Wow Stuff is sold out of Keepon stock... anything to do with a certain EDF Energy mascot?
Toy maker Wow Stuff is all sold out of stock for its dancing robot My Keepon.
Retailers including Toys R Us and Argos have run out of the toy, which was developed by Wow Stuff in conjunction with BeatBots – makers of the Keepon Pro and Zingy, the star of EDF Energy's 'Feel Better' ad campaign.
Other retailers, like Modelzone, Debenhams, Firebox.com, Iwantoneofthose.com and Prezzybox.com, have also sold out. Wow Stuff CEO Richard North explained the current Keepon situation: “We have sold out of production for 2012 now.
"We are bringing in the last available shipments and the website mykeepon.com will continually update on availability. The stock that comes in over the next three months will be all that is available for this year.”
Demand for My Keepon rose after EDF Energy launched the marketing campaign featuring the dancing bot Zingy. At the time, Wow Stuff boss North described Zingy as My Keepon's "mischevious brother".
Consumers quickly figuired out that, although they couldn't buy a dancing Zingy at retail, a similar product was available in My Keepon:
Demand is outstripping supply to such an extend that opportunistic merchants on online retailer Play.com have been selling their remaining stock for £85, rather than the RRP of £30.
Wow Stuff reckons that once new Keepon shipments arrive, the price of the toy could rise to as much as £100 – that’s a whopping £65 above the suggested retail price.
North added: “Every year there are three or four new toys that capture the imagination of children and become the must have. The My Keepon situation is very similar to the Zhu Zhu pet hamsters phenomenon of two years ago.”
Despite huge demand for a Zingy toy, EDF Energy has said it has "no immediate plans" to make one.
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