We are the most intriguing biggest little Stuffed Animal shop in California
We also feature Decorative House and Garden Flags for the home
plus amazing Three-dimensional Greeting Cards!
Store Hours:
Monday, Wednesday through Saturday: 10:30 AM - 6 PM
Sunday: 11 AM -5 PM
CLOSED on Tuesdays
1410 Industrial Park Ave. at the Tri-City Shopping Center in Redlands, CA, 92374
(email:startulipstuffies@earthlink.net)
Extremely easy access from Interstate 10 in Redlands between San Bernardino and Palm Springs!
Find us NOW at our NEW HOME, at 1410 Industrial Park Avenue in the Tri-City Center
Open 6 days a week!
Friends from Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties and beyond: Do you pass "routinely" through Redlands on your travels?
Make Us a “regular” stop!
Today is Sunday, January 24, 2021
We are OPEN until 5 PM!
As of January 1, we will be maintaining Winter Hours until further notice, with an occasional extra day off when the wildflowers start to bloom in the desert: Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays, OPEN 10:30 AM - 6 PM, Sundays OPEN 11 AM - 5 PM and CLOSED on Tuesdays.
OK--Valentine's Day is just THREE WEEKS away--and we have THREE bribes, uh, "incentives" to encourage you to SHOP LOCAL with us for your Valentine and everyday gift and decorative flag needs! Not only do we have a Valentine Gift-with-Purchase Customer Reward you can earn with a total purchase of $65 or more (that's BEFORE we deduct any discount!), but you can SAVE MONEY with our current (or any previous) DISCOUNT COUPON and qualify to WIN FREE Valentine SWAG with ANY (no minimum for this opportunity!) purchase as often as once a day per person until we choose our winner in February! What are you waiting for? Come pay us a visit now that we are COMPLETELY RESTOCKED for 2021!
Valentine's Day "Stuff", INCLUDING NEW Valentine Teddy Bears we recently unpacked from those boxes from First and Main are up in our seasonal display area! The Bears have spilled over into our regular Anytime Teddy Bear section which also received a BUNCH of First and Main's everyday Teddy Bears, so BOTH sets of shelves are about bursting with choices right now!
Not only do we have a full collection of Valentine's Day PopUp Greeting Cards in store and on display for you now, but we have refurbished the entire selection of Everyday Cards from this popular supplier of unique 3-D cards! We have also added to our Swing Card collection as we have chased away the Christmas designs and replaced them with a fresh supply of Anytime Swing Cards!
Our Flag Wall is full of BOTH Valentine and Saint Patrick's Day House and/or Garden Decorative Flags! We may be stuck more or less at home, but nothing says we can't make our houses at least festive! Why not brighten your neighborhood--and your neighbors' spirits--by displaying an attractive seasonal flag?
And HERE are our Valentine Gifts-with-Purchase Customer Reward packages!
Aren't those little "Minkee Monkeys" freaking CUTE?? They seemed the perfect thing to put into a pretty (and perfectly functional) heart-decorated ceramic Mug along with a Valentine Gnome and an Acrylic Crystal Heart Ornament!
We're starting the New Year our right with a fresh DISCOUNT COUPON (good on ALL regularly priced merchandise with only a few exceptions) for 2021 that will soon be available in the January issue of the Redlands Coupons Monthly publishing in another week or so! We will have a stack of them in our shop in case you don't receive them in your mail. REMINDER: You can use any of our previous coupons that may be floating around in a drawer, your purse or wallet, because they NEVER expire!
Just in case you happen NOT to be Bobby D. who won our Christmas Gift Basket, you can still qualify to WIN FREE SWAG from us! We are taking qualifying entries for our Valentine 2021 Customer Appreciation Gift Basket Drawing starting...NOW!
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Our Flag Wall is FULLY STOCKED with plenty of cool choices of House and/or Garden Decorative Flags for BOTH Valentine's Day AND Saint Patrick's Day!!
Ooh! Ooh! LOOK at the pretty Valentine's Day Acrylic Crystal Ornaments just in from Ganz!!
LOOK how crowded our Valentine's Day display is with "Stuff"!
We got so many new Valentine Teddy Bears from First and Main last week that they spilled over into our our Everyday Teddy Bear display--that we had just "stuffed" full with a bunch of Anytime Teddy Bears, also just in from First and Main! Plenty of choices in the Teddy Bear department at this time!
This little charmer is First and Main's Valentine (10") "Oscar" and he is here in all of his plush adorableness to ask someone special to be yours! How could anyone resist a face like that?
This marshmallow-y pillow of a Teddy Bear is First and Main's Valentine version of their eminently huggable "Buddy Bears"! Unlike his everyday cousins, this design sports a bouquet of ribbon roses tied up with lacy silver ribbon! "Presentation" (such chubby cheeks--and endearing smile!) is EVERYTHING!
You can almost tell from this image how incredibly fluffy-soft these two completely endearing Valentine "Gus" Teddy Bears from First and Main are! We loved them so much with their red bows and pretty presentation velvet rosebuds, we had to have them in TWO sizes, BOTH the smaller 10" AND the Big Guy at 15" for a REALLY substantial hug! Don't they have the cutest faces with such bright golden eyes and arched-eyebrow details--and the sweetest smiles?
Oh--and BOTH sizes of Valentine Gus come in WHITE!
Meet the 15" (seated, so measured butt to tips of ears) version of "Tender Teddy" from First and Main! He can be found all year long among their collection of Everyday Bears, but seems especially appropriate for Valentine's Day since he always sports an appliqued Heart on his chest--and he's always ready to provide a soft and "tender" Bear Hug!
Here is another large Teddy Bear with plenty of fluffy fur to smoosh into hugs from First and Main! This is 15" "Dean" (measured, like Tender Teddy, from his sitting bottom to the tips of his ears), a member of First and Main's Anytime cast of Bears to remind someone that they are special, not only on Valentine's Day, but Every Day of the year!
Since First and Main actually had their incredibly popular (for good reason--how handsome and endearing is this guy--his swirly-curly fur reminds us of that presently growing in on our maturing [sort of] Aussie Shepherd puppy, Gilead !) 15" seated "Regis" in stock (probably only for a millisecond of so...) while we were ordering Valentine Teddy Bears we nabbed ourselves a couple! Equally huggable for Valentine's Day or Anytime, if you think you "need" a "Regis" for yourself or Someone Special, don't wait for him to disappear from our shelves, too!
We just got a fresh batch of Valentine's Day 3-D Pop-Up Greeting Cards!
We think this year's selection is exceptional!
Wouldn't someone you know LOVE to receive one of these?
And we did not only receive Valentine's Day PopUp Greeting Cards--our entire selection of everyday PopUp Greeting Cards has also been refilled and updated!
Now that ALL of those boxes full of plush that arrived at year's end are unpacked, WHERE do we even begin to show you images of what they contained? By default because they each came in a box of their own, we started to show some (BIG) Sea Life from the newly arrived Fiesta shipment while we were waiting for the rest. Now it seems like a good approach to show you the newest "stuff" just added by habitat, since they are "related" even though they came from diverse suppliers, and where we can at least group some pieces, especially when we got more than one version of the "same" animal, for their "portraits". We will revisit our Ocean Habitat soon soon enough, but since we are looking directly across our counter at the South American Rain Forest Habitat and especially loving the little jewel-like New World Monkeys we just received from Hansa, we've arbitrarily decided to start there!
Not a lot of our vendors are currently producing a variety of realistic Monkeys from any habitat, so we of course turned to Hansa who makes things like these small, but exquisitely detailed (and, not surprisingly, not inexpensive) New World Monkeys! Starting at the top of the image and moving clockwise we have a classic Squirrel Monkey adjacent to a completely charming little Titi Monkey. On the lower right sits an adorably fluffy tiny Pigmy Marmoset and the collection is rounded out by another classic, a Capuchin Monkey, looking a bit like a world-weary little old man! We are so impressed with not only the artistry and craftsmanship inbued in these pieces by the Hansa artisans, but also the distinctive character obvious for each lovingly rendered species!
It has been awhile since we have had Tropical Frogs in our South American Rain Forest Habitat and we are happy to welcome back an old friend from Wild Republic, The Red-eyed tree Frog! This time we also added a Citronella Poison Dart Frog just for fun and because we could!
Everything Hansa produces is basically fabulous in quality, attention to detail and realism of portrayal of any creature they make, but they excel especially in their depiction of birds in plush! We simply had to add some of Hansa's beautiful Parrots to our South American Rain Forest Habitat, if for no other reason than for what colorful accents they provide! Note the hand-drawn feathers and facial details on these little works of artistic sculpture!
No South American Rain Forest Habitat would be complete without Sloths--and our collection of Sloths (we do have several) would not be complete without this guy from Hansa, who is arguably one of the best plush versions available! Good-sized, sitting at about 13" tall and executed in remarkable detail, in case that sweet expression on its face is not enough, his entire head can turn--and he's even huggable!
Our South American Rain Forest Habitat has been repopulated for 2021!
We are very pleased to have what is probably our favorite plush Rattlesnake back in stock after a too-long absence! We love the beautifully printed scales on this version from Fiesta and how it is posed coiled and ready to strike! And, yes, there are rattles in that tail!
We found this handsome Desert Tortoise in the Wild Republic Catalog! Isn't he a handsome addition to our Desert Habitat?
These two awesome Armadillos, one from Douglas (left) and an interestingly posed one from Wild Republic (right) just joined our Desert Habitat. Can you see why we like to get the "same" plush animal from different suppliers? We love how every designer has their own take on any given creature--and we especially love bringing you choices!
This exquisite plush "sculpture" of a North American Gray Fox from Hansa just joined our Desert Habitat (It could just as easily have "lived" in our northern hemisphere Forest Habitat, but that one is already jammed with Red Foxes, including a BUNCH of NEW ones, and this one can be found in desert environs...). We are completely blown away by the subtle variations in colors and textures of this duskily well-camouflaged predator, to say nothing of that suitably sly expression on its face!
Although sparsely populated in nature, our Desert Habitat is newly refilled with an array of creatures adapted to live in its harsh environment!
Starting on Africa today (it's a BIG Habitat, so this could take awhile!) with a couple of just sweet little Elephants, both from Aurora! The standing one, covered with silky "hair", is just stiff enough to remain upright, but the laying one is "floppy", smooshy-soft, with lush velvety fur!
What African Habitat would be complete without a Dromedary Camel, an animal so historically crucial to travel and trade across especially the northern part of this continent? In truth, we often do not have camels represented in this collection because not all that many acceptable (at least to us!) plush versions even exist! However, this is currently not the case since Douglas has finally designed and executed an especially nice Camel complete with the caravan referencing harness, posed kneeling, just waiting for a load to carry!
Here is another simply spectacular Fox from Hansa! This one happens to be a South African Bat-eared Fox, so it resides in our African Habitat. Those "bat-ears" are crucial for survival as this fox hunts for small prey below the surface of the ground which it detects by directing those ears to listen very carefully! We are so impressed with the craftsmanship employed to go from portraying that tail composed of lush fluffy plush to the finely trimmed detail of the muzzle and face (and everything in between!) of this exquisitely rendered creature!
All of our other Hedgehogs (and we just got in a good number of new ones!) are currently residing in our Northern Hemisphere Temperate Forest Habitat, as one would expect European Hedgehogs to be about! However, given that Hansa tells us that this small but precisely intense creature is an AFRICAN Pigmy Hedgehog, you will find him in that Habitat, along with the Bat-eared Fox and Dromedary Camel! Sporting a crest of fur vaguely reminding us of a carefully coiffed Mohawk hairstyle, the purposefulness of his expression could have us believe he is about to step up to the podium on those tiny little feet and expound authoritatively about some subject on which his well-versed expertise deserves to be paid attention!
This unabashedly lushly handsome 22" long (without the tail!) adult male Lion is NEW from Douglas. Matching the quality standards of everything else in the Douglas line of plush, including its elegant tactile appeal (it is every bit as soft as it looks!), we WISH this company would make more wild animals, especially when they would all be this nice! We will have to be content with loving their dogs, cats, horses, barnyard and fantasy creatures--and count our blessings when they do occasionally surprise us and drop something as lovely as this lion into their collection! Thankfully, we have an African habitat to accommodate him!
Who, other than Hansa, would expend such loving craftsmanship to portray a creature as gnarly as this remarkably accurately rendered Vulture? Obviously they believe--and we agree--that every creature holds an place of honor within Nature and deserves to be so respectfully presented. We have to admit that this is one of our favorite Hansa pieces--and we are very pleased to welcome it back to our African Habitat, a place decidedly less than complete without it!
This adorable little squirrel-sized primate just joining our African Habitat from Hansa is known as a Bush Baby, partly due to its diminutive size, but also for its huge eyes and rather plaintive cries, like those of a small child. It is rendered in the same kind of exquisite detail as larger pieces made by the artisans at Hansa, edging into the realm of sculpture as much as "toy"--but one you can hold in your hand and even stroke or cuddle its soft "fur"!
Three adorable new Hippos just joined our African Habitat! There's a big soft, huggy one from Fiesta, a cute, relaxed floppy version from Aurora and a realistically rendered one from Aurora's fancy Myoni collection! (We keep telling you we are all about choices...!)
Do we happen to have any Cheetahs in our African Habitat?
The disappointing answer to this fairly common question (about a creature that can be surprisingly uncommon to find in plush versions) at our shop was, up until the end of December, "Right now we have exactly zero Cheetahs"...
Obviously this situation has changed--for the waaay better!
In fact, one reason we temporarily "forgot" to order Tigers was because we were SO excited about all the new Cheetahs we were finding that we had to add to this popular area! If you love Cheetahs you simply must check out all of these awesome plush renditions just added to our African Habitat!
Now that we've restocked all our favorites plus added the recently described "newbies" (note the special little area just for Flamingos!) our African Habitat is back to an "acceptable" level of choices! Come check it out!
Since we've shown you all the new and restocked "stuff" in our African Habitat, it's time to move over to our Asian Habitat right next door!
Before we get to inhabitants of the main Asian continent we want to draw your attention to the Asian Habitat shelves closest to our African area (just left of the Flamingos!) to find some interesting creatures from places like the Southeast Asian Islands and Madagascar! The latter is where to find Lemurs like this pair to draw to, a Red-ruffed and a Sifaka Lemur, both new to us. They will soon (we hope!) be joined by a returning Ring-tailed Lemur, currently on back-order from Wild Republic!
This adorable munchkin of a creature comes to us from Hansa (you could tell, right?) and is a Baby Tarsier! The adult version was out of stock when we ordered, but even this 6" tall incarnation has a head you can swivel! Rather than inhabiting the main Asian continent, species of Tarsiers are found on the Southeast Asian Islands of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Nocturnal primates in their own family, Tarsiers are the only entirely carnivorous group of living primates, dining mostly on insects and spiders with an occasional small bird, lizard or bat also included in their diets, although Tarsiers can in turn fall as prey to any of the latter three! Those big eyes that give Tarsiers an edge while hunting at night also contribute significantly to their extreme cuteness quotient...
There are a number of different species of diminutive Old World Monkeys found mostly in Southeast Asia, including portions of India and China within that region, peninsular areas of Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, and/or Sumatra and Borneo that are commonly called Leaf Monkeys. They are typically arboreal and earn their common appellation from the main component of their diets. We are pleased to welcome this little little 7" portrait from Hansa of a generic version of this too-cute-for-words primate back to our shelves!
It may be hard to wrap one's head around, but this large nocturnal tree-dwelling primate fills the ecological niche on the island of Madagascar that Woodpeckers fill almost everywhere else! The Aye-aye is a lemur that hunts using a method known as percussive foraging, first tapping on tree trunks or limbs to find grubs and then harvesting them by gnawing an access hole with its sharp teeth and extracting them with a specialized long finger to consume them! Like those of many rodents, the Aye-aye's teeth continue to grow indefinitely, so it needs to grind them down chewing through tree bark on its way to prey!
Asia is home of one of the most famous and fantastically beautiful birds in the world and we just added FOUR NEW plush versions to our Peacock collection, one each from Hansa, Douglas, Folkmanis and Aurora (that's not counting one from Wild Republic that was previously holding down the space alone and another fantasmagorical one soon to arrive from Ganz)! We are so impressed with how wonderfully each manufacturer has rendered its Peacock--and how different each one is from the other!
Was it insane to drive across the desert to Kingman Arizona and back in the dead of summer? Yes!
Was it worth it to meet this little guy? ABSOLUTELY!
Meet "Gilead" being held by Breeder Julie Vanderlinden of Shadow Mountain (now Long Valley) Aussies about a week before our visit (at about 4 weeks old) on July 29. His Dad is "Gideon" and we wanted to name him something at least as distinguished! The esoteric history associated with this name, per Wikipedia, includes the fact that Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Bible, and named for the region of Gilead, where it was produced. The expression has come to signify a universal cure in figurative speech. "Gilead" as a given name means roughly "everlasting joy (or happiness)" in Hebrew.
"Gilead" will likely quickly be shortened to "Gilly", which our favorite Reference Librarian (thanks Bonnie!) informs us is colloquial English for a carnation!
What do you think?
Gilead is GROWING! Here he is at about 6 weeks old!
And at 8 weeks!
And sitting in the water next to an unrelated grown-up (for scale!) at about 9 1/2 weeks!
He already LOVES water--hence new waterproof decking going into his kennel, to cover the raw, mud-forming caliche soil on the ground!
Here's Gilly settled into his palatial digs in his newly remodeled kennel at home--with elderly rescue-dog, Dusty, worrying over him in the background (it's GOOD to have company again!).
Gilly, coming from the Arizona desert, is completely certain that the "water" bowl on the ground in his kennel is for playing in, especially scraping all the water out (we are REALLY glad we put in that decking or he would most certainly be a mud-puppy both morning and evening)! Hence the narrow-mouthed, chin-high version on the fence in front of him that he actually drinks out of!
Ah--that HUGE crate at the Shop is not so bad, afterall--and Gilly's toes are MUCH safer here than under Kathy's desk chair! There's plenty of room (and food and toys!) in there and Gilly gets to come out for potty breaks (he's already about trained himself about these), brushing and anytime a customer would like to greet him for free hugs and puppy kisses. Help keep Gilly from getting bored from not having enough people to meet and welcome to the shop, his official day-job now!
Gilead got to spend our "day off" on Wednesday, October 21, testing a NEW TOY and learning to negotiate a LOT of exercise/exploration possibilities on his awesome tie-out run! No wonder he was sleepy on Thursday!
At about 5 months of age Silly Gilly's grown-up fur is beginning to replace his fuzzy puppy coat--and it's coming in all swirly-curly, at least on his back, so far! We LOVE those cute little ringlets of fur doing just what it "wants" to do--and becoming beautiful in the process!
And just like that (or so it seems!) Gilead graduated from his puppy harness to the next size up! We opted for the distinguished gray, matching his merle areas and harlequin spots, since he chewed through two of his pretty orange leashes and the replacement leash (25% heavier and featuring an extra, short handle for "control" in traffic--and while meeting guests) happens to be black.... (Note how much closer to the top of the crate his head is getting!)
We finally managed to have the camera and Gilly together at the same place and time on 1-3-2021!
At just over 6 months old, isn't he becoming a really handsome Dude? (And he's tall enough to chew on his doghouse roof!)
We received a very special shipment from Two-Group/Breeze Decor Flag Co. on Monday, June 29! It included some custom House and Garden Flags in a special design we created just for Redlands!
www.MusicChangingLives.organd follow them on Facebook at:
Since we had no idea how well this concept will be received or supported by the Redlands Community, we had runs of only one dozen each of these flags printed by our long-time, local to SoCal Flag supplier, Two-Group/Breeze Decor Flags. These are available in store for as long as they last, but Two-Group has our artwork and can print more with probably about a two-week wait. We will take prepaid orders for additional flags once we run out of the first printing. We should note that these are quality, double-side flags that read correctly on front or back. The cost for the House size is $35, including sales tax and for the Garden size, $20, also including sales tax, which we will pay.
Although we live in Yucaipa, we have always loved doing business here in Redlands because of how it does function as a community, probably due a lot to its own richly diverse history and culture, with members coming together to help each other when the going gets tough! We are honored to have the opportunity to participate in giving back a little!
HERE is the Design:
Uh-oh...
We just realized that we ordered so much "Stuff" for our Medical Area from both I Heart Guts AND Giant Microbes that we had to expand our display for this "interesting" Collection...
The I Heart Guts shipment arrived in June and plush Body Parts/Organs from this supplier found their way onto the shelves of our newly expanded Medical Area! They have now been surrounded by plush Cells, Organelles and Molecules in a shipment from Giant Microbes that was delivered a few days later!
Giant Microbes used to package a number of their cells and germs as mini pieces of three inside of a deep Petri Dish. They no longer do this, probably for the same reason sleeve after sleeve of Petri Dishes shipped to the research lab Kathy once worked at were returned for replacement--Petri Dishes are incredibly subject to fracturing with the slightest ding in the right spot, so losses probably made this kind of packaging, while adorable, a case of diminishing returns! That is certainly not to say we no longer can get, for example, plush Red Blood Cells. They simply are only available only as individual, larger (the "giant" in Giant Microbes!) pieces. As you can see, these are at least as cute, if not more so, as the mini versions! In order for you to better see them, we will be showcasing additional plush Cells that arrived in the most recent shipment from Giant Microbes and are now surrounding the I Heart Guts plush Body Parts in our Medical Display Area!
If you are going to make plush Red Blood Cells you pretty-much HAVE to make plush White Bloods Cells as well! No worries! Giant Microbes does just that! (Now in store in our Medical Area!)
And to be sure those Red Blood Cells can properly clot as needed, there must also be Blood Platelets, AKA thrombocytes) Not enough Platelets in the blood can result in bleeding that cannot be stopped, but too many can cause spurious clots that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
And, of course all of those different kinds of Blood Cells need some kind of medium to swim around in while being transported throughout the body to do their jobs. Enter Blood Plasma, a bit of a challenge to convey as an individual plush item. Giant Microbes' solution to the problem is to present Blood Plasma as a single "liquid" droplet, albeit a slightly fuzzy one (which we also think looks a little like a fried egg...), lacking nothing at all in terms of "personality"!
Meet a plush version of a Stem Cell! Stem Cells are undifferentiated cells, for example those found at the center of early mammalian embryos, that have the capacity to develop into almost any kind of specialized cell needed to function in various developing/adult tissues. Deciding what specialized cells stem cells ultimately become is a highly complex process depending on precise regulation mechanisms, but until that happens a Stem Cell has the capacity to develop in any direction. Note how this trait is suggested here by the rainbow coloration and neutral expression of the as yet undefined plush Stem Cell!
Our very favorite thing abut supplying our Medical Area is what a great marriage the plush Body Parts from I Heart Guts make with complimentary plush Cells from Giant Microbes!
Here is a perfect case in point: The plush Heart is from the former and the Heart Cell is from the latter. We love how anatomically correct I Heart Guts has made the Heart--and that the Heart Cell from Giant Microbes not only makes a faint heartbeat sound, but lights up in concert with it when pressed...!
Here's another great example of I Heart Guts providing the plush organ, in this case a highly detailed Section of Skin, including a hair follicle and its attendant hair, and Giant Microbes making the individual Skin Cell(s), although much more "giant" than the scale of the chunk of skin!
If we can have a plush Pancreas from I Heart Guts, it seems only fitting to also have plush Pancreatic Beta Cells from Giant Microbes! Since Beta Cells are the ones specialized to produce Insulin to manage blood sugar levels, Giant Microbes includes a plastic model of an Insulin (gigantic!) Molecule stashed away inside a special zippered pouch inside each Beta Cell!
Today's Medical Dynamic Duo is plush organ, the Stomach from I Heart Guts accompanied by an individual Stomach Cell from Giant Microbes!
It take a LOT of Muscle Cells to build a big strong Muscle. Luckily, Giant Microbes makes plush Muscle Cells and I Heart Guts has the "Muscle" to provide the plush organ they make up!
This plush organ from I Heart Guts says he is a "Liver, not a Fighter" (I Heart Guts can never resist printing a horrible pun on any given label of theirs...). The little plush Liver Cell from Giant Microbes looks like he is just waiting to get together with some like-minded associates to form this important organ!
This I Heart Guts plush organ represents a Kidney. The particular plush Kidney Cell that Giant Microbes decided to make is a Podocyte, a very specialized kind of cell that, with the help of very specific proteins, wraps itself around tiny knots of blood capillaries within the kidney to facilitate filtering of waste from the bloodstream, an amazingly complex process that allows two kidneys to clean 400 gallons of blood every day!
Her is a lovely plush Brain brought to you by I Heart Guts and surrounded by its supporting cast of a plush Brain Cell and Nerve Cell from Giant Microbes!
The huge Knee Joint on the left is one of the newest "organs" from I Heart Guts! As it happens, theirs is a healthy joint. Giant Microbes, who in addition to cells and molecules also specializes in germs and various maladies, chose to make their Knee Joint their "showpiece" for Arthritis!
Bone Cells make up our skeleton and are therefore found helping to hold our shapes, bend and maneuver, throughout our bodies.
However, sometimes things go amiss, usually not so much with bone itself as with how bones connect and interact with each other so we can move. Along with their Bone Cells, Giant Microbes offers two examples of these maladies represented in plush: Back Pain and issues leading to the requirement for Hip Replacement!
Not only does Giant Microbes make entire cells in plush, but they have even added some important cellular Organelles to their line-up!
According to Giant Microbes (we LOVE that they include information like this on all of their pieces), The "Golgi Apparatus" manufactures and packages proteins, lipids and other macromolecules produced by the cell. It assembles simple molecules into complex ones in conjunction with the Endoplasmic Reticulum..." in all eukaryotic cells, including those of both plants and animals, acting as the cells' factories.
Here is another organelle vital to eucaryotic cellular function and presented in plush by Giant Microbes! While the Golgi Apparatus is considered to be one of the main construction sites within a cell, the Mitochondria would be the energy producing centers! Biology students, this should be familiar; remember the Kreb's cycle, respiration and all those ATPs and ADPs? This is the organelle where all that happens! This is also the organelle whose own small amount of DNA, different from that in the nucleus, comes ONLY from your maternal parent, the "Eve" DNA, and thus can be used to trace maternal family lines.
Besides producing Cells and intracellular Organelles, Giant Microbes even makes plush versions of some very important Molecules on which life depends! Of primary importance in reproduction, growth, development and maintenance of living cells is, of course, DNA--and here we have a plush portion of a DNA Molecule, complete with its double-helix twisted "ladder" of coding base pairs!
Another extremely important molecule produced by our bodies is the Antibody, in the news a lot lately because researchers all over the world are trying to develop a vaccine that will effectively encourage our immune systems to create antibodies able to suppress infection by the COVID-19 virus! Each kind of Antibody is very specifically designed to capture and help put out of commission a very particular microbial invader such as COVID-19 , likely in the case of a virus by targeting an exposed protein on its external coat. Giant Microbes has even illustrated this "capture" of a target Antigen on one of the "arms" of their plush representation of an Antibody! Doesn't it look SO busted!
OK--Home-schoolers and Distance-learners, Giant Microbes (along with I Heart Guts) is here to help with those biology lessons! As we've shown, Giant Microbes makes a plethora of cellular Organelles and Molecules and here to put some of them in context is their plush version of a generic, unspecialized Animal Cell, with a handy-dandy reference card attached!
Although plant and animal cells share many internal organelles, their structures and modes of operation vary quite significantly. Here to illuminate the wonders found at the cellular level in plants is a huge plush Plant Cell, brought to you by Giant Microbes and also featuring a handy-dandy cheat-sheet, er-um, information tag, identifying its parts!
Back in stock from I Heart Guts: a plush set of Lungs, accompanied by a hang-tag with another famously bad pun!
Who else but I Heart Guts would endeavor such an "in depth" 3-D "study" in plush of a Colon? The pun on its hang-tag is even worse than the one for the plush Intestines above!
The perennial get-well gag-gift for anyone who has had to have one removed! I Heart Guts brings us this ginormous plush Appendix. If you "Feel it in your Gut" as the hang-tag suggests, unfortunately, it's probably time to be seeing an emergency room surgeon!
Having done detailed plush studies of both the Colon and Appendix separately, I Heart Guts combines them here in the "context" of the entire set of "Intestines" and points out on the hang-tag that you do, in fact, "Go with your Guts"!
Another hugely "popular" post-surgery get-well gift is this plush Gall Bladder from I Heart Guts! It is SO popular, in fact that we are often out of them and waiting for them back-ordered from the supplier! Back in stock...for now!
Among the silly things listed as fun information (besides the requisite pun on the front!) inside the hang tag for this plush Bladder from I Heart Guts is the fact that most bladders have the capacity to hold as much urine as the contents of a can and a half of soda...!
This combination organ rendered in plush by I Heart Guts is the Trachea (or "windpipe") through which we breath air to and from our lungs. Contained within it is the Larynx where our vocal chords reside; production of the verbal and musical sounds of our voices starts when passing air vibrates these in a controlled fashion which, augmented by our mouth muscles, lips and tongue, allows us to MAKE sounds!
Complete with the Hammer and Anvil (both are ossicles which transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the snail-shaped) Cochlea (that converts those vibrations into electrochemical signals sent on to the brain to be interpreted) and even the Semicircular Canals that help maintain balance, this plush Inner Ear from I Heart Guts helps to explain how we HEAR sounds!
Here's a plush set of organs from I Heart Guts that anyone with allergies will appreciate! Allergens like pollen and dust are one group of things, along with bacteria and other breathed-in invaders that are trapped by the Sinuses by encasing them in mucus for expulsion in snot, hopefully before they get to your throat and lungs, but making your head feel like a cotton-filled balloon in the meantime!
We have amazing organs in our throat and head to allow us to make and hear sounds and even catch unwanted things we may breathe in, but one of the most awesome organs of all is the Eyeball, here rendered in plush by I Heart Guts! Very detailed information on how the eyeball and brain accomplish this miracle is available on the hang-tag!
Our bodies are populated throughout with many different glands that help regulate various precisely controlled functions, usually by means of the production and distribution of specific Hormone molecules. The job of the Thyroid Gland is to regulate metabolism, setting how much energy to burn and influencing how energetic you feel. Sometimes the Thyroid fails to produce enough of its hormone to do this effectively, making you tired and weak. Fortunately, modern medicine can treat this problem with a carefully monitored dose of a synthetic version substituted for the necessary hormone, usually, however, required for life once begun.
Your Pineal (refers to its being vaguely shaped like a pine cone) Gland, a rice-grain sized organ buried inside of your brain, plays a significant part in the mediation of your waking days and sleeping nights as it is where the hormone, melatonin, that tells you when it is time to sleep, is produced. Sometimes called our "third eye" because in terms of biological evolution it can be interpreted as something of an atrophied photoreceptor, the Pineal Gland responds to information actually obtained by the retina about the state of light and darkness in the environment. Melatonin is made by the Pineal Gland when darkness is signaled. The Pineal Gland is also implicated in the regulation of bone metabolism and the functioning of another important gland, the Pituitary, including influencing sexual hormone production.
Meet The Thymus Gland, presented for your enjoyment in plush by I Heart Guts! Important to know in these times of contagion and confusion, the Thymus, seated right above your heart, is where those amazing T-cells that fight infection are made and mature to help your body defeat specific intruders!
Read just a portion of all the awesome information included on the multi-page hang-tag of the Pituitary Gland from I Heart Guts: "The teeny tiny pea-sized gland has a lot of big jobs. The Pituitary, which dangles from underneath your brain, watches over the body and works to keep everything running smoothly. The Pituitary releases hormones into the bloodstream that tell other organs and glands to do their jobs. These hormones help control growth, metabolism, sex hormones and blood pressure as well as maintain water levels in the body. That is one busy gland!"
Additional hang-tag Fun Fact: This so-called "Master Gland" actually takes orders from the Hypothalamus.
One Adrenal Gland is perched atop each Kidney in the body. These are the glands that produce Adrenaline, the famous "fight or flight" hormone that increases your heart rate and generally pumps up your strength to enable you to effectively do one or the other (there is a cute chart on the hang-tag detailing how and what body organs are affected by Adrenaline during this response). They've been very busy in the last few months producing another hormone, cortisol, also a stress hormone, in almost all, if not all of us! The Adrenal Gland is also in charge of producing sex hormones, so, all in all, a rather important organ!
We could never come to be were it not for the fluid produced by the walnut-sized Prostrate Gland in men to protect and nourish the sperm generated in their testicles. It is actually mainly the Seminal Vesicle Glands atop the Prostrate that makes most of what goes into semen, the medium wherein sperm cells swim.
Hang tag info for the plush Lymph Node from I Heart Guts:
"Sprinkled throughout the body, Lymph Nodes are filled with White Blood Cells which patrol the lymphatic system for bodily bad guys. When these cells identify harmful invaders, they drag them back to the Lymph Node to be destroyed...!"
Having these organs removed is every kid's nightmare! Tonsils were once believed to be not of serious usefulness and thus got taken out at the first sign of a sore throat located in them. Fortunately, modern medical practitioners recognize the value of Tonsils in fighting germs in our mouths and antibiotics can assist when it seems the tonsils are becoming overwhelmed by an given invader. Wishing to preserve the infection limiting potential of these organs, physicians now tend only to remove them when the tonsils become too compromised to provide that function. Whew!
We can hardly discuss organs of the mouth without mentioning Teeth! Here from I Heart guts is a big plush molar --in pearly white, of course! It even has its own "toothy" grin...!
The coup de grass of Teeth would HAVE to be a GOLD Tooth--and far be it from I Heart Guts to forego the opportunity to make one! One of our customers has already provided this stunner to her Dentist as a "Thank-you" (sort-of) gift!
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Sad news:
Our beautiful day on April 1, 2020 appreciating California's native plants flowering in our local deserts (far away from other people) ended sadly when we returned home to find our beloved Australian Shepherd Foxy expired as if asleep in her kennel. We are devastated because this came as a shock, especially as Foxy was always one of our healthiest dogs, and had our vet look into possible causes. It turns out the Foxy had a silent tumor, hard to detect with no symptoms to suggest its presence, on an artery at the base of her heart. It finally caused a rupture that bled into the pericardium of her heart. We consider it a blessing that she showed no signs of distress until her last few days and then slipped away peacefully after a long and happy life of being much loved. Eventually, we will replace the gaping holes in our heats with another fur baby, but for now our hearts are aching..Rest in peace, Foxy. We'll see you on the other side of that Rainbow Ridge....
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It is hard to believe that Star Tulip Stuffies, House of Fine Stuffed Animals has been open for over four years home again in Redlands, CA (we started here back in 2003 in the now-defunct old downtown Redlands Mall)!
We have lived and worked and been your neighbors in this area for more than 40 years! Star Tulip Stuffies was originally opened as a storefront in the Redlands Mall back in 2003. Since then a growing following of stuffed animal aficionados has managed to find, support and spread the word about us.
From the very beginning our intent has been to bring our customers the very best selection of the finest quality plush creatures we can find while keeping our prices as rational as we can.
We are all about choices; we like nothing better than to present several different companies’ version of the same animal because we have found that every designer will have a different take on that same critter. Thus, if you visit us, which we certainly hope to make you curious enough to do, you should not be surprised to find that, not only do we have an “unusual” creature, say a porcupine or an opossum, rendered in plush, but that we also will likely have four or five or even more styles from as many different manufacturers (with accompanying differences in sizes and prices!) of that individual kind of animal! This also means that while you will find respected and familiar names like Gund, Ganz, Douglas Cuddle Toy, Fiesta Toys, Aurora, Wild Republic, etc. on many of our products, we make a point of searching out quality companies less well known, especially in California, that you may only brush up against on a trip to the zoo or aquarium (we really love the educational kick provided by those extremely realistic representations!) or while traveling east of the Rocky Mountains (many retailers are simply unwilling to stand the cost of shipping some of these…)--or that are just outrageously esoteric (we have plush germs--in Petri dishes, no less--by GiantMicrobes and body parts--if I only had a brain--from I [Heart] Guts!
Our selection is so diverse (we are simply stuffed with “stuff”, but then “stuff” is what we do!) in order to keep track of everything we have resorted to arrangement by habitat! When you visit (by now you know you have to if you can…) you will eventually notice that our entire shop is suggestive of the interior and exterior of a gigantic fantastic playhouse or dollhouse. “Inside” live authentic Raggedy Ann and Andy, Sesame Street characters, etc. Also living the pampered “indoor” life are plush Cats and Teddy Bears “Outside” you will find our rather extensive collection of realistic Dog Breeds (this is a personal favorite category of ours, so if someone makes a decent version of a specific breed, we will try to have it for you!), Barnyard Animals, Horses, Frog and Turtle ponds, Forest critters, Desert animals, Birds, and creatures of Central and South America, Australia, Africa and Asia as well as an area devoted to Ocean life! There is even a section “inhabited” by the fantasmagorical creatures of the imagination including dragons, faeries, unicorns and the like!
About Our Name: The “Star Tulip” part of our name alludes to our other life as occasional botanists! “Star tulips” are members of a rather large genus, Calochortus, meaning “beautiful grass”, of native Californian lilies that includes species with enchanting common names like “butterfly” or “mariposa tulips” and “faerie lanterns”. The butterfly tulips have large goblet-shaped tulip-style flowers, often marked with spots and bobbing in the breeze above their cohabitating grasses like the insects they appear to mimic. The more diminutive faerie lanterns have closed flowers on slender overarched stems and could easily be imagined to light the nighttime activities of elfin woodland inhabitants. Our tiny namesakes open fully wide and close to the ground as if they were stars scattered across the forest floor! The alliteration of “Star Tulip” and “Stuffies” was just too tempting to pass up!
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