Kids hooked on Webkinz world

Steve Pardo | / The Detroit News

NEW HUDSON -- For Amanda Bruen, it started innocently enough: a gift of a plush monkey she named Brownie. Now, the fifth-grader has six "Webkinz" -- stuffed animals that come with a secret code to plug into a Web site that lets youngsters play games and send messages to their friends. And she's hooked.

"I go on the site every day," said Amanda, 11, who attends South Lyon schools. "I like that I can feed them and I can send gifts to my friend and I can earn money and do jobs."

The cute, somewhat mangy-looking creatures are a huge hit among the elementary set nationwide and in Metro Detroit. They're a craze reminiscent of Beanie Babies but with an online twist: the Web site that keeps kids like Amanda logging on daily.

She commits to caring for the virtual version of her Webkinz, racking up "KinzCash" points so she can purchase presents for her pets.

That the pets are virtual, a digital simulacrum to their stuffing-and-cloth counterparts, doesn't make caring for them any less serious.

"We can't keep them in stock," said Cindy Gardner at English Gardens in Eastpointe. "We may get 36 shipped to us one day and not see any more for weeks. And they sell out immediately. Even if we get double that, a lot of times they sell out the same day."

Introduced in summer 2005 by the Woodbridge, Ontario, company Ganz, the Webkinz world starts out with the purchase of a plush animal for about $11.

Each animal -- there are now 41, plus 25 of the smaller Lil' Kinz -- has a tag with a secret code. That code is a password to the online world of Webkinz. After logging on and "adopting" their new pet, children can play games online, spin the "Wheel of Wow" to win prizes and earn virtual money. They can even chat, in a limited way, with their friends -- sort of a beginner's MySpace, a social networking site popular with teens and adults.

It's the chatting part that gives Amanda's mother, Patty Bruen, pause. "I think it does prepare them for MySpace," Bruen said. "I've got to warn her every day about the evils of the computer and the evils in the world, and that's the scary part. She's 11 and she thinks everything is cool and nobody would hurt her."

Members aren't allowed to send personal information or messages over the "KinzChat." The Webkinz site involves prewritten sentence options and is shared only between those on a friends list.

"Being a parent and from the '80s, I'm surprised how adept these kids are, computerwise," Bruen said. "I still have my reservations on being online and chatting in general, but it seems like a safe way to do it."

The American Academy of Pediatrics is neutral on Webkinz, but tells parents to be vigilant.

"These are the training wheels for the other social networking sites," said Dr. Don Shifrin, chairman of the academy's committee on communication. "We're not going to say to youngsters, 'Do not do this'; they're going to find a way, anyway. Parents need to make sure they're traveling on these sites safely and not venturing on the Internet sites that would be unfriendly."

A handful of schools in other states banned Webkinz from class for being disruptive. But it is also impressing adults. It won the 2007 Specialty Toy of the Year award from the Toy Industry Association.

"I think they're the absolutely most fabulous characters. It teaches them such wonderful, wonderful skills," said Ina Kirstein, an assistive technology consultant who works with students with a wide range of abilities and disabilities in the Oakland Schools, the intermediate school district.

With Webkinz, "they learn how to take care of something. They take responsibility. It teaches them money skills."

The biggest problem may be finding them. They're carried mostly by smaller retailers, which are selling out of them as soon as they get them. Susan McVeigh, Ganz communications manager, said: "Nobody could have forecast this huge of a surge in demand. We're all rallying to up the production and get them out the door as soon as possible."

For Amanda, her devotion to Webkinz means planning ahead. She and her family plan to go camping , but she'll still be able to keep up with her pets while on the road. "We're taking the laptop," she said. "Otherwise, I'd be worried."

You can reach Steve Pardo at (586) 468-3614 or spardo@detnews.com.