Nathan Hill is a sucker for these cuddly plecos...
People love suckermouthed cats. And people love fluffy toys. It was only a matter of time before someone had the foresight to combine the two in a crazed hybridisation of catfish and fluff. The result? Plush plecos.
These things bring me an ineffable degree of joy, I’m not ashamed to admit. There are presently five designs to choose from, with Emperor (black with white flashes), Marble (yup, it’s white and marbled), Royal (exact taxonomy pending), Sunshine (black body, gold spots) and the classic Zebra (don’t make me describe what a zebra looks like).
What’s inspired is that these are suckermouths. As in, they have suckers. Suckers for mouths. Simple as cat’s eyes in the road, but now I’ve seen it, I can’t believe I never thought of it myself before. Lick 'em and stick 'em to things, and if you’re a catfish fan you won’t be disappointed. Straight up.
The Plush plecos are 12in long (30cm for we metric folks) and pretty anatomically correct. Fins are where fins should be, markings tally up well, and they even have loricariid lips in front of the suckers. Hand them to an expert, and they could probably sex them for you.
I’m in no position to say how hardwearing they are, as I’ve not had them long enough. Mine have been on my face, my glasses, my headphones, my desktop screen, wall and a couple of skateboards, and if I still had a motorbike I’d have stuck one on that. They seem robust enough, but I reckon an overzealous kid could have the eyes off and the sucker out, though I guess that’s the same with lots of stuffed toys. If my dog got hold of one, I’d give it about 30 seconds.
They’re made of synthetic acrylic fibre, so no animals were harmed in the making of, and they’re not recommended for children under three. But let’s be honest, none of us are buying these for our kids, are we?
The only downside is that they’re based in America, so while not pricey, the freight is more than the price of the toy. At time of writing, it’s $12.99 freight for one or two of them, and $22 for a set of five.
There are a few price options, but individual plush plecos will cost you $11.99 (plus freight), while a set of five is $49.99 (plus freight). Remember, that’s dollars, not pounds, so not quite as harsh as it looks.
There are more on the way, too. Including glow in the dark Green and Blue phantoms. I feel like a big kid all over again.
More info: http://greenpleco com/
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