Buildabearville is a Better Alternative to Webkinz

Adults and kids alike are crazy about Webkinz, which offers you a stuffed animal that you can hold in your arms and also bring to life in a virtual world. However, with Build-A-Bear introducing Build-A-Bearville, you now have an option when it comes to purchasing an animal that comes with an online world. Webkinz gives you a video tour, but doesn't let you get the feel of the site like you'll be able to do in Build-A-Bearville. The biggest difference between Webkinz and Build-A-Bear is that Webkinz doesn't give you the experience you'll get when you select a Build-A-Bear.

Your experience doesn't begin at the Build-A-Bearville website, it begins in the store. First, you choose your animal skin and then you participate in the process of bringing your animal to life. One of the options you can select for your animal is a sound that is prerecorded or that you can record yourself that will play when you squeeze the animal's paw. My husband asked me to marry him with a prerecorded sound that he put in the Build-A-Bear bear he made for me.

After you've decided on the skin and whether or not to get a sound, you take your animal to the Bear Stuffer. The Bear Builder has a big box full of bear stuffing and he or she will hold your animal while you press on the pedal to blow the stuffing into it. Once there's plenty of stuffing in it, you hug and squeeze your animal to make sure it's soft enough. Next is the important part of making your new friend. You select a heart, rub it in your hands to get it warm, and then pat it a few times to make sure it has a strong heartbeat. Depending on the Bear Builder, he or she may have you rub the heart on your head to make sure your animal will be as smart as you or rub it on your knee so your animal will always need you. Then you'll give the heart a kiss, make a wish and then stuff it into your bear. The Bear Builder also puts a Find-A-Bear ID inside the animal so that in case you lose it and someone finds it and takes it to one of the Build-A-Bear Workshops, they can reunite you with your lost friend. They will then sew up your animal and let you take it to the Fluffer. The Fluffer looks like a bathtub made special for Build-A-Bears. You push the peddle and air blows on your animal and you brush out their fur. Once they are nice and clean, you can pick out clothing and accessories for your stuffed animal.

The Build-A-Bear store has everything from Hello Kitty Tees and denim jeans to Major League baseball uniforms. They have shoes and accessories and even BEARboxers and satin panties for your animal. You can mix and match or buy complete outfits. With so many choices you can buy several things so you can dress your animal in many different outfits. There are endless possibilities to use your imagination by being able to dress your animal in a wide variety of costumes and clothing. Your animal can be a ballerina one day and a doctor the next or they could be taking a day off from their hectic schedule to lounge around in some comfy pajamas from the Hibernities Collection and bunny slippers. After your animal is dressed you'll go to the naming station to create their personalized birth certificate.

The naming station is an easy to use computer. It instructs you to push a button with the corresponding colored shape to answer questions and after entering information. This allows younger children and inexperienced computer users to be able to participate in this process as well. This is where you'll decide on a name for your new friend and enter your information for the Find-A-Bear ID tracking system. When that's finished you'll be ready to take your new friend home.

At the register, your new furry friend gets their own Cub Condo carrier and colored bows if you want them. Anything you purchase earns you one point for every dollar you spend to go towards a reward in the Stuff Fur Stuff Club. When you get 100 points you get a gift certificate for $10 to use at the Build-A-Bear Store. Stuff Fur Stuff Club is free to join when you make a purchase and when you're a member you get ten times the amount you spend in dollars in Bear Bills to use in Build-A-Bearville. So if you spend $10 you get 100 Bear Bills.

After you bring your animal home, you register on the site and create a human character. You can then go to the virtual Build-A-Bear Workshop in Town Square and bring your animal to life by using the code on your animal's birth certificate. When you register your animal you get your own cub condo and 2000 Bear Bills. While inside your cub condo, your furry friend will follow you around. Moves will let you wave and tap your foot waiting. If you use the dance move in your Cub Condo, your furry friend will dance with you. There is a paintbrush to click on to choose the color of the outside and inside of your cub condo. You can also choose different patterns for decorating your inside walls and floors. Inside the Cub Condo there is a main room and a room for each of your animals that you can decorate with furniture and accessories you purchase from the Bear Stuff store with Bear Bills. You can earn more Bear Bills by purchasing items from the Build-A-Bear store or by playing games in Build-A-Bearville.

In Build-A-Bearville, there are many different places to explore and games to play. The games are educational and reinforce good behavior. While you're out exploring, your furry friend rides in a backpack on your back. Playing games will earn you badges as well as Bear Bills. You can check the progress your making on your badges with the PDA. The PDA will let you check the progress on your badges and quests, as well as change your settings to allow or block trades and whispers. If you see another player with something that you would like, you can ask them to trade with you. The system is set up to evaluate trades to make sure they're fair. In the Pawforming Arts Center there are games that you can play with your animal like Shake Your Honey where you use the arrow keys on your keyboard to press in time with music to make your furry friend dance. Other games like Bear-2-Bear Baseball and Bear-2-Bear Racing in the Sportsplex are played with other people that are online or you can check your Furbulous Friends list to see if your friends are in Build-A-Bearville so you can play with them. Bears and Pairs is a memory game at the library in Bear University you can play by yourself, with the computer or with other players. There are also quests you can participate in to earn special gifts and more Bear Bills.

Bear Bills can also be used to purchase clothing and hairstyles for your human character in the Furbulous Fashion District. Soon you will be able to purchase clothing and accessories for your furry friends as well. The Bear Stuff store has skateboards and fishing poles. If you purchase a fishing pole, you'll be able to use it to fish in the pond in Paw Park. You can sell the fish and other things you catch for more Bear Bills. You can look in "My Stuff" to see how many Bear Bills you have and see the clothing and accessories you've purchased in Build-A-Bearville.

There is always something new going on in Build-A-Bearville. By accessing the PDA, you'll also be kept up-to-date on the latest news with the Furry Newsflash that will let you know when new neighborhoods, games and quests are added. On buildabearville.com you can register for free without an animal, take a look around and play the games.

A few of the basic differences between Webkinz and Build-A-Bears are the clothing and accessories you buy for one Webkinz pet may not fit another, but if you get a Build-A-Bear, the clothing and accessories you buy for one will fit another. In Webkinz World you only get one year of access to the site with the purchase of each Webkinz. However, you can renew your subscription at the end of a year for a fee. In Build-A-Bearville, your access to the site and the ability to play with your Build-A-Bear animals never expires. With Webkinz, you have to continuously care for your pet making sure they are healthy and happy. While this may seem to add to the fun in playing, it can be very demanding and distracts from other everyday activities such as homework or housework depending on the age of the person playing. Webkinz offers constructed chat so that you can only say certain phrases. However, Build-A-Bearville has customizable chat options where you can choose to use pre-determined phrases or open chat, but the words and phrases you use with open chat are filtered by their safe dictionary so no personal information or vulgar language can be used. In Build-A-Bearville you're offered many of the same things Webkinz World offers such as games and a customizable living space, but there is no need to keep up the welfare of your animal and you and your furry friend play together in Build-A-Bearville.