National Museum of Play Online Collections

Zhu Zhu Pet Adventure Ball

play set

2009

One of the hottest new toys in 2009, and very difficult to find around the holidays, was the Zhu Zhu pet. These adorable, furry, interactive hamsters double as a family pet and a best friend. With five hamsters to choose from, kids can select one that reflects their personality, including Patches, the flower-lover; Chunk, a laid-back surfer; Pipsqueak, a tiny titan of power; Mr. Squiggles, who loves to explore; or Num Nums, who loves to eat. The pets have two different modes: nurturing, where they coo and purr, and adventure, where they explore their habitat with audio and mechanical responses to various stimuli. Add their various environmental play sets and special tracks and a child may have the most nearly perfect artificially-intelligent pet.

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