Customer Reviews

Toy Vault 12" Cthulhu Plush Toy

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Plush Cthulhu used to have the best description of any product on amazon, but they changed it!

It used to read:

-Softest Elder God
-New, improved great old one
-Plush yet all devouring

BRING THE OLD DESCRIPTION BACK! CTHULHU FHTAGN!

This little plush Cthulhu is well-made and adorable. If you can ignore the fact that he is probably secretly dreaming of your madness and destruction, he'd make a fine addition to your cubicle or collection.

H(oward) P(hillips) Lovecraft wrote a whole bunch of short stories for pulp magazines such as "Weird Tales," many of which talked about the Great Cthulhu, a supremely powerful force of evil who was laying dormant deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, awaiting the time when he would return to power and turn the Earth into a waste land. Lovecraft's stories of the Great Old Ones, the cursed book called "The Necronomicon," scholars at Miskatonic University, and the Elder Gods were developed into what is now commonly known as the Cthulhu Mythos (a term coined by August Derleth). Other writers have added to the Cthulhu Mythos, which continues to expand to this day, but at the heart of it all is Cthulhu himself. So the idea that he has been turned into an 8-inch plush toy takes the concept of cuteness to a damp, dark hole where it has not seen the light of day for countless years.

Cthulhu (a.k.a. Fisherman's God, Great Old One, Him Who Lies Dreaming, Him Who Will Rise Again, etc.) was described by Lovecraft as follows: "a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopuslike head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind." In addition to having "a fearsome and unnatural malignancy," Cthulhu is described as having "a somewhat bloated corpulence," which certainly explains why it has ended up as a plush toy, although I am not certain how accurate the green part ends up being.

Given the literary heritage of Cthulhu, it is amazing how much fun is being had with Lovecraft's greatest monstrous creation. There are Cthulhu for President t-shirts, a Campus Crusade for Cthulhu, and a marvelous on-line comic strip, "The Misadventures of Hello Cthulhu" (yes, think "Hello Kitty" with an unknowable evil walking around). I have even seen a Cthulhu made out of Lego parts (the Lego squid makes such things possible apparently). So a Cthulhu plush toy seems rather reasonable, and one of those brilliant examples of how the commercial impulse can manifest itself in diverse sections of popular culture. Can plush toys of Nyarlathotep and Azathoth be far behind? Stay tuned, boys and girls.

Don't believe the reviews that this toy is smaller than advertised. I bought the 12" and it is just that. A perfect size for a stuffed toy. Other people may have "been shipped" the wrong one (read: ordered) or maybe they have been driven mad and were expecting the real Cthulhu to come and devour them. In any case this toy is wonderful. It's soft and cute and full of ancient evil just as you would expect.

I like this toy. He seems well-made. I didn't give a durability rating because I can't say what a child might do to him - been a long, long time since my daugher was little. But for an adult who likes oddities, he's fine.

As for educational value, I can't guess what a child might learn from this toy, so no educational rating from me.

Now, I'd seen reviews complaining that it was not the size they'd expected, that the product was smaller, and instead of being 12 inches high, it was 12 inches wide at best.

This little guy has a 12 inch wingspan. His body is 7 1/2 high, and with his legs hanging down, he's 12 inches. I'm satisfied with this loveable green horror monster.

Now to go and read some scary Lovecraft stories......

Turned out to be a higher quality product then I expected. Seems to be well made and was everything I expected. My cat even loves it, he fell asleep with it the other day.

Bought this for a HP Lovecraft fan. They were excited to receive it. Very cute toy.

I just received my doll and I am still wondering how they measured the 8". It makes it wingtip to wingtip if you splayed the doll out on a board or stretched the doll out and counted the plastic hang tag. The ad implication was 8" tall (not wide). In actuality, the doll is 4" tall from top of head to bottom and almost 6" if you count head to bottom of the feet. I thought I accidentally ordered the other similar doll (4" in height), but come to find that there is a confusion on the tag. The tag is HP 004 (this one) but says small Version. The doll IS cute, but not quite what I thought I ordered (Bad on the toy chest for mis-representing the ad on Amazon.com. All I can say is be aware that the doll doesn't match the description and you should just order the "small version" and save $10.

Who knew that the most evil creature ever could be so cute!? I love it and hope more styles become available.

This plush is great! I received the toy vault version and its roughly 12", true to the description. Really cute and evokes a certain feeling of creepiness, like a great old one is watching over u! It is soft, has beanie-filled tentacles/body, and bendable wingspan. A perfect companion when reading those eeiry H.P. Lovecraft stories under the covers!