Littlest Pet Shop

Littlest Pet Shop, commonly abbreviated as LPS,^[1] is a toy franchise and cartoon series owned by Hasbro and currently under license with Basic Fun!.^[2][3] The original toy series was produced by Kenner in the early 1990s.^[4] An animated television series was produced in 1995 by Sunbow Productions and Jean Chalopin Creativite et Developpement, based on the franchise.^[5]

The franchise was relaunched in 2005 and there are currently over 3,000 different pet figurines that have been created since. Hasbro, alongside various digital media developers, has produced video games for consoles such as the Nintendo DS, Wii and PlayStation 3. A second animated television series was produced by Hasbro Studios for Discovery Family, a U.S. cable network partially owned by Hasbro. This series premiered in 2012 and concluded in 2016 after 104 episodes had aired.

In 2022, Basic Fun! made a deal with Hasbro to relaunch Littlest Pet Shop, starting in 2024, with collectible figures, playsets and accessories alike.^[6] The marketing campaign for the brand's new toy line included a video game on Roblox, launched in December 2023.^[7]

Introduced in 1992^[3][1], each set comes with certain actions, such as a movable part. Most included magnets or simple mechanisms, such as flapping wings. This line is also often known by fans and collectors as "Generation 1", as it was the first iteration of the toyline to be released. The line ceased production in 1997.^[8]

Hasbro re-launched the Littlest Pet Shop brand in 2005 with a completely overhauled look designed by Gayle Middleton.^[1] The new Littlest Pet Shop toy line had molds that looked more stylized and more cartoonish and disproportionate compared to the 1990s incarnation of the franchise. They had bobbleheads and came with a round pink or blue magnet located on the bottom of their feet. However, due to choking hazard concerns, the magnets would be removed in 2009, being replaced with holes to be used with pegs on playsets.^[8] This series of sets were released as single packages, in pairs, in large packs, and alongside large playsets. Pets occasionally held exclusivity to only one store, such as Costco or Toys "R" Us.

This era of the toyline also introduced video games developed by Electronic Arts and licensed by Nintendo, one game for the Wii and four versions for the Nintendo DS: Garden, Jungle, Winter, and Spring. Some releases for the DS came with exclusive pets.

In 2010, the previously Kenner-owned Blythe dolls were introduced into the brand with the "Blythe Loves Littlest Pet Shop" series.^[8]

The line was revamped to coincide with the release of the 2012 TV series, with Blythe now as a central character. The style and design of the toys were changed significantly, such as removing the bobbleheads.^[8] The line received significant backlash from fans and collectors of the toys.^{[citation needed]}

This iteration also introduced mobile games for the toyline, including one developed by Gameloft in 2012, which included the use of tokens which came in purchased packs of the pets and could be scanned to win prizes^[9], and another, Littlest Pet Shop: Your World, which included the use of "zap codes", codes similar to QR codes which are found in the pets themselves.

Beginning in 2014, these pets have molds that more closely resemble the style of the TV series and were given names. These toys also feature "deco bits", small plastic accessories that can be used to decorate the pets.^[10][8] Hasbro released the Pets Pawsabilities collection during this time, and in 2016, the Pets in the City collection, which more closely resembles the pets released in G2. This era features the return of the bobbleheaded designs.^[8]

The Littlest Pet Shop toys were revamped once again in 2017, with new molds and rounded eyes similar to the second generation pets. The pets in this line come in three sizes: teensie, mini, and classic (the largest of the three).^{[citation needed]} It was also during this time that a new show premiered on Discovery Family called Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own.^[8]

Basic Fun! announced in 2022 that they had obtained the license to the brand and would be relaunching the classic-style bobblehead pets, which would release in 2024.^[11][8] Basic Fun! introduced new molds based on currently popular animals, such as the axolotl and capybara mold. This line of toys is distributed in Europe by Bandai.^[12] The brand currently markets itself to adult collectors as much as it does to children.

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In 2006, Hasbro released the Littlest Pet Shop digital pet, a line of keychain-attached electronic games similar to the Tamagotchi.^[13]

In 2015, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner sued Hasbro over a hamster pet from the 2014 toyline that shared her name. In the lawsuit, she alleged that the toy resembled her likeness.^[14][15] Hasbro responded by denying the resemblance, pointing out that "Ms. Faulkner is an adult, African-American, human, female newscaster; the Hamster Toy is an inch-tall, cartoon-like plastic animal, which has no apparent gender or profession, or even clothing that might identify its gender or profession."^[16][17] A notion to dismiss the case was denied by U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden. The case was settled after Hasbro stopped selling the toy.^[18]

In the 2000s, a YouTube community based around skits and web series starring the toys emerged, known as LPSTube.^[19] The first LPSTube video was uploaded in 2007. Improvised and homemade props were commonly used in videos.^[11] These videos often featured more mature and darker themes, acting as filmed extensions of imaginative play.^[1][8]

One of the most well-known video series in the community is SophieGTV's Littlest Pet Shop: Popular, a 2010 high school drama series following a dachshund named Savannah Reed.^[11] The series had amassed over 4 million views on the platform as of 2024.^[8]

With the relaunch of the G2-style pets, Basic Fun! has made some popular adult content creators in the space "ambassadors", sending them special PR packages to review and discuss in videos.^[8]

A 2018 animated series, produced by Hasbro Studios and Boulder Media Limited for Discovery Family. The series premiered on April 14, 2018 and ran for 52 eleven-minute episodes.^[20] The show was canceled after only one season.^[21]

Littlest Pet Shop VIPs was a toys-to-life online virtual world that launched in 2007. Similar to other sites at the time such as Webkinz, the physical VIPs plush toys came with codes that could be used to unlock the pet in game.^[22] The site featured numerous minigames and an in-game virtual currency named Kibble.^[23]

A mobile game based on the 2012 cartoon series, developed by Gameloft. It was released on November 22, 2012.^[9]

The second mobile game from Gameloft, released in 2014. This game attracted some criticism for its use of expensive microtransactions, with real money being used to purchase an in-game currency used to buy new pets.^[24]

In December 2023, a Littlest Pet Shop game was launched on Roblox, as a collaboration between Basic Fun!, Hasbro and Suit Up Games. Players would be able to virtually collect the bobble-head animals.^[25]

• Official site
• Littlest Pet Shop at IMDb