Though it took longer than expected to receive them and FedEx decided it was a wise idea to throw them into the mound of snow next to my well-shoveled porch rather than placing them on the porch or (gasp!) ringing the doorbell so I could accept them myself, my house now has two new guests. The Gryphon Hatchling and Winder Rider plushies now have resting places atop my significant other's desk, where they stand vigilant to inflict cuteness on whoever may need it. In the gallery at the bottom of this post, you'll find a number of pictures of them, held by my little sister because there simply wasn't enough cute in the plushies alone.

Like most licensed Blizzard products, these plushies are very high quality. I was almost surprised by the amount of work put into the little details. The necklaces (bibs? zoo-tabards?) worn by the plushies are embroidered. They're not screen-printed felt or anything like that, so I don't expect they'll come apart anytime soon. The plushies also shipped in individual drawstring bags to carry and store them in, so they're not exposed to the elements when you inevitably shove them in your closet because really, are you going to keep these on display forever? Probably not!

I do still think that $25 price tag for a stuffed animal is incredibly steep, but considering what people were willing to pay for in-game pets alone, it's not anymore expensive than what you would usually pay for a Blizzard product. Keep an eye on the site, because we might have a pair of these to give away in the coming weeks.

Tags: blizzard, blizzard-products, gallery, gryphon-hatchling, in-game-pets, plushies, screenshots, stuffed-animals, wind-rider-cub

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion