Thank you for your interest in learning more about Littlest Pet Shop. We’ve been selling on eBay for 15 years now and have been selling LPS exclusively for several of those years. We began collecting them and selling our duplicates. Our favorite thing to do is dress them up and race the walkables. 🙂
Here are the 7 most important things you need to know before you buy Littlest Pet Shops:
1) Look out for fakes. I would personally never buy directly from China. While it is true, you can score some good deals on the pets, there are a lot of fakes that come out from that direction. LPS #675 dachshund as shown in the first picture is heavily reproduced by people other than Hasbro. They call this dog “after market” or “special edition.” She is not a Hasbro special edition, and by claiming she is ‘after market’ is very misleading. It is not made by Hasbro and many collectors and children alike would be very disappointed. The second picture shows another dachshund known to be a fake.
2) Kenner made LPS in the 1990’s. They are definitely not a new thing, however, the pets that were made “pre-Hasbro” are called ‘vintage.’ A new version of the LPS was introduced by Hasbro in 2005. They began making them with wider eyes, and completely different than their previous versions. They featured pink magnets underneath, and then slowly progressed to gray magnets, and the newest pets do not have magnets at all, but rather, a hole. You can pretty much age a pet by the color of the magnet on the bottom of the foot or lack thereof a magnet.
In 2012, the newest style LPS was introduced. Pets feature bigger, more rounded eyes and different bodies. Later on in 2013, pets bodies were restored, yet the eyes were kept from the 2012 edition, which are still being created today. There are currently over 3,000 different pets produced since 2005.
3) LPS rotate in stores every 1-3 months, depending on the store. What you see there available today, will most likely not be there tomorrow. Therefore, the older pets are highly sought after due to that fact. Many children also do not like the newer style of the new pets (for the most part, they do not care for the newer style eyes).
4) Hasbro used to have circle stickers that came in the packages. You would collect them and redeem them for Special Edition pets. Hasbro stopped that in 2013. Now, there is an android/iphone/ipad app that kids can download free and use the app cards (called LPS tokens) that come in the new pets to play on the app. Many kids love the app.
Fun Tip: Blythe Baxter was created in 2012. We love watching the cartoons here. There are 4 video’s full of short cartoons Hasbro has produced to date.
5) Many adults and children alike collect the pets. Kids love to play with them for years. I have seen even 13 year old teens playing with them. Hasbro makes houses, stuffed animals, bedroom decor, bedding, pets, Blythe (similar to Barbie but way better!), and so on.
You can dress them up and role play. Some kids even like to make video’s on YouTube and have thousands of followers!
The pets themselves measure approx. 2″ tall. Teensies (smaller versions of pets for on-the-go traveling play) measure approx 1.”
6) Reselling and Care of Your Pets. If you plan to keep them for future generations or resell them in the future, you will want to make sure you never write on them with permanent marker or pen. Some parents like to write initials or dots on them, and they are basically near worthless at that point. There are a few pets that go upwards of $100, so writing on them would be tragic.
Another thing you’ll never want to do is to bathe them or soak them in water. They get rust rings very easily and again, are basically worthless if they do. Surface wash them only and dry them immediately.
7) Newest Pets. Blind bags are little baggies that Hasbro releases for some pets. They are just that, blind bags. They are usually cheaper in price than the regular pets, but you cannot see which pet you are purchasing. In my experience, blind bag pets are never as valuable as the regular LPS, nor do they become more valuable in time.
Likewise, Hasbro began creating pets called Roller-roo’s. They are not like any other pet. They are basically a very small ball with a face painted on them. You can fit them into certain clothes, known as ‘bodies.’ Most children are not impressed with this style of pet, and they are easily lost.
I hope this guide has helped you in being a more educated buyer. If you learned something or have something to add, please comment below. 🙂
Bridget says
Hello I was selling a bundle of these on ebay until I noticed a lot of interest how can I find out the numbers of the figures to sell on
Sarah Titus says
Some are worth money, yes. Selling as a lot, you’ll lose out. You’ll need to know which ones are valuable and which ones aren’t. You can look up the numbers on eBay. Just search a description. Like “brown white collie” and it’ll narrow down your search a lot. Go with trusted sellers to get the right number. There are also full lists here.
Ciara says
You do not need to sell with all the numbers, however you may want to sell rarer lps separately with their particular numbers.
Look online for these numbers.
Best of selling luck
🙂
Sarah Titus says
If you don’t use the numbers when selling individual pets, you won’t get near as much traffic to the ads nor sales unfortunately. Most people know the numbers and look them up by that.
shannon says
My daughter would like to sell her pet shops but after looking on eBay and your site we’ve noticed that some have more value than others. We don’t know the names or collections they are from. Not sure if you can help me or suggest where I should look. Thank you
Sarah Titus says
Shannon, I think this post will help a great deal, Rare Littlest Pet Shop List – Make Money on eBay.
Anonymous says
I love LPS and I’m 13!
Sarah Titus says
They are a lot of fun. 🙂
Anonymous says
What do you ship the single ones in without packaging?
Sarah Titus says
I shipped them in organza bags for a nice presentation. Then in an envelope. If it was over $30 value, I put extra bubble wrap around the organza bag.
Deborah Kay says
I bought a lot of 20 of 38 pets on eBay. They looked in brand new condition, even though all are Gen 1. Then I noticed that there was a tiny parakeet with a red magnet. I thought birds never had magnets! Am I looking at a fake?
Teagan says
This was such a helpful article.
leann says
I was wondering since you know alot about rare LPS, maybe you could help me determine of I have ones that are of value. I was going to sell them since my daughter has out grown toys. I had no idea they were collectable and worth money. Could you please help me? Thank you
Michelle says
I bought a lot of LPS pets at a yard sale. How can I find out which ones are worth money.
Jen says
Hi Sarah! This is a question for you! Do you know if ALL LPS will have an “LPS” stamp somewhere on their body? Or at the very least, say “Hasbro” somewhere? Or…was there a time when they didn’t do this? My daughter has several with and without stamps…am wondering if some are real and some are fake? Other than the missing “LPS” on it, they look real…Thoughts? Thanks so much for your time! Jen
Sarah Titus says
Jen, the older ones are not stamped LPS on them. Look on the belly of them and they should have words that says Hasbro (going from memory; I don’t have one in front of me).
Anna says
Alright, I ordered two bulk bags of LPSs. They just didn’t look right so I looked up LPS fakes on line and found your site. I actually got the fake dachshund with butterfly on forehead above in one of the bags! yes, they were from china. I didn’t think anything of it because all toys are made in china. So now I am out $$ and my daughter will be disappointed Christmas morning 🙁 My biggest fear however is that these fakes are all covered in lead paint and dirty with any other kind of poisons. Would you by any chance know about the toxicity of these fakes?
Sarah Titus says
Sorry to hear that Anna and yes, that is very common. Toxicity would be my main concern as well. I would tell eBay they are fakes and ask for a refund.
Kelly says
My daughter has two cocker spaniels that have their feet together with a pink magnet one has pink bows and one purple but we can’t find them anywhere can you tell me which ones they are and if they have a name?
Jenni says
Hi yah,
My son has decided to sell his LPS collection. I am a bit confused. What is the difference between numbered pets that have LPS on them and the ones that have no number just the LPS on them?
What about the pets that have neither the LPS or the number on them?
Thanks for all of your help.
Jenni 🙂
Crystal says
Hi Sarah, Thank you for your informative 7 Tips to Making a Living, I stumbled upon online after being laid off from my 18 year job in the medical field recently. This “Oh my goodness” state of mind I’m in right now has me wondering if I can make a living for myself, I have always worked, and now…?? I always hear about people making a living online, but even sellers I know just say go online and just do it..I’m clueless, and feel it’s a secret society to do so. Being the head of the household, and not allergic to hard work as long as I’m not looking for a door in a dark, doorless room. I honestly don’t know what I’m trying to say, except thank you and continued success.
Sarah Titus says
I can see how it seems like some secret society. For me, it’s just a way of life. I’ve been making money from home since I was in high school, believe it or not, so it’s normal. I think that you just really have to jump in, see what you’re good at. Check out the entrepreneur resources section on the blog because there’s a lot of options of how to make money online. Then when you find what you want to do, just get in there and do it and learn as you go. Not really any way around that. It’s all a learning curve and what works for one person, may not work for another. So don’t give up hope. Just keep at it. Your hard work will undoubtedly get you there! 🙂
Kaira says
Where can I purchase the older version of Lps?
Sarah Titus says
eBay, Craigslist, and yard sales are the best places to find older LPS.
Nadine Reeves says
Can you please tell me if all LPS are marked with those initials?
Charles says
Thank you. All of this info is very helpful..I am looking for a real Savvy for my Grand daughter. I think I can tell the real one but on ebay everything is from china or hong kong. Is there any place to buy vintage LPS?
Sarah Titus says
eBay is your best bet or Craigslist. If it’s from China or Hong Kong, you can be 99.9999% sure it’s fake.
tracy adams says
Hi,
I have a whole box of LPS that I would like to sell, but am still not sure how to know if they are genuine or not. I do not want to sell any fakes. Some of them are marked 2004 Hasbro, China. From what I have read Hasbro did not start making these until 2005, so I am guessing these are fakes? Are genuine pets marked with LPS? I have one with a hole in the bottom stamped 2008 Hasbro china c-031& numbered 92951 on foot. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. Tracy
Rob says
Where can I find the old style lps? That is all my daughter is asking for this year for Christmas
Sarah Titus says
Ebay, Craigslist, and yard sales are the best places to find them.
Lynsey Gennaro says
Please Help! My daughter keeps telling me there are certain ones she wants, and her example is they don’t have holes in them? Most of the ones in the store do have little holes though. Are the ones without holes called something specific or were they made during a specific year?
Anonymous says
I have seen a real Savvy for under $30. I also recently found a Penny Ling normally for $135 but I found it and bought it for only $12 certified authentic or my money back. If you’re still selling I hope to check out your eBay at some point.
Sarah Titus says
Certified authentic sounds a little fishy. Where did you get that one from?