Squishables Shiba Inu Review

Squishables, the short review: they’re adorable. Go buy one.

The longer review:

I first found out about Squishables when I began seeing their banner ads some years back, when they were first starting. I thought the designs were cute, but I wasn’t terribly interested. None of the plushes really clicked with me.

Fast forward this month: while reading the back logs of the Toybox Philosopher blog, I came across this review for the Worrible Squishable. And then I decided to take a look, because I hadn’t checked out their site in ages.

Needless to say, they’re expanded their line a great deal, into four size classes, ranging from keychain-sized to animals that could be used as beanbag chairs. And the variety offered…kind of exploded. I immediately saw several I loved, and it took a few days of debating over which one I wanted for myself. I finally settled on the Shiba Inu, as I decided it was the cutest of my favorites and didn’t feel like taking a gamble on the discounted mystery squish for now. I ordered the Shiba for myself and another Squishable for my sister’s birthday in a few months, and waited.

In retrospect, ordering just before the Fourth of July and having to endured an extra day of mail waiting was a mistake, but they managed to arrive in time for my birthday.

The box was a little huge, and both Squishables were crammed in there. Upon pulling out a Squishable, they immediate start to expand somewhat-they are indeed very squishy. Remove the plastic bag, clip off the ear tag, boom, ready to go and squish. It’s always a good day when you aren’t fighting twist ties and rubber bands.

 (As you can see, that's one Squishable now sitting in the box and taking up the majority of it. Exploding fluffballs, whoo!)

So my thoughts on the Squishable itself? <i>Soft</i>. As in, the softest stuffed animal I’ve ever owned. The majority of the fur is a semi-long, shaggy type that’s super-soft and feels great. The best comparison I have to it is the fur of our long-haired cat, whom the Squishable outsizes. The chest, paws, and part of the face have a different, much shorter fur, more in line with what you’d expect on an average stuffed animal. It’s soft as well, but not as ‘touch this! Touch this now!’ as the rest of the body. Body-wise, I didn’t realize how big 15” by 15” would actually be; the end result is big, squishy, and an excellent pillow. The fill is soft enough to make hugging the Squishable nice, yet it’s stuffed with enough filler to act as a nice back support while laying down. 

Here's a close up of the face, so you can see the difference between the fur types.

I’ve also discovered that Squishables make excellent ways to cope with early morning noise. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Be woken up by birds warring over the feeder.
2. Apply Squishable to face. (Note: do not asphyxiate self).
3. Stay in that position until sleep returns, usually in five minutes or less.

To quote Anchorman, 60% of the time, it works every time! I’ve had good luck with it, anyway. But they do act as nice distractions/noise dampeners to help get back to sleep.

Look at the size of this thing. Is it any wonder it can be used to block noise out?

Really, Squishables’ own tagline sums them up the best: they’re giant round fuzzy stuffed animals. Hug them. And that’s the best thing to do with them. Hug them, because they’re ridiculously cute. Lean on them, because they’re more comfortable for back support than any pillow I own. If I ever go on a road trip again, I would want to take my Shiba with me, because of the excellent lap pillow potential.

My one concern is the fur; one of my favorite stuffed animals as a kid ended up getting his fur really matted down, and I am a little curious as to how that super-soft fur holds up to wear and tear over time, although that’s more of a concern if you’re giving them to a kid that will take them everywhere vs. an adult. Fortunately, they are spot cleanable, but apparently they’re not something you want to get soaking wet. I’ll admit that this makes me terribly curious as to what a Squishable looks like after a run in the washing machine, but I’m not about to test it.

If you’ve been wavering on a Squishable, I’d say take the plunge. They’re on the more expensive side for stuffed animals, but they do double duty as stupid-comfortable pillows, and I have yet to find a better lower back pillow for when I’m reading or gaming in bed. I haven’t tried using mine as a head pillow yet, but I’m sure that too would be ridiculously comfortable. And they’re really, really cute. If you have someone who’s hard to shop for, they might be something to look at-there’s something for just about everybody there, and the different sizes do mean there’s some flexibility in price points. I’ve found myself already eyeballing the minis, because I’m not sure how many standard ones the front of my bed can really hold. But I’ll probably get at least one more big one. See, I’ve named mine. (Because let’s face it. They’re the kind of toy that demands a name.)

She’s named Scully, as I’ve been playing catchup with the series on Netflix and started picking up the new IDW comic. (Dear IDW: please post your release schedule somewhere where I can freakin’ find it.) And what’s a Scully without a Mulder?