Initially released for the holiday season of 2016, Hatchimals quickly became a popular craze for kids around the world. Between the interactive nature of the toy and the ongoing development, the Hatchimal captivated children and became a popular holiday toy option for families. The popularity of this toy prompted several new toys similar to a Hatchimal. Below, let’s take a closer look at 6 comparable toys — which ones you can still buy new, which ones only turn up secondhand, and how the Hatchimal actually differs from the Furby it gets compared to.
Hatchimals and Shopkins get shopped together but they answer different wants: a Hatchimal is one interactive toy you unwrap and keep, while Shopkins were blind-bag collectibles where the point was the pile. If it is the collectible pile you are after, our guide to toys like Shopkins maps that whole family — Shopkins ended in 2023, and Real Littles and ZURU’s Mini Brands are the two lines still in production.
What is a Hatchimal?
The Hatchimal has been described as a cross between a Furby and a Tamagotchi. This toy comes in an egg, so part of the fun is the surprise of not knowing which character you will get once it hatches. The original Hatchimal goes through three life stages consisting of the baby, toddler, and child, and it is up to the child to raise the Hatchimal through all the life stages successfully.
The Hatchimal can learn to do tricks, to speak, eat, and go to sleep at a particular time. The “AI” and “teachable” elements of the Hatchimal are really what make this toy so popular.
Are Hatchimals Still Made? Yes — the Line Is Called Hatchimals Alive Now
Yes. Spin Master never stopped making Hatchimals — the current line is Hatchimals Alive, and it is widely available. The flagship Mystery Hatch egg sits at 4.7 stars from over 5,200 Amazon reviews and carries the Amazon’s Choice badge, so this is not a nostalgia purchase the way most toys on this page are. What changed is the format: Alive eggs hatch with mist and light effects and pack 100+ sounds and reactions, rather than the three-stage “raise it to adulthood” progression the 2016 originals ran on.
Hatchimals Alive Mystery Hatch — see current price on Amazon
So if a Hatchimal is what your child actually asked for, you don’t need a substitute — buy the Hatchimal. The list further down is for the cases where you want something cheaper, something that hatches differently, or something that keeps reacting long after the egg is open.
Hatchimals vs Furby: What’s Actually Different
The short version: a Hatchimal starts inside an egg the child has to work to open, and the hatching is the event. A Furby arrives ready to talk, and the payoff is the conversation. They get shopped against each other constantly, so here is the honest comparison.
The unboxing. With a Hatchimal, nothing happens until the child rubs, taps, and talks to the egg — usually 10 to 40 minutes of coaxing before it cracks. That waiting period is the whole draw, and it is also why a Hatchimal is a one-time thrill you can’t repeat. A Furby has no gate: switch it on and it starts chattering.
What it does afterward. A Furby is the more talkative toy long-term — it speaks Furbish, picks up English phrases, and the newer models respond to voice and have multiple play modes. A Hatchimal reacts with sounds, lights, and moods, but it is not built around holding a conversation.
Surprise vs. choice. Hatchimals are sold blind — you find out which character you got only after it hatches. Furbies are sold by exact color and style, so a child who has a specific one in mind will be happier with a Furby.
Both are currently in production, which is worth stating because plenty of pages still claim Furby ended in 2018. Hasbro relaunched Furby in June 2023 and it has stayed on shelves since. If the Furby side of this comparison is where you’re leaning, our roundup of toys like Furby covers that shelf, including which alternatives are still sold new.
Toys Like Hatchimals
Because of the initial success of the Hatchimals toy, parents keep looking for similar toys at other price points — or ones that hatch a different way. Here are 6 that fit, with a note on each about whether you can still buy it new.
Little Live Pets Surprise Chick
This is the closest match to the actual Hatchimal experience at a fraction of the price. The chick taps its way out of the egg on its own while the child watches, then chirps and hops around afterward — same “wait for it, then it’s alive” arc, minus the 40-minute rubbing session. It’s Amazon’s Choice at 4.4 stars from 515 reviews and sold directly by Amazon, and it runs roughly a third of what a Hatchimals Alive egg costs. Worth knowing: the hatching only happens once, so this is a moment, not a toy that keeps developing.
Furby
The predecessor to the Hatchimal was the Furby. This popular toy swept toy shelves through the late 90s and early 2000s. This toy was a small, furry creature that had to “learn” behaviors — it could learn to speak and communicate with other Furbies if paired closely together, and pick up English phrases if you spent enough time training it.
Hasbro did stop production in 2018, but that is no longer the end of the story: Furby came back in June 2023 and current models — Furby DJ, Furby Vibes, and the mini Furblets — are on shelves now. The extra-long Furby DJ plush holds 4.8 stars from over 1,100 reviews. See the toys like Furby guide for how the reboot compares to the 1998 original.
furReal Newborns Kitty
Hasbro’s furReal line has been the reliable interactive-plush option for years, and the Newborns Kitty is the current entry-level pick: it opens and closes its eyes, purrs, and responds to touch and sound. There is no egg and no hatching — this is the “care for a pet” half of the Hatchimal appeal without the surprise half. Amazon’s Choice at 4.6 stars from 362 reviews, and it lands well under the price of a Hatchimals Alive egg.
Note: the older furReal models this article used to recommend — Bootsie the cat and Torch My Blazin’ Dragon — are both listed as permanently unavailable on Amazon now, so we’ve replaced them rather than sending you to a dead listing.
Bitzee Magicals
Bitzee is the digital-pet answer rather than the plush one, and it is the best-reviewed toy on this list — 4.6 stars from over 6,300 reviews. It’s a screen-free pod you swipe, tilt, and touch, and the creature inside reacts and develops the more you handle it. The collectible angle scratches a similar itch to blind-box hatching: there are 20 characters to unlock. Rated ages 5+, which lines up with the Hatchimals Alive age range.
Bitzee Magicals — see current price on Amazon
Jumbo Dino Egg
The cheapest way to buy the “something is inside this egg” moment. The current Dan&Darci version is a dig-it-out kit rather than a grow-in-water egg: the child chips a jumbo plaster egg open with the included tools and unearths 12 dinosaur figures inside. That makes it a longer activity than a Hatchimal hatch — closer to an afternoon than 40 minutes — and it works for a wider age range, but nothing in it is interactive once opened.
In stock and sold on Amazon, and it typically runs a fraction of a Hatchimals Alive egg, which makes it a reasonable stocking stuffer or party favor.
Jumbo Dino Egg — see current price on Amazon
Furby Boom Eggs (discontinued)
Worth knowing about if you’re hunting secondhand: the Furby Boom Egg was Hasbro’s own attempt at the Hatchimal formula. Small handheld Furbies came packaged in eggs so the child didn’t know which one they were getting, and the toy connected to a phone app for feeding and care.
These are long out of production — you’ll find them on eBay and resale sites, not on shelves — and the companion app support that made them interesting is gone. We’ve left them here for context rather than as a recommendation.
Other related articles : Toys like Tamagotchi | Toys like Furby | Types of fidget toys | Toys for toddlers
FAQs
At one point, Hatchimal toys were flying off the shelves, similar to the Cabbage Patch Doll craze of the 1990s. The line has changed shape since then, and a lot of what’s written about Hatchimals online is still stuck in 2016. Here are the questions people actually ask, answered against what’s on shelves now.
How do you hatch a Hatchimal?
Children have to rub, touch, and talk to the egg to coax the animal out. On average it takes about 10 to 40 minutes of interaction before the egg cracks — the toy responds to warmth and handling, so the more attention it gets, the faster it hatches. Newer Hatchimals Alive eggs add mist and light effects to the hatching sequence.
Are Hatchimals still popular?
They are no longer the impossible-to-find craze they were in 2016, but the line is very much alive commercially. The current Hatchimals Alive Mystery Hatch egg holds 4.7 stars from more than 5,200 Amazon reviews and carries an Amazon’s Choice badge, with dozens sold every month. What ended was the scarcity and the resale mania, not the product.
Are Hatchimals worth anything now?
Mostly no. During the 2016 shortage, some used Hatchimals resold for $150 to $250, but that was scarcity pricing and it did not hold. Ordinary used Hatchimals now sell for a fraction of retail. A small number of rare colors and limited editions still fetch a premium among collectors, but treat any listing quoting craze-era prices with suspicion — new Hatchimals Alive eggs are readily available at normal retail.
Where to buy Hatchimals?
They are easy to find now. Hatchimals are stocked at conventional retailers like Walmart and Target, most toy stores, and Amazon, which carries the widest range of the current Hatchimals Alive line. The holiday-season hunt that defined 2016 is not a factor anymore.
What age group are Hatchimals for?
The Hatchimals Alive line is rated for ages 5 and up, and the mini collectible packs go down to age 3. Older children and adults collect them too, but 5+ is the manufacturer’s rating and reflects the small parts inside the eggs.
How much do the big Hatchimals cost?
Expect roughly $50 to $60 for a full-size interactive Hatchimals Alive egg at normal retail, with the smaller collectible egg packs costing considerably less. At the height of the 2016 craze people were paying several hundred dollars to resellers — that is not the market anymore, so there is no reason to pay it.
Sources and verification
Product details above — ratings, review counts, stock status, badges, and age ratings — were checked directly on each item’s current Amazon listing rather than carried over from the earlier version of this article. Two products previously recommended here (furReal Bootsie and Torch My Blazin’ Dragon) were found listed as permanently unavailable and have been replaced. The Furby relaunch date comes from Hasbro’s June 2023 announcement. Prices move constantly; treat the figures here as a range, not a live quote.
Last verified: 23 August 2026. Spotted a price or product that’s changed? Tell us — corrections get the page re-checked and re-dated.
