Ever since Tor.com started posting up pictures of that stuffed Appa (the above cutie-pie) I have been 1.) Amazed at how adorable an enormous slobbery sky bison could be and 2.) On the hunt for what else in the science fiction/fantasy realm might be adorable-ized by turning plushy.
You could definitely consider this post something of a Black Friday shopping list. I certainly have. (Sorry friends, spoilers.) I’ve listed my own findings below, limiting myself to retail outlets and not DIY or homemade sites like Etsy. (The list would probaby be endless otherwise.)
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Hedwig the owl (Harry Potter) The first property/franchise I thought to search for was Harry Potter (apparently there’s some sort of movie version out now?). The book series doesn’t tend to a lot of cuddly things, though. Dobby comes to mind, but a stuffed Dobby, especially now, is too creepy to think about. Really, the only other creature that lends itself to this kind of thing was Hedwig. |
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Nibbler (Futurama) I started out looking for brain slugs but ended up finding Nibbler. Look at that guy! That is the guy! I know sometimes the Nibblonians worry that they’re really too cute to be taken seriously, and that? Is a totally valid worry. |
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Scott & Ramona (Scott Pilgrim) This was a random find, and while there is a certain cuteness to it (especially in their facial expressions) I’m not sure it really lends itself to the medium of…stuffed things. Still, I’m sure it’s making some Scott Pilgrim fan happy. |
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Adipose (Doctor Who) Doctor Who was another franchise I thought to search around in early on but the aesthetic on that show is predominantly tough. Lots of metal, sharp angles, wood, and plastics. Where it does get cuddly is with these season 4 monsters, the Adipose. I wasn’t a fan, but they are cute, and specifically designed to be turned into stuffed aliens. |
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Link (The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker) Link, the hero from the numerous Legend of Zelda video games isn’t really known for being cuddly…except in The Wind Waker, where the art style for the 3-D games in the series was switched up from its usual dramatic realism to a bright and expressive cartoon style. The switch ended up working very well and the saucer-eyed fellow to the left stuck around for a few more games. (He looks a lot like Scott Pilgrim, come to think of it…) |
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Everything else (ThinkGeek) I didn’t get too far in my search before stumbling over the above linked page, which offers over fifty science fiction and fantasy themed plush items. You’ve got Half Life 2 head crabs, an entire subpage of stuffed microbes, Cthulhu, Star Wars, tribbles, 20-sided die, and more. ThinkGeek has really cornered the market on cute here. I think my favorite here might be the Evolvems transforming plush toys. What was once a fish is now a tetrapod, and both are very huggable. |
I know that’s not exactly a parade of stuffed animals—at least, not until you jump onto ThinkGeek’s site—but it’s definitely a larger array of science fiction plush assortment than I knew existed before. If I’ve missed anything, definitely let me know! In the meantime, I’m going to covet that Appa. Yip yip, stuffed Appa, yip yip…
I know, Chris Greenland is a little freaked out himself.
