Posted in Business, Design, History, Plush Pets, Virtual Communities on Oct 9th, 2007
With everybody imaginable jumping in to follow Webkinz’s successful model of selling plush pets as tokens to enter an online community, Neopets has announced they will be creating a plush pet entry path to their virtual community as well. Is this the first case of digital reverse evolution? (Going from a virtual community to an […]
Posted in Business, Design, Plush Pets, Virtual Communities on Oct 8th, 2007
Emily Bryson York published a story titled The Hottest Thing in Kids Marketing? Imitating Webkinz on Advertising Age 8 Oct 2007. She opened with a quiz to guess where you would find a Webkiz toy, the answer was tossed aside and forgotten in the corner of the bedroom. Her article is right on the theme […]
Posted in Business, Design, Plush Pets, Virtual Communities on Oct 1st, 2007
Hasbro announced it will be entering the “Digital Plush Arena” with Virtual Interactive Pets (VIP)Â in a 24 Sept 2007 press release. Their already successful “Littlest Pet Shop” line will be launching five pets bound for the virtual world: a dog, cat, turtle, penguin, and a panda. The “VIP” will be launched in mid October […]
Posted in Business, Design, Plush Pets, Virtual Communities on Sep 18th, 2007
MGA Entertainment’s MyePets follows the Webkinz model. You buy a plush pet in a retail store, then go online to MyePets.com, log on using the secret number on your pet’s bone, then go to the adoption center, meet the virtual version of your plush pet, give it a name, decorate your own private room, then […]
Posted in Business, Design, Virtual Communities on Sep 18th, 2007
Novamente has announced it will be showing a “teachable virtual companion” (virtual pet) in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company at the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose in October 2007. These virtual pets are being designed to interact with avatars in virtual worlds such as Second Life. The pets are designed with certain goals […]
This new tool for “real” pets is another example of handheld electronics similar those used in handheld games passing over to actual pet applications. The Hear Now company of Calgary, Alberta, Canada launched the “Hear Now” in 2006. It allows interactive two way voice communication with your pet at a range up to 12 miles. […]
Posted in Business, Design, Dolls, Plush Pets, Virtual Communities on Aug 17th, 2007
Recent times have been very good for Mattel. A 16 August 2007 Associated Press story points out sales of their Transformer and Spider man toys have been boosted by movies, plus they are still reaping sales from Pixar Animation Studio’s “Cars” movie. Barbie sales are anticipated to pick up with the new MP3 player. Earlier, […]
Posted in Business, Dating, Design, People, Virtual Communities on Aug 15th, 2007
A 30 August 2007 Wall Street Journal article titled, “Is This Man Cheating on His Wife” discusses the real life challenges of a 53 year old man and his wife resulting from his actions in Second Life. There (in Second Life) he has a wife, owns a mall, strip club, a dance club, and a […]
Pet Preservations is one of several firms that can freeze dry your “real” pet when it dies so it can remain on display in your home as sort of a “virtual” pet. They mention burial of pets is not an option in some locations, or you may move on later. Pet preservation is presented as […]
25kids.com prints life size pictures of you, your kids, your pets, etc for sticking on your front lawn. I saw them this morning on one of the national news shows. They are printed in color on a plastic substrate to make them weatherproof. The company claims they will hold their colors outside for years. The […]
