Stim Toy Review: Santiago The Blue Squirrel (12-inches)

Image Description: a close-up image of Santiago The Blue Squirrel. This image focuses on the front of the squirrel. The front has a white-heart-shape, with two black eyes, blue nose and blue mouth.

Image Description: a close-up image of Santiago The Blue Squirrel. This image focuses on the back of the squirrel and blue fluffy squirrel-tail.

Item: Santiago The Blue Squirrel

Category: Review/Feedback

Cost: AU $16.00 (Shipping Fees: N/A)

Date of Purchase: 23/07/2020

Date of Delivery: 29/07/2020

Store: KMart

Location: Online/Australia

Review:

~Soft and Fluffy: This plushy has a super soft and fuzzy exterior. The tail is also super soft and fluffy as well. The front is excellent for rubbing your hands back and forth. I think the 12-inch version is probably the biggest I would get for myself. The 8-inch versions may be more accessible price-wise. I would highly recommend this plushy with regards to Tactile Stimming.

~What’s In A Name?: I love the fact that this company not only made an enormous blue-squirrel soft toy, but they also decided to name this particular squirrel Santiago. If the Santiago had been a Red Squirrel, that would have made sense, but nope.

As Jake Peralta of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine is head-cannoned within the ADHD community as having ADHD, I can image Amy sending Jake out for milk, and Jake coming back with this specific plushie. I can easily see Jake arguing that he had to get it for her and completely forgetting to get milk.

~Terms and Conditions: Under normal circumstances, the shipping from Kmart is usually $10.00, however, if you buy $45.00 worth of items, you get free shipping. At the time, I also wanted to purchase other items from Kmart, but I wouldn’t really consider this a practical option. There’s also another problem with the Kmart option.

When purchasing the Squishmallow soft toy from Kmart the selection of plushies is random. As far as plushies go, I like Santiago, however, I had been hoping to get either the husky plushie or the cat-unicorn plushie. I generally prefer to have more control over my selection process.

~Multiple Choice: As of writing this post, Kmart looks to be the cheapest option so far at $16.00, however, there are a few options available. I’ll list them down below:
~Amazon (US) but the price is currently unavailable
~Amazon (AUS) at $32.45
~Sensory Oasis For Kids at $18.95 + $12.95 (shipping fees) = $31.90

The Squishmallow’s website also has a List of Retailers as well.

While these plushies are super soft and super cute, and I like most the designs available, the lack of instore options and high price-tag makes these particular plushies a tad bit inaccessible. But this could change when in-store options become safer. From my perspective, if you don’t care what type of plushie you get, and you live in Australia, the Kmart option will probably be your best solution.