The Geek Bits
Name: Mini Squishable Cthulhu
Toyline: Squishable
Subline: Squishable Minis
Retail Price: $19 USD
Released: 2011
Availability: Squishable.com and other fine retailers
Includes: Mini Squishable Cthulhu, huggability, fluffiness
** Disclaimer: This product (Squishables Mini Cthulhu) was supplied to us by the manufacturers for review purposes. Other products shown in this review, such as the Squishables Penguin (Version 1) and Puffs brand facial tissues, were purchased on our own. This review is not a paid endorsement of any of the above products.
Squishable is an unstoppable juggernaut of spherical plush creatures. Like a giant fluffy snowball, it has swept up and engulfed web comics such as Ryan North’s Dinosaur Comics and Anthony Clark’s Nedroid, transforming their iconic characters into globe-shaped stuffed animals. Squishable.com encourages fans to vote on favorite plush toy concepts, taking this demand into account when prioritizing which creatures will next be given the Squishable treatment. They’ve expanded their line-up to include the bean-bag-chair-like Squishable Massives and the keychain-attachable Squishable Micros. The original Squishable and Squishable Mini lines get new additions on a regular basis. Resistance is futile.
When I got an e-mail from Squishable asking if ASMzine would like a review sample, I was at a bit of a loss. Most of our usual rubrics for reviewing and evaluating toys were not applicable. Packaging: Minimal. Accessories: none. Points of articulation: none. What could I say, other than “It’s round and squishy”?
When they call this thing “Squishable”, they’re not kidding. The Mini Squishable Cthulhu came packed tightly into a small box that was bulging slightly at the sides. I released the Cthulhu from its box and set about to the important task of fluffing up the poor vacuum-packed plush.
At first glance, it was a little difficult to make out Mini Squishable Cthulhu’s details. He’s JUST THAT FLUFFY. He’s got four limbs, each tipped with black felt claws, and two little wings in the back. He has six luxuriant tentacles on his face. But in dry static-laden climates, his fluffy fur obscures almost all.
Almost.
Mini Squishable Cthulhu is a wonderful conundrum. Ridiculously — perhaps even sickeningly — cute, yet deeply unsettling as only a huggable plush toy inspired by the horror fiction of H. P. Lovecraft can be. And he IS huggable – a good size for a child or adult to hug, or place in the rear window of a car, or toss into the corner of an office cubicle. Mini Squishable Cthulhu’s compact size makes him much less intimidating than the full-size Squishables (Squishable Penguin Version 1 depicted above) and a lot more portable, too.
I struggled to find a good way of expressing Mini Squishable Cthulhu’s convenient size. Yahoo Japan Auctions frequently use cigarette boxes as a size indicator. Nobody in our household smokes, but we do have regular bouts with seasonal allergies, so I used what we had on hand to give some idea of how small Mini Squishable Cthulhu is. Just don’t blow your nose on him.