Pretty Ugly, LLC and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, on behalf of DC Entertainment, announced that they have entered into a co-branded 
collaboration with DC Comics Super Heroes and Uglydoll characters. Gund, a division of Enesco, will produce a diverse range of colorful and collectible superhero plush based on the DC Comics and Uglydoll character universes. The initial release this fall will be a trio that includes two versions of Ice-Bat as Batman and Babo as Superman.
The plush characters will be offered at retail and will be available through Diamond Comics and a broad range of retailers. Funko is also set to offer a collection of vinyl figures based on the DC Comics and Uglydoll plush collaboration during the holiday season this year. Additional categories of merchandise and collaborative characters will be announced in the coming months.
Gund will be previewing their new collaborative plush merchandise at the summer Gift Shows and ASTRA show in June. Diamond Comics will be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con in July and in their infamous Previews catalog. Funko and others will launch merchandise in time for the holiday season.
COMMENTARY: Appreciating Plush
Everyone has something that they never really grow out of. For some, it might be Disney movies; for others, maybe it’s remote-control vehicles. In my case, it’s plush.
Although I’ve always had an appreciation for stuffed animals, I oddly never had one as a comfort object. I liked collecting, naming, and arranging them on my bed. As an adult, I appreciate plush as art—a form of sculpture, if you will. Walking the floors of the Jacob Javitz Center for Toy Fair, I had the pleasure of seeing all kinds of plush—realistic, abstract, soft, fuzzy, big, and small.
Cate and Levi Animal Plaque: Moose
My favorite pieces are the abstract ones. They just seem to draw me in like a magnet. This is how I discovered Cate and Levi, a company that creates adorable creatures from reclaimed wool. Not only do they make animals and puppets, they’ve gone beyond toys and created plush animal plaques as home décor. Sweatertoys, a small, Brooklyn-based company, makes beautiful plush animals from recycled sweaters and recycled polyfil, enhanced with vintage patterned fabric accents. [Read more...]