My partner bought me a bear in a coffin for my birthday. This was intended, I think, as a slightly silly gift — something that would make me laugh, that acknowledged my general appreciation for things that are gothic and a bit odd, without being a Serious Present. It was wrapped in black tissue paper. There was a card that said "for your shelf of weird things."
I opened it, looked at the coffin, opened the coffin, looked at the bear inside, and laughed. Then I looked at it more carefully. Then I read the character information. Then I put it on the shelf and looked at it from across the room.
Then I went online and ordered three more.
My partner watched this happen in real time and said "I didn't think this through." They were right. They were absolutely right.
The Series 1 Lineup
The Deddy Bears Series 1 Coffin Plush features eight unique characters — more than the Series 2 lineup, which gives the collection more range and more personality variety. The characters include Bundle, who is wrapped in bandages in the classic mummy tradition, and Vambear, who has the sharp-toothed, cape-adjacent aesthetic of a vampire bear done correctly. Each one arrives in their own coffin, each one has their own character identity, and each one is 15cm of high-quality soft plush that is simultaneously adorable and slightly unsettling.
The random element — each order sends one bear at random — is the thing that turned a single gift into a collection. You don't know which character you're getting. This means that every order is an event, a small mystery, a moment of anticipation that the product itself generates. It's a very clever design decision and it works extremely well on people like me, which is to say people who find uncertainty exciting rather than frustrating.
The First Bear — Bundle
My partner's gift was Bundle — the bandage-wrapped mummy bear. Bundle is, I think, the perfect introduction to the Deddy Bears range because the mummy aesthetic is immediately legible and immediately charming. The bandages are rendered in the plush itself rather than just printed on, which gives the figure a texture and dimensionality that a flat design wouldn't have. Bundle looks like they've been through something. They have a stoic quality that I find very endearing.
Bundle is still on the shelf. Bundle will always be on the shelf. Bundle was first and that means something.
The Collection That Followed
I now have eight Series 1 bears. I have all eight characters. This took approximately four months of ordering, which is a pace I'm not embarrassed about. Each arrival was its own small event — the coffin, the reveal, the placement on the shelf, the rearrangement of the existing bears to accommodate the new one.
The shelf has evolved as the collection has grown. The bears are arranged by character type rather than acquisition order, which took some thought and several rearrangements to get right. Bundle is at one end. Vambear is at the other. The others are arranged between them in a way that makes narrative sense if you know the characters and looks like a considered display if you don't.
What My Partner Thinks Now
My partner has accepted the Deddy Bears shelf with the equanimity of someone who has been with me long enough to know that this is simply how things go. They have named several of the bears without being asked. They have opinions about the arrangement. Last week they suggested that Bundle looked lonely at the end of the shelf and should be moved closer to the others, which I considered and implemented.
They have not bought me any more bears as gifts. I think they learned their lesson. I think they are also slightly proud of what they started, which they would deny if asked.
The Quality, After Four Months
Eight bears, four months of display, and the quality is consistent across all of them. The plush is soft and has held its texture. The coffins are intact. The character details — the bandages on Bundle, the teeth on Vambear, the specific features of each character — are as clear as they were on arrival. These are well-made collectibles that are built to be displayed and to last.
My Verdict
If someone buys you a Deddy Bears Series 1 Coffin Plush as a joke gift, accept it graciously and then immediately go online and order more. If you're buying for someone who appreciates gothic decor, dark humour, and things that are simultaneously cute and slightly wrong — the Deddy Bears Series 1 Coffin Plush is the gift that keeps generating consequences.
Find them in our Plush Toys collection and our wider Baby Toys & Activity Equipment collection. Start with one. See what happens.
— Tara Novak
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