Littlest Pet Shop
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Ages: 4 and up
Suggested Retail Price: $1.99 – 44.99
Available: Toy and retail stores nationwide as well as online e-commerce sites Launch Date: 2005
Date of Review: Updated 2008
What It Is
Since its re-launch in 2005, Littlest Pet Shop has become one of the fastest growing brands in the toy industry and a favorite of young girls. These pocket-sized toy pets come in a wide range of animals with plenty of tiny accessories and playsets. All the items in the Littlest Pet Shop line are bright, colorful and adorable little trinkets that kids love to play with and collect.
The wide variety of pets have bobble heads and a whole range of playsets and play environments.
Why It's Fun
Littlest Pet Shop pets are literally small enough for kids to take them everywhere, which they do. They also provide a platform for open-ended make-believe play and kids love creating different imaginative scenarios for the pets.
The cute little pals and their playsets provide tons of open-ended and imaginative play opportunities for kids while the price of the single pets allows kids to collect them without spending tons of money. Or, for kids who love them, paying a lot of money a little bit at a time.
Who's Going To Love It
Littlest Pet Shop products primarily appeal to young girls between the ages of 3 and 7. Littlest Pet Shop VIPs (see below for information) will appeal to this age group and slightly older.
When they play with the Littlest Pet Shop products, girls generally incorporate them into the whole “pantheon” of miniature toys they invariably have. It’s not surprising to see the pets mingling with Polly Pocket, My Little Pony or other small character toys. While all the marketing tends to try to make you believe that girls will play with these in discrete and isolated ways, that’s just not the case.
These are girls’ versions of Hot Wheels, and don’t be surprised if you end up with a bucket of mixed mini dolls, which can provide hours of kid-directed, open-ended and creative play.
What To Be Aware Of
In 2007, The Littlest Pet Shop VIPS were released exclusively in the New York Metro area and will be available nationwide early this year. VIPs are larger, plush pets that are sold with unique codes that kids can use to unlock the Littlest Pet Shop virtual world on the Internet at www.littlestpetshop.com. Online, kids can interact with their VIP pet by customizing their pets and environments, earning “Kibble” points to keep pets happy and healthy, playing mini-games and engaging in individual or community based activities.
This is consistent with the trend of building online experiences for virtually any property on the market.
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