The Zhu Zhu Pets are the hottest holiday toy for 2009. I have not seen anything like this since Furby. The Zhu Zhu hamsters are very basic electronic gadgets far less advanced as the Furby was way back. That is why a Hamster does normally not cost more than $8 to $10, but the demand drove the prices up for a Zhu Zhu Hamster to almost $50 on Amazon.

Bloomberg has today an interesting story that looks a bit behind the Zhu Zhu Pets success and it makes it even more amazing. CEPIA LCC, the creator of the Zhu Zhu Pets has only 16 employees n the United States. The company has 30 more employees in China where four factories produce 220,000 Zhu Zhu Pets per day.
In August Cepia started the production with the first 600,000 Zhu Zhu Pets and they hit the jackpot as kids fell in love with the little hamsters.

Cepia plans to release 50 new Hamster characters in 2010. The Zhu Zhu Pets hype is set to continue next Holiday season.
We actually tested the Zhu Zhu Pets and playsets and they are not the greatest in terms of quality, but kids go nuts for them.
Check out our Zhu Zhu Pets Shopping Guide for tips where to buy Zhu Zhu Pets.