(Originally commissioned and posted for the FB group Jellycat Fans & Collectors )
I wanted to highlight some of the differences in Jellycats. Even though they may have the same or similar names and designs, Jellycat changes the colours and patterns and it pops up as a new release or redesign.
I wanted to highlight two different styles of Bashful animals here.
The first are 3 different Bashful Tigers. I did not include the latest incarnation that was introduced in the Main Collection in 2021.
All of these are an iteration of a tiger, however they are all a little different. The 2011 version is a little lighter orange than the other two with the white muzzle and tufts on the face and short tail. The 2015 version has a smaller white muzzle, longer tail with a white tip and white ears. The Tiger Cub lacks all of the fluff and has a bigger white muzzle like the 2011, with no other white and a shot tail. Depending on when you bought a tiger, you may have gotten any of these and been confused as to why your tiger didn’t match with the rest.
The second example is Bashful Hippo. I did not include the newest iteration (Main Addition 2021) of this one either for these purposes. This design hasn’t changed physically, but the colour has changed throughout the years. This is an example of four different shades that Jellycat has released throughout the years. The Lilac is a North American exclusive colour.
While the changes may be subtle, like the change of fabric in the ear of Bashful Lamb, or take on completely different colouring, the designs do vary.
The newer bashful animals are plumper than the older ones and the heads are bigger. The fabric on some is a little shorter and the feel, in my opinion is a bit less soft and more synthetic feeling. They also seem to be less well made than the older ones.
As to pricing:
The design, length of time it was available, retire date, region of sale and even the store it came from can factor in to price and value. As things go, the older Jellycats are and the better condition they are in means they will sell for more money. This factors in particularly when a design becomes popular after being retired. Fergus Frog is a good example of this. Fergus was released for one year and then retired. The supply is lower than the demand, thus affecting price.
Like Limited Edition releases that are a planned short term, small batch product, items that get released for a short time and retired have the same issues with supply/demand. That doesn’t make them “limited edition” in the sense that they aren’t tagged that way, but it does make them hard to find.* Jellycat hasn’t done anything that was tagged limited/special edition since the bunnies they released in the 2010s.
Pricing is also highly subjective. If one person is able to sell a plush for 200 more than the last person was able to sell it, and it is the only one people have seen for sale in the last months, they’ll probably go off of that pricing the next time someone tries to sell one. Checking recently sold prices can give you a range for what it has sold for and from that you can determine a median price to use to sell.
Interest in an item can also drive up pricing. When a bunch of people post they are interested in an ISO, the price can go up as it becomes more sought after. If you haven’t been looking at Smudge Bunnies recently, you can see what I mean by searching those. Perceived scarcity may also factor into people searching for an item before it sells out, in case it sells out because it could become popular.
This is a short explanation of some of the issues around pricing. If people are interested, more can be posted.
*Often times, sellers will post “Limited Edition” on items that are just released, hard to get a hold of, or a regional exclusive. They should be more accurately titled “X Exclusive”, I.e. UK exclusive or AUS Exclusive, but usually are not.
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I hope this breaks down different designs changes and gives some understanding as to why pricing is so high. If there is more interest in this kind of information, I’ll make another post about it.
