As kids are seeing their friends wear thin, colorful silicon rubber band bracelets at school, they also want Silly Bandz and Zany Bands. Local stores are often sold out of the more popular styles, and they do not always have the latest styles because stores have minimum shipment requirements.
New manufacturers seem to be joining the product scene daily. Although kids may not be familiar with that names, they are familiar with the shapes and styles. If Silly Bandz and Zany Bandz do not have the styles kids want, an Amazon Marketplace search will bring up more styles from other companies.
Silly Bandz Bracelets
Ordering from the official Silly Bandz site links Brainchild Products to complete the order. After buying bracelets, kids put them on and submit pictures to the site. Silly Bandz are offered in several different themes and they usually come in packages of 24. They are priced at 4.95
List of Silly Bandz Themes
- Alphabet Letters Silly Bandz (sold as a pack of 36)
- Baseball Silly Bandz
- Basic Shapes Silly Bandz
- Dinosaur Silly Bandz
- Fantasy Pack Silly Bandz (dragons, unicorns, etc.)
- Pet Animal Silly Bandz
- Princess Silly Bandz
- Rainforest Animal Silly Bandz
- Rock Bands Silly Bandz (labeled RockBandz)
- Sea Creature Silly Bandz
- Spring Pack Silly Bandz (flowers, butterflies, etc.)
- Western/Cowboy Silly Bandz
- Zoo Animal Silly Bandz
One of the fun features of the Silly Bandz site is the Silly Bandz Photo of the Week photo collection is a testament to the popularity and variety of the animal shaped band bracelets. If kids have themed parties, such as princess parties, buying online from the official store is the best way to ensure that the bands came from the same dye lot and match each other.
Zany Bandz
The official Zany Bandz website site links shoppers to the Amazon Marketplace, where there are many stores selling similar band bracelets for kids. Like Silly Bandz, Zany Bandz are available in different shapes, and they come come in packages of 24. Bright and Bold is an upcoming theme.
List of Zany Bandz Styles
- Tie Dye Zany Bandz
- Glow in the Dark Zany Bandz
List of Zany Bandz Themes
- Animals
- At the Beach
- Bugs and Bees
- Camping (called Camp Wig Wam, complete with a bear and a canoe)
- Dogs
- Dragons (includes a battle axe)
- Hollywood
- Moonlight (vampires, moon, howling wolves)
- Mystic (fairies, leprechauns)
- Noah's Ark
- Pirates
- Sports
- Spring (bunnies, ducks, etc)
Buying Zany Bandz directly from the official site is a little less expensive than buying them from other online stores as long as the current promotion ($4.95 a pack) is in effect. Zany Bandz and Silly Bandz feel the same and fit the same, and outside of the packaging they are hard to distinguish as different brands.
Amazon Marketplace Options
Both Silly Bandz, Zany Bandz and Goofy Bandz are appealing to kids, and they can all be bought through one store through Amazon.com. The free shipping for Amazon products does not apply because the bracelets are bought the through the Amazon Marketplace. To buy from the sellers, go to Amazon's main site and search for any these brands:
- Goofy Bandz
- RubbaBandz
- Rubber Bandz
- Silly Bandz
- Stretchy Shapes
Shopping at these stores feels just like buying from Amazon.com, but it is actually more like buying from an eBay store. An individual confirms the purchase and ships it, but Amazon takes the order, charges the order to the buyer's Amazon account, and ultimately handles any problems or concerns with the order.
Online shopping offers a broad selection of bands from different companies. This way, kids can have some for the trendy bracelets that are like their friends, but they can also have some unique designs that are appearing as the fad takes off.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
