Why I am looking for Jellycat alternatives now

Many readers of my blog will note that I used to be quite enthusiastic about Jellycat stuffed animals, especially their Bashful series, but I haven’t talked much about them lately.

Outside of being well-designed, they also supported small business: the overwhelming majority of my collection has been purchased from independently-run stores, including one run by a close friend of mine in downtown Seattle. Unfortunately in the past few years, Jellycat have pursued a “brand elevation strategy” (their words, not mine), incrementally dropping small businesses from their network in favor of large chains and directing people to their website instead.

In 2025, this included dropping hundreds of independent shops; around 100 of these were in the UK alone, with no option for appeal, explicitly as part of this strategy. Many of these retailers had supported the brand for decades, and described the move as abrupt and poorly communicated.

This is a baffling change in direction. Jellycat’s popularity was built in independent shops, which makes this strategy a good way to burn that goodwill.

Frustratingly, this new direction is now becoming somewhat problematic for me, as it turns out they also make one of the best tactile tools I’ve found.

In my case, I use one of the larger Jellycat Bashful Bunny variants (what they call the “Really Big” size) as a lap object during the day. It provides consistent tactile feedback, something to hold onto, and, when needed, doubles as a small pillow. The end result is that it helps with focus and anxiety during long stretches of work.

What I am looking for in a stuffed animal

It needs to be large enough to sit comfortably in the lap and double as a small pillow, without becoming cumbersome. Beyond that, the details matter more than one might expect: it needs to be soft without being irritating, usable for long stretches, and have a shape that can be held onto or adjusted easily.

Most alternatives fail one of these constraints. They are too small and effectively disappear, too large and unwieldy, or made from materials that are either unpleasant or distracting over time. Even small differences matter here; a Bunnies by the Bay bunny that was just slightly smaller was already enough to be annoying.

This would be a minor annoyance if it were purely theoretical, but it is not: my current daily-use bunny is approaching end-of-life after sustained use. It has held up well, but it is not realistically replaceable with another one without undermining the earlier decision to stop supporting Jellycat.

So this is both an explanation and a request: if anyone has found alternatives that meet roughly the same criteria, I would be interested in hearing about them.

This is, apparently, a harder problem than it should be.