Group contends popular Zhu Zhu Pets toys unsafe!

[Newsbot]

ST. LOUIS – A consumer group contends one of the holiday season's must-have toys is unsafe.

ADVERTISEMENT

But the maker of the robotic Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters defended its product Saturday against a study by San Francisco-based GoodGuide that said higher-than-allowed levels of the chemical antimony were found in the toy.

Good Guide named Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters one of the top-selling toys with low ratings after finding antimony, which can cause health problems, on the hair and nose of one of the toy hamsters, called Mr. Squiggles.

The group assigned the toy, aimed at 3- to 10-year-olds, a rating of 5.2 on a 10-point scale.

But the toy's maker, St. Louis-based Cepia LLC, insisted in a statement that its product is safe and has passed rigorous testing. The company said it was contacting GoodGuide to share its testing data and determine how the report was founded.

"I have been in the toy industry for more than 35 years, and being a father of children myself, I would never allow any substandard or unsafe product to hit the shelves," Russ Hornsby, Cepia's CEO, said in the statement.

Zhu Zhu Pets, which retail for about $10, have become this season's toy craze, following in the footsteps of Tickle Me Elmo and Cabbage Patch Kids. The items fetch $40 or more on resale Web sites like eBay and Craigslist.

That's what brought it to GoodGuide's attention. GoodGuide CEO Dara O'Rourke told The Associated Press on Saturday that his group bought three of each of the year's 30 hottest toys and tested them multiple times.

Antimony was measured at 93 parts per million in the hamster's fur and at 106 parts per million in its nose. Both readings exceed the allowable level of 60 parts per million, said O'Rourke, an associate professor of environmental science at the University of California, Berkeley.

O'Rourke said GoodGuide's test results, released Friday, also indicated the possibility that some toys contained phthalates, chemicals that were subject to tougher standards in the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act passed last year.

In a possibly related story, Bizarro The Grin was treated Sunday for antimony poisoning, and underwent twelve emergency enemas to clean caked-on antimony from the inside of his ass.

[Bizarro The Grin]

dAMN STRAIGHT! iT WOULD'VE BEEN FIFTEEN, BUT MY INSURANCE ONLY COVERS TWELVE. lUCKILY, rOGUE ii'S DADDY WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO TOSS MY SALAD A FEW TIMES AFTERWARD, AND NOW MY ASS FEELS NICE AND CLEAN!

[Ran]

Great. Between my mom and my wife, I think the kids are getting the whole Zhu Zhu pet set for Christmas.

[Diabolical]

I happened to find two a while back for my niece's birthday. It was the only thing she wanted for her birthday. My wife and I searched for 6 weeks trying to help my sister-in-law find some with no luck. We'd all but given up until I was at Walmart at 2am on Halloween (AKA zero hour aka my niece's birthday) when I stumbled across 3 on the shelves. I bought 2 (due to Walmart's limit) but probably could have snagged all 3 because the lady working didn't even look at 'em.

I'm going to keep looking for the next few weeks and throw that shit on ebay.

[anarky]

I'd seen signs about limits, but never actually seen one of these until this article (and spots on the TV news about the same issue). They look stupid, to be totally blunt.

[Diabolical]

They look stupid, to be totally blunt.

Yeah, pretty much.
That being said it's been a month and a half and my niece still plays with them all the time, even the one that broke within a week, which is a near record for a 6-year-old.

[Ran]

They look stupid, to be totally blunt.

True, but we're not 3-10 year old girls.

[Senor JabbaJohnL]

As it turns out, they're safe. Looks like the company who ran the tests used different, incorrect criteria, or something.

Anyway, what in the hell is the point of these? Why not just get an actual hamster, which are probably less expensive?

I just watched a commercial for them, where a selling point was that they didn't make a mess like real hamsters. Because those huge piles of hamster shit are just un-fucking-bearable.

[Diabolical]

They roll around nonstop and make noises like roosters and cows and other weird noises.



And that's about it.

[Ran]

They roll around nonstop and make noises like roosters and cows and other weird noises.



And that's about it.

Great. I can't wait .

Anyway, what in the hell is the point of these? Why not just get an actual hamster, which are probably less expensive?

We are quite adamant about not getting a real hamster or any other rodent as a pet. No desire to take care of it and I hate the smell of their wood chips.

Not sure what the point of these things are. I don't have any sisters and only have 2 girl cousins that I saw once a year. So I really never was around girl toys until I had daughters of my own. Girl's toys still don't really make much sense to me. It seems like "cute" and "pretty" are big factors. The other thing is accessories. Barbie, Little Pets, My Little Pony, Polly Pocket, and now these hamster things all have a ton of accessories. (My wife put the purchase of any more Polly Pockets).

I've also noticed girls get upset at the most irrational things. Simple things like the color of a plate, who gets to perform a simple task, or the order in which something happens. Basically, I realize I don't really understand little girls or their logic. I just accept it and try to curb it.

[vynsane]

their logic.

there's your problem right there!

[Diabolical]

We are quite adamant about not getting a real hamster or any other rodent as a pet. No desire to take care of it and I hate the smell of their wood chips.

Then there's the whole death part, which usually doesn't go over so well with kids.

[Senor JabbaJohnL]

So basically, it's all the fun, none of the responsibility or consequences? What a great lesson to teach kids. (No offense to anyone getting these for their kids, since I know you didn't make the things.)

I've also noticed girls get upset at the most irrational things.

Not unlike that guy elsewhere who takes the cantina vs. Jabba's palace debate so seriously like it's a matter of like and death. Then again, he's apparently a grown man, so it's much worse.

[Ran]

We are quite adamant about not getting a real hamster or any other rodent as a pet. No desire to take care of it and I hate the smell of their wood chips.

Then there's the whole death part, which usually doesn't go over so well with kids.

My kids handled the death of one of our dogs (Sam). It was about 2 years ago. At the time Jessica was 6. She cried a bit and asked if our other dog was going to die. A little while later she asked if we could get another dog.

Megan was only 2 so she didn't really get it. What's weird is earlier this year, completely out of the blue, she told my wife that when our other dog(Gordie) dies he is going to go run around with Sam and have fun. Since neither my wife or I have discussed the after-life with Megan, we think she picked it up from one of her grandmothers.

So basically, it's all the fun, none of the responsibility or consequences? What a great lesson to teach kids. (No offense to anyone getting these for their kids, since I know you didn't make the things.)

We have dogs and fish the kids take care of. My kids can distinguish the difference between toys and real pets. I think they see these Zhu Zhu pets more as cute stuffed animals that move around as opposed to a pet substitute.

[Senor JabbaJohnL]

We have dogs and fish the kids take care of. My kids can distinguish the difference between toys and real pets. I think they see these Zhu Zhu pets more as cute stuffed animals that move around as opposed to a pet substitute.

Yeah, I suppose they are just like moving stuffed animals. But the commercial I was referring to put the spin on it like they were almost real, so that's what I was going off of.