On the Calico Critters

I never intended to have a huge collection of Calico Critters.  Oh sure, the flocked, jointed, somewhat-personified animals were/are cute, but as I've said in the past I need another collection of stuff like I need a hole in the head.  My intention was to get two families and let that be that, and up until last Sunday I made pretty good on that promise.  My first family was the Tuxedo Cat family:  mom Natalie, dad Mason, older daughter Rose, and baby Angelica.

This family unit is interesting, as it does not match the family available from the Calico Critters' website, nor does it match the set currently available for purchase in stores.  The current set and the set on the website leave out Angelica and instead have a twin for Rose named Lily.  To further complicate matters, a set of triplets is available from the website...and Angelica is included in that set!  So the Tuxedo family can get a smidge confusing.  I'm positive that this wasn't a switcheroo perpetrated by some mischievous little brat at Wal-Mart either, as all the Tuxedo families I saw at the time had the same "Angelica-and-Rose" pairing.

Okay, so that's the cats.  Being a cat lover, I've always got to have a cat-themed set.  Upon seeing the super-adorable Red Panda family, I decided to bring them home too.  They're a smaller family, consisting of dad Russell, mom Rufina, and daughter Rowena.

No weird family linup changes here, it's always been these three!  However, the Red family keeps a secret that only a few know:  the mom's first cousin resides in Japan, doing an office job that she's not the fondest of, and she vents her frustrations by singing death metal at karaoke bars.  LOL, of course I lie, but red pandas are so infrequently seen in media that it's fun to pretend these guys are related to Aggretsuko.

Silliness aside, I also picked up these non-Calico Critters, the ever-popular Miffy and her doggie friend Snuffy Sitter.  They're not fuzzy or anything like that, but they're the perfect size to serve as playmates for Rose and Rowena.

And my intention was to leave it at that...but oh, is Epoch a tricky company!  In addition to the separately packaged sets of twins and triplets, they've also now got...oh, my poor wallet!!!  They've got blind bags as well, and I'm a sucker for blind bags.  So I picked up the three remaining blind bags, plus a set of elephant twins.  The family name for the elephants is "Ellwoods."

The boy is Evan and the girl is unoriginally named Ellie.  As can be expected, they're polar opposites in the personality department...sort of.  Ellie is quiet and affectionate, while Evan is "a little ball of energy," as the website puts it.

The Ellwoods twins are cute, no doubt about that.  My father was an elephant lover, and he would have assuredly loved these.  But let's get a look at the blind bags now.  As I said above, I have three of them.

Music theme!  I love it!  I just hope I don't end up with three of the same character, the way some Hairdorable enthusiasts have done!  There are eight different characters to collect, including another member of the Tuxedo family.  Oh, would it be fabulous to get him!

When I palpated the bag I felt something hard and flat, and I assumed that these critters and their accessories came in tiny boxes.  Not so!  They're sheathed in cardboard and foam instead.

I neglected to photograph this next bit, but when I turned the cardboard sheath on it's side I could see through the foam a bit.  Not much, but just enough to see that the baby inside was light yellow-brown.  I knew then that I had either gotten Milo, Shiloh, or Jason.  And...

It's Milo, from the Toy Poodle family.  Milo's choice of instruments is rather unfortunate; according to Gary Larson the accordion is the instrument played by the denizens of hell, analogous to the harps stereotypically played by residents of heaven.  Anyway, Milo is appropriately fuzzy like the other Calico Critters, and he is clad in the same soft yellow romper that Angelica is wearing.

Despite his tiny size Milo is jointed at the shoulders, hips, and neck, and he has no trouble holding his accordion.

As much as some may dislike accordions, this one is well painted, complete with little keys and a molded treble clef on one end.  And who knows, maybe Milo can make an accordion rock out, like Aerosmith once did!

Right then, moving on.  I did remember to photograph the next blind bag before fully unwrapping it.  I can faintly see brown again, but it's a different shade of brown.

Probably Luke Hazelnut, a little chipmunk.  Everyone knows that chipmunks can be quite musical.  And indeed, it's little Luke, complete with a super-adorable tambourine. 

It's hard to tell from my pictures, but Luke is not wearing yellow like Angelica and Milo are.  His romper is lime green.  The tambourine has a hole in the back of it, so Luke can hold it easy-peasy.

So cute!  Okay, last bag.  No duplicates yet, fortunate am I, but is my luck about to run out?  I see light brown in there...

...but I also see a blue diaper and more importantly, a big drum with rabbit ears.

It's Henry, from the Sweetpea Rabbit family.  Aren't he and his drum to die for?

I had been trying to avoid the rabbits since there's a lot of them in Calico Critter Land (or Sylvania, for anyone outside of the U.S.).  For example, the Hopscotch family consists of the basic four-member family, a set of baby twins, a set of GRANDPARENTS, and another baby in the blind bag band series.  The Hopscotch family is the biggest one in the series, as far as I know, which is rather fitting for rabbits but also a pain in the neck for completionists like myself.  Luckily for me the Sweetpea family is smaller, consisting only of baby Henry and the four-member starter family.  Henry won't be the only one needing a family, though!  Here's what my Calico Critter nursery looks like now!

Bigger and a lot more noisy with those musical instruments in tow!  If I do choose to complete the families (and I'm not going to lie, I probably will) then I'll be looking for the Sweetpeas, the Ellwoodses, the Toy Poodles, and the Hazelnuts.  I saw the Hazelnut family when I picked up these babies, so that'll be an easy family to reunite, but the rest will probably have to come from the internet like Red Panda family did.  In the meantime Miffy has offered to care for Henry on the grounds that they are both rabbits...

...and Evan Ellwoods has made quick friends with Sniffy Sitter due to their penchant for going on all fours.

As for the others, well...y'all remember that old saying about how it takes a village to raise a child?  I think that will be the case here.  As odd as my Calico crew may look, no one will be alone.

This really is a fun set of toys to collect.  I love the selection of animals available, and the colors, and the fact that everyone is fuzzy!!!  Well, everyone but Miffy and Snuffy, that is.  Unfortunately they also can trigger a nasty case of the galloping greedy gimmies, not good when someone is trying to build back a nest egg after a few surprise vet visits and automobile repairs!  I'll just be patient and see what might go on sale after Christmas.

For a nice history on the Calico Critters, please click here.  For a look at the Sylvanian Families, as these toys are known abroad, click here.  My figures all have different names and/or personalities under the Sylvanian Families name, which I find interesting.  Also interesting is the Corgi family, once available from the United Kingdom's website.  Given Queen Elizabeth's fondness for corgis, I'm not at all surprised to see a family like this.  Indeed, Mama Corgi's name is Queenie, and the other members of the family have equally noble-sounding names.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987