About the Mythical Creatures shelf
Sizes run from about 3 inches — small enough to ride in a coat pocket — up to roughly 21 inches, which is the point at which a plush toy stops being carried and starts being leaned on.
Most of this shelf comes from Scoopz (6), Puffimalz (4), Slapstix (4), so the same animal often appears here in more than one body shape. Pick the feel you want in the hand first and the choice gets much shorter.
Every animal listed here is designed in our Glen Burnie studio. The price beside each one is what we last read on our partner store's listing; the store sets it and can change it, so treat the figure as a guide rather than a promise.
Choosing plush toys for kids on this shelf
Children do not shop this shelf the way parents do. A small child reaches for the one whose face looks back, and that is the plush toy that ends up cherished — often the Rainbow Unicorn Stuffed Animal Plushie. For a baby we would stay with the lightest soft animals and the embroidered faces: nothing on a baby plush should be able to work loose in the dark, and the weight should let a little one drag the toy around without hauling it by the neck.
Older kids want accuracy. They will name the animal, correct you on the name, and want a second one to keep it company, which is why we design these as families rather than as single toys. Somewhere between the two ages sits the bedtime animal — the companion that gets slept on every night, loses an ear to love and still has to survive the wash.
The small ones here (Bigfoot Stuffed Animal Plushie, Unicorn Stuffed Animal Plushie) are the pocket buddies that travel to nursery and back. The big ones (Unicorn Stuffed Animal Plush, Dragon Stuffed Animal Plushie) are closer to a pillow than a toy, and that is what a child leans on while reading.
What these stuffed animals are made of
All the plush toys on this shelf use the same short-pile fabric and the same filling: fibre spun from post-consumer water bottles. Surface wash with a damp cloth, brush the pile while it dries, and the materials hold their look for years — which is why so many of these stuffed animals get handed down rather than thrown out.
- Outer fabric: short-pile plush, chosen to stand back up after a season
- Filling: fibre spun from recycled water bottles
- Care: surface wash with a damp cloth, brush the pile while it dries
- Designed in Glen Burnie, Maryland
Gifts, friends and cherished companions
As a gift, the animal with a memory attached to it wins every time. A sea turtle from the aquarium, a bear from the park ranger talk, a bunny that arrived at Easter — children keep those. We have made plush for zoos, aquariums, museums and national parks since 1984, so there is a fair chance the family has already met the animal in person.
If you are buying for a child you do not know well, the popular picks on this shelf are a safe place to start: Rainbow Unicorn Stuffed Animal Plushie, Bigfoot Boy Stuffed Animal Plushie, Unicorn Stuffed Animal Plush. Adorable counts for a lot at the moment of unwrapping, and soft, washable and the right size to cuddle decides whether the toy is still in the house a year later.
Safety is the part nobody sees. Every adorable plush animal here is crafted to one standard: embroidered faces for babies, stuffed with recycled fibre, seams doubled where a child pulls hardest. We understand that a toy going into a cot has to be right the first time, and that quality is what turns a soft toy into one of the cherished companions a family keeps for life.
The rest is play. Children do not shop by category — they pick the one that fits the adventures already running in their imagination, and a plush stuffed animal with charm beats the world's cleverest toy every time. Teddy bears, lambs, a bunny, a dinosaur for the child who corrects you on the names: the magic is that they become friends, and the fun is watching which one gets chosen.
Adults come back for the animal they had in childhood, which tells you where the heart of this collection sits. Pick the softest one, welcome it into the house along with everything else that arrives with a new baby, and let the child decide which of them becomes beloved.
Still deciding? Reading the habitat shelves explains how we group the animals, and Habitats lists the neighbouring shelves.