As many of you are aware, GANZ has not announced any new Webkinz plush pets in the past few months. The last new plush was the beautifully crafted Narwhal. We can now officially state that there will be no new Webkinz plush in 2019 and that the Narwhal will be the final plush toy of the “first generation” of Webkinz plush.
Our reasons for making this decision are three-fold:
- For any toy to be produced at an appropriate price, a minimum number need to be produced. Our retail orders for our new styles, even great ones like the Narwhal, had fallen below this minimum.
- Our attempts to move plush sales online through the eStore and Amazon did not meet our goals.
- After 14 years and over 500 unique pets, this generation of the toy line had run its course.
The reality is that at times every toy brand needs to take a break, evolve and reinvent. Many of the biggest toy brands in the world – My Little Pony, Transformers, Strawberry Shortcake – have had times where there were no toys on retail shelves.
Will this impact Webkinz.com? Not at all. One of the big developments in the past few years is the acceptance of online purchasing. When we launched Ganz eStore in 2008, many players didn’t understand the idea of buying “purely” virtual pets. Now we’re all used to buying virtual items and we’re happy to say eStore use has been going up! Many of our new eStore virtual pets have been well received and are among our best looking pets ever! As we’ve said elsewhere, GANZ is committed to Webkinz.com and with our desktop version coming soon, the future of the game is strong.
Will Webkinz plush be back? Definitely. GANZ was born as a plush toy company and lovable plush will always be near to our hearts. We have had many discussions about future products and how best to bring those products to market. We can’t say anything more about this at this time, but we do hope to have some more announcements later in the year.
In the meantime, you can still find Webkinz plush at Ganz eStore, and through other online retailers. All available plush are “while quantities last,” so if there is a specific pet you’d like, you will want to order it soon.
We’ve all had great experiences with our Webkinz plush and have those favorites that we feel closest to. While we may be taking a break from making new styles, our incredible range of amazing plush toys will forever be a core part of Webkinz World.
GANZ
is it just for this year or are you guys never making webkinz plushes again?
It says up there that they’ll continue making them. Just not for a while is all.
This is so sad! I grew up with webkinz plushies and had a huge collection of them (200+) I really hope that the next generation of plushies will be just as fun and beautiful as the ones we’ve come to love!
I’m happy that plush will return, but i’m hoping that this “2nd generation” of plush won’t be Beanie Boo lookalikes. It seems like every stuffed animal company is trying to emulate them now. Although I do think Beanie Boos are cute, it’s kinda annoying to see lookalikes everywhere.
I love buying the plushies, and I’d buy them more often if I could use my estore points towards them. I’m sad, but I hope they will come back in the future.
this makes me sad as i have not seen webkinz anywhere but sites online and small stores when i went on vacation. im glad i still have some of my webkinz such as my favorite one (don’t tell the others ha ha) the Blue Hippo one if i remember the name right
The second generation of Webkinz should have an added bonus that makes people want to buy them. Similar to how the Rockerz pets come with an outfit, PSI, PSF, Rockerz Challenge, and 2 Backstage Passes.
Maybe they could get a month of bonus activities too. Like how the Pet of the Month does.
WebkinzFanCEG, OR perhaps a bonus month of Deluxe and some Estore points? :D
I really love the Webkinz plush pets and are excited for their return. Could y’all please make another peacock plush and maybe another ocelot similar to the signature? I regret not being able to get a peacock plush a couple years ago and have wanted one to this day. The only think is that they are a little pricey on Amazon. :(
Have u tried eBay.
eBay is even more pricey depending on the webkinz
That’s super sad to hear, but I think the really reason why some of your plush products wasn’t selling was because of the retailer who sold them. I remember when I was a little girl my sister and me when to a Books A Million in Columbus, MS. They had tons of webkinz dolls, but when we wanted to buy them the people would always close their register or ignore us. I believe Ganz made the best toys ever it’s just that other stores didn’t care I guess.
Aw this is so sad!! I hope you can start making more soon. :(
I still have my favorite plush, it is my beloved Earth Day Puppy- April!
Is there a way to still find store locations where they are selling Webkinz plush? Like i know wegmans does but i am no where near one. Are there other places where we can find Webkinz NWT? I recently found some without tags at a thrift store. I Bought 5 but there was more. Any ideas where we can find them NWT? Thanks!
I’ve found them in craft stores a few times.
ive seen them a couple times when i went on vacation to Gatlinburg with my family, i saw them at The Three Bears General Store and Book Warehouse hope this helps :)
I am not surprised to hear this news. So happy Webkinz.com will still stay around, I am as addicted to this game as always and still would like to play for years to come.