Micro Pets-i: tiny £10 toys are latest craze from Japan

Tiny, rolling plastic pets from Japan could be the next big toy over here, if the predictions of Tomy and the Gadget Show come true.

Micro Pets-i were big in the early noughties, selling a million in the UK in 2002. Eight years later they’re back and they’re smarter – but still pretty cute. The moving plastic bears and cats now have Artificial Intelligence sensors meaning they can respond to your hand gestures by moving, communicating and singing. To get it to recognise your hand gestures you tap the ball in front of the pet.

We found a commercial for the Micro Pet-i, above. Unfortunately it’s in Japanese with Spanish subtitles – not very helpful, but you get the gist: they’re tiny and cute and move of their own accord.

Children can learn to train the pets by making them sing, chase and follow. The Micro Pets even interact with other and can learn to sing in harmony, sometimes they get on and sometimes they don’t.

They also come in at an impressive £9.99, there are 9 in the range: bears, cats and dogs.

Micro Pets-i, £9.99 from Tomy.co.uk or toy stores