Yo, hey
this blog hasn't been updated in two months and nothing's really been happening so it's been a good run but I think it's time we take our leave
well Kei already took the initiative a good winter ago, not sure where she went
Jasmine! Remember that treasure hunt thing from last year? You were almost there; the message was let's celebrate because Let's Talk Webkinz is one year old. I sent you your prize thing.
I'm over on Webkinz Insider as carmentacmc if any of you guys with an account want to stay in touch (I'll know you're from here because I have only one conversation running atm)
Thanks for your support over the years!

-Carmen

Wednesday Updates: January 9, 2013

It is in reading the list of tags for this blog via Windows Live Writer, a feature this laptop apparently has, I realize just how many tags Let’s Talk Webkinz has. Well, guess what—now we’re adding more! Introducing the 2013 tag, which we will hopefully use a lot, and Deluxe-W-Shop, which we will hopefully never ever have reason to use again. While we’re off-topic, I recently realized the background for this blog resembles bacon. We now return to the matter at hand.

The first Wednesday update of the year features the addition of new clothing to the KinzStyle Outlet, and…the somewhat pointless conversion of the City Styling Theme, otherwise known as the Mocha theme, to a Deluxe-only W-Shop theme.

--Winterfest 2013 Begins January 11--

Speaking of confusing Deluxe-related shenanigans, the Winterfest challenge is rendered currently unwinnable as one of the tasks is to earn 20 KinzCash playing Waddell’s Icecap Adventure. Not that this a particularly difficult endeavor, but said game was recently converted to a Deluxe-only game. Non-Deluxies are getting the task anyway.

And speaking of Winterfest, it has begun a full 4 days early on January 11, as Asian accounts report the snowflakes already flying. WKN previously reported that this year’s Winterfest would end on the 27th, but they have revoked this previous statement and are now saying it will last from apparently January 11-20. This is still a good nine days of snowflake-catching fun, so get out there!

To learn about the previous 6 years of Winterfest fun—yes, it really has been that long!—check out this page of the Webkinz Insider Wiki. Winterfest takes some dedication, so if you happen to be in charge of dinner, then consult this list of meals compiled by Webkinz Insider staff. These are all meals that are wholesome, delicious, and that can be made in a cinch without having to be constantly attended to.

 

New Clothing Added to KinzStyle Outlet

Yeah, so Deluxe-only clothing remains a thing that exists.

Adventure Parka: 150 KC, Deluxe-only

Boys Green Plaid Shirt: 125 KC (yes, I know, they forgot an apostrophe)

Cat Ear Toque: 80 KC, Deluxe-only (…my question is why would your pet need this)

Cozy Sweater & Scarf: 130 KC (more scarfs YESH)

Howlin’ Hoody Vest: 105 KC (is actually pretty neat)

Knitted Flower Headband: 75 KC

Marshmallow Ear Muffs: 80 KC (finally!)

Polarberry Pants: 110 KC, Deluxe-only

Polished Ice Dress: 130, Deluxe-only

Sweet Snowflake Coat: 200 KC

Warm Toggle Jacket: 180 KC, Deluxe-only

Winter Buckle Boots: 95 KC, Deluxe-only

If you’re interested in more Winter fashions, check out the PJ Collie Peek-A-Newz going on from today until the 31st. This Peek-A-Newz includes three Webkinz Newz exclusive items, which are a black variant of the Winter Buckle Boots, a brown variant of the Adventure Parka, and a green variant of the Cat Ear Toque.

You do not have to be a Deluxe member to win these items!

I do advise that you make use of an ad-blocker, as there is currently a very obnoxious/irritating advertisement for some new show or somethin’ that will pop up around the site.

Rest of July 2012 Webkinz PSI and PSF Revealed

We'll start with the Sunset Giraffe, a cute new pal with a mosaic of colors--and that's no tall tale! okay sorry that was terrible

It comes with a Tallest Toy Box PSI, and a Twiggy Pudding PSF.

For a walk on the wild side, we have the Coyote!

After a day of exploring, it walks across its Canyon Crosswalk PSI back home for a Prairie Omelet dinner.

And on this side of the ring, we have the Boxer!

After getting in its daily training in its Boxing Ring Trampoline, the Boxer looks forward to Champion Treats!

The Signature pet for July is the Hippopotamus!

In its spare time, the Signature Hippopotamus likes to ride around on its Muddy River Raft Ride, snacking on Short Grass Samosas.

A new addition to the Rockerz line! An eStore pet available now for 15,000 points (15 US$), the Rockerz Puppy is...oddly reminiscent of Justin Beiber. Honestly, look at the hair, the purple, and the clothing it comes with. 
Aaaaand it really does not want me to show the picture. Just follow this link to the WKN article instead. 

Three July 2012 Webkinz Pet Plushes Revealed at Webkinz Newz

We'll start with the Tropical Island Pup. If this pet looks awfully familiar, it's with good reason--it was released in October 2011 as a Cracker Barrel Exclusive. As of July of this year, though, it can be found in all Webkinz retailers!

As such, we already know its PSI (Beachside Gazebo) and PSF (Fresh Flower Cocktail).

This here is the Alpaca, which is among the cutest Webkinz of 2012 so far in my book.

And this is the FrooFroo Fox (yes, all two words) which resembles a dog or maybe even a cat rather than a fox.

More News About Webkinz Friends; 3 New States Added to Webkinz Road Trip

"What happened to the blog this week?"
Camping. Camping happened. And now I'm back, so let's get this show on the road!

Webkinz Insider has conducted and published a 10-question interview with the Creative Director of Webkinz World about Webkinz Friends.
Apparently, Webkinz World's Creative Director is also the Creative Director of Webkinz Friends. Cool. You can find the interview here.

Ganz has also announced that Webkinz Friends will soon be playable on the iPad! The iPad Webkinz Friends will be identical to the Facebook app in every way, except for updating slightly later than the Facebook app.

Also there are more places added to the Webkinz Road Trip Map I just now checked that

why don't they announce these things
It appears that Missouri, West Virginia, and Tennessee have been added to the map! There will be 1 stop in West Virginia, 3 stops in Missouri, and 1 stop in Tennessee.

West Virginia

June 18, 11 AM-1 PM
Huntington
Cabell Huntington Hospital 

Missouri

June 29, 2-4 PM
St. Louis
Schaefer's Hobby Shop
 
June 30
Washington
Altemueller Jewelery 

July 1
St. Louis
Sweet Be's

Tennessee

June 21
Memphis
St. Jude's Children Hospital

Ganz Introduces Two New Social Events...Part 2

Ganz has created a Facebook app.

As such, you cannot use this without a Facebook account. (yet?) You can find the app here. 
This new app is called Webkinz Friends. It is currently in beta, and is a Farmville-meets-Webkinz kind of world. It is a lot more complicated than Webkinz World, as would be expected of an app that only 13+ can use.
Here is the app description:

Webkinz Friends is a social game where you can make a big happy family in the Kinzville of your dreams, with the added benefit of sending prizes to anyone in Webkinz World!

 This is what it looks like...

This is a snippet of Sir Rhineholt's yard. What's supposed to be animated, is, and it's the perfect opportunity to decorate with eStore items when you normally couldn't.

About every 5 minutes, a little ditty that sounds like a cross between Mazin-Hamsters/Creatures Adventures music plays. Birds chirp the whole time.

Upon starting up, Ms. Birdy greets you, and asks you to choose a Webkinz with which to represent yourself in your Kinzville. You also get to name it. You may choose a Black and White Cat, Golden Retriever, Basset Hound, Pig, Cow, Hippo, Cocker Spaniel, or Lion. They don't get specified genders, though.

Then they just traipse around the roads.

The features of the game are as follows:
Pet Adoption--You can adopt Webkinz pets to create your family. You can use the codes from actual Webkinz plush pets (only works if the code is unused, or was used after May 2012), and you can collect Adoption Certificates from the Adoption Center, and trade them in for a pet (which can only be used in the app, of course). Plush pets adopted in Webkinz Friends come with their PSI.
You earn 1 Adoption Certificate a day. It takes 5 Certificates for your first pet, 10 for the second, 15 for the third, and so on--just multiply the number pet it is by 5. 
Upon adopting a new pet, you can choose if you want a new room in your house, OR 2,000 KinzCash.
I do not know exactly how this plush-adoption thing works. We know that Webkinz World first, then Webkinz Friends does not work, but does Webkinz Friends first, then Webkinz World work? I imagine it would only be fair for it to work as such, because I'm not going to buy a plushie just to have it wander around in my Facebook app.

Kinzville--Everyone's wondered what Kinzville looks like in-depth...and now we know--whatever you want it to look like! Yep, you can make little buildings and houses and make your own Kinzville. Sir Rhineholt, your first and default friend, has his own bustling Kinzville that looks like this:

Goals--As you play, you'll see goals--a little Cocker Spaniel in a box--on the left side of the screen. Completing these goals gets you KinzCash, items, goods, and prizes!

Experience--The more you have, the more levels you get. The more levels, the more items you can unlock in the KinzMart. The more items, the bigger your Kinzville can become!

Goods--On the top of your screen, there are Goods. There are four types: Materials, which you get from resources like the Mystery Mine. You can also get them from cutting down pine trees. Materials are used to make buildings. The second type is Food. They're used to stock restaurants. The third type is Items. They're used to stock places like the W-Shop. And lastly is the Clothes, which are used to stock places like clothing stores.

Kinzfolk (I've always wondered what you call citizens of Kinzville)--Kinzfolk are just Webkinz that run around your town, adding the cutest slice of life. A wider variety of Kinzfolk are made available by buying Pet Packs in the KinzMart, however, these packs cost real money in the form of Facebook credits.

Happiness--This is important, as the more happiness you have, the more bonuses you get from harvests from buildings and resources. To get more happiness, have a large family, and/or a high-quality town. 

Town Quality--Based on what's in your town, the Quality level helps determine your Happiness level. You can increase the Quality with a big Webkinz family and having lots of Kinzfolk.

Neighbors--These are your Facebook friends that you invite to Webkinz Friends. You can visit their towns, and help them by collecting from businesses and harvesting crops. This gives you Experience and KinzCash. You can only help out with 5 buildings daily, though.

Your House--Or just "My Room" in WW terms, your house allows you to make recipes. You can also decorate it, of course! You can also get a Happiness bonus from it--the more pets in your family, the more Happiness you earn.

Eager Beavers take care of the construction work. :D

...that Tomato Soup recipe up there is the most sensible one I've seen Webkinz World associated with. (also, I feel duped. I took a book, some gardening tools, and a pen and tossed them together in real life, and was not given a blank book. Just some confetti.)

Collections--Collections are groups of items that you can get from collecting from buildings and harvesting crops. They're awarded randomly, so you never know what you'll get, but the goal is to get ALL the pieces in the collection. For getting a complete collection, you can trade them in for KinzCash, goods, or a special item. Some Collection items can be used in recipes.

Whew! That's a long list.

Ms. Birdy shows up at the start of your Kinzville to guide you through a tutorial. The first building you build is your own house, and you can build other houses, too, from mobile homes to mansions.


You can adopt pets, but only a few varieties work--there's a list you can find here, along with a Q&A of Webkinz Friends. eStore pet codes don't work and due to the lack of a place to enter codes, Zumbuddies and Mazin' Hamsters wouldn't work, either.

If this sounds like something you'd like to check out, do note that the app requires the following of your Facebook account:

• Basic information (name, gender, list of friends, anything you've made public)
• Your birthday
• The ability to send you e-mail notifications
• Post on your behalf (make posts about stuff you've done in Webkinz Friends)
• Manage your [Webkinz Friends-related] notifications

For more information, check out the following:
-this video, made by the staff of Webkinz Insider

-the Webkinz Friends Customer Service
-the Webkinz Friends Facebook page, where they answer questions and clarify things.
-Webkinz Insider has created a sub-forum about Webkinz Friends. 

There is also a Webkinz Friends website, though there's not much point to it, as it just shows the WF title screen and gives a link to the Facebook app, the only place so far to play it.

The thing that I find the best about this new app so far is that the decorations you can place are real items from Webkinz World. Also, there's an option to make it fullscreen. It just makes it so much cooler.

The app runs surprisingly fast, and the little Webkinz running around are so cute! There's so freaking much to learn, though, and it's still in beta, so who knows what's still ahead.

You can send gifts to WW accounts, apparently, but I don't know how to do that yet.

List of May Contests at WKN

 From May 4-31, 2012, go to WKN and look for the above advertisement. Click on it and fill out the form to win a randomly selected, birthday-themed prize--or even the WKN exclusive Emerald Lamp!

May Contests

The Webkinz Okapi is June's POTM! As usual, there is a contest to win a virtual one at WKN. Simply make a list of your top ten Mother's Day gifts, and you could win one of 5 Okapi codes in time for June! Here is the link to the contest.

Speaking of Mother's Day, there's a contest for that, too!
In 1,000 characters or less, write about why you love your mom and you could win a Mother's Day Prize Pack!
Here's the link to the contest, which runs from May 1-13.

Good news for Webkinz Rockerz fans! From May 1-31, you can win a code for either a Webkinz Rockerz Cat or Bulldog! (formally "Punk Rock Princess Cat" and "Bad to the Bone Bulldog".)
How?
Bulldog: Write about why the Rockerz Bulldog is your favorite of the Rockerz in 1,000 characters or less.
Cat: Write about why the Rockerz Cat is your favorite of the Rockerz in 1,000 characters or less.
Here is a link to the Cat's contest, and here's the link to the Dog's contest. 

Calling all artists! The Webkinz Road Trip is upon us, and so is a contest for it! Draw your Webkinz next to the 2012 Road Trip Van and you could win a virtual version of the van! This contest runs from May 1-13. Only pictures uploaded as a .JPG or .GIF image are allowed.
Here's the contest link.
Need a 2012 Webkinz Road Trip Van reference? This picture from this WKN article is probably your best bet unless you see the Van in real life.

Pictured on the van...
Far left corner of the left side of the van:
1 Giggly Zum, 1 Zippy Zum, Alyssa, Ice Dragon, Spring Songbird, Mud Hippo, Red Velvet Bunny, Yellow Fluffy Cub, Wacky Zingoz, Dodo, Peace Unicorn, Polka Dot Bobcat, Rockerz Lion, unreleased Rockerz dog, unreleased Rockerz monkey, Pink Pony
This design is mirrored on the right side of the van. 

Hood of van, from left-hand side to right:
Sera, Raziel, Boris, Ghost Pirate, Gnomon (Adventure Park characters; Ghost Pirate is also found in the Rock the Boat game on the Tropical Island)

Back of van, left-hand side to right:
Bad to the Bone Bulldog, Punk Rock Princess Cat, Peace, Love, and Moosic Cow



And finally, there is a Peek-A-Newz going on from May 2-23. Log in here, then look around Webkinz Newz for Wacky Zingoz peeking out from behind advertisements. (it helps to press Ctrl, then scroll down--that makes the page smaller and therefore easier to search quickly.) The prizes for this Peek-A-Newz are hats, posters, and shirts from last year's Road Trip. A perfect opportunity to fill out one's collection!

And for Webkinz fans who use the eStore, it has been announced that for the entire month of May, the virtual-only Emerald Puppy will be for sale! Not only that, but those who purchase this pet first made available in 2010 will get a free Emerald Dragster!

And from this segment of the advertisement, it looks like the rest of the Birthstone Puppies will be available somehow during their respective months this year, too!

Webkinz Road Trip Map Posted to Webkinz Newz

You can find the map with this link.

Albeit 2 days after it was scheduled to be, Ganz has finally added the Webkinz Road Trip Map to Webkinz Newz. It does not show all of the events yet, but it will be updated.

Do note that not all of these dates and times are set in stone. Please try to remain updated with WKN, Webkinz Insider, Let's Talk Webkinz, and by calling the locations the day before the event to make sure that the Van is still stopping there.
The Van is scheduled to visit Georgia five times, South Carolina once, North Carolina twice, Virginia twice, Pennsylvania three times, New Jersey twice, Massachusetts once, Maine once, New York three times, Ohio three times (and then to stop at the Ohio State Fair), Minnesota four times (and then to stop at the Minnesota State Fair), and Texas once (then to stop for almost a full month at the Texas State Fair) this year, with a possibility for even more states and events to be added later on.

Georgia

Tuesday, May 1--Woodstock
Melissa's Hallmark, 5-7 PM

Wednesday, May 2--Marietta 
Learning Express, 4-6 PM

Thursday, May 3--Cumming
Parsons, 4-6 PM

Friday, May 4--Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill Pharmacy, 3-5 PM

Saturday May 5--Rincon
Curiosity Shoppe Jewelers, 1-3 PM

South Carolina

Tuesday, May 8--Myrtle Beach
Toys and Co., 4:30 PM-6:30 PM

North Carolina

Thursday, May 10--Garner
Peggy's Hallmark, 4-6 PM

Saturday, May 12--Kitty Hawk
Grandma Sushi's Closet, 1-3 PM

Virginia

Tuesday, May 15--Portsmouth 
Children's Museum of Virginia, 3-5 PM

Wednesday, May 16--Richmond
Mackenzie Grace, 3:30-5:30 PM

Pennsylvania

Saturday, May 19--Harrisburg
Strawberry Patch, 1-3 PM

Sunday, May 20--Elysburg
Knoebels Amusement Park, 1-3 PM

Thursday, May 24--Havertown
Ruth's Hallmark Shops, 5-7 PM 

New Jersey

Wednesday, May 23--Marlton
Joy's Hallmark, 5:00-7:00 PM

Sunday, May 27--Absecon
Browserama of Historic S[there isn't enough room for the title so I don't know] 1-3 PM

Massachusetts

Tuesday, May 29--Shrewsbury
Herberts Candies, 5-7 PM

Maine

Sunday, June 3--Kennebunk
Best of Everything, 11 AM-1 PM 

New York

Thursday, June 7--Webster
Schutt's, 5-7 PM

Saturday, June 9--Williamsville
Raff and Friends, 2-4 PM

Sunday, June 10--Arcade
Domes Gift Shop, 2-4 PM

Ohio

Tuesday, June 12--Howland
Gorants Candy, 2-4 PM

Wednesday, June 13--Cleveland
American Greetings Card S[cut off again; assuming it says "Shop"]
10:45 AM-1:45 PM

Thursday, June 14--Cleveland
Nicky Nicole, 1-3 PM

And then the van will stop at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus from Wednesday, July 25 to Sunday, August 5.

Minnesota

Friday, August 10--Rochester
Ashley's Hallmark
 
Sunday, August 12--Minneapolis
The Park at the Mall of America

Tuesday, August 14--Burnsville
Ficus and Fig

Friday, August 17--Maple Grove
Maggie's Hallmark

Then, the Van will stop in St. Paul for the Minnesota State Fair. The Van will stay there from Thursday, August 23, to Monday, September 3.

Texas

The Van will be stopped in Dallas for the State Fair of Texas from Friday, September 28, until Sunday, October 21.

Thursday, October 25--Houston
Texas Children Hospital, 1-3 PM

The Webkinz Road Trip to Return for May-October 2012

Webkinz Newz has confirmed that the Webkinz Road Trip will, in fact, return in 2012.

You can read more about the Road Trips of the past here (2010) and here (2011), but the basics of the event is that, for the entire summer, Ganz brings out the Webkinz Road Trip Van, and travels all across the USA to different locations.
For 2012, the Road Trip begins May 1, and ends in October.
Once the van sets up at the location of the day, then Webkinz fans can stop by--admission is free--and play fun activities such as spinning the Wheel of WOW, tossing Zumbuddy plushies through targets, guessing the amount of Jellybeans in a jar, singing along to Pet of the Month songs, answering Webkinz trivia questions, and maybe even more in 2012! The best part is that for practically every activity, one can win Webkinz Trading Cards, figurines, clothing for their Webkinz Plush, Kinz Klips, stickers, and the Best of KinzTunes CD. On top of all of this, you get a free code for an exclusive Webkinz Road Trip Van, just for showing up!

The map for this year's event will be on WKN on April 25.

If all of this sounds fun, then the so-far published list of events and places can be found below. If you live in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota, or Texas, then the Road Trip Van is scheduled to stop at least once in your state!

Additional states with predetermined locations, but not dates, are:
Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State Fair)
St. Paul, Minnesota (Minnesota State Fair)
Dallas, Texas (State Fair of Texas)
Do please take into account that it is not a rare happenstance for the day's events to be cancelled. If you want to go to the Road Trip, please call the store you'll be visiting ahead of time to make sure the Van will still be visiting.  
This is a copy/paste schedule from Webkinz Newz. 

• Tuesday May 1^st

Melissa’s Hallmark
130 Woodstock Square Avenue
Woodstock, GA

• Wednesday May 2^nd

Learning Express
3625 Dallas Hwy
Ste-718
Marietta, GA

• Thursday May 3rd

Parsons
525 Lakeland Plaza
Cumming, GA

• Friday  May 4th

Curiosity Shoppe Jewelers
210 North Columbia Avenue
Rincon, GA

• Saturday May 5th

Richmond Hill Pharmacy
2409 HWY 17
Richmond Hill, GA

• Tuesday May 8th

Toys and Co
Broadway at the Beach
1206 Celebrity Circle #207
Myrtle Beach, SC

• Thursday May 10th

Peggy's Hallmark
Contact: Kenneth West
233 Shenstone Blvd
Garner NC

• Saturday May 12th

Grandma Sushi's Closet
3810 East North Croatan Highway
Kitty Hawk NC

• Tuesday May 15th

Courthouse Galleries (Portsmouth Children's Museum)
521 Middle Street
Portsmouth, VA

• Wednesday, May 16^th

Mackenzie Grace
Richmond, Virginia

• Friday May 18^th

Banner’s Hallmark
Virginia Gateway
5047 Wellington Road
Gainsville, VA

• Saturday, May 19th

Strawberry Patch
112 Strawberry Square
Third and Walnut Street
Harrisburg, PA

• Sunday, May 20

Knoebels Amusement Park
Knoebels Blvd
Elysburg, PA

• Friday, May 25

Joy's Hallmark
230 N. Maple Ave
Crispin Square S/C
Marlton, NJ

• Saturday  May 26th

Ruth’s Hallmark
Double Tree Shopping Ctr.
834 Delsea Drive
Glassboro, N.J

• Sunday, May 27th

Browserama of Historic Smithville
The Zoo Store
3 North New York Rd
Bldg #5
Absecon, NJ

Ganz Reveals "Blue Batik Elephant" On Their Facebook Page

In recognition of Autism Awareness Day, Ganz posted a picture on their Facebook page of a Blue Googles, Hippo, and Splash Dragon lined up on a desk. Amongst them was an elephant that has never been seen before:

It uses the base design of the Batik Elephant, but this fellow is blue, and has daisy patterns. Normally, new Webkinz are revealed 2-3 months ahead on Webkinz Newz, however, there has been no word about this pet, making it one of the most quietly revealed Webkinz there is.

Speculation time!

• Beta design of the Batik Elephant, that they kept?
• Autism Awareness mascot at Ganz HQ?
• Really clever use of Photoshop?
• A personal project of one of the seamstresses?
• A pet available only to the staff?
• A Webkinz pet that will come to stores in the Fall?

Guess away!

April is Autism Awareness Month!
Some facts about autism:
-1 in 54 boys are affected as opposed to 1 in 252 girls.
-it is more common than cystric fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, Downs Syndrome, juvenile diabetes, childhood cancer, cerebral palsy, and pediatric AIDS--combined.
-Prevalence is estimated at 1 in 88 births.

A few other ways to spread awareness in Webkinz World:
~Run around with a blue or rainbow pet and/or dress your pet in blue
~Get a blue or rainbow pet and name it Autism Awareness
~You can join Autism Awareness parades in the Kinzville Park, being organized at Webkinz Insider. (you can also find a lot more information on the subject there.)

Webkinz World "Free Account" Option Available

Ganz appears to have brought back the "Trial Account", an option introduced in 2008.

Trial Account History 1

This Trial Account system has had a bit of complicated history. It was first introduced in November 2008, in its own site, Webkinz Demo.com (don't bother searching for it; the website doesn't exist anymore). For the first few days, it was available to all, until Ganz changed it so residents of the USA and Canada couldn't use it. The system for the demo was separate from the regular WW system, meaning that you could use a username already in use by a regular Webkinz World account. The demo was multilingual, meaning you could play in multiple languages other than English.

Those who created a Demo account would receive a male Webkinz Mutt named Patches. The Mutt is a pet only available to Demo/trial accounts, and you could not choose his gender or name. The adoption gifts for the Mutt were:
PSI: Red Dragster (actually the Webkinz Dragster to a non-Demo account)
PSF: Burger and Bun (a regular W-Shop Hamburger to non-Demo accounts)
Plus a Welcome Balloon, 5,000 KinzCash, some furniture, and a Wish Token (despite the fact that the Wish Factory was closed to Demo accounts).

Demo accounts were closed after 24 hours of existence.

Trial Account History 2

Shortly after the Demo's retirement in the US, players were given the option to use a Trial account. Players could choose between the Mutt or Domestic Cat (also a Trial-exclusive pet), and they could choose their new pet's name and gender. The Domestic Cat did not come with its own PSI and PSF. In the trial account, players could only access a few hourly activities, 5 Arcade games, a few pieces of clothing, and not much else. Some players managed to adopt a pet before their 24 hour trial was up, meaning that they got to keep their Domestic Cat or Mutt.

Trial Account History 3: Current Day

Today, it was discovered that the Free Account option was open again, even to members in the USA. Go to the Webkinz homepage,  and click on the "New Member" button.

This should be what you see.

I'll make a video about it to post in tomorrow's newsletter. Stick around!
I won't be testing to see if adopting a pet will let you keep your account. Sorry.

For pictures of these trial accounts, please visit the Webkinz Insider Wiki on this subject.

Ganz to Introduce "Webkinz Rockerz" in June 2012

Webkinz Newz has just announced a new series of Webkinz pets, though these are far from the usual array.

Coming to Webkinz World in June 2012 is the Webkinz Rockerz series. Shown in this picture, according to Webkinz Insider, is the Punk Princess Cat. You can find the rest of the four-pet ensemble here.
What makes these pets so special is that they come with, besides their PSI, PSF, and exclusive item all pets get, an exclusive Pet Specific Outfit, and two passes that can be exchanged for items of the Rockerz-only theme!
I'm kind of excited for this. This isn't the only time there have been pets offered with more than a PSI and PSF--there's Signatures, Webkinz Foundation, and Caring Valley pets. How cool! Will these be the only pets released in June 2012, or are there even more?