“Isn’t this a funny face?”

I’ve heard it again and again and again. And the kids keep making funny faces.
But I’m not really complaining. They’re playing with Big Eye Dummies, plush animals with interchangeable eyes and mouths. These innovative toys were created by David Lipson, who, by the way, is a very cool, down to earth guy who was displaying his brand new products for the first time ever when I came upon his booth at New York’s Toy Fair in February. While he seemed surprised at just how well-embraced his product was, he’s thrilled at the interest.
Encased in each mouth and eye are magnets, and let me tell you, they’re very securely sewn in there. Each animal body also has magnets securely sewn in the mouth and eye area. How secure? When I first received a set of samples, short of cutting, I did everything I could to manipulate a magnet out of a sewn area. Couldn’t pull them out. Feeling safe, I gave each of my kids’ a Big Eye Dummy and set them free.
The kids immediately ‘got it’. They quickly took the extra set of mouth and eyes out of the attached bag and placed all of the pieces in a circle. And then the fun began. Changing and changing and changing. And I loved that there was no fighting. With each animal coming with 2 mouths and 4 eyes, the kids had plenty to play with with their own, and happily shared to make more.
Before I knew it, the animals, which come with personalities of their own, were putting on little presentations and suddenly had lives and stories about them.
That’s what I call a funny toy.
Big Eye Dummies will finally debut to the shopping public the first week of June. You can pre-order the fun snugglies at Glamma Gems now. Receive free shipping when you spend $40.