Soft toy review · USA edition · 2026

Softness
with a point
of view.

Jellycat is not a generic teddy bear with better fabric. It is a British brand that turned whimsical shapes — a boiled egg with a face, a pickle, a grumpy turtle — into a collectible language that works for babies, gift-givers and adults alike. The softness is the hook. The character design and the drop model are the reasons it keeps moving.
£450M
2025 global sales
41%
US sales growth vs 2% category
4.7★
Thingtesting · 96% recommend
EN71 · ASTM · ISO 8124 COMPLIANT MACHINE WASHABLE CORE LINE 4.8★ AMAZON TOP-RATED £240M PRE-TAX PROFIT 2025 2.8M INSTAGRAM · 2.3M TIKTOK EN71 · ASTM · ISO 8124 COMPLIANT MACHINE WASHABLE CORE LINE 4.8★ AMAZON TOP-RATED £240M PRE-TAX PROFIT 2025 2.8M INSTAGRAM · 2.3M TIKTOK
The soft logic

Not just soft.
Soft with a shape.

A Squishmallow is a pillow you hug. A Steiff bear is an heirloom you preserve. Jellycat sits in a third position: a tactile object with a distinct silhouette that can sit upright on a shelf, be carried around by a child, or given as a gift that reads as intentional rather than generic. That combination is the brand’s actual product.

01 / THE TOUCH IS THE FIRST ARGUMENT
Dense, brushed plush — not stiff, not underfilled
NBC News’ reviewer described the Bashful Bunny as dense but not stiff, “stuffed enough that it feels plush to hug” without becoming too firm to cuddle. The Fuddlewuddle line uses a shorter, smoother fur that is easier to clean and less prone to matting — a quieter, more practical texture for younger children. The material difference is not a label claim; it is the first thing testers mention.
Tactile differentiation
02 / SHAPES THAT STAND UP
A display object, not a floor pillow
Most Jellycats carry small plastic beads in the base, which lets them sit upright on shelves and tabletops. Best Products’ shopping editor draws the contrast directly: Jellycats have more distinct shapes and textures and can sit up on their own, while Squishmallows share the same egg-like form and behave more like pillows. For adult collectors, the ability to display is part of the purchase logic.
Display-ready form
03 / WHIMSY AS A COLLECTING HOOK
Pickles, eggs, toilet rolls and grumpy turtles
The Amuseables line — food and object plushies with faces — is what pulled adult collectors in. CurioRank calls it “the adult-collector hook,” while noting supply remains erratic. NBC News describes fans anticipating new “drops” the way sneakerheads camp out for limited releases. The whimsical shape is not a gimmick; it is a repeatable collecting mechanism that a traditional bear line does not have.
A collectible vocabulary
04 / SCARCITY WITH A RETAIL STAGE
Drops, experiences and the Jellycat Diner
Jellycat pairs limited releases with physical retail theatre. The Jellycat Diner at FAO Schwarz in New York lets customers “order” and “cook” an Amuseables plushie; the experience lasts about ten minutes and is described as fun and childlike for anyone. In 2025 the brand opened 22 retail spaces and experiences, up from three in 2024. Scarcity drives demand; the experience turns a plush purchase into a memory.
Retail as content
Safety & compliance

Certification
on the label.

Jellycat’s safety statements are product-specific and repeat across the catalogue. The core claim is consistent: tested to and complies with EN71 (European toy safety standard), ASTM (US), and ISO 8124 (international). Many core-line products are marked suitable from birth, with care instructions for surface or machine washing depending on the line.

European standard
EN71
Parts 1, 2 & 3 for all ages; CE marking on applicable products.
US standard
ASTM
Tested to US toy safety specification; product pages state compliance.
International standard
ISO 8124
Mechanical and physical safety; repeated across product safety copy.
Care
Line-dependent
Core Bashful line machine washable; some newer shapes surface-clean or hand-wash.

A useful caveat: the certifications are real and stated on product pages, but Jellycat does not publish raw lab reports in the way some cookware brands do. The compliance claim is stronger than an unmarked plush, but the public artifact is the label statement rather than an open dossier.

Where it gets used

Scenarios
that define the fit.

01
Baby shower & newborn gifts
CurioRank calls the Bashful Bunny the “gold-standard baby-shower gift.” NBC News’ tester notes a bunny bought at birth was still a favorite five years later after multiple washes — “well-loved, but still holding its shape.” The gift reads as considered rather than last-minute.
02
Adult self-purchase & collecting
Adults made up more than 20% of US plush toy sales in 2024, according to Circana. Jellycat’s Amuseables line — food, objects, absurd characters — is the entry point for collectors who are not shopping for a child. CNN describes plushie charms on handbags at New York Fashion Week runways.
03
Desk, shelf & display
The bean-weighted base lets Jellycats sit upright on a desk, a bookshelf or a mantel. For renters and remote workers who want a small, characterful object without a full decor overhaul, a single Amuseable or Bashful is a low-friction addition that photographs well and does not require wall space.
04
Comfort & emotional regulation
Fortune and CNN both trace the adult adoption curve to the pandemic and to Gen Z’s need for comfort. Jellycat’s own backstories — a crashed alien who collects postcards, a grumpy turtle — give the object a character to attach to. The emotional function is not incidental; it is a documented driver of the adult market.
05
Tourist & experience retail
The Jellycat Diner at FAO Schwarz, the Selfridges fish-and-chips shop, the Harrods airline experience — these are not just stores. They turn a $30–$75 plush into a souvenir of a specific afternoon. For US buyers visiting New York or London, the experience is part of the purchase justification.
Head-to-head

The honest
comparison matrix.

Jellycat, Squishmallows, Steiff and Build-A-Bear are often discussed as one “plush” category. They are four different products with four different jobs. The comparison below is about fit, not a universal ranking.

Jellycat
Bashful / Amuseables		 Squishmallows
Original 12-inch		 Steiff
Classic Teddy		 Build-A-Bear
16-inch bear
Core form Distinct character shapes; sits upright; display-ready.Sculptural Egg-like pillow hybrid; shared silhouette across characters. Traditional teddy; breed-specific, registered proportions. Classic bear form; customization is the differentiator.
Material feel Dense brushed plush; softer, more “sink-in” hand-feel. Soft, squishy, lightweight; more pillow than sculpture. Dense German mohair; firmer, more “gentlemanly” hand-feel. Standard polyester plush; not Jellycat-grade texture.
Collecting mechanism Drops, seasonal sell-outs, Amuseables whimsy.Scarcity + character Large character catalogue + licensing (Pokémon, Sanrio, Disney). Button-in-ear authentication; multi-decade resale depth. In-store ceremony; accessories and clothing.
Entry price ~$20 small to $100+ large / luxe bunnies. ~$20 typical; $3.77–$24.99 on Amazon deals. Significantly higher than Jellycat; heirloom pricing. Base bear + accessories; total rises with customization.
Washability Bashful line machine washable; newer shapes vary.Line-dependent Spot clean. Surface clean only. Spot clean.
Built for Gift-givers, adult collectors, design-conscious parents.Gift + display Kids, teens, volume collectors; affordable display footprint. Milestone heirloom buyers; first grandchild, wedding, retirement. Families buying the experience of making a bear together.
Trade-off to accept Higher price than Squishmallows; supply erratic; washability varies; resale markup on sold-out characters. Trend-sensitive; shared shape limits display distinctiveness; retired characters can become scalper-priced. Premium price significantly above Jellycat; not machine washable; requires careful storage. Plush texture is not Jellycat-grade; the experience, not the object, carries the value.

The practical read: if you are buying a baby gift and want the safest social signal, Bashful Bunny is the default. If you want an affordable, washable, high-volume collection for a child, Squishmallows is the more practical entry. If you are buying a milestone heirloom, Steiff is the only brand in this group with that specific provenance. Jellycat’s case is strongest where softness, character and gift-readiness overlap.

Audience difference

Different buyer.
Different emotional job.

Jellycat and Squishmallows overlap in price perception and social-media visibility, but the buyer psychology is different. Jellycat’s growth has been driven by adults seeking comfort and by gift-givers who want a recognizable, design-literate object. Squishmallows wins on volume, licensing and a lower entry price.

Jellycat’s core leans toward
The “soft object with a point of view” buyer
Gen Z and millennial adults buying for themselves, new parents and gift-givers who want something that reads as thoughtful, and design-conscious collectors who display rather than stuff into a toy bin. The common thread is not age — it is a willingness to pay a premium for character and tactile quality.
  • Values displayability: the object sits on a shelf, not in a pile.
  • Responds to whimsical shapes and character backstories.
  • Treats the purchase as a small emotional comfort or a considered gift.
  • Accepts scarcity and drop culture as part of the experience.
Squishmallows / Steiff lean toward
The volume collector or the heirloom buyer
Squishmallows’ buyer prioritizes affordability, licensing (Pokémon, Sanrio, Disney) and a large character catalogue. Steiff’s buyer is shopping for a milestone object that will be kept for decades, with a button-in-ear authentication and a resale market measured in generations. Neither is trying to be a Jellycat.
  • Squishmallows: volume, fandom crossovers, $20 entry.
  • Steiff: provenance, German mohair, multi-decade value.
  • Build-A-Bear: the in-store making experience is the product.
  • Jellycat’s premium is the character and the touch, not the size.
Scale & reception

Softness is subjective.
Revenue is not.

£450M
2025 sales, +43% YoY
£240M
Pre-tax profit, +98%
20%+
Adult share of US plush sales, 2024
96%
Thingtesting reviewers recommend
“The fur is dense but not stiff and the actual bunny is stuffed enough that it feels plush to hug — but not so much that it feels too firm to cuddle with.” After five years and multiple washes, the tester’s bunny still held its shape.
NBC News Select · hands-on review of Bashful Bunny
“Jellycats have more distinct shapes and textures... Jellycats can sit up on their own, so they’re fun to display on shelves and tabletops, while Squishmallows are closer to pillows that you can lounge on.” The editor still recommends both, but for different jobs.
Best Products · Squishmallows vs Jellycat comparison
“The gift-standard plush.” CurioRank ranks Bashful Bunny as the baby-shower pick, while noting the Amuseables line is the adult-collector hook and that supply remains erratic in 2026.
CurioRank · 2026 collectible plush ranking
“A part of this rise is plain luck, driven by young adults’ Jellycat hype during a lonely lockdown, but experts say the toy company leveraged other key marketing strategies.” US sales grew 41% while general stuffed-animal sales rose 2%.
Fortune · Gen Z and the plush market
The USA case

Why the soft logic
travels well here.

The US is Jellycat’s strongest growth market outside the UK, and the reasons are specific: a large adult comfort-spending cohort, a gift economy that rewards recognizable brands, and a retail landscape that can turn a plush drop into a destination event. The brand is not a universal winner; it is a strong fit for a particular American buying pattern.

01
Adults are a documented, growing US plush buyer
In 2024, adults made up more than 20% of all US plush toy sales, according to Circana. US toy sales for the 18+ market were up 18% that year. Jellycat’s Amuseables and Bashful lines are positioned directly at that buyer: a small, characterful comfort object that can be displayed and gifted, not a toy that needs to be justified as “for a child.”
02
The growth gap is measurable
From the first half of 2023 to the same period in 2024, Jellycat’s US sales grew 41% while general stuffed-animal sales rose only 2%, per Fortune. Kantar describes the brand as “a worthy case study” for that divergence. For a US retailer or a gift-giver, that gap signals cultural traction rather than a one-season trend.
03
Gift-readiness is a US advantage
Jellycat’s price band — roughly $20 for a small Amuseable to $100+ for a luxe bunny — lands in the American baby-shower and birthday-gift range. Best Products calls the brand “higher-quality, luxe” relative to Squishmallows at a higher price tag, and CurioRank makes Bashful Bunny the default baby-shower pick. The brand is priced to be gifted without a second thought about whether it clears the social bar.
04
US retail can stage the scarcity
The Jellycat Diner at FAO Schwarz in New York, the Selfridges London fish-and-chips shop, the Harrods airline experience — these are destination retail moments that generate social content and justify a trip. In 2025 the brand opened 22 retail spaces and experiences, up from three in 2024. For a US buyer, the experience layer turns a plush purchase into a small event, which supports the premium and the drop model.
05
Where Jellycat is not the stronger fit
If price is the primary constraint, Squishmallows delivers a comparable comfort-object function at roughly $20 with frequent Amazon deals. If you want a machine-washable, large-size plush for a child who will drag it everywhere, Squishmallows’ spot-clean-only limitation is actually a point in Jellycat’s favor for the Bashful line — but the Amuseables line is not uniformly machine washable. If you are buying a milestone heirloom, Steiff has the provenance and the button-in-ear authentication that Jellycat does not. Jellycat’s US case is strongest for the gift-giver and the adult self-purchaser who values character and touch over volume or heirloom status.
The bottom line

Pay for
character.

Jellycat is not the cheapest plush, the most washable across every line, or the most heirloom-grade. It is a specific answer to a specific American buying pattern: a soft object with a distinct shape, a character to attach to, and a gift-readiness that makes it easy to give. If that is the job, the soft logic is worth testing.

Read the safety summary →