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Plush toys are made of plush fabrics, PP cotton and other textile materials as the main fabrics, and filled with various fillings. Most of these animals are plush and feel very good. They are very common. You will see them in shopping malls, supermarkets, Miniso, IKEA, claw machines or next to a girl.

We have not found the root cause of the emergence of animal-shaped plush toys, nor are we sure about the complete timeline of plush toys from their birth to their development, but we can learn some relevant information from the introduction of Ms. Trudi Müller Patriarca, the founder of Italy's top plush toy brand Trudi.

"Trudi Müller Patriarca was born on May 18, 1921 in Munich. She had a passion from an early age and was full of creativity, so she began to handcraft the first teddy bears for her son Josef and the children of local friends and acquaintances. Due to the success of her creations, her husband Antonio encouraged her in the mid-1950s and helped organize the handcrafts, creating a company with 5 employees. The plush toys soon conquered the national market and were sold under the brand name 'Trudi'."

It can be found that the European market had famous plush toy brands more than 60 years ago, but so far, China's plush toy brands that can compete with them seem to be still in the making. Passion and creativity may be one of the reasons why European plush toy brands emerged at that time, and the preference of parents and children for plush toys also laid the foundation for this to a certain extent. According to a survey, plush toys are the first choice for European parents to choose toys for their children. The per capita expenditure on toys in Europe (US$144) is much higher than that in developing countries such as China and even Asia (US$13), making it the second largest toy consumption market after the United States (US$340), while the per capita toy consumption in Asian countries is less than one-tenth of that in Europe.

There are many bases for the production of plush toys and cloth toys in China, including Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu in the south and Shandong in the north. International consumer countries and regions are mainly concentrated in Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other places. Domestic export ports are mainly concentrated in ports such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Qingdao, which create considerable foreign exchange income for the country every year.

Moreover, with the development of the times, plush toys tend to be more beautiful and have more functions: IP authorization, originality and customization are the three major directions; electric plush toys with the help of voice players, electronic chips and other technologies are also developing rapidly; in terms of practicality, plush toys have gradually added the functions of pillows, cushions, neck pillows and hand warmers.

However, China's plush toy production faces many difficulties: the technical difficulty and entry threshold are low, so it is easy to imitate; the efficiency of traditional channels is not high, resulting in the inability to convey the brand's concept and atmosphere well; some manufacturers are satisfied with the simple business model of OEM production based on incoming materials and samples, and have long focused on exports, thus ignoring the domestic market and neglecting brand creation; Chinese consumers' awareness of toy brands is not very strong, and the threshold for enterprises to enter the domestic market is very low; the investment in branding and domestic sales is large and the effect is slow, and the domestic market has complex capital settlement methods and a shortage of marketing talents. These problems are more prominent.

Why do we need plush toys?

Compared with building blocks, puzzles, game toys, jigsaw puzzles and other toys, plush toys lack a lot of "play" elements and tend to provide a very pure emotional experience. The warmth and love it provides are the popular elements, and I believe this is also the source of its nicknames such as "comfort dolls" and "companion toys".

Sue Lockey, head of The Puppet Company, explained the charm of plush toys and said: "Most children like to touch and hug soft and fluffy toys because they feel comfortable. Plush toys just meet this demand and are very popular among the elderly and children. In addition, many children are eager to have a pet, but they cannot realize this wish. At this time, plush toys play a substitute role and bring great pleasure to children."

Bruce Raiffe, president of Gund, a subsidiary of Enesco, also has a positive view on plush toys. He believes that plush toys are simple and will not pose a health threat to children. Parents also like to give their children plush toys because they carry many happy memories of their childhood.

But plush toys are not exclusive to children. From February 8 to 10, 2011, Kao Japan conducted an online survey on "toys" among 4,553 men and women aged 10 to 58 (914 men and 3,639 women) nationwide. According to the results, 39.5% of men will place plush toys at work or home.

In addition, a survey shows that 44% of British people still have teddy bears and dolls after adulthood, and nearly 34% of adults sleep with plush toys every night. Sleeping together is not enough. Talking, telling stories, and discussing secrets with plush toys are not exclusive to children. Many people still do this after adulthood.

In the 1960s, British actor Peter Bull publicly expressed his love for teddy bears on TV, and even proposed that teddy bears also have a deep influence on adults' emotions. Replies agreeing with his ideas continued. In 1969, he published a book called Teddy With Me, in which he expressed his endless love for Teddy Bears. This book touched the hearts of thousands of people who also believed in the important place of Teddy Bears in their lives. Teddy Bears are no longer just toys for children, but also become collectibles for adults.

Plush toys are lifelong friends

Plush toys are the carrier of love, which exists between parents and children, friends and lovers. "I hope it can accompany you for me" is not only an expectation, but also a promise. When designing products, brands also gather love for children and adults. For example, more and more brands use handmade rather than machine-made plush toys, and the dyes used have also changed from chemical dyes to natural dyes. They also put a lot of thought into the materials and image design of plush toys.

In addition, the love and affection of children and adults for plush toys are also particularly obvious. I believe that every friend who receives a plush toy will be delighted, and will interpret the meaning of plush toys to them with actions in the future.