My Introduction to Webkinz

I'll admit that I've been pretty slow in getting acquainted with Webkinz mainly because I don't have young children at home. I first saw them in a local a gift shop a few months back and, while I was sort of intrigued by their tag with the secret code inside, I thought of them as latter-day Beanie Babies knock-offs and walked past the store shelf after taking a brief look at them. A few months later I began to hear about them in the news and the controversy that has surrounded them. (There are charges that Webkinz encourages children to become massive consumers and to spend long hours in front of a computer when they could be doing other things like reading a book or playing outside.)

Yesterday I was at the Columbia Mall in Columbia, Maryland for a reason that had nothing to do with Webkinz. The laptop battery seemed to stop working and the computer could operate only if there was a cord attached to it (which defeats the whole purpose of having laptops in the first place). I decided to go to the Apple store in an attempt to get it fixed and I arrived early at 11 a.m. in the hopes that I could quickly consult one of the technicians working the Genius Bar. I registered only to discover that the next available time was at 3 p.m. Since I live a half-an-hour's drive away from that mall, it didn't make sense for me to return home then back again. So I had a few hours to kick around the mall.

I've always loved Wockenfuss, a Baltimore-based chocolate candy company, so I decided to walk over to that store. While I was perusing the various candy items for sale, I came across a shelf space that was loaded with non-edible goods. They were the Webkinz. I spotted a unicorn among the bunch and I took a closer look at it mainly because I've always had a thing for unicorns. I looked at the hangtag again and felt intrigued by the secret code once again. I'll admit that I've always had a thing for high tech novelties if they impressed me and this one had the potential to impress me.

I looked at the $9.99 price tag and I thought "Oh, what the hell!" and purchased this unicorn along with a few chocolate goodies and a tiny package of Milk Bone dog biscuits dipped in vanilla. (The latter was intended as a Christmas present for my mother-in-law's dog.) Here are a few photos of this unicorn that I took after I got home from the mall.

When I went to the counter, I also saw that the store sold special Webkinz bookmarks for $1.99 each, which also had its own special code. I decided to buy that one as well for the hell of it.

For the next few hours I ate lunch, browsed a few stores, then took sitting breaks where I kept on taking out the unicorn and stroking its soft fur. Since I was such a newbie, I went to Borders Express where I purchased a Webkinz-specific magazine titled I [heart] Webkinz and Other Playful Pals because I wanted to learn more about what I had just purchased. As I was reading it while sitting on a bench, I discovered that most of that magazine was almost totally useless. (There was an article titled "Fun Ideas for Cold Weather" that included instructions on how to engage in a snowball fight with a friend. I'm serious about this. There was actually instructions on how you and a friend can throw snowballs at each other, followed by instructions on how to build a snow fort. I realized that children were the magazine's target audience but the editors and writers assumed that their readers are total imbeciles. As someone who has taught Sunday School at my church in the past, I can tell you that a group of children can be pretty resourceful when it comes to coming up with their own ideas for fun and games if you let them loose outside on a playground or a nearby wooded area.)

The magazine did provide a list of all the current and retired Webkinz. I originally saw that the Unicorn Webkinz was retired until I walked into a Hallmark store, which was also selling the Webkinz, and I found that they had both the bigger Webkinz and the smaller Little Webkinz on sale. I looked on my unicorn's tag and saw the "Little Webkinz" designation and I realized that Wockenfuss only had the Little Webkinz on sale. But I didn't mind buying the smaller stuffed animal since it would be easier to store in my modest home.

While I was in the Hallmark store I saw a couple of adults walk past the shelves containing the Webkinz and Little Webkinz and both of them petted them before walking away. I'll admit that they are soft.

After enduring a few hours in that mall waiting for my appointment at the Apple Store, I was happy when I finally left for home. (I got a recommendation that I replace my three-year-old laptop, which I'm reluctant to do so, as of this writing, I'm in the process of contacting an independent authorized Apple repair place for a second opinion.)

I did check out the Webkinz site for the first time but I'm going to write about it in another blog entry since I've already writter quite a bit here.