes any sense)! The least expensive way I could find to ship it was FedEx Ground at $9.04-$9.53 depending on the state.
So, to BREAK EVEN on the purchase and try to get the toy to someone else who can't find one, I would have to sell the medium-size ($18 retail) toy for $35-36! (Twice the retail price)
That was a bit unexpected, since I was convinced these sellers were taking people to the cleaners.
Obviously, most sellers aren't going to go through all the hassle of buying, listing, and shipping for no profit, so I can now see why these crazy toys cost so much via 3rd party sellers on Amazon.
However, at 4-5 times retail, I do believe the pricing becomes more than a bit predatory.
Just wanted to share some insight into the pricing issue.
Yes, Amazon IS to blame, but not for "allowing" the double-size pricing; they actually are the root cause of the problem, because the price charged by sellers must cover not only their acquisition cost but Amazon's more than 15% commission fees as well, and the USPS just adds to the problem with horrendous shipping costs.
Perhaps what we need to do is set up a parents' network where parents can find/swap/sell things for actual acquisition cost without so much overhead that the only one making money is a huge venue site. (Just a thought)
*Since I still have not been able to find this particular toy to BUY it, I gave a median score across the board.
UPDATE: 12.15.09
Finally found one at retail today ($7.99) at Target, which has gone to a very fair ONE-per-customer purchase limit (YAY Target!)
Contact your local Target, and if they have not gone to this new 1-per-customer limit, petition them to do so, as there is still enough time before the blessed event to allow those still searching to be able to acquire one if Target stores adhere to this new limit.
As for the review, we are obviously giving this as a gift for our daughter, but the box has a hole in it so you can press the little guy's nose, and he does make some awfully cute sounds. (Not wanting to wear out the battery we didn't hit the button too many times, but he coos, gurgles, and "purrs" (I think)?).
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
I ordered the Zhu Zhu pets and some accessories from the Amazon vendors because my daughter wanted them for her birthday and our local Wal-Mart wasn't going to have them in-stock until after. My bad! What cost me $179.00 for some Zhu Zhu pets/accessories and shipping would have cost about $30.00 had I waited for Wal-Mart to stock them. I've always been pleased with what I've purchased from Amazon, but this was a MAJOR disappointment. The toys are great. My daughter loves them. But they were totally overpriced. Don't buy these on Amazon!
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This review is from: Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Mr. Squiggles - Light Brown (Toy)
with all the hype I was expecting so much more. What a dud! I think the "hottest" toys usually turn out to be the worst toys. My child played with this for 15 minutes and now it's collecting dust with all her other faddy toys. A real piece of junk! Not worth more than $5.
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