Xia-Xia Hermit Crab and Confetti Cottage - Review

We were recently sent the XiawXia (pronounced Sha-Sha, as confirmed by my daughter!) Interactive Hermit Crab and Confetti Cottage to review.


There are currently 4 crabs available as shown below and we received the orange one in the bottom right hand corner of the picture.

These are really cute little creatures which scuttle forwards and backwards when you squeeze their pincers.  They have a little sensor which tells them when they've run into something, so they change direction.  It's scuttling caused mass hilarity in our household as it ran about all over the place. They reminded me a little of the wind up toys that I had as a child, although these run on batteries.   


Each crab comes with a 'micro friend' which lives inside its shell, but can also perch on a little peg at the front of the shell.  The shells are interchangeable between crabs and there are separate shells available to collect so a little girl into collectables would really enjoy these, assuming that more characters become available.


The crabs can also be turned off, so they don't wear themselves out running backwards and forwards when they're not being played with.


Confetti Cottage is a sturdy little house which the crabs can live and play in.  It has a main compartment and something like an attic.

Confetti Cottage

It is also a good way to carry the crabs around, and has a 'front' door and a 'back' door.  However I really struggled to get the full sized door open - there is nothing really to grip on to to pull it down.


I was really impressed with the sturdiness of the cottage.  Unfortunately, the attic part is a little tight to get the crabs in and out of, and when my daughter was trying to get her crab out, one of the pincers snapped off.  I was surprised and disappointed that it broke so easily, basically within a few hours of playing with it.


The micro friends were really cute but easily losable and a bit of a worry when you have tots around - my 15 month old would easily have put it in her mouth and choked on it or swallowed it, and my 5 year old who helped me review this isn't that careful about where she puts things.


The crabs retail for about £9.99, which I think is a little pricey for what they are, taking into consideration how easily the crab broke and as Confetti Cottage also retails at around £9.99 - I would happily buy more if the crabs were around £5 but I can't see me paying around £10.  The shells on their own retail for about £4.99, which again, I would be prepared to pay up to £3 for.  Personally I think they've got their pricing a little bit wrong but we are pretty new to collectables so I'm prepared to be corrected!


Despite the couple of problems we had with it, I still love this toy - the crabs are so cute!  I imagine they would also keep a cat entertained for a while!  I hope the problems I've highlighted are addressed as with a lower price tag and a slightly more sturdy tag we would definitely be buying more.  Even if just for me to amuse myself with!




We received one crab and the Confetti Cottage for the purposes of this review - no other reward was given.  The opinions given in this post are my own.