Kung Zhu - The biggest failed toy line ever!!?

[10incher]

I'm talking about Kung Zhu! Have been in a number of Walmarts over the last few weeks and each one has multiple full shelves of these things on clearance at $1-$2 each. Not just for the little figure/suit things but the ships as well.

Wow, I don't know if they will ever move these, am sure they will end up in a landfill somewhere.

kung-zhu.com/index.php?/about-ustoys.html

[funkyterrance]

I think I know the reason these flopped. Well, at least one reason. I saw these at Wal-Mart and for the life of me, without some extreme investigating which I did not have time for, could I figure out if this was supposed to be a toy or a sort of jungle gym for your pet hamster or a combination of both. I ended up walking away stumped and I am assuming this is what happened to kids and their parents as well. Therefore I chalk this one off to poor description of product on the box. If you don't own a hamster you don't want to buy it in case you need one to enjoy it and if you do own a hamster you don't want to buy it in case its just a toy. When I first saw the toy I actually thought it was a set that allowed you to use your pet as an action figure and I thought it was a somewhat novel idea. To me the picture on the box made it look like they were using the figure, which looked like a cat toy I might add, as a sort of model for the real thing. Maybe I was over thinking the whole business but I was genuinely confused lol. A bizarre toy by any means.

[rihia2k]

I know two kids that have the little hamster thingies alone, and they seem pretty content with just those, unlike kids that get into Barbie or say, Action Man then want all the bigger better junk that goes with the line. I reckon the creators of Kung Zhu just got too ambitious - probably did real well on the initial run then assumed this would be the next headache for parents / obsession 4 kids - "The toys! The playsets! The books! The games! The movies! Kung Zhu snack foods in every lunchbox! Today the toy aisles, tomorrow the world!!"
-ahem-
Yeah, Bratz, Dora or Ben10 it ain't.

[10incher]

Feb 14, 2012 7:57:43 GMT -6 funkyterrance said:

I think I know the reason these flopped. Well, at least one reason. I saw these at Wal-Mart and for the life of me, without some extreme investigating which I did not have time for, could I figure out if this was supposed to be a toy or a sort of jungle gym for your pet hamster or a combination of both. I ended up walking away stumped and I am assuming this is what happened to kids and their parents as well.

I had a similar experience when i first saw them on the shelves, couldn't really figure out what any of them were until i looked on their website.

[10incher]

These all disapeared at once from all the local Walmarts about a month ago. Yesterday, saw a bunch of them at the local Salvation Army priced at $3.50 each. Good luck with that, at least it seems they didn't end up in a dumpster... yet!

[funkyterrance]

I've seen these trying to be sold on ebay and such lately. People will try anything to make a buck I suppose.

[rawlin]

I certainly hope they are never used to "play" with your real hamster in, animals are not toys. But I see a pattern here, in 20 years maybe this is one of those oddball things hard to come by. But hmm kung fu hamsters...

[funkyterrance]

If these become highly collectable I'll eat my hat.

[sf1378]

They basically tried to emulate the success of the original girl orientated versions of these - but it really backfired. I guess its the niceness of the furry hamsters and then you shove all this armoured plastic crap onto them that made little boys not really go for it...Its like Flair making Calico/Sylvanian military figures out of the nice animals for boys...just wouldn't work.

[funkyterrance]

Agreed, these guys are fatally flawed in more than one way it seems.

[josha]

The acid was obviously flowing freely the day the creator came up with this line. I mean WTF? Seems like the sort of thing that would only be big in Asia.

[funkyterrance]

Apr 7, 2012 19:42:02 GMT -6 josha said:

The acid was obviously flowing freely the day the creator came up with this line. I mean WTF? Seems like the sort of thing that would only be big in Asia.

Lols. Yeah I can picture the hosts on those Japanese obstacle course humiliation shows loving them.

[sf1378]

Wasn't there some hoo haa about the toxicity in the plastic on the hamsters noses in the girls version of the line? Or was that just in the UK/EU batches? Probably had something to add to the problem of it not selling well either....

[slm2024]

my son got into these. i bought a couple of the hamsters and regular price when they first came out. he wanted some of the track pieces, but at the release prices, it was ridiculous! a few months later we got some more hamsters and pretty much the entire track and all armors for less than the original price of the main base piece.

its mostly junk, but for the cheap price we paid, he had some fun with it. for awhile. he still plays with the hamsters and the armor, but the track just sits in a rubbermaid tote in the basement. so many flaws in this line. the armor was cool, but if the hamsters wore it, they were to big to fit through the tunnels and paths. and unless the batteries in the hamsters were super charged and fresh, the weight of the armor really lagged them down. plus, if you had a hill somewhere in your track, most of the hamsters weren't strong enough to pull themselves up it. the track pieces connected to each other very poorly. spent most of the time reconnecting shit. so yeah, this line mostly sucked. i would be pissed if i would have bought all this crap at retail...the hamsters alone are still pretty cool though.

[sf1378]

sim2024 - whats the thing in your avatar?

[slm2024]

Apr 13, 2012 16:58:14 GMT -6 @sf1378 said:

sim2024 - whats the thing in your avatar?

its a zudon. but i prefer to call it a poop monster. its a "designer" vinyl toy from japan by a company named zollmen. i always thought it would feel right at home in the toilet. so that's where i put mine.

[josha]

LOL! Thought you were doing a Ghoulie impersonation. Obviously a fan

[slm2024]

haha! yes, i am a ghoulies fan. actually, a fan of all that supernatural fantasy horror camp crap from the charles band-related library. until now, though, i hadn't even made the connection with my picture! lol.

[sf1378]

Apr 13, 2012 21:09:37 GMT -6 slm2024 said:

Apr 13, 2012 16:58:14 GMT -6 @sf1378 said:

sim2024 - whats the thing in your avatar?

its a zudon. but i prefer to call it a poop monster. its a "designer" vinyl toy from japan by a company named zollmen. i always thought it would feel right at home in the toilet. so that's where i put mine.

Sorry, I PM'd you about this as well, only just seen this reply! ;D It looks cool. How does he 'float' in the pic then?

[funkyterrance]

I didn't even realize the hamsters were motorized! Just goes to show how bad the marketing was for these. It does make them seem a LOT cooler though.

[sf1378]

Speaking of Hamsters, in a UK paper over the weekend, a Hamster called Rhino seemingly died so his owner buried him in a 2 foot deep hole in a shoe box. He had seen Rhino in his cage and it seemed lifeless, later that day he prodded it and he realised it was dead...so he buried it.The next day his neighbour saw a Hamster scurrying outside and as she knew her neighbours had one she then told her neighbour and he said his Hamster had died. He then checked the grave and saw a hole - the thing had dug itself out! He then realised the Hamster his neighbour had found was the same Hamster. His neighbour had gone outside and eventually caught it as it had been in a corner by her flower pots and gave it back to him. His family have re - named him 'Jesus' due to his resurrection....

In other Hamster news, a 33 year old woman was horrified to find her Hamster, 5 month old 'Smurf' stuck to the side of the outside of her cage by her cheek. She removed Smurf and then discovered that she had ate a magnet that had come off a Spiderman toy that had got lodged in Smurfs cheek pouch....

In both incidents both Hamsters are doing well.

[slm2024]

awesome stories! those hamsters and there shenanigans. i probably would have hesitated on bringing the undead hamster back into my house though. slight fear of an impending zombie apocalypse, that may very well start with an infected hamster.

i didn't float the zudon in the toilet! i wedged a board in there, keeping it right above the water line. honestly though, when i tried selling this guy on the vinyl toy boards months after taking the picture, i was afraid this pic would resurface and possible buyers would be hesitant of pulling the trigger on it...

[josha]

Yes...bit too much like Pet Cemetery the first one

LOL @ "In other Hamster news" also

[3 3/4"collector]

i work at wal mart and remember when the zhu zhu pets first came in and i thought it was the dumbest thing ever, they looked like cat toys. there are little electric mice in the pet section that look almost just like them. they ended up being the sensation of the year that christmas, something i still cant believe. and then not long after we got a ton of the kung zhu in and they didnt seem to sell at all. in my mind thought that will always be the christmas that kids all over got cat toys from santa.