A few days before my 19^th birthday in November 2021, I got sent a giant stuffed animal by my aunt, uncle and cousin. The box was fairly big, so as I walked between the campus mailroom and my dorm room, I wondered what could possibly be inside. Opening it up, I saw a green blob that opened out to be a Squishmallow: his name was Baratelli, and he was a pastel green frog with rosy pink cheeks and a golden crown on top of his head. I likened him to my other frog Squishmallow across the room, Wendy, an 8-inch-tall green tree frog with a yellow belly and red eyes, and simply called him “Big Wendy”. I didn’t really like the name Baratelli. The object itself is simple; a sack of mysterious fluff surrounded by a mysteriously soft fabric lining. Big Wendy is special because there is a crown that rests atop his head, made of a secondary mysterious felty and metallic fabric. He also contains a tag with his own backstory, and he sits at 16 inches tall. Between my dorm room and my aunt’s computer, there were only a few steps to the process of receiving my new squishmallow, but I was curious to see how many steps were taken before my aunt even thought of buying him. According to toynk.com, all squishmallows are made using polyester fiber. Using polyester fiber keeps the stuffed toy “resistant to stains, wrinkles, and mildew and prevent[s] it from shrinking.” They are also quick-drying because of it. “Polyester fibers are usually made as continuous filaments either through a batch process using granulated polymer or a continuous polymerization method.” (toynk.com) They are also made of ultra-soft spandex, which makes them so durable, but light. These processes of production happen in China. No information is provided about its Chinese production besides the blanket statement “Made in China” that appears on most of US imported goods. The tag states that it was manufactured at Kelly Toys Holdings, LLC in Los Angeles, California. For the “distributed by” section, there are 3 places listed: Florida, USA; London, UK; and Darmstadt, Germany. I assume that Big Wendy was distributed by Jazwares LLC in Sunrise, Florida, since it is the closest location, but no other discernable information is found on the tag. So, my squishmallow was created with polyester fibers and spandex in China, then sent to Kelly Toys Holdings LLC in Los Angeles, then sent to Sunrise, Florida to then be sent, through Amazon Prime shipping, to New Paltz, NY. The popularity of Squishmallows was also a key step in the process. Squishmallows originally launched in 2017, producing 8 characters in 3 sizes, and sold at Walgreens. 2020 was when Squishmallows experienced an economic boom, when the pandemic was in full swing. Tiktok also popularized the toys, turning them into a trend, and creating #squishtok, which allowed people to display their collections to the world. As the line of toys succeeded, more forms of Squishmallows came out, and now the Squishmallows brand has over a thousand different characters, arranged in 12 different sizes between 3.5 and 24 inches tall. They became popular with my cousin, Sabrina, because of their popularity on TikTok, so when my birthday came up, buying a Squishmallow was an easy choice. Big Wendy (formerly “Baratelli”) was ordered on Amazon.com (currently listed as 24.99) and sold by Kelly Toys, with an Official Squishmallows logo to prove brand legitimacy. Now, about 1.5 years later, Big Wendy has become a staple in my room, and a convenient pillow when I need to rest. It’s interesting how many places my Squishmallow has been in before it became my own.

Works Cited:

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Squishmallows 16-Inch Frog Prince – Add … https://www.amazon.com/Squishmallows-16-Inch-Frog-Prince-Baratelli/product-reviews/B08TD9SDX2.

Frank, Lindsay. “Squishmallows.” See Mom Click, 25 Nov. 2022, https://seemomclick.com/squishmallows/.

Haasch, Palmer. “Squishmallows Went Viral in 2020 and Are Quickly Becoming Gen Z’s Beanie Babies.” Insider, 6 Mar. 2021, https://www.insider.com/squishmallow-squishmallows-walgreens-disney-cvs-viral-collectors-social-media-frog-2021-2.

Peterson, Sara. “What Are Squishmallows Made of?” Toynk Toys, Toynk Toys, 29 Dec. 2022, https://www.toynk.com/blogs/news/what-are-squishmallows-made-of.

“Squishmallows.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squishmallows.