Biggies XXL Inflatable Plush Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Mel Randle
We all know a child who loves a plushie, and if they are anything like my daughter, the bigger the better. So the Biggies XXL Inflatable Plush was definitely welcomed by my 7 year old when it landed on the doorstep!
The toy is not going to be sitting on the shelf looking all cute and cuddly begging you to take it home because it comes in a box, but it is an aesthetically pleasing box, bright colours, bold words and pictures of the four animals you could get – dog, rabbit, dragon or unicorn. If you are concerned about packaging waste, the cardboard box was the right size for product with just a cellophane seal.
The fun starts the minute the box lands in the child’s lap. First off, it has a peek hole so you can identify the animal you are going to receive. We spied sparkly purple in ours so we knew from the pictures on the box that we were going to become plushie parents to a Dragon!
Now once identification has been established, this is where parents need to take the reins and calm the excitable child down, because we are at the point where they are about to dive in and rip the box open to reveal their prize!! But STOP……… the packaging is part of the journey. If you rip it open now you have ruined the best part of the reveal and it cannot be repeated! There is a large QR code on top of the box that says ‘WAIT! SCAN TO REVEAL THE PRODUCT ACTIVATION’. My daughter in her heightened excitable state was ready to rip, my husband (being a man) thought he knew best without instructions so I was the party pooper and paused play. I am so glad I did because we wouldn’t have followed the process and had the most enjoyable 5 minutes with the plush!
The QR code takes you to a 2 minute YouTube video that tells you step by step to remove the cellophane, open the window at the side of the box, remove and attach the pump to the deflated plush inside and get pumping. We took it in turns – excitable but impatient child took half a dozen pumps before passing onto Mum who took a dozen pumps before Daddy flexed his muscles to take over man’s work!
With each pump the box got bigger, the sides started to stretch, purple plush started to squeeze out the sides and the excitement grew and grew, until eventually…… POP!! The box burst open and our dragon was born!!!!
It was a wonderful way to receive a toy rather than the usual unboxing but of course it is an anti-climax from then on. Not in a bad way because the plush is gorgeous and my daughter has lots of pleasure from it. Like with all toys, it is flavour of the month one minute and then forgotten the next, but soon comes out again as the best thing ever. It is a lovely addition to her toy collection. In my daughter words ‘it is adorable’. The dragon has a very cute face, is super soft and cuddly and has little legs, wings, horns and a dragon’s mane. I am pretty sure any child would love it!
Now just a couple of points on the downside from a parent’s point of view, although we tend to overlook these things when we are thinking about the huge smile on our little darlings’ faces. Firstly, it is very big. So when it is the toy of choice to cuddle at bedtime story time, it can be quite imposing (and annoying)! Next, as an inflatable, it comes with a pump and some little stoppers to insert in the inflater hole. We have to store these and then remember where we stored them when we need them! And finally, it is an inflatable, and with all inflatable toys, they inexplicably deflate and you are constantly pumping them up until you say enough is enough and child will have to make do with half inflated toy!
All that being said, this is a great plush for the price point. My daughter has had hours of pleasure from it and as a parent I would be happy to purchase for her.
Rating: 4.5/5
Biggies XXL Inflatable Plush is available from Smyths Toy Store for £19.99 here.