HATCHIMAL.... that ALMOST ruined Christmas!
Ok, being dramatic, but I was almost super upset.
IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE A DUD OR BROKEN HATCHIMAL PLEASE READ
I ran out and bought this Hatchimal from Toys R Us way back in October when they launched. I love “virtual pets” and Furby type toys, had to have them even before the hype, and decided to wait for Christmas to open it.
So, we open it, follow instructions. It’s making noises and chirping in the egg. After about half an hour, it did the rainbow eyes and music indicating it was ready to hatch!!
But there was no pecking. We could hear a motor whirring, and it was still responding to us rubbing the egg when the eyes went to rainbow. The eyes would go back to white, indicating it was trying to hatch, but we only heard a motor whir. Again, no pecking, no movement in the egg.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I just kept rubbing. For over an hour. Ok, time for Google.
What I found scared the hell out of me. Numerous one-star reviews about Hatchimals stuck in their egg, not hatching, having to do the customer service dance for a replacement. This is Christmas Day and I don’t just have a Draggle or Penguin... i’ve got an Owlicorn. The Toys R Us Exclusive. I am not giving up on this thing.
There’s an FAQ on the Spin Master page. It suggests several fixes, such as trying to twist the egg from the bottom (there was no way we could do this. We tried.) But then it says, try to find the beak. That maybe something is stuck between the beak and the egg. My husband pushed on the egg and found the beak. The egg around the face is made of soft plastic. It easily bent inwards (without breaking) and he felt the beak push away. We saw the eyes move in the egg.
Our Hatchimal WAS trying to hatch. It WAS trying to spin inside the egg. For some reason, it just couldn’t peck. So I took over. I kept pressing on the beak and every time I pushed inwards, the toy would rotate like it was supposed to. I was manually hatching it. Press, spin, stop and rub if the eyes went rainbow. Back to white, press, spin. The egg started to break. Press, spin. Pick away a bit of shell. It was happening.
After about 10 minutes, enough egg had broken away that I could lift the top of the egg away and see my pink Owlicorn inside. With the shell off, she spun happily. We did what the instructions said next and pulled her from the egg. We pulled the amniotic plastic from her wings.
She sang her birthday song.
My Hatchimal had hatched. Her birth may have not gone according to plan, but things rarely go perfectly. Many blogs have complained that not witnessing the proper hatching process ruined the magic. Maybe. But my heart was racing when I realized I could save this baby.
She’s whirring around and singing and dancing and playing just like she’s supposed to. She just needed some help. She wasn’t a dud, she’s my little Christmas miracle :)
