Puffer Vest Giveaway!

Hello to all my Webkinz friends! I hope you enjoyed Winterfest, and I hope you caught plenty of snowflakes! 🙂

Winterfest is winding down, and Ganz is already getting geared up for Valentine’s Day. But I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to the Winterfest fun – that’s why I’m doing a Puffer Vest Giveaway!

Entering for your chance to win one of TWO Puffer Vests is simple: Send me a screenshot of a room where you used some of your Winterfest prizes to decorate! I’ll gather the screenshots and draw two random winners who will each get a code for a free Puffer Vest.

As always, you’ll need to email me (natbrownnat@gmail.com) in order to enter – it’s the only way I can provide you with the code if you’re the winner! I respect your privacy, and I will never, ever share your information with anyone. Your email is used only to send you the code if you’re a winner.

I’ll accept submissions from now until midnight (EST) on January 30th, and I’ll announce the winners in the morning on January 31st.

So, if you want a chance at a free Puffer Vest, available only in the Ganz eStore, email me a screenshot of your Winterfest creations at natbrownnat@gmail.com

I look forward to seeing your amazing rooms! Good luck!

Series 3 and Series 4 Webkinz Trading Cards

I got a few Amazon gift cards for Christmas, so I bought myself a pack of Series 3 Webkinz Trading Cards and a pack of Series 4 Webkinz Trading Cards. Since I’ve talked quite a bit about Series 2, I thought I’d talk about these boxes and the changes that Ganz made when they released Series 3 and 4.

One change you’ll notice right away is the addition of a sticker card. In Series 3 and 4, each pack has a card with three or four different stickers on it. There are pets, clothing items, recipe foods and logo stickers, just to name a few. Here’s a look at some of the sticker cards I got the other day:

Another difference is that each feature code card only has one code. In Series 1 and 2, each feature code card could come with up to 4 codes. This might seem disappointing at first, and to some extent, it is a downside to Series 3 and 4.

The upside, though, is that the quality of the prizes in Series 3 and 4 is much higher.There aren’t any Wshop items like there are in Series 1 and 2. There also aren’t any recipe foods or kinzcash.

Here are some examples of the kinds of prizes you’ll unlock with the Series 3 and Series 4 Webkinz Trading Cards:

In fact, in the Series 4 Webkinz Trading Cards, you can even unlock a pair of Nafaria’s purple slippers! These are the “slips” that so many Webkinz players are trying to trade for!

A third difference that you’ll notice is that Series 3 and 4 each offer the chance of winning a very special and rare virtual pet. With Series 3 it is the Magical Retriever. With Series 4 it’s the Mystical Panda. I haven’t ever won either of these pets, but here’s a picture I found of what they look like:

So those are a few of the differences I’ve noticed with Series 3 and Series 4 Webkinz Trading Cards – what do you think about these differences? Do you like 1 and 2 better or 3 and 4? Let me know in the comments for a Trading Card prize via Kinzpost!

Doug the Dog and Trading Gems

Do you trade gems with Doug the Dog in the Clubhouse? For the past several months I’ve been working harder at finding Doug and trading with him. In the past, I never really had much interest in it, but now I’m on a quest to get those trophies!

It was only recently that I learned that in order to make progress in your gem trading, you must use the SAME pet each time you trade with Doug! For a very long time, I had no idea that the progress was tied to a particular pet. You can imagine that I was very confused when it seemed like Doug kept making me start over and go back to all those ice cream and rock candies!

 

My progress has really picked up speed now that I know to use the same pet each time I find Doug. In fact,  I finally earned all those trophies I’ve been wanting so bad!

Here’s what the three trophies look like:

Here’s a little bit of info on Doug in case you haven’t traded with him before:

Doug is Arte’s brother, and once a day, for only one hour, you can find Doug in the Clubhouse. Click on him, and he’ll ask you to give him a specific gem. If you have the gem, and you’re willing to give it to Doug, then he’ll award you a prize.

Doug starts out by asking for common gems, then he moves on to uncommon and rare gems as your trading progresses. Sometimes he’ll ask for more than one type of gem at a time.

Here’s what Doug looks like in the Clubhouse:

Doug can pop up anytime, but I’ve noticed that he’s generally in the Clubhouse in the evenings, usually between 5pm and 7pm. When he’s there, he stays for an hour, so if he shows up at 7pm, he’ll be there until 8pm.

There are 20 prizes total to collect from Doug – that’s a lot! I’m doing pretty well on both of my accounts. I especially love the wallpaper and flooring that you can earn from trading with Doug:

Do you like to trade gems with Doug? How many prizes have you collected? Which are your favorites? Let me know in the comments for a gem trading food prize via Kinzpost!

Pinky’s Big Adventure: Trophy Challenge

I’m really excited about the Pinky’s Big Adventure Trophy Challenge that’s going to take place from January 27th to January 29th in Webkinz World.

Here’s a look at what you need to do in order to win the trophy:

Complete all 3 tasks on the list, and you’ll be awarded this awesome trophy:

The Trophy Challenge, as the name suggests, centers on playing Hungry Hog 2: Pinky’s Big Adventure – just called “Pinky’s Big Adventure” for short.

Pinky’s Big Adventure is very similar to the original Hungry Hog game. You’re playing as Pinky the Pig, and your goal is to gobble up all the junk food that’s scattered throughout the maze…but watch out! There are bees flying around the maze as well, and if a bee touches you, you lose a life.

The game board looks like this:

If a bee spots Pinky, it turns red and looks angry:

Even though your goal is to collect all the junk food, eating the junk food will actually slow you down. When Pinky is moving slower, it’s easier for the bees to catch him. That’s where the vegetables come in.

Eating a vegetable will speed you back up. Unfortunately, eating a vegetable will also make more junk food appear, which means it will take longer to complete the level.

Here you can see Pinky eat a piece of broccoli – he speeds up, but more junk food appears:

Pinky is not without a defense against the bees. Each level features one or more “bee helmets” that you can collect.

When you run over the bee helmet in the maze, the helmet will appear on Pinky’s head and remain there for a limited amount of time. During that time, Pinky can run into the bees without losing a life and can actually knock the bee off the screen temporarily. You also earn points for knocking a bee off the screen.

The bees are smart, though. When they catch sight of Pinky with the helmet on, they’ll turn and fly the other direction to try to get away. You’ll know they’re trying to escape because a bee helmet icon will appear over their head.

Here’s a gif that shows what Pinky can do with the bee helmet on:

I did say the bees were smart – but I guess that’s only partly true because the bees can get confused pretty easily. Turn a corner, get out of the bee’s line of sight or get behind a bee and they’ll no longer know where Pinky is. So, even if you can’t always “out run” the bees, you can usually hide from them pretty successfully.

I’m okay at Pinky’s Big Adventure, but honestly I’m not great. I haven’t made it past level 5 or 6. I do have a few hints, though, that I think will help you earn that kinzcash faster so you can get your trophy:

1. Take your time: the game isn’t timed so there’s no reason to rush. If you need to go slow and stay hidden from the bees, that’s okay.
2. Work one area at a time: the food is spread out everywhere on the board; instead of running back and forth (and probably attracting the bees) focus on one area of the board at a time. Once that area is cleared, move onto another.
3. Draw the bees to you and knock them out: To make the most of your helmet, wait to “put it on” until a bee is near you so you can knock the bee off the board. This not only earns you extra points, but it gives you a little bit of free time until the bee reappears. If you stand still near the helmet, you can draw the bees towards you and then put on the helmet and quickly knock all of them out.

Do you have any tips or tricks for succeeding at Pinky’s Big Adventure? Are you looking forward to the Trophy Challenge?

Webkinz 2017 Winter Clothing Line

The 2017 Winter Clothing Line has officially debuted in the KinzStyle Outlet, which means the 2016 Summer Clothing Line has been retired.

So what does the 2017 Winter Clothing Line have to offer? There are 12 pieces total in this latest line from our fashionista PJ Collie:

All 12 items are pictured above – now let’s break it down by name and price – and whether the items is Deluxe only.

1. Slouchy Sweater: 360 Kinzcash
2. Fuzzy Pom Pom Hat (Deluxe only): 200 Kinzcash
3. Bold Leopard Jacket (Deluxe only): 425 Kinzcash
4. Floral Suit Top: 380 Kinzcash
5. Floral Suit Bottom (Deluxe only): 375 Kinzcash
6. Mod Mini: 300 Kinzcash
7. Silver Boots: 310 Kinzcash
8. Painted Camo Pants: 280 Kinzcash
9. Bold Red Boots: 340 Kinzcash
10. Candelicious Skirt (Deluxe Only): 350 Kinzcash
11. Red Cat’s Eye Glasses (Deluxe only): 190 Kinzcash
12. Warm Wraparound: 200 Kinzcash

If you wanted to buy the entire 2017 Winter Clothing Line, it’s going to cost you 3710 Kinzcash!

To help you decide which pieces you might want for your pet’s wardrobe, I’ve dressed my pets in the new clothing items and posted the pictures below. Sometimes the way a clothing item looks in the KinzStyle Outlet is really different from how it looks on your pet. Hopefully these pictures will help you decide which items are worth spending your Kinzcash on! 🙂

First up, the Slouchy Sweater and Red Cat’s Eye Glasses:

I paired these two items together because the reds match perfectly. Lila, my Strawberry Cloud Leopard, is a girl, but I think the Slouchy Sweater would look good on a boy pet as well.

Next let’s look at the Fuzzy Pom Pom Hat:

I put the Fuzzy Pom Pom Hat on my Signature German Shepherd, and it looks a little weird with his ear poking out. Maybe the hat looks better on pets with no ears – like a fish or bird. It’s a cute hat, though, and it will match with lots of outfits you can put together with the 2017 Winterfest clothing prizes.

Here’s the Bold Leopard Jacket:

At 425 Kinzcash, the Bold Leopard Jacket is the most expensive item in the 2017 Winter Clothing Line. I like the pattern a lot, and I think the fit is nice (nothing weird happening!). If you look closely at the front under my pet’s chin you can see a bit of the collar, so you can tell that it’s a jacket and not a regular shirt. I like that’s it’s done in black and gray so it can be paired with just about any color. Here’s I’ve got it with some lime green track pants.

On to the Floral Suit Top and Floral Suit Bottom:

I like the Floral Suit, especially because I don’t have nearly as much clothing for my boy pets as I do my girl pets. I don’t like, however, that the top is for everyone and the bottom is only available to Deluxe members. That makes it tough for non-Deluxe members to put the outfit together. If you’re not Deluxe and want the pants, just let me know. Friend me on Webkinz (gabirdgirl and treehuggerjess) and make sure I know your username.

Back to the suit – I like the pink flowers, and I really dig the purple tie. The Ganz design team really puts a lot of details into all of the newer clothing that’s been released.

Let’s check out the Mod Mini:

The Mod Mini has a vintage, retro look to it, and I love the details in the striped sections with the different colors and diamond-shaped design. It’s a very pretty color blue, but I do feel like it looks more like pants than a dress. I would have liked to see a bit more detail in the front instead of so much plain blue, but I still think it’s a very creative piece.

As for the Silver Boots, I just popped these on with the Floral Suit and decided the whole outfit looked pretty good:

The Silver Boots could be dressy or casual, I think. I like the neutral color and the somewhat more basic look because I think it makes the shoes more versatile. Radagast, my Webkinz Choco Cheeky Dog, is a boy, but I think the shoes would work well with a more feminine outfit, too.

Now for the Painted Camo Pants:

I put the Painted Camo Pants on my Leopard, Tibet and paired it with a plain blue shirt. As you can see from the picture, what makes these pants “painted” is the white hibiscus flowers over top of the camo print. The flowers give the pants a tropical, Hawaiian feel to me. It’s a busy design, which I like because it will make a more interesting outfit for those plain colored shirts in your wardrobe.

Next up is the Bold Red Boots:

I left my Persian Cat in just the boots so you could see them better. The boots really get covered up by clothes, and I didn’t think you’d get a very good look at them if I put her in a skirt or dress (because I do think the boots match well with the Mod Mini).

The Bold Red Boots are pretty fabulous, in my opinion. The color is definitely “bold,” and I think the design is pretty bold, too. The only downside to the Bold Red Boots is that there’s a bit of a weird look at the very bottom where it seems like my pet’s feet aren’t completely covered. Overall, though, it’s not too big of a deal. When you’re playing the game, you don’t notice the little glitch.

Now we’re moving onto my favorite piece in the whole 2017 Winter Clothing Line – the Candelicious Skirt:

This skirt really does look like candy! The colors are so fun, and I love the swirl in the design. I can definitely see this skirt making its way into my collection of favorite clothing items. Honestly, it doesn’t really look like a “winter” skirt, but it’s just so fun and colorful that it doesn’t matter. 🙂

Last up is the Warm Wraparound:

I love the fit of the Warm Wraparound – it looks so blousy and cozy! The details in the fabric really make it look like a sweater, and the folds in the front show that it’s a wrap and not just a plain shirt. It’s a basic piece, but I think it’s nice to have some basics in your wardrobe so you can mix it up with some of your more wild or colorful clothing items.

Well, that’s it for the 2017 Winter Clothing Line! What do you think of these clothing items? Which is your favorite? Do you plan to buy a lot these items or just a few? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll send you a piece from the line via Kinzpost! 🙂

Yikes! Prizes are coming! :)

Wow – I just realized that I am way, way behind in mailing prizes for comments on my posts! I’ll try to get caught up this afternoon. I promise I haven’t forgotten! 🙂 You guys are all so fantastic! I love reading your comments!

New Prizes in the Wish Factory: Letter C

Recently I decided to start cataloging and showcasing all of the new prizes that have recently been added to the Wish Factory. For an overview of what makes these new prizes unique from other Wish Factory exclusives, check out my blog post on the Letter B prizes.

Today we’re onto Letter C, and that means two items: the Campkinz Library Bookshelf and the Campkinz Pool.

First we’ll take a closer look at the Campkinz Library Bookshelf:

The Campkinz Library Bookshelf was a prize in the 2014 Marshmallow Collection event. As you can see, the bookshelf looks like a boat standing on end and stacked with books.

Here’s the Campkinz Library Bookshelf in a camp-themed room I created:

 

The Campkinz Library Bookshelf is for decoration only. It’s not an interactive item, and it can’t be used for storage. You can get the Campkinz Library Bookshelf in the Wish Factory for 70 tokens.

The other Letter C item is the Campkinz Pool:

The Campkinz Pool was also a marshmallow collection event prize. It’s now available in the Wish Factory for 300 tokens.

Unlike the bookshelf, the Campkinz Pool is interactive. Your pet bounces on the diving board and jumps in with a splash.

Check out the gif below to see the Campkinz Pool in action:

Do you already have one of these Campkinz prizes? Are you saving up your tokens to buy one? Let me know in the comments!

Thoughts from the Treetop: January 11, 2017

I had a few random thoughts and bits and pieces of news to share, so I thought I’d do another “Thoughts from the Treetop” post.

First I wanted to share something pretty cool I got when I was entering feature codes from my Series 2 Webkinz Trading Cards. It’s an Ancient Vista Window.

If you can’t read the text on the picture above, it says “It’s a preview of our rare Ancient Civilization room theme. ” So that means these Series 2 Trading Cards were released BEFORE the Ancient Civilization Theme was ever in the Curio Shop. I thought that was pretty cool.

Here’s what the Ancient Vista Window looks like in my Ancient Civilization room (excuse the mess – it’s a work in progress!)

I’ve never seen an “Ancient Vista Window” before anywhere – not even in the Trading Room. Just when I think I’ve unlocked all the prizes that Series 2 has to offer, something comes along to surprise me!

Next up, a super cute ice skating dress in the Ganz eStore. If you’re like me, and you love to dress up your Webkinz pets, then you’ve probably been keeping up with the winter and holiday clothing items in the Ganz eStore. I love the Sparkling Skating Dress because it looks so adorable when you pair it with the girl’s figure skates from the 2017 Winterfest prize pool.

This is my Webkinz Pom Pom Kitty named Glitter. Glitter is one of the first Webkinz I ever got. It’s been so long that I don’t even remember where she came from, but even after all these years, I think Glitter is one of the cutest of all my Webkinz pets. These plushes are actually still available on Amazon – and for a great price! You can buy a Pom Pom Kitty plush for less than $7!

Moving on to our next subject…I’ve been making a whole lot of progress trading gems with Doug in the Clubhouse. I have a blog post about Doug that I’ve been working on, and I’ll publish it soon, but I did want to share my exciting news that I’ve won two of the Gem Collector trophies so far!

In fact, my collection of gem swapping prizes is really growing in both of my accounts:

Do you trade gems with Doug the Dog? Have you made a lot of progress? Tell me in the comments for a special Doug the Dog food item via Kinzpost!

Last but not least, I was really, really stoked to learn that WKN featured my Winterfest Cookies video! 🙂 I created a few more new videos in the past week or two, so check them out if you get a chance! 🙂

Unboxing Winterfest Cookies

Time lapse coloring book

Adopting a Holly Fox

Adopting a Blue Persian Kitten

Lots of love,

Free Webkinz Codes: Winterfest Clothing

In case you missed it on Webkinz Newz, Ganz is giving away three free community codes! Each code unlocks a piece of Winterfest clothing from past years.

Here’s the three pieces of clothing you can unlock with these free codes:

And here are the free community codes!

Webkinz Trading Cards Series 2: Virtual Trading Cards

A while back I wrote a post about the Series 2 Webkinz Trading Cards that you can sometimes find at Ollie’s. (If you don’t have an Ollie’s, you can find all kinds of Webkinz Trading Cards on Amazon.)

I recently got a couple more boxes of the Series 2 Trading Cards, and it inspired me to blog about the “virtual trading cards” that used to go along with the real world trading cards.

Let me give you a quick overview in case you’re not familiar with Webkinz Trading Cards. There are four series, which started, of course, with Series 1 and 2. When you open a pack of Series 1 or 2 Trading Cards, you’ll find one or more of three different types of cards:

1. Feature code card – This card has a unique code that you can enter into the code shop for a prize.
2. Trading cards – These are what make up most of the pack and include pictures and descriptions of games, characters, pets, recipe foods and more
3. Mystery Pet card – These are rare, usually only one per an entire box; this is a code to enter into the Adoption Centre to receive a pet. You won’t know what kind until after you’ve entered the code.

Okay, so now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s talk about virtual cards. When Series 1 and Series 2 came out, both versions also included a special code for a pack of “virtual trading cards” on each feature code card.

The code for the virtual trading cards is on the very bottom of the feature code card:

You drag and drop the pack in your pet’s room, and several cards shake out.

Then, you can go to the Wshop and buy a binder that allows you to see the virtual cards you’ve collected. (Look under “Fun Stuff” and then “Books” to find the Series 1 Binder and Series 2 Binder for 100 kinzcash).

Honestly, just looking at the cards in the binders isn’t too exciting to me, but there IS something about the virtual cards that I think is really cool. Once you collect certain cards, you unlock neat prizes that you can’t get anywhere else…you can even unlock a trophy!

There are four sets in total to unlock, each with its own special prize:

When you collect all of the Webkinz Deck Cards, you get the Series 2 Collector Trophy:

When you collect all of the Challenge Cards, you get the Space Explorer Shuttle, which is interactive – your pet can ride in it!

When you collect all of the W Tales Snapshots, you get the W Tales Sofa (one of my favorites!):

When you collect all of the At Paw Level cards, you get the “At Paw Level Display Screen,” which is very unique:

Then, when you’ve completed all four sets, you win the Grand Prize, a Collector’s Paradise Waterfall:

Of all the virtual trading card prizes, by far my favorite is the trophy…I love collecting trophies! I just get so excited when I see my Trophy Room filling up!

Here’s a look at the Series 2 Collector Trophy up close:

So what do you think about Webkinz Trading Cards? Have you ever collected any? Do you have any trading card prizes? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll send you a special trading card prize via kinzpost! (Make sure I know your Webkinz username!)