This Year's Hottest Fad Toy: zhu zhu pets

Five battery-operated robotic hamsters costing about $10 each have become the must-have toy of Christmas 2009, with parents in North America and the UK snapping them up as soon as they arrive on retailers’ shelves.

Zhu Zhlu Pets, sold in the UK as Go Go Pets, are the hottest toy of the season, according to Jerry Storch, chief executive of Toys R Us, the retailer, a phenomenon on a par with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the smash hit of Christmas 1987.

The interactive hamsters, Mr Squiggles, Patches, Chunk, Pipsqueak and Num Nums, respond to touch with squeeks and noises, and can be set to run about randomly in “explore” mode, or to “coo and chirp” calmly when held.