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6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Make sure your child is ready for a Webkinz!Dec 06, 2007
By A. Brand
"redsoxgirlinVA"
Make sure your child is ready for a Webkinz before buying this or any other one! My son wasn't ready when he got one last year - he was completely overwhelmed by the website and very disappointed. So we put it away until now, when he's more mature and has seen others play online. But little did I know that use of the website expires after a year! They send you a notice - but only on the site - so if you're not on the site, you don't know. There's a one month grace period, and then that's it - you can no longer use that Webkinz pet online. Now it is simply a so-so stuffed animal Their answer? Buy another one!
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Finally-An inexpensive, educational, fun computer toy!Nov 28, 2007
By Travelingmomof2
"Travelingmomof2"
Wonderful product line. Company was smart enough to combine a cute cuddly stuffed animal with a computer based virtual world. Buy rooms for your pet, and decorate them. Take care of them, bringing them to the vet when they are ill, feed them when they are hungry, and "work" at your job or at other skills to earn money to buy items. Arcade and tournament games are often educational and simple to learn, although fun. They remind me of the original atari or cell phone type games. Overall, lots of value for your money. This toy is appropriate for children as young as 5, with adult assistance. Warning for adults: Once your kid has one, they will want all of them (and the first purchase gives your online rights for one year so you'll need another one in a year anyway!), and you might as well buy yourself one now. When the parent who first gave my son one told me this I didn't believe her. Now, my children have an account, as do both my husband and I. They are great, inexpensive fun! I am not, however, a fan of the now extended line that includes clothing for your webkinz, trading cards, and hygeine products-they are expensive and not worth the money. Stick to the pets!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Love the 'Kinz!Dec 26, 2007
By Tia
This Webkinz was purchased as a Christmas present for my daughter as her third Webkinz.
Each Webkinz contains a code for a community website aimed at children. The nicest thing about this site is that it is the most secure community site that I've ever seen for a child. When they go to the site, they enter the code from the doll, choose a username and password. That's it. No giving email addresses or real names or addresses. The owners of the site really have no idea what the names or addresses of its members are! Just make sure to put the code somewhere where you can find it if they lose their username and/or password, that is the only way to retrieve it again.
Additionally, children cannot--anywhere on the site--input any personal information. They can play with their friends or even strangers, but to talk to other people they must use phrases that are already put into the system. For example, if they want to tell their friend hi while they are playing a game they would click the drop-down menu and choose the appropriate phrase and click on it to send that phrase to their friend, at which point their friend is given a list of appropriate responses!
As if just the plain fact of security wasn't enough, add into it that your kids are learning responsibility, as they have to care for their pet in the online world by taking him/her out for exercise, buying food for their pet, playing and interacting with the pet, and keeping it clothed. They learn about nutrition (health points go way up when the pet eats their veggies, or down when they eat a hamburger or too much candy), and see the results of their food choices (lose too many health points and your pet will need to go see the doctor for a check-up)and other health choices (exercise makes the points go up, not enough sleep makes the points go down).
But wait, there's more! The games are appropriate, engaging, and fun. My six year old gets frustrated on some other sites when a game gets too hard or complex. Here the games are just challenging enough to make your kids try a bit harder, and very addicting with real and engaging characters. The tournaments give you a chance to try your skills against other players, and there are games for every taste. I've even caught her father online playing at 2 in the morning!
The only drawback that I have seen as of yet is server overload. The folks at Ganz need to mirror their site on a few different servers to handle the load as this toy has become more popular than they thought it was. Trying to register the new puppy on Christmas night took an hour of trying by my daughter who refused to wait until later to add her new puppy to its family!
I would definitely recommend buying a Webkinz for every child in your family that has a love for fuzzy animals, games, and community!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Webkins are funSep 13, 2007
By C. Sitmer
"Tampa Book Lover"
The Chocolate Lab is very soft and well made. It looks like a lab and as it is a Webkinz, it comes with the "secret" code to use on their website. I have purchased these for my nieces and son. (Ages 8-10) They play with the dog and also log on to the Webkinz site.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Nice toys if the site works....Feb 23, 2008
By M. Castillo
We have a total of 37 webkinz, and have been members for about a year now. We have seen the ups and downs of the site. The plushies are all pretty nice, the chocolate lab included.
While this toy entitles you to 1 year access to the webkinz site, you never really know if the site is going to be working because of the glitches. Some days we can't even get in, and some days we get in just to be booted right out. I had given a webkinz to every child I know as gifts but now I feel bad about it becuase it has just gone downhill. Ganz has turned so money hungry.
A year ago, everything was free when you purchased 1 webkinz for the year membership. Then they added trading cards you have to buy to get certain items, next the charms to access the charm forest. Then the 2nd set of trading cards, figurines and lip gloss and body spray. Now they have carriers, clothes, school supplies and alot more stuff you have to pay real money for to get things on the website or to access certain games or areas. Its as if nothing but the privledge of having to shell out more money is free.
Now the educational value is great. It will teach your child about having to earn money to uy things they want. To have money to be able to care for thier pet. And the responsibility of taking care of thier pet by keeping it happy and healthy (it never dies, just gets sick). While I do think this is a great toy for any child even adults, I would not reccomend it because Ganz loves to nickle and dime you, and trust me your kids will ask for all that stuff.
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based on 34 reviews
