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 dont care much for the plush toys, I lose them withing a few months of buying and they are so hard to find. I also had trouble buying plush toys on amazon so I think that this is good for webkinz. When I plushies come back i hope they will be easy plentiful in stores like before, unlike now I only see one or two in hallmark and hardly anywhere.
Thanks for the update, and for the reassurances, Sally! :-) It’s good to know there is a plan for future plush pets. I hope that they will, once again, be available in some retail stores near me–I prefer to buy items I can see in person. Or will they be sold online only?
Hey, on the topic of Webkinz in the real world, can customer service please be fixed because i still haven’t received any confirmation of my requests or any answer of any kind and it has been over a year. Please, someone look at this and fix it please because i think this is the only way to communicate with anyone working on this awesome game.
QUESTION – WILL we be able to take our JUMBLEBERRYS we paid for with us ? Can we still play ZUM ??
The problem is, the big box stores don’t have webkinz on the shelves. I live in Canada and when I was young, Webkinz were widely available at Walmarts, Toys R Us, Hallmarks, etc. Now, the most I see is the very occasional bull frog, rooster, or chicken at a Dollarama. I understand that the world is gravitating towards internet purchases, and that should be a selling platform, but not exclusively. Because I am familiar with Ganz, I am comfortable shopping at the estore but not everyone is willing to purchase from a new online store; for new members, seeing it on the shelves is the best draw. From there, they can become comfortable and familiar with the online platforms. Just my opinion.
I want the real plush not one i have to feed and look after but never get to see it and enjoy the feel in my hands. Please don;t take the best away from us, I have been a member for about 16 years and look forward to coming in each day to play,
-_- This isn’t the end of the plushies, they’re just taking a hiatus. Sally’s comments should be pinned or something (anyone capable of this listening?) so people can read them.
People need to READ THE whole article…not just the title…lol
What tragic news, but, it makes sense. Webkinz has had this a long time coming. The consumer’s wants have changed with time and while I hate to believe it has affected Webkinz this much I know it’s true. I appreciate it so much, though, that Ganz makes this information public. Honesty about the decline of production is something not all companies practice. One thing about this post that made me happy was the ending sentence, but it should also be said that Webkinz as plushies, whether they were ever played with online, have been a core part of many childhoods! Regarding the “while quantities last” statement.. we’re in the endgame now.
Stop acting like it’s the end of plush pets! Read sally’s reply to me just a few comments back. There’s only SIX MONTHS left in 2019… we could have plushies back as early as SIX MONTHS. Calm yourselves people.
While I get a similar feeling, I’m not sure that it is the end of Webkinz plushes being on the shelves of department stores – merely a hiatus.
I wouldn’t say we’re in the endgame…this is the “end of life” for the current generation of plush pets. Every retail item has a “life cycle;” these plush have reached the end of that cycle. The “while quantities last” is for the current plush pets, yes; but there will be a new generation of plush pets, so we can look forward to that next year. I agree with you that Webkinz plush have been wonderful toys for many kids (and kids at heart); I’m very fond of my plushies, but I’m excited to see what is coming next year.
I don’t want it to seem like I was overreacting in my original message so, if it wasn’t clear, I was making a joke relative to a recent film. I understood perfectly well what was written in the statement about taking time to reinvent Webkinz and that there is a possibility and hope to reveal more plushies in the future. I can assure you three I too look forward to what comes next.
When did anyone ever say anything about the next generation coming out after only a year? It takes time to design such a thing… and there has to be demand… and no one said 2020 was “THE YEAR”
In the past plush pets were ‘retired’ when they were no longer being made. Does this mean that all of the current plush pets are in essence ‘retired’?
Since this is the case, will there no longer be Name Me contests??
They will probably keep producing virtual pets that will need names.
This isn’t the end of plush pets people… stop acting like it is! Read sallys reply to me just a few comments back, it’s really reassuring!
oh ok
When I put my money out there, I like to physically be able to have a plush in my hands, verses everything being virtual. I’m not putting money out to spend on air, and something I’ll never really have.
You can still buy plush on different sites like eBay or Amazon.