It’s a Webkinz World (God save us all)

Ok, so I grew up in an era where fads for kids was as rampant as it is today: Rubik’s cubes, cabbage patch dolls (NO, I did NOT own one), friendship bracelets, beanie babies, and had to survive Elmo when my oldest was a wee little baby. But now there’s Webkinz, and the makers of the product, Ganz, have basically masterminded a franchise of a “new” army of beanie baby type plush animals that you “own” and then can basically do a whole bunch of things—including having their own web page where you can get points, collect items for your room, and of course to capitalize off of this—merchandising!

Now, I had heard about this, but mainly thought that this was more geared towards girls, but Noooooooo—now both boys own their own Webkinz (even the soon to be 11 year old), and they each have their own web page and the like. They are just starting up in terms of really exploring the world of Webkinz, but in a visit to a Hallmark store this weekend, we saw all of the cute little outfits and items that you could buy to make your Webkinz so much better!

I don’t mind things like Pokeman, Yu-Gi-Oh, and other electronic things that can be fads, but as a dad, I don’t even know HOW to relate to the kids with this. (Is that bad?) I guess the best thing about a fad is the definition of it—it doesn’t last forever. Here’s to hoping this passes….quickly.

TAGS: 80s Fads, Being A Dad, Dads, Fads, Fatherhood, Ganz, Ganz Toys, Kids Toys, Parenthood, Parenting, Parents, Pokemon, Toys, Webkinz
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