It seems like the frenzy may not have fully hit Knoxville/East Tennessee yet, but I think a full blown Webkinz craze may be coming. It may actually already exist here, but I was unaware of it. I am admittedly out of touch with what is “cool” with young kids, and I have been for quite a while. I know of, but am not completely knowledgeable about Thomas the Train and Dora the Explorer, but I had never even heard of Webkinz until this weekend.
My sister in law and her kids, 10 and 7 years old, are visiting from Florida, and they were super excited the other day after they got home from Dollywood. Not because of the rides they rode, but because of the huge selection of Webkinz that were available for purchase there.
I got a quick rundown from them about Webkinz, and it actually sounds like a pretty cool idea. It is a pretty simple concept, and is completely viral in terms of web use and marketing.
First, you buy a Webkinz plush toy. This toy comes with a code that you enter online where you then adopt and name a virtual version of this “pet”. You get to build a room for your virtual pet, then participate in all sorts of activities online that allow you to build up virtual cash to buy more cool things for your pet.
If you are like me and had not heard of Webkinz before, look out. It seems to be the latest thing, and I actually get why.
The Webkins craze is here and has been for several months. Trust me on this one… Welcome to my world.
Its actually not a bad thing except it causes my kids to want to hit the internet pretty regularly so they can feed their pet, water their garden, etc. Oh, Ummmm, kind of like blogging, I guess…
The part I left out of the story, and why I think the craze isn’t full blown here yet, is that they were really excited because there were so many Webkinz available here that are next to impossible to get in FL because the stores are always sold out.
People I work with seem to be in the same boat as you though.
Up until just a few weeks ago, they were impossible to find here as well. There were stories of kids and parents staking out Hallmark stores just to watch for the UPS truck to arrive to see if there was a Webkinz box in that day’s delivery… no kidding. Happily, the local stock has been adequately replinished.