Space Ghost Plush Toy Warner Bros. Studio Store Exclusive Plush Toy Item No.: n/a Manufacturer: Warner Bros. Studio Store Includes: n/a Action Feature: Huggably soft Retail: $7.00 Availability: ca. 1998 Other: n/a
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If you were a dork in the 1990s, there's a good chance you a) dwelled in malls and b) frequented the now-defunct Warner Bros. Studio Store. The Warner Bros. stores were packed with all sorts of amazing licensed merchandise, from exclusive repaints of Kenner DC figures to unique apparel and numerous exclusive lines like plush toys. Since Warner owned a large number of licenses, it could make its own Space Ghost plush back before action figures would make it out a couple of years later. I know it's hard to believe, but there really was a period where most licensed properties didn't get toys, and you sometimes had to work to find things like this particular plush toy. Well, "plush toy." It's clearly trading on the then-trendy bean bag plush fad born of Ty's Beanie Babies line, which had numerous also-rans by 1998 including Kenner's own Star Wars Buddies and numerous store-brand toys.

Not specifically from the old cartoons or the pre-Adult Swim Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, this toy replicated the original Alex Toth design in plush as much as it could with some very nice stitched detailing and a pretty swell yellow cape. Since action figures were still a year or so off, fans on action figure collector newsgroups (remember those?) discussed this item and those of us who could swindle a ride to the mall gladly picked up this toy in absence of a plastic alternative. There's nothing wrong with it, and if it came out today I expect it would be received about as well as it was back then-- it was neat, fairly cheap, and cute enough that you could probably get away with giving it to your girlfriend if you were dating back when it came out. But if you couldn't get the time of day from the ladies just yet? Well, at least you could keep it for yourself. (I've still got mine.)

Seeing plus toys like this alongside Daffy or Porky served as a reminder of just how huge the Warner Bros. portfolio had grown, and it also served as a notice that we really did need some form of plastic collectible for most of these characters. (Funko managed to pull this off with its extensive Wacky Wobbler line years later.) Despite having problems standing or sitting up, this is just a fun toy that would probably look nice hanging up in your office or on a wire rack somewhere. The plush engineering seems aimed at a much younger audience, but it's a pretty safe bet that the toy was more or less aimed at comedy nerds-on-the-making or stoners. Either group should enjoy the detail of this figure, particularly since, as of 1998, most Space Ghost toys were just custom-painted Batman: The Animated Series items with the ears cut off. Space Ghost action figures would come from Toynami shortly after this release making it a forgotten footnote in the world of toy collecting in the 1990s... just like the Warner Bros. Studio Stores.

In case you were curious the Bean Bag Plush line spanned numerous licenses, all owned (or distributed) by Warner. You could find Looney Tunes, DC Comics, Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barberra, and even Harry Potter stuff right before they all shut down. Disney stores also had several plush lines, and as a cheap collectible toy these tended to do fairly well.

Additional Images

See more Adult Swim figures in Figure of the Day:
Day 117: Warner Bros. Studio Store Space Ghost Plush Toy Day 1,562: Toycom Space Ghost Coast to Coast Zorak Action Figure

See more plush toys in Figure of the Day:
Day 117: Warner Bros. Studio Store Space Ghost Plush Toy

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