Hedgehog Plush With a Hidden Pocket, to Order

Description

Some people say "I love you" with flowers. This one was said with a hedgehog. Tryam, the little hedgehog from the Soviet cartoon Autumn Ships, was sewn for a big fan of that cartoon, to tell them he's loved. And he came with a secret: a zip pocket hidden in the spines on his back, for an unexpected surprise.

He's a hedgehog plush made to order, for one person. We don't keep hedgehogs on a shelf waiting for a buyer. Each one is sewn for a specific story, and this was his.

Who is Tryam?

If you grew up outside Russia, you may not know him. Hedgehog and his friend Bear Cub come from the fairy tales of Sergei Kozlov, the same writer whose tale became the famous Hedgehog in the Fog. Director Yuri Butyrin turned the two friends into four short cartoons (1980–1983), starting with Tryam! Hello!. In it, Bear Cub dreams up a country where people greet each other with the word "tryam", which simply means "hello". That's the name we gave our hedgehog.

In Autumn Ships (1982), Hedgehog dreams of a sea of his own, with ships on it, though all he has is a small forest pond. Quiet, kind, a bit of a dreamer. For a lot of people these films are pure childhood, the cartoons their parents put on.

A hedgehog with a secret

Our Tryam has a charcoal-grey body, round white eyes and a crooked little smile. His spines are a wild mane of long ginger faux fur. A red felt heart sits on the sole of one foot, easy to miss until he sits down.

The surprise is on his back. Part the fur and there's a zip with a red zipper, lined with golden satin. It's a stuffed animal with a hidden pocket, big enough for something small that you want found at the right moment.

What could yours hide?

The story doesn't say what went into that pocket. That stayed between the two of them. Yours could hold anything that fits:

A folded note in your own handwriting
A ring, for the question you've been saving
A sweet, a ticket, a key, a tiny photo

Maybe the person you love has a favorite cartoon hero too. We sew those as a custom plush gift for your girlfriend or boyfriend, with a pocket, a heart or a name stitched on. Our Jerry plush with a pet-name heart is another one, and here's a hedgehog and bear hugging for two people who belong together.

A custom hedgehog plush like Tryam starts from $335. Size and details change the price, and the quote is free.

We are an independent studio. Tryam is a fan piece made for one customer, not official merchandise of the original films.

Materials used

Tryam's body is sewn from soft short-pile plush in charcoal grey, the kind that feels like velvet under your thumb. Darker shading around his eyes and muzzle gives him that slightly scruffy, just-woke-up look from the cartoon.

His spines are long-pile faux fur in ginger with lighter tips. It's shaggy on purpose: a hedgehog you can actually stroke, with no prickles. The eyes are white felt with black pupils, the nose is a glossy black button, and the heart on his foot is red felt edged with pink stitching.

Hidden zip pocket in the back fur, with a red zipper and golden satin lining
Soft stuffing, so he sits up on his own and still squeezes nicely
Long legs and arms that flop the way a hedgehog in a hug should

Everything we use is safe and eco-friendly. On request, a pocket like this can go into almost any toy we make.

Lead time

A plush like this usually takes 2–4 weeks. Some toys are quicker. The range leaves room for the small surprises every handmade toy brings.

We start from the cartoon frames you love. You approve the design before any fabric is cut. Then comes the pattern, the fur spines, the pocket sewn in so it hides under the fur, and the face last. Big round eyes and a crooked smile are easy to get wrong by a millimeter, so we take our time there.

You get photos of the finished toy before it is packed. Planning to say something on a certain day? Tell us at the start.

Delivery

We ship worldwide. Once the toy leaves us, delivery usually takes 7 to 20 business days, depending on your country and your customs office.

Around Christmas and other holidays the post slows down everywhere, so add time if the plush has to arrive by a certain day. An anniversary, Valentine's Day or a birthday won't move, so give the parcel a comfortable margin.

One small tip: fill the secret pocket after the parcel arrives. The hedgehog keeps the surprise; the courier doesn't need to. Tell us your date when you ask for a quote, and we'll say straight away whether it fits.

Guarantee

We have been sewing toys to order since 2009. A cartoon hero someone loved as a kid has to look right, so nothing is left to guesswork: you approve the design before sewing starts, and you see photos of the finished toy before it ships.

If it arrives and you don't love it, you get a full refund within 14 days, for any reason at all. No argument, no restocking fee.

What you tuck into the pocket, and what they say when they find it, is up to you two.