I got a sneak peek of the hottest toy for 2009, the Zhu Zhu Pets, before they were on shelves this Fall.

I knew they would be an instant hit when my 5 year old daughter went nuts over these little moving hamsters.

The concept behind Zhu Zhu Pets is great for moms. Have the look and mobility of a real hamster, without all the mess!

The Zhu Zhu Pet hamsters each have their own personality and make unique little sounds. There are optional pieces you can buy to make a whole hamster city, similar to a real hamster habitat.

The Pros:

-Kids love these hamsters! My daughter and her friends had a field day with these things. The entertainment value is high and they are fun to watch run around. Extra fun if you have a cat, they seem to love these hamsters too.

-The hamsters themselves are inexpensive, retail for $7.99 each

- Really cute, new idea that both boys and girls can play with together.

- No mess and additional expense of a real hamster.

The Cons:

- The additional habitat add-ons are made of plastic, while this is fine, the plastic is not as sturdy as I would like and I had a difficult time keeping the connecting pieces connected.

- The habitat pieces where more difficult to put together than expected…not playable right out of the box (the hamster is though).

- The little wheels the hamsters run on rotate fast! Be careful not to let the wheels get near hair or strings as it will eat them up. This is based on experience.

Overall we really enjoyed playing with the Zhu Zhu Pets. Our favorite habitat add-on was the car. It is so cute watching the little hamster run across the floor in the car. When the habitat is put together correctly the Zhu Zhu Pets really do run around in it like a real hamster. They have some sort of sensor or something on their nose that keeps the pets from running into each other.

Since Zhu Zhu Pets are becoming more and more of a hot Christmas item, be sure to pick up a few in the stores for Christmas before they sell out!

Ages – 4 Years and Up

Price – Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster retail for $9.99, additional pieces vary from $10-$25

Buy – Walmart, Target, Toys R Us

Rating:

*Mom Select sent us 11 Pets and a full habitat to try out and share with our friends in exchange for sharing our honest review of this product**