This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Heather @ Creative Family Moments!
I’ve always been fond of hermit crabs, so I was happy receive some Xia-Xia Pet Toy Crabs to review. These guys are adorable, beginning with their packaging! They skitter backwards and forwards in an erratic way that reminds me of real hermit crabs, even if they don’t move sideways. They are made by Cepia, LLC, the master mind behind ZhuZhu pets, but if you’re like me you will be happy to hear that they do NOT make random noises! Their shells are interchangeable, extra shells can be purchased separately, and each shell comes with a small toy that can ride along on the shell – a feature Johnny found particularly charming.
There are four different playsets for Xia-Xia pets, but they don’t seem to be sized quite right for this toy. We had problems with the crabs crashing into each other and the walls in the Rio de Trio Village Playset. They only move for 3-5 seconds at a time, so if they are crashing they don’t typically have time to resolve the issue before they turn off. I think the limited amount of time that they stay moving is good, but I would like to see the limit extended to 7 or even 10 seconds. Even the cute little carry-along house playset is problematic because my kids want the crabs to stand on the floor with their shells on, and some of the shells are too tall to fit this way (it does fit sideways)! My kids do like the playsets for other, smaller toys that we own!
The Xia-Xia packaging is adorable – so much so that Lily didn’t want us to open them! She carried this Xia-Xia around all day! We did have a problem with one Xia-Xia pet being turned on somehow in the packaging, and the battery running out. I was going to replace the battery, but the kids said they would just make it move themselves. Another pet worked for a few minutes before stopping. Xia-Xia was gracious enough to send us replacements.
The target age range for these little guys is three years and up, but I might move the lower limit up to 5 years old. Johnny turns four in December, and is not typically hard on toys, but he managed to break both claws off this Xia-Xia pet, I think while trying to switch out the shells. We were able to snap one of the claws back in place, but the second one cracked to the point of being irreparable. Luckily my kids don’t mind that one of the crabs is missing a claw, and the missing claw doesn’t seem to affect its balance or ability to move.
The bottom line for me? These guys are cute and fun, but there is room for improvement.
Would your kids like a Xia-Xia pet and shell? Xia-Xia worked with BSM Media to provide us with the toys for this review, and they are offering a crab and an extra shell to a reader of this blog in the US or Canada! To enter, tell me why you think your kids would like this toy! Leave a comment any time between now and October 30th. The winner will be chosen from all valid entries using random.org.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I would love to win! my daughter love al animals she been asking for a hermit crab. But her they smell to much so this would be a great gift for her. I think These are amazingly cute
thank you
siennaschmidt@gmail.com
My daughter wants these so bad!! I think they are so neat too. So much better than most of the kids toys they have these days.
My daughter saw the commercial for them the other day and thought they were “SOOOOOOOO cute”…she loves small animal toys she can carry around. Thanks for the chance!!
well zhu zhus were such a hit and these guys are so cute, i cant imagine they wouldn’t love them!
because they’re super cute and little. I bet my kiddos would love to play with them.
Claire and Margot would LOVE these, because they like anything that they can take out to the garage, turn on, and let escape so that we have to be very quiet, listen to the vibrating noise, and finally discover that it’s underneath the wooden stairs and then use a mirror, flashlight and coat hanger to fish our way behind the stairs, locate and retrieve it.
She is so cute as well as her toys. I would love to collect different shells and stones!
I think my daughter would love this toy because they are so cute. She would love trading them with her friends.
My daughter would love putting on and off shell from the Xia-Xia Hermit Crab. I would love to collect different shells!
Abby would love these and I like anything free. LOL!
My daughter would love this because she adores Littlest Pet Shops and Zoobles (sp?) and this looks like it would go right along with her play set up. Her and her friends can go for hours making up elaborate stories with little pretend animals like this.
These would go great with Littlest Pet Shops and Zoobles! Thanks for entering, and good luck!
My Noah loves all things tiny and unique =] from Lego guys to real creepy crawlies! He would adore one of these little guys. His cousins got a real hermit crab, and he was a bit disappointed he did not get one… Thanks for the chance to win.