First look: Zhu Zhu Pets to scurry back into stores

Smart, unpredictable, battery-powered hamsters are set to hit stores again this fall as Cepia re-launches its Zhu Zhu Pets toys.

Zhu Zhu Pets were a hot gift item when introduced for the 2009 holiday season, but Cepia says that demand that still exists for the toy line, which was discontinued in 2012. The family-run company plans to re-introduce the "Fab Four" original pets, plus four new pets, says Laura Kurzu, senior vice president of marketing at Cepia. An official unveiling is planned for the Toy Fair, a major industry event in New York, this weekend.

Kurzu says that the new toys, with names like "Pipsqueak" and "Mr. Squiggles," will be "cuter than ever."

Although the young children who collected the robotic rodents six years ago have most likely moved on from the craze, Cepia is confident that it will have "tremendous success" with a new segment of children who will play with the toys. The Zhu Zhu Pets move and make noises, and when they are in a playset accessory (sold separately, of course), they act much as a pet would within that environment.

"There's a timelessness and a classic truth to the fact that kids simply want to own a hamster, but moms hate the mess. Zhu Zhu Pets are kind of that perfect resolution to that conflict," says Kurzu.

In their first incarnation, Zhu Zhu Pets sold more than 70 million toys internationally, totaling revenue of more than $2 billion, according to Bruce Katz, senior vice president of sales at Cepia.

The characters have also been featured in an interactive online platform and in video games.

The new launch of Zhu Zhu Pets includes plans for an animated TV series, to be launched in 2016 through a partnership with Nelvana Enterprises. The companies are shopping the series to networks.