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
I missed the Narwal I wanted the Ice sculpture PSI will we get a chance to get it for with out paying cash ? I want the Rainbow Armadillo bur cash is tight and if it was with points I can get 2 ,
Thank you for finally telling us what’s going on. I’ll admit, I’m sad that this generation has ended, but I’m curious what there is to be had in this second generation. Marketing plush toys these days is much harder than it used to be, so I wish the best for the next gen pets!
My first Webkinz/Ganz pet was the Mammoth, that is when I fell in love with Webkinz and my family plays daily. I prefer buying online, only because the plushes add up and do get in the way, but they are adorable, so hopefully one day for those who love the plushes they will be able to buy them again. I bet it was a hard decision to make for Webkinz/Ganz!!
I think at this point it is a wise decision – really cuts down on the use of energy to produce a physical product. I have way too many plush around as it is and parts of my house look like the closet ET was hiding in! I’m game for virtual animals, and excited to continue playing with Webkinz. Best wishes!
This makes me sad :(
I have alway perfer the plush and only bought the online pet because of the membership rules. after having these accounts for the whole time I guess we have also -how did you say it “After 14 years and over 500 unique pets purchased ” my membership has also probably run its course. sad sad sad
I would not be here if not for the plush, but now that I’m here, you’re stuck with me, Webkinz World! I have always been more excited about the content than the physical toys. I am happy with your offerings, and I will always be a customer. :)
oh this is so sad. I’ve played webkinz since 2007 and my first pet was the chihuahua and then i got the Dalmatian, only to get many many more in future years (even as recently as two weeks ago, though online). i will definitely miss the plush pets, as i collect them (among other stuffed animals), but im excited to see what is in store for the future!
I bought a plush the other day from Amazon because I didn’t want to pay shipping on my original order, u no. I got a White Tiger for 7.99! I started playing in 2008 when my grandkids gave me a lil pig. I went wild buying plushes for myself and for them for several years. Now my closets are full and running over, and the kids have a huge sack of plushies that have never been signed on. I am good with the Virtuals. As long as Webkinz stays online for us I am grateful. But, it was so neat to open the mailbox and find a Plush. I think I’m not going to adopt him (the White Tiger) for awhile so I will always have a Plush complete with code :-) It was so much fun to shop for Webkinz in the stores, but I’m happy as long as Webkinz is available online. Thanks Ganz!! :-)
I am very concerned that your ‘Definitely.’ on bringing back the plush pets after 2019 is a lie. I’m worried that as 2019 ends, i’ll be asking, “Didn’t they say they would make an announcement later in the year?”, and then come 2020 we will have dead silence until we see another statement about plushies being gone for good- by then… it’ll be too late. The vocal plushie minority will be gone. GANZ. Give us something more concrete.
Not gone. Just gone underground. Don’t worry. You can’t stop the rising tide. ;)