ZhuZhu Pets

Inventor
 Produced
Original Series:
10 Special Edition
5 Unreleased
 Companies:

*This article is about the original 2009 line. For the 2017 Reboot, click here, and for the 2024 Reboot, click Zhu Zhu Pets (Reboot 2024). This article is about the Zhu Zhu Pets franchise as a whole, for the specific toyline, click here.*

The first era of Zhu Zhu pets, called ran from 2009 to 2013. In the original line alone, there were 40 regular pets, along with seven special edition pets, as well as a lot of unreleased and prototype models. ZhuZhu Pets are an electronic hamster owned by Cepia LLC. The original 2009 release which went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 2009, with continual sales until 2013.

## Release

*Zhu Zhu Pets were created by Russ Hornsby for his St. Louis company, Cepia LLC.* Released in 2009, Zhu Zhu Pets was a major success commercially. They were initially retailed for US $9 but demand during the craze drove the resale price over US $60 and sometimes as high as several hundred dollars. To capitalize on the success of Zhu Zhu Pets, Cepia released loads of merchandise, games and two movies to promote the brand. *In 2012 the popularity diminished, and **the original Zhu Zhu Pets and related toylines were quietly discontinued in 2013.***

Each ZhuZhu Pet differs visually, from the patterns to the type of Zhu; they all each had a different birthmark. These birthmarks varied from a slice of pizza to a pair of shoes and expressed their personality and lifestyle.

#### Designer

ZhuZhu Pets has had several designers throughout the years, Such as Dana Stewart, Ryan Lee and James Keefe (Package designer).

#### *GoodGuide Mistake*

In December 2009, testing done by the consumer organization GoodGuide was initially thought to have found more than the allowed level of the toxic, silvery metalloid antimony in the Mr. Squiggles toy. After a review, regulators from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the toy was within the "very protective" standard. GoodGuide subsequently issued an apology saying that their testing methods (which checked for surface toxins) were different from the federal standards (which check for soluble toxins.)

## Zhu Zhu Pet Internals

*Main article: Zhu Zhu Pets/Technical Information*
## List of Zhu Zhu Pets

***Click here for the full list of Zhu Zhu Pets.***

When first released, there were ten series of regular pets, seven special edition pets and five unreleased pets.

### *Special Editions*

Click here for the full list of Special Edition ZhuZhu Pets.

There are several special edition pets. Most were made for promotional collabs or special game releases.

### *Unreleased Zhu Zhu Pets*

Click here and here for a list of unreleased Zhu Zhu Pets.

Series 11 and a few special editions never made it to release. A ton of unreleased toys from across all lines had been scrapped. *These also include prototypes.*

## Zhu Zhu Pets (2017)

*Main article: Zhu Zhu Pets Reboot*
The Zhu Zhu Pets brand was rebooted when an animated series, The ZhuZhus, aired on September 12, 2016 on Disney Channel in the United States. Starting August 2017, A new line of Zhu Zhu Pets were released by Spin Master.

## Zhu Zhu Pets (2024)

*Main article: Zhu Zhu Pets (Reboot 2024)*
The Zhu Zhu Pets are coming back once again, getting another rebrand in 2024 for their 15th anniversary. In May 2023, Cepia LLC filed a trademark for 'ZhuZhu'. The Trademark is currently pending at this time. In early June 2023, The Zhu Zhu Pets website removed information from their previous Zhu Zhu Pets Reboot that was released in 2017, which was based off their animated series, The ZhuZhus. The site now shows a simple white screen with text reading "All New ZhuZhu Coming Soon" (Any URLs to zhuzhupets.com or related pages will redirect to the site with the new written text or a 404 Not Found error). Around early October, it was revealed in the New York Toy Fair 2023 that ZhuZhu Pets will be first coming back in the Spring of 2024 as 'Zhu Zhu Aquarium'.

## Trivia

* A knock-off of Zhu Zhu Pets emerged during 2010 called Furry Frenzies, which featured other animals. This inspired Zhu Zhu Pets to release non-hamster spinoff lines starting in 2011 for the Kitten and Puppies line.
* **Cepia encourages collecting of ZhuZhu Pets**.

## References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZhuZhu\_Pets
2. https://www.coroflot.com/danastewart/ZhuZhu-Pets
3. https://www.zhuzhupets.com/