Fueled by new materials and different techniques, companies such as Gund and Jellycat are helping foment a massive transformation in the stuffed animal market, with toys that have become incredibly soft. With companies such as Wild Republic leading the way, children can cuddle with more true-to-real-life animals.
“There’s been two trends,” said Richard Gottlieb at Global Toy Experts. “There’s been more attention to the kinesthetic side, the tactile aspect, what we call a soft-touch product, [and] there is more realism in animals.”
To call them teddy bears is pretty much an anachronism.
Walk the stuffed animal aisle of a toy store or, better yet, go browsing online and you will be confronted with a deeper selection than a sushi menu. In fact, sushi is one type of plushie on the market, according to a survey of stuffed animal web searches commissioned this year by TheBiteSizedBackpacker.com.