Plushies or stuffed animals are soft and flexible, which is one of their key attributes. This, along with their cute and exaggerated appearances, makes them ideal as comfort objects.
It all depends on the materials that were used to make the stuffed animals. To make plushies soft to the touch, most are made of soft fabrics. These fabrics are very similar to those used in clothing production.
A plush toy encourages community between collectors, content creators, and fans. And they're simply nostalgic, most people had a plush growing up. Adult women seem to still have plush toys even after all the years. Think of when you go to the fair, plush toys are absolutely everywhere, it's a type of toy that's stood the test of time.
In some collectors worlds, plushies have become an art designer toy, similar to KAWS Figures and Bearbrick.
Plushies can be expensive
Look not all plushies are expensive, you can obviously go to your local WalMart and find yourself a reasonable priced regular plushy. But if you're after a plushy that's a little bit more specific, it's going to cost you extra! And with the rise of popularity in the last view years, alongside the fact many see these toys as a collectors item .. this has not helped the cause.
Kawaii Plushies Collection - Credit: SupercuteKawaii
Some are also custom made by a smaller brand that make them personal and with anything custom made, it's going to cost you more. It can take a lot of thought planning and execution to create a highly specialized product. Stated later this article, I also cover the fact many fine contemporary artist have started to make plushies as well.
Time Magazine actually wrote this article that intertwined the rising cost of living using a plushy giraffe toy.
Like anything in this world, fads come and go. Plushies had a serious fad in the 90's when beanie babies became a thing, when I say thing it was an absolute mania. Eventually it all came crashing down, as the market became saturated and came to realization these are simply plushy toys.
The current title for the single most expensive plushy in the world is Steiff Louis Vuitton Teddy Bear, which was auctioned off for $2.1 Million USD in Monoco. The teddy bear is decked out in various pricey Louis Vuitton items. The teddy bear is made with real fur and contains, gold and two diamond eyes.
Credit: Finances Online
Most Popular Plushies
FNAF Plushies aka FNAF Plushies Funko
Credit: FNAF Plushies - Walmart
Overall anime plushies
Credit: Dragon Ball Z - Anime Plushies / Walmart
Pokemon Plushies
Ditto Plushy - Credit: Pokemoncenter
BTS Plushies
Credit: BTS Merch Shop
Kawaii Plushies
Kawaii Shiba Inu Plushy - Credit: Walmart
What are Plushies made of?
How malleable a stuffed plushy is will depend on how it feels inside. Wood wool and cotton are the most popular types of stuffing. They are natural, soft materials.
Wool-stuffed animals can be bent thousands of times before losing their form. However, wool can't be machine washed and dried without losing its shape. A good quality piece of cotton, however, will not be able to be machine washed or dried without losing its form.
Firmer and heavier stuffed animals are made with foam or mohair fibre, the same material that was used to make the first teddy bears in the world. You can also stuff your animals with bamboo fibre, corn fibre, plastic, foam, or steel pellets.
Pellet-filled plushies are very malleable and can only be held in shape by the coating. Because they are small, pellet-filled stuffed animals for children younger than 3 years old are not recommended. Last but not least, handmade plushies can be filled with fabric scraps and felt.
Fine art and Plushies
Plushies have made their way into the fine contemporary art world. There's been several artists now who've created plushies as a form of art, and these pieces are not cheap!
From Daniel Arsham to Hajime Sorayama and many more. But most well known for their soft plushy in the art world is Takashi Murakami and it makes sense why! His adorable smiling, colourful iconic flower is perfect to be made into a plushy!
Teddy Bear - Hajime Sorayama
Plushies are supposed to be cute, adorable, and make you want to cuddle them. In this case though, these fine art plushies are not cheap .. so you may want to refrain from cuddling with them. Instead it would be best to keep it as a direction, I mean these Takashi Murakami pillows or plushies do tend to go up in value.
Conclusion
After all this talk about plushies, you're probably getting some ideas in your head in regards to buying/selling them for a profit. It's not a bad idea and it's very much possible.
But if you're going to do so, realize like anything in the designer toy collectors market or art market for that matter; it's only worth what another person is willing to pay for
For more guides on art toys, prints and all types of contemporary art, visit our Guides section!
This Article is NOT Investing or Financial advice, we're sharing our opinions respectfully from a speculative point of view.
