Douglas makes some of the best plushes!

Absolutely. I much prefer them to most expensive European brands like Steiff or Kozen<sp>. Apart from their general quality, Douglas manage to get just the right amount of 'realism'. Some of the really upmarket plush companies are too realistic for me, falling into that 'uncanny valley' or just looking too much like taxidermy. Douglas still uses subtle anthropomorphism in just the right amounts.

There are dedicated Douglas 'collectors' out there, but I don't 'collect' plush; I just get ones that strongly appeal to me. This girl is actually the first large plush I'd bought in probably more than ten years. I splashed out about a year ago and got three big Douglas, on of whom I still need to photograph.

My brother has a stuffed dingo about a foot and change high. Fairly realistic, it gave one of his dogs fits if you picked up the plush and petted it -- I guess it's about c@t-sized. The later ones they sold were absolute junk; the manufacturer switched to Chinese imports.

Is this a Douglas plush? I'm not sure I've seen a Douglas dingo. Douglas did shift to Chinese manufacture too, quite a whole ago, but at least with their more expensive plush it doesn't seem to have had any obvious negative effect. I have been told that some of their plush have quality control issues, but if that''s so, I must have been lucky (because I have to get them mail order now, I can't pick one out in advance.)

It's a Pedigree Italia Collection, according to the label. The originals were made in Australia, but later ones (like my brother's) came from Indonesia. Quality is just okay; the originals were startlingly good. A lot of manufacturers have become wholesalers, and quality has suffered as a result.

I haven't heard of them, but the major Australian plush maker is Bocchetta, who claim to have originated in Italy in the 30's. Their plush varies a lot in quality from one type to another. I have a Bocchetta Dingo, made in Indonesia, and he's nice. But much smaller than the one you described.

I've toyed with the idea of getting a second one before Douglas stop making them, but the expense in shipping to Australia is pretty nuts.

Absolutely stunning, wow!!! ^.=.^