Zelfs! Ohmygosh they're way too cute.

[Calico_Star]

Gah, I am SO EXCITED for the new ones! I just love all the original ideas and colors! That little black/white/pink potentially-moth zelf is really intriguing!

I'm also really hoping we get Zelf ponies eventually, since there's a "ponytail paddocks" on the little Zardenia map in the Series 2 leaflet!

[mickey]

I found Jewely the Ruby Zelf and Kitsu Zelf today- was so surprised to see them!  I saw other new ones but only got these 2 for now.

[DaintyDalek]

OMG, Calico_Star, zelf ponies would be darling!! I kinda wish Pega Sue had a little horsey tail, since she's supposed to be a pegasus.

 I'm wondering if the mystery pink medium zelf is the playset exclusive for series 3, since the honeybee is for the Zelicious set? I'd also love to know if those mystery supers are going to be made into the other sizes too, because man is that dragon beautiful!!

[SydneyGrey]

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OK, guys ... what on earth is that pink thing on the far right, that the pink Zelf is sitting on?  The whole setup makes me think of pink coral under the ocean, but I can't really tell what it is. 

I'm also really hoping we get Zelf ponies eventually, since there's a "ponytail paddocks" on the little Zardenia map in the Series 2 leaflet!

LOL. That would be crazy!  I can't even picture what they would look like.  Maybe short, fat little ponies with saddles so the Zelfs could ride them.  That would be interesting.

[Dragonflitter]

Siiigh. Just got back from TRU and they had another shipment of the Masquerade Series 2 Zelfs, but none of the new characters. I hope they do get them eventually. None of the Walmarts here carry them, and there's only two TRU stores in my entire state, and this one is the only one close to me.

I did pick up a Pega Sue, though, because I like the Masquerade Zelfs and I hope buying up the masked ones will convince TRU to stock the rest of Series 2 soon.

[DaintyDalek]

 One more video with some nice clear shots of some of the new characters! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG9r6Zz_tp4

 Looks like Petal is the.. does that say garden elf or gargoyle zelf? I can't tell.. she's the last one on the poster. The panda is named Pandala, and the bunny is Cottontail. Cute!

 Here's a list of the probable names so far. The first five are from the Zardenia PDF that was uploaded briefly with some of the season 3 characters, but later removed:

 Billy the duck (from the Zardenia pdf: "Loves making her friends quack up", so I guessed this one was the duck)
 Cupie the cupid ("Love blossoms wherever the petals fall")
 Petal the garden?gargoyle? ("Friends are what dreamz are made of")
 Sealia the seahorse ("Horsin' round in the rock pool is the mane place she lives")
Lullaby ("Her secrets are safely hidden in her dreams"). No clue which one she'll be, maybe the moth or cloud?
 Frostette the cupcake zelf
 Bubbles the bubblegum zelf
 Pandala the panda
 Cottontail the bunny

[Dragonflitter]

Ooooo thanks for the new video!

Whoever said the tiger looked flocked, I agree! And since that's the only flocked one, I'm going to assume it's the new rare one. Nice!

[LuckyLeaf]

I keep forgetting to post this here! I emailed Moose with questions about the genders of Lochlan and Flamy (both of whom are referred to as he and she on their packaging), and also about the availability of Zelfs in the USA, since Walmart was removed from the vendor list on the official Zelfs website. Here's the response I got:

"Thank you for your email .
 
We are so pleased to hear that you are enjoying our Zelfs range .
 
Both Lochlan and Flamy are boys , sorry for the confusion , we are currently working on updating our packaging .
 
Zelf’s are available only at Toys R Us stores in the USA .
 
You can also currently purchase at Amazon.
 
Thank you for being a great fan .
 
Regards
 
Zach Hassakis
Customer Service Team
MOOSE ENTERPRISE"

So it's official--Flamy is a BOY! And it's sad that Toys 'R' Us is the only physical store in the USA selling Zelfs for now (not counting the Lil' Zelfs at Target). I did ask if there were any plans for more stores to sell them, but they didn't specify that in their response.

[SydneyGrey]

The one Walmart in my area that stocked Zelfs last year doesn't have them any more.  I don't think they even gave Zelfs a chance.  Let's face it: If a new toy comes out that's not by Mattel, it has a distinct disadvantage as it gets quickly squeezed out by the avalanche of syrupy pink Mattel stuff. 

My Toys R Us has lots of them, though, and they seem to be selling quite well there.

Post Merge: February 27, 2014, 07:03:08 AM

OK, guys ... what on earth is that pink thing on the far right, that the pink Zelf is sitting on?  The whole setup makes me think of pink coral under the ocean, but I can't really tell what it is. 

I just was able to answer my own question, thanks to that last video posted by Dalek.  This pink one is the bubblegum Zelf!  So cute.   

[ShortyBoo]

I really hate that they're TRU exclusive now. That means that I'll always have to pay more for them than people who have a close TRU. So I'll either have to pay shipping (plus, probably a higher retail price to start with since these tend to be no less than $10 each on eBay and Amazon) or I'll have to spend the gas money for a 4 hour round trip to get them. I really hope the minis sell well at Target and they decide to start selling the other sizes. So far, the Target near me has sold at least 2 boxes of the minis. And last time I was there, they had a full box and a partial box out.

[Flitter]

Oh wow so I guess it's official walmart isn't carrying them anymore. I hope they pick them back up eventually. I had found a Miss Clover there before and was hoping I'd be so lucky to score myself a Jewely there too.
Maybe Target will start carrying more than just the li'l Zelfs soon.
I personally don't mind TRU being the only store carrying them all that much (my nearest TRU is right next to the grocery store I do a lot of my shopping at so it's convenient for me to check there and I do hate the chaos that is walmart) but I'd be nice to see the brand expanding rather than retailers dropping them They seem so popular too.

[Dragonflitter]

It does stink that Walmart won't carry them anymore, but I can say with 98% certainty that that was Walmarts call, not Moose's. Walmart is a giant corporation... I think a lot of people don't realize just how big it is. It is the top grossing physical company in the United States and it outsells all the other Top 5 companies (which include Target and McDonalds) even if you combined all their profits together. o_0

Suffice to say, Walmart will not carry products unless they're absolutely sure it's going to be a winning product for them. So they probably gave the Zelfs a shot, but the sales didn't bring in as much money as they wanted so they dropped the Zelfs from their stores. It really stinks, but there's the possibility of Target negotiating a deal to carry more than just the blind bags in the future.

(Also some of your local stores might end up carrying them, like for example my local Books-a-million bookstore carries Zelfs in the toy section. I assume they ordered them off Amazon.com like anyone else can.)

[LuckyLeaf]

That's the thing, though - it seems like most Walmart stores didn't even carry them, and there are numerous reports that, in the stores that did have them, they were not allotted a space in the planogram, and were put on clearance almost instantly. I just can't accept that Walmart dropped them because they were poor sellers; it seems more like they never had any plan for how to sell them in the first place.

As for Amazon being a Zelfs retailer in the USA, have there ever been Zelfs sold directly by Amazon? Seems like all the ones I see there are sold by third-party sellers (at a big markup). But they must be coming from somewhere, if smaller niche retailers are able to stock them? It's a mystery! At any rate, if Zelfs continue to be big sellers, I'm sure more retailers will come on board. All we USA collectors can do in the meantime is to continue supporting the brand!

[Dragonflitter]

*checks Amazon* Hmm, yes, you're right. The sellers that are coming up with Zelf toy listings are Moose Toys and ZELFS, so they're not technically 'third parties.' More like first parties, lol. But yeah, those sellers are not selling them at anywhere close to store retail (which is strange to me). But when Moose is telling people to buy on Amazon, that is probably what they are referring to. They have their own account to sell the toys on Amazon.

[LuckyLeaf]

*checks Amazon* Hmm, yes, you're right. The sellers that are coming up with Zelf toy listings are Moose Toys and ZELFS, so they're not technically 'third parties.' More like first parties, lol. But yeah, those sellers are not selling them at anywhere close to store retail (which is strange to me). But when Moose is telling people to buy on Amazon, that is probably what they are referring to. They have their own account to sell the toys on Amazon.

I'm pretty sure Moose Toys and ZELFS are just listed as the manufacturer, not as the seller. Each listing states which third-party vendor the toys are actually coming from (for example, this listing says Moose Toys is the manufacturer, but the description states the toy is actually sold by a retailer called GamingTitans). As far as I can tell, the toys aren't actually being distributed through Moose via Amazon, except through the third-party vendors.  Maybe Amazon themselves actually stocked them during the Holidays, though? Does anyone know for sure?