Ah, the elusive hamster.
AG, are you reading this? The hamster set being only available with the bed was dumb. I, Maple Twiggs, declare it to be so on January 25th, 2012: Dumb, dumb, dumby-dumb-dumb.
Sure, sure you could say that it was brilliant marketing and business strategy, blah-blah-blah. I don't give a billy goat's gruff. Simply said, a lot of kids want that hamster and you have made it impossible for them to get it.
The spirit of AG should be charity and understanding. Forcing people to buy a $225 bed, to tell their children they can't have it, or to search Ebay endlessly for just the hamster part of the bed set is not charitable nor understanding. :-(
I wag my butt at you AG.
Le sigh. Not really much one little doll can do in the face of corporate greed - but I have said my piece.
Now I will discuss the hamster set itself. It is cute and sufficient. The hamster is super tiny, like a bebe ham. He is a little bit over an inch long. So in approximate scale, that would be a three-inch-long hamster in real life. Tiny lil dude. We haven't read the McKenna books yet - so we can't tell you the kind of hamster he is supposed to be. But this is like the size of a Siberian dwarf or something. See my collage below.
He is a molded piece of plastic that is flocked. Then his eyes are painted a black color that will pierce into your soul. My hamster's eyes are a little large. I think he was eating some special brownies or something...
I still have to figure out what to name him, and I am not sure if I will keep him as part of my laboratory. True, a hamster in a science lab makes sense. But have you seen the gear he comes with? Totally Barbie-plastic-happy stuff. Fine for people who like that. But not overly convincing as something that should be in a science lab. At least the hamster itself isn't a chunk of hot pink plastic. Although AG probably considered that option...
I will probably end up revising his equipment or making a new tank thingy for him.
If anyone has any suggestions for revising the equipment or finding new stuff,
please feel free to share them in the comments.
The hamster equipment includes the tank/cage, a wheel, and a food dish. The water bottle is permanently attached (as far as we can tell) to side of the tank. Once everything is inside there is pretty much no space for the hamster to move. Sigh. His materialistic needs have crowded him out of his own home. Sounds familiar.... (looks around at a room full of dolls).If anyone has any suggestions for revising the equipment or finding new stuff,
please feel free to share them in the comments.
So here are the rest of the pics. If anyone has any questions about this set, please let us know.
Thanks for visiting us today!
Stay tuned for more posts soon!
11 comments:
I shall wag my butt at AG with you Maple! I've been dying to get a hamster or guinea pig and here come AG down the royal carpet with a $225 set?! I DON'T THINK SO!!!
P.S. If you've never read the books, she's a dwarf hamster and her name is Polka-Dot. :) I loved reading her book!
Hunter H.
I love your post and completely agree that they shouldn't have bundled the hamster set with the expensive bed. In one shot I thought it looked like a polar bear. It is too bad that the scale factor is a bit off on it. They do have spray paint for plastic; you could try spraying the pink lid.
AG is ridiculously expensive with alll of its stuff from the dolls to the hamsters to the clothes! there is another company called our generation that is almost exactly like AG although they are just getting started so they don't have as much stuff. I mean you can get a nice bed from OG for 45$. Less than an AG DOLL! Any way! You should totally check out their website! It is ogdolls.com.
PolkaDot
zebrastripeandpolkadot.blogspot.com
P.S OG even has little dogs!! And they are 3$.
It does not seem right that they would package the bed and hamster together but I bet they will eventually separate them or make one available later depending on the demand.
Polka Dot, the OG stuff is cheap and also extremely cheaply made. Been there done that, will never do again. The AG stuff, while expensive, is at least well made and for some people has stood the test of time and play. I wouldmuch rather pay the expensive price tag for a quality well made doll and her accessories then have to replace them or have my child be disappointed.
Seeing this hamster for the first time up close, I was rather dissappointed. :( And especially dissappointed that I am not going to get all McKenna's accessories because they're bundled with the bed that I have no room for... :( I shall wag my butt, too! :) I laughed out loud at that, Maple! :D
Thanks for the review and the pics.
We travelled to AGPLA last week and the hamster, wheel and dish were missing from the second-floor display. There was another display in the front window, but it was hard to see from the sidewalk! Such a bummer.
If you want to change the cage, you could always use a tupperware container. They always have a lot of lid color choices! It would also look pretty cute if you put wood chips or something in the bottom of the cage. Hope I helped!
The little hamster & cage are so cute (although his stare is a bit chilling, I have to admit). You might be able to paint the wheel and bottom of the tray with acrylic, if you used a tiny brush and were careful not to touch the clear plastic. I feel like a mostly white cage with some pink/lime green could still be legitimate in a lab. I also think the woodchips idea is brilliant!
Thank you for posting these pics! I really don'tlike the hampster, but love the idea! I think I will try to find a substitute for my daughters. The thing is slightly creepy looking! Actually, now that I think about it, we have TONS of zhu zhu pets that will work just as well for now!
Oh my goodness! Is that your hamster in real? It's soooo cute!
Lady Fantasim, really? I like my doll and she is holding up great! OG probably isn't the greatest quality but it is a good replacement for me. Although they might not do well for little kids.
PolkaDot
www.zebrastripeandpolkadot.blogspot.com
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