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
Honestly I don’t know what to say…Luv you guys so much! Just purchased a Narwhal plush to be supportive…
I feared this day. Webkinz has been a big part of my family’s entertainment; something we shared and would be able to always look back on by simply logging in. I hope this doesn’t mean Webkinz will stop coming up with new room themes, events, or squelch addition of adorable room items at the Estore. Whatever happens, thank you for years of enjoyment.
This is saddening news as I personally prefer plush pets over virtual, but it’s something I think we all started to suspect would happen and I understand the reasons why. I look forward to seeing what comes next for Webkinz Plush in the following years. In the meantime I’ve gotten pretty lucky finding NWT webkinz at thrift stores and ‘discount’ shops, so I’ll keep hunting for pets I don’t own, and of course buy the occasional virtual pet. ;)
From a marketing standpoint, I feel you are completely shutting out children as they would love a plush and join the webkinz community in this way. With no plush, what will make a child want to play, or to even know about the game? I doubt that they will use the estore. Just my two cents!
Your two cents doubled daily yields 10,737,417 in a 30 day month. Some things really add up! :D
webkinz plushes were my whole life for so much of my childhood so this is a bummer but definitely an understandable decision. i’ve also been transitioning to virtual pet purchasing since i got my deluxe membership but i might grab a couple i’ve had my eye on from amazon.
Thank you for keeping us informed. I’m sad to see the plushies go, as I think they appeal to young players and bring in new little ones to the joys of the Webkinz game, but I understand why the decision needed to be made. I haven’t purchased a plush for a very long time, but mostly because the shops around my area stopped selling them.
I totally understand this decision – I haven’t been able to find any plush in stores for at least a year now. I love the idea of an eventual revamp and I hope it works out! Thanks Ganz :)
Ah, this is sad to hear..! I wasn’t a regular buyer of the regular Webkinz, since I’m a big Signature Webkinz collector now, but I know some friends who will be sad to know that you aren’t making any Webkinz now. I’m totally relieved to hear that you will be making more eventually though. I think the stuffed animals are essential to the game.. that was always one of the best things about Webkinz; having your plush pet online! I understand and am glad this was finally addressed, since your players have noticed that there were no new pets. I can’t wait until they’ll be back though! I hope you can figure out the best things to do business-wise, while keeping plushes part of the game.
This is very sad, I don’t shop online, I buy from a store. I love having the plush. I do have a few that I have not put on, will I still be able to use the code? I hope so.
Yes, unless indicated otherwise, Adoption Codes do not expire.
It’s kinda sad, but I can understand why they made this decision. I collected a lot of Webkinz plush myself, but I’ve had to stop these last few years due to lack of space, and I even had to give away or donate a good portion of them. I can never find the plush toys anymore anyway now that all the Hallmark stores near me have turned into Paper Stores, which don’t carry Webkinz, and I am hesitant to buy plush from the eStore because I can’t see them all in front of me to pick the one I think has the cutest face (I’m kinda particular about the faces on my plushies). I do still love getting virtual Webkinz, though, and who knows, maybe when the plush toys come back I might get one or two if they are really nice looking.