Plushies! I love plushies. I always have, and even as an adult I can’t let go. I appreciate them now as an artform of their own–its colours, the stylization, everything considered to make it an appealing little guy. Lots of indie artists are getting into designing plushes now, making a lot of really cool, stylized, collectable plushies which I adore (and my wallet does not). I have to be a little picky with my plushies, because of said wallet… and also I only have so much space in my apartment. So I wanted to take this post to go over what I have! This is not all of them, but probably a majority of them. I will try and name the brands/artists of them, if I can find it!
Let’s start with some dinosaurs!
A Yutyrannus by Wild Republic and a Spinosaurus by Jungle Plush. The Yutyrannus was a recent purchase, while the Spino came with me from Alberta, after backing a Kickstarter for it way back when. The Yuty is a bit disappointing, admittedly; it may not stand the test of time with me. Even though I love the fluffy body, the face is a little awkward. I adore this Spino, though–the funky colours, the shapes, augh!!! This guy was a big inspiration for my own plush designs!
Another Yutyrannus (I guess I like those guys??). This one is by Therbis Studios, backed on Kickstarter very recently! The Archaeopteryx is by Paleoplushies, also a Kickstarter backed a few years ago (not all my plush have names, but the Archaeopteryx I nicknamed “Terry”). These guys are so fluffy! I personally prefer cartoony, stylized plush, but both of these are really nice. Terry is especially great, Paleoplushies always knocks it out of the park with beautiful, accurate dino plushies.
My newest additions! Some little fluffy, beanie dinos by Awesome Animals (they came all the way from Japan). They had big selection of dinos and it was hard for me to narrow it down… but I settled on Microraptor, Mei and… Yutyrannus. Again. (LISTEN IT’S A FLUFFY T. REX). These guys are very soft, which I did not expect! And honestly… they are probably the cutest dinosaur plushies in the world. I absolutely adore them, despite the hassle it was to just get them shipped here.
BANANAS! Somehow I have… four banana-related plush. Huh. The three little guys are Croconanas, from Sorbet Jungle. They have a default, yellow design, but my partner and I fell in love with their little spooky variety, so we got the rotten, ghost and mothman ones. And then there’s the bananasaurus rex, from Wicked Rain Studio! This one was backed on Kickstarter a little while back. I love them so much. A perfect guy. The tail detail is so great.
Well that’s enough dinos. Next up is…
…bats? Bats. In pairs, apparently! Do not separate them. The first pair we got at Calgary Expo this year, from Bumbleberry Hollow. My partner loves bats, and I simply can’t say no to those cute little faces! The second pair we got from a local artist a couple years ago at Hal-Con, in Halifax. I unfortunately do not still have their info.
These guys don’t really go together aside from the fact they are red and are… beans. But it feels right? The little dragon is a point of pride for me, because I won it at a claw machine. That’s right!! The one and only time I’ve ever played a claw machine, I won a little dragon plush! Therefore I have a 100% winning streak!!! The little cat we got in Calgary this year, and it’s made from completely recycled materials, which is pretty cool!
Now time for… moths!!! Some mothmans, and then a couple actual moths. The fluffy moths are Squishables, and the luna mothman in the back is from Cozy Cryptids. The little mothball is by my friend, Isa, who helped me in getting to make my own plushies too! They also made the bigger, probably more infamous mothman plush, whose design is unfortunately being stolen, like, everywhere.
I feel like every kid had a snake plush at some point. Or at least you admired the racks of snakes at zoo giftshops and whatnot. I had some as a kid, and it’s not something I thought I’d consider as an adult until I ran into this guy. A skeleton snake! Genius. Why didn’t they think of it sooner?? I actually debated on getting this one, but I’m happy I got it now.
A couple of spooky guys! The first is the Makeship plush for the webcomic Tiger, Tiger. Love the design in the comic, love the plush even more. What a delightful little sausage! The others are some crow plushes from the game Monument Valley, and there’s a bit of a funny story to them–I bought one for Winter, before we moved in together. There was a mishap with shipping, and when I reached out they resolved it… by sending me two of them. So I kept one, while Winter had the other, until we moved in together, and they were reunited again.
A little assortment of sea?? Water?? Critters!! Aquatic animals are my fave plushes to collect, as you’ll see soon… there’s just something about them that makes excellent plushies. The shark pup there is by a pal Nekoama, from a Kickstarter I backed! The angler fish was a recent addition from Toronto, next to a little Jellycat whale I got on an excursion with friends. The flamingo is, funny enough, from Kinder… like, it came in a box of Kinder Eggs. But I think this is my favourite flamingo plush?? The face is so cute, I love the little smile.
You can’t go wrong with a good Anomalocaris. I got this guy a few years ago at the ROM, during a TCAF trip. We nicknamed him “Toronto Ron” and it’s stuck since. He brought us good luck on that trip–thank you for your services, Toronto Ron.
The biggest plush I own is this fantastic striped hyena from Creep Cat Toy Co. I saved up for this guy… it was so worth it, even though we barely have the room for ’em. It’s FINE. EVERYONE needs a giant smiling hyena plush somewhere to complete the vibe of the room!!!
Probably one of my favourite plushes ever… this silly salmon, from Split Hares! I could gush about this guy all day, but it just checks all my boxes. Cool and cartoony but still accurate to the animal? Check. Beans and squishy? Check. Wonderful playful colours, close to the animal but exaggerated? (I have a hard time photographing this guy, the green is not that intense irl) Check! Aquatic animal? CHECK!!!! This guy rules, and was a huge inspo for my own plush too.
Finally, another fave plush–this EEL!!! I got it a few years ago at Otakuthon, after seeing some people walking around with them, I IMMEDIATELY had to go find one. This guy is SQUISHY and soft. So much so my cat likes to knead it, which I can’t let him do or else he might poke holes in it, noooo. I also just love the different coloured eyes. This guy is BIG, too, you can wrap your arms right around ’em. I’m forever, ever on the hunt for an apparent black version of this guy with the mouth closed, but I’ve had no luck finding a way to get it.
I guess that leads to my own now! Here’s a couple of the prototypes we have already. Getting these is so exciting, and seeing my own designs in person is such a treat. Looking at all my current plushes, I wonder if the inspiration and influence comes through in my own designs.
See ya for now!
