Up Close: Plush Toys
By Gerri Hunt -- Kids Today, 10/1/2009
As the weather turns cooler and the holiday season approaches, the plush toy business is about to heat up.
Polar Bear Buddy from Warm Whiskers is a body pillow that combines a traditional plush design with a blend of buckwheat and lavender, creating a plush animal that can be heated in the microwave or frozen, $39, 800-233-0201, warmwhiskers.com.

Gentle Giraffe on the Go from Cloud B is a travel plush with four soothing sounds that transport children to the plains of the Serengeti, $23, 310-781-3833, cloudb.com.

Infantino’s Griffen the Golfer has textures, sounds and colors, plus a locking link for when baby’s on the go, $13, 800-365-8182, step2.com.

Fabric scraps, many hand-painted, hand-printed and left over from other production, are cut and pieced into hand-made plush animals from Kevin O’Brien Studio. Fabrics include woven jacquard patterns, printed cotton velvets, silk velvets, printed linens (and antique buttons for children over 3), $128, 215-923-6378, kevinobrienstudio.com.


Fiesta’s CheChe the Tortoise is from the Tales 4 Tomorrow collection. The eco-friendly plush endangered animals come alive in a virtual world where kids can create a better tomorrow for them. It has a 100% soy and cotton coat, $20, 323-581-9988, fiestatoy.com.

Nellie is a handmade rag doll from Magic Pumpkins and Faery Dust that can be ordered in a ballerina dress, dungaree-style dress or girlie clothes in blue and green or pink, $40, magicpumpkinsandfaerydust.com.
Hippo the Tubbie Wubbie from Aurora is 12 inches high and has little ears and a big nose. He’s filled with beans and machine washable, $12, 888-287-6724 auroragift.com.

Mama Lamb with Baby is soft and woolly. From Stephan Baby, she is 15 inches tall and has her baby attached securely in her arms, $15, 800-241-6348, stephanbaby.net.


Henni Hen is a washable soft clutching toy from Haba. She twitters and rustles when shaken, and stands 7 inches tall, $12, 800-468-6873, habausa.com.

Jumbo Bubba the Black Bear from Zoobies is a plush toy, a soft pillow and a blanket all in one. He is filled with polyester stuffing made from the transformation of PET bottles into new polyester fiber, 801-802-0507, $45, zoobies.com.
Allen Ave. has added Reed the Rhino to its Color Zoo series, $20 to $25, 800-249-679, allenave.com.

P. Twizzle the pig is a plush toy from Child to Cherish. It is one of nine animals in the collection, and measures 11 inches tall, $11 to $18, 800-776-7002, childtocherish.com.























