Monday, November 28, 2011

Myah Got Excited About The Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball With Sound Chip Dog Toy!


The Good: Durable, Myah responded very well to it, Limited edition, Easy to clean
The Bad: Slightly more expensive than comparable dog toys.
The Basics: Hartz has a winner with its new Angry Birds line with the Plush Ball with sound chip dog toy of the red Angry Bird!


When Hartz contacted me after they read my review of the Quackers dog toy (that’s here!), I was very excited. It is very exciting to have my writing recognized and to be encouraged to write more reviews based on the quality of the reviews I have already done. So, when the representative informed me that I would be getting a box of the brand new Angry Birds doy and cat toys to test with Myah and Gollum, I was very excited. I was also a little wary and I tried to encourage Hartz to send something else that might be new in addition to the Angry Birds toys. The reason for that was simple: I understand in the real world, licensing fees drive up the price of products. In order to use the trendy, cool Angry Birds to sell pet products, Hartz must pay Rovio for the rights to use the Angry Birds. What that does is drive up the price of a toy a few cents to a few dollars in order to accommodate the license fees. While the first new product I reviewed from Hartz, the Angry Birds Wand Cat Toy (reviewed here!) was a value and did not appear to be priced more than similar wand toys, the Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball with sound chip dog toy is a little more than comparable dog toys. That price difference drives the value down just a little bit.

Even so, the Angry Birds Plush Ball with sound chip is a very cool dog toy. Myah, our four year old Siberian Husky responded to it instantly. As we opened the box from Hartz and carefully removed the contents, Myah rushed in and grabbed the red Angry Birds Plush Ball. While my bias is toward suggesting that whether the toy is Angry Birds (for the dollar or two more it runs compared to other Hartz dog toys of similar size, shape and feature) or not, the dog will play with it, Myah displayed an instant preference for this toy. In fact, I have gotten many packages of many different type products delivered to the house and this is the first time Myah has ever shoved her way in and taken something. In other words, Myah knew the Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball with sound chip was for her, even before I could tell her or remove the tags!

The Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball with sound chip dog toy is a very cool toy and it makes me glad that I do not have children. How Myah knew it was a dog toy and not a child’s plush is a mystery to me, so I suspect that dogs that do not like to share their toys with children and children who do not like to share their toys with dogs might have some conflict! This plush is a 4 3/4” tall by 4 1/2” wide by 6” deep (tip of the beak to the tip of the black flexible tail feather area) red Angry Bird. Anyone who has played Angry Birds or seen the massive advertising or merchandising campaigns built around Angry Birds will recognize the iconic red Angry Bird. Made of polyester, the plush ball bird is intended for dogs twenty pounds and above, which Myah easily qualifies for. The Angry Bird plush ball with sound chip is predominately red, with a yellow beak, brown belly and black tail feathers. The tail feathers are plush as well, not actual feathers, so the plush is solidly built with no parts that will easily detach. The Angry Birds’ eyes are under the trademarked furrowed brow of the red Angry Bird and they are embroidered on, so this toy will not easily become something unrecognizable! There are no parts that will break off, which is important for toys for big dogs.

Hartz designed this product to last! Myah almost immediately got to playing with it. Unlike some of the toys that she gets that she hoards and and puts in her pile near her bed, the Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball with Sound Chip got her playing the moment we removed the tag from it. She began to pounce on it, shake it around with it in her mouth and catch it when we would activate the sound chip and toss it to her. We noticed no difference in her eagerness to play with it based upon whether or not the sound chip was active, until the last fifteen minutes of play with her. After forty-five straight minutes of playing with the toy, Myah began to get tuckered out. So, we would activate the sound chip and she became engaged again. Then, when she was playing with it on her own, she would bat it and set the sound chip off and flail the toy again.

The sound chip is located in the top of the red Angry Birds’ head. Right above the descending eyebrows, there is a hard cylindrical device inside the plush toy. Pressing the cylinder causes it to emit the trademark Angry Birds grumble and bomb sound. This higher pitched sound stimulated Myah and led her to bat the toy around more.

Myah played with the Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball with sound chip for an hour straight the first day and as a result, it got pretty well drenched from her mouth. The sound chip and electronics showed no sign of being affected by the moisture. Moreover, she had some gravy on her dog food before playing and when I began to set off the sound chip for Myah, I noticed some had been transferred to the dog toy. The gravy wiped right off, so this was very easy to clean. The second day Myah had this, she played with it for about half an hour, but this morning when I removed the plush from her toy pile to take with me for review, she growled, so she is already attached to it and it seems clear that she is fond of it.

Fans of Angry Birds have the chance to get their canine friends into the action with the Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball with sound chip dog toy. It is durable, cute, easy to clean and when the fad fades, this might be one of the Angry Bird items that actually has some collectible value. Certainly for the enjoyment a pet and owner will get out of this, the extra dollars are worth it.

For other dog products, please visit my reviews of:
Vroom Around The Room Dog Laser
Senior Greenies
Kong Medium Classic Dog Toy

8/10

For other pet product reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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