the buzz log
Mindflex Game Moves the Web
This year, the gift trend toys with your mind.
Mattel, better known as the house of Barbie, showed up at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January with a funny-looking contraption called Mindflex. The set-up entails a small purple ball, a white-and-blue plastic "obstacle course" console, and a headset.
But not just any headset: You strap it around your forehead, then try and move the ball with your brainwaves. Telekinesis for the holiday stocking? Looks like a winner.
Mind the gender gap
Online lookups on Yahoo! for "mindflex," "mattel mindflex," and "mindflex game" are, dare we say, mind-boggling. In the past 7 days, they've made the top 5,000 searches on Yahoo!. (Scarcity's part of its appeal: Vendors cut back on toy orders this holiday season.)
While blogs think the male geek market's the primary target, the Web traffic for the game's coming mostly from prepubescent boys and women aged 35-44. Sure, some women might be doing some gift browsing, but their searches are more than double than men of the same age.
The Mattel game, which went on sale in October, has a fan base in the Eastern half of the U.S. Places most itching to play brain ball: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, South Carolina and Minnesota.
What's behind mind control
The popularity taps into the ultimate couch-potato fantasy: moving things without moving a muscle. The sensors, explains the Mattel site, reads brainwaves using a "variation of EEG technology." PC World gets into more specifics: The game's based on NeuroSky technology, and taps into "beta-wave activity" (what deep thinkers give off when they concentrate), converts it into a signal, then transmits that "as a radio frequency."
Big dreams
Mind control may be a game now, but the hope is this technology could evolve to train athletes, personalize online communication with emotional feedback, wake up drivers falling asleep at the wheel, and even help people focus their way out of Alzheimer's or addictions. (For the worst-case scenarios, just go to the sci-fi and horror section of any bookstore.)
Worth the brain cells?
It might help already: One Amazon reviewer claimed MindFlex is helping her autistic son slow down and concentrate. Other reviewers, though, found that the allure of raising a ball up and down wore out pretty fast, and isn't worth the price tag (ranging from $59.99—sold out, of course—to as much as $120.)
By the way, if you do try it out and the ball refuses to move, don't panic: You still have brain activity. The game requires 4 C batteries.
Beyond the Hamster Wheel
Could an electronic hamster save Christmas?
Maybe not...but the Zhu Zhu Pets are doing a good job of sending mothers to stores, and scrounging in the Search box.
No relation to the Kung Fu Hamster or "G-Force" critters, the rodents are also known as Go Go Pets, and live on triple-A batteries and love. Since mid-August, they've zoomed up to the top 4,000 searches on Yahoo!, with mostly kids and moms badgered by kids pushing the online interest.
So far, Zhu Zhu Pets have all the makings of a toy craze: big marketing push (actual hamster parties and stadium appearances) and unavailability. They're already sold out at Toys'R'Us, and being posted for outrageous prices on Amazon: For instance, Mr. Squiggles—normally $7.99—is being hawked for $37.90, while the threesome Mr. Squiggles, Chunk and Num Nums have been packaged at an outrageous $139.98. That's not even counting inflated "Funhouse" prices. Apparently, the bubble hasn't burst in some real-estate markets.
What makes them so irresistible, other than the much-touted poop-free superiority over the real thing? Their talents (accessories sold separately, of course):
- Come in four different characters to fuel collector frenzy;
- Scurry through hamster tubes;
- Drive itty-bitty race cars;
- Jog on hamster wheels;
- Make "toilet-flushing or teeth-brushing sounds" upon entering the loo;
- Make "sleeping noises and alarm-clock sounds" upon entering the sleeping quarters.
With retailers are already decorating trees and propping up Santa Claus displays to fool shoppers into a buying mood, Zhu Zhu popularity should be making toy stores happy.
As for the price gouging: If the kids can hold out, wait until October when the Pets get to Target. And if they can't wait, just dig out the old Kung Fu Hamster and make lots of flushing noises.
Filed under: Toys
This Barbie Has Bite: New "Twilight" Dolls
Barbie's really come along in the world. There's President Barbie for the ambitious. For the renegade, there's Tattoos Barbie. And now, with even more of an edge, meet "Twilight" Barbie.
According to People.com, Barbie created a set of dolls for the Twi-hard fans. The dolls are dead-on for Robert Pattinson as the as the vampy Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart playing the pale, plastic Bella Swan.
Don't rush the stores yet: The mini-me likenesses aren't due out till November — to tie in with the second film version of the "Twilight" series, "New Moon." Yes, we know. That Barbie you'll be buying isn't for you, it's for your little cousin who's such a big fan. You're all heart.
Batman vs. Elmo?
The Caped Crusader has already crushed the box office, must he dominate innocent felted Muppets, too?
The hotly anticipated Elmo Live will make his retail debut in October. The talented little guy sings, cracks jokes, and tilts his head. After the toy's spectacular showing at the industry fair, retailers talked excitedly of a "crush of consumer demand" for the animated plaything. Yesterday, stores began accepting pre-orders for the king of cute.
Maybe Elmo Live will be the hottest toy of the holidays. There's time, still, and he certainly has a record of sparking Yuletide stampedes. Yet, the current picture in Search isn't so lively. The newest offering from "Sesame Street" has been trampled over by surging demand for toys representing the most famous crime fighter in Gotham.
Yesterday, interest in "elmo live" logged a modest uptick; "Batman toys" surged nearly 300%. Interest in "elmo games" doubled; lookups for "batman games," "lego batman toys," "batman vintage toys," and "new batman toys" swept formidably across the Search box.
Of course, Batman has a smash hit playing on screens around the globe and little Elmo isn't even available in stores yet. Come December, the plucky red plushie may show the Dark Knight a thing or two about cornering the market. Until then, he'll just have to grin and bear it.
The Joker's Wild
A lot of this summer's flicks have their own action figures, but only one film boasts a figure that's disappearing from store shelves and selling for a premium online.
We speak of "The Dark Knight." The film, which stars the late Heath Ledger as the criminally insane Joker, is on a tear in the Buzz. Searches on the film are up 42% this month and related lookups on "heath ledger joker," "joker pictures," and "heath ledger joker poster" are turning law-abiding citizens into search-hungry lunatics.
But even more interesting than the rising searches is the run on Joker action figures. According to the New York Post, the toys, which retail for $9.99, are sold out all over the Big Apple. An article from Shine explains that capitalists are selling the figures for up to $30 online. We assume that Caped Crusader action figures are readily available, but fans don't seem to care. Holy injustice, Batman!
The rice-like run on the Joker inspired us to take a look at other popular action figures in Search. Below, we list the top 20. Loosen your kung fu grip, and take a look...
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.