Year's top toy runs robotically, like some shoppers

In a world of Wiis and wide-screen TVs, Kim McPhail waded into the Black Friday throngs yesterday morning as obsessed as any shopper seeking elusive electronics at a good price.

But McPhail had her sights set on something smaller - and furrier - than the PlayStations and digital cameras for which other early-bird shoppers surrendered sleep.

McPhail wanted robotic hamsters.

"I got Zhu Zhu Pets!" the 28-year-old Mayfair mother sang triumphantly when she emerged, shopping cart overflowing, from the Franklin Mills Toys R Us - even before the sun rose.

Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, so much in demand that most stores don't even bother creating a display and instead sell them straight from the shipping box.

"I never went to sleep last night," McPhail said, of her hunt for the hamsters that don't poop, smell, escape, mate or die.

Across the Philadelphia region, shoppers on similar quests braved blustery late-fall weather, interminable lines and sleeplessness to bag some bargains on one of the holiday season's busiest shopping days.

One year after stampeding shoppers trampled a Walmart worker to death in upstate New York, local Walmarts risked no such tragedy yesterday. A police wagon and ambulance idled, on standby, outside the Walmart on Roosevelt Boulevard near Adams Avenue, while metal barricades kept lines orderly.

"They did a good job with managing things this year," said Haneef Wilson, 31, a Walmart shopper who hired a hauler with a pickup truck to transport the mammoth 50-inch flat-screen TV he bought to his North Philadelphia home.

But other shoppers had horror stories.

"I saw a man snatch a laptop out of a woman's hands," said Ray Roman, 29, a father of three from Northeast Philly, who'd visited the Walmart at Grant and the Boulevard. There, he saw police with a canine unit. "At first I thought they had a bomb threat," he said. "But they were just protecting the store."

Another shopper at a Northeast Philly Walmart dropped her baby as she tried to cut in line, as horrified shoppers - including McPhail - watched.

"The baby was OK - but the cops came and told her she could get in the back of the cop car or the back of the line. She went to the back of the line," McPhail said.

Such mania isn't surprising in what economists say is the backside of the worst economic slowdown since the 1930s, because shoppers are more desperate for bargains than ever, experts say. Most shopping pundits predict sales will be flat, at best, when compared to 2008's slow season.

"Most toys are under $50, because manufacturers and retailers are really working together to fit the wallets of people who are struggling right now," said Reyne Rice, toy-trend specialist with the Toy Industry Association.

That's one huge reason why Zhu Zhu Pets, which retail at about $7.99, are so popular, she added.

"They're affordable, collectible and fun," Rice said.

Chris Byrne, a toy analyst with timetoplaymag.com, also attributed the fake rodents' appeal to convenience and cuteness.

"They're about 3 1/2 inches long, and when they go, they look like real hamsters, which is hilarious," Byrne said. "They're not going to die, the cat's not going to eat them, and if you don't want a real pet, this is a nice alternative."

Created by a tiny St. Louis, Mo., company called Cepia and launched in Phoenix last summer, Zhu Zhu Pets are an unlikely best-seller, Byrne said. But the "mommy bloggers" embraced them, and they "went viral," he added.

"Who would have guessed the Pet Rock would be exciting? That defied all logic," Rice added. "It's like a flu: It takes hold and just rushes through society."

But the fake hamsters haven't infested Happily Ever After, a toy store located on Pine Street near 10th in Center City.

Store manager Glenn Lash disdainfully called Zhu Zhu Pets "Matchbox cars wrapped in fur."

The store caters to customers looking for more traditional toys like tops, Jack-in-the-Boxes, board games, sock monkeys and collectible dolls.

Because most of the store's customers are local residents and go away for holidays, Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend are slow sales days in the quaint shop, where the telephone plays circus music instead of ringing.

So store owner Ed Ferry had an easy answer for anyone looking to avoid the madness in big-box stores.

"Shop here! No lines!" he said cheerfully.