HKG Collection

Are these cuties worth the hype?

Yes – definitely, but I’ll get to that in this post.

Hi everyone!

Do you know what my least favorite part of Halloween is? That it’s only technically celebrated for one day, and it happens to be the last day of the month before everyone starts blasting Mariah’s All I Want for Christmas Is You.

On Halloween, I wore my flashing cat ears (from this post here) to my local supermarket and Starbucks, and no one blinked an eye. When I wore them again on November 2nd, I got crazy person looks – it’s just cat ears, guys! They won’t hurt you – I promise!

Well, way before this Halloween madness, I was on the hunt for new Hello Kitty plushies, and if you’ve been in the Sanrio/Hello Kitty collectors’ world, then you know that it’s hard to find good quality, fair priced, and innovative plushies. That’s especially the case if you’re on the Northeast Coast of the United States, like me. The farther away you are from California and Florida, the less likely you are to find any Hello Kitty merch out in the open.

So, what do you do? You start looking online – thank goodness for the Internet! Except, you can’t always trust the Internet, especially when Temu’s out to get you with some convincingly authentic-looking Cinnamoroll plushies for only $11 (see for yourself, but I personally would not buy from Temu). Dude, a similar plush would typically cost at least $25-$45 on Sanrio and other reputable sellers, so what’s the catch?

But here’s a reputable seller I gave a chance to recently, and that’s Kidrobot!

I actually came across my first Kidrobot plushie while browsing the gift shop at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History one chilly October morning well over a year ago. It was this little lady right here:

And there were a bunch of them just stacked on top of each other in a random metal basket next to some books about dinosaurs. The best part is that I got her on sale for $30 bucks at the museum gift shop when online she retails for $36.99 – oh, and she’s still in stock, if you’re interested!

Of course, I took that chance and nabbed her right then and there, and when I returned to the museum a little over two weeks later, they were completely sold out – it’s like she was never there.

Naturally, I was curious as to where she came from, and as the third picture above clearly shows, her tag indicates she’s from Kidrobot.

Say whaaa?

Never heard of them until then, and boy am I glad I heard of them there because every single time I encountered one of their Hello Kitty plushies in a brick & mortar store (before I started to trust online shopping more), I would get them – literally, I dropped over $200 once on 4 Hello Kitty plushies from Kidrobot that I found at a random store in the mall. No regrets, and they happily adorn my house.

I’m not really sure what prompted me to look on Kidrobot’s website in September, but I looked, and well, I bought three plushies, but for the purposes of this post, I’m only going to focus on the two Halloween-themed ones.

These two girlies are chilling in my room in one of my plushie cases. But despite having owned Kidrobot plushies before, I wasn’t sure about purchasing them from the online store…

You see, I saw more than a handful of posts on Reddit about Kidrobot orders not being fulfilled, quality issues, awful customer service, and less than reassuring Trustpilot (1.4/5 stars – 46 reviews) and BBB reviews (they have an F grade and no answered complaints) – ouch!

It looked like most of the issues people were facing were on preorder items, and these girlies did not have that label, so I took the plunge, said a prayer, and hoped my CC info would still be intact in a month.

Well, here I am with my plushies and credit score still intact, so I survived that bit…

Onto the review…

Hello Kitty 13″ Halloween Plush – Candy Corn

Overall Cuddliness Rating: 3/5

She’s certainly huggable – in fact, she’s on my lap right now as I write this post. The costume itself is removable and creates a hollow space around her, meaning that when you hug her, you can feel the air being squeezed out from out of her costume. Because the costume is not stitched onto her, she can be a bit awkward to grab and hold. She’s definitely more of a display plushie instead of a cuddle or playtime buddy, which translates to that she’s more for collectors and decorators than for kids to play with. Plus, the tag clearly says, “This is not a toy” and recommends it for ages 8 and up.

Appearance, Materials, & Construction: 4/5

Adorable features: I love her costume so much! The main reason I got her candy corn form instead of her pumpkin form is because I love playing in the Candy Corn costume on Costume Quest (it’s an underrated Halloween game!). Plus, candy corn is one of my favorite Halloween candies, and yes, I am aware that most of America hates this candy.

Best Buddy: If you decide to store her in a closet or bookcase, make sure you have enough space. Those 13″ do not lie at all. Otherwise, displaying her in the passenger or backseat of your car, on your sofa, or on your bed will be just fine.

Fabric, stitching, & quality: Colors are vibrant, and the costume material is a soft, fine fur-like texture, very similar to that of Squishmallows, but sturdier. The costume’s shape is a little awkward since it’s not form fitting or stitched to fit the character itself. As a result, you may have to adjust the costume to get it to look upright and straight like in the pictures online. The stitching and details are amazing – this plush is made to last. She is not a soft plush. In fact, none of the Kidrobot Hello Kitty plushies I own are a soft, moldable plush material. This girl is sturdy and bulky and has tiny bit of weight to her. Don’t try to squeeze her into a luggage because her insides are full of firm fluff and stuff.

Unique characteristics: I’ve never seen a Candy Corn Hello Kitty plush, so that’s a first for me. Secondly, the costume is removable, so if you get your plush and aren’t satisfied with the overall look of the costume, you can always remove it. As you can see in the pictures below, the back has a zipper to create a large opening that will allow you to pull her head through.

She’s arguably cuter without the candy corn costume, and you could probably buy some Build-a-Bear clothes for her to wear instead of the costume.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Final thoughts: I’m so glad I got her – she’s my Costume Quest and Halloween movie and show marathon companion. Costume is a little fuzzy to work with but nothing bothersome, and it does not take away from the fun holiday theme of Halloween. She’s cute and built to last – a true collector’s item, and I can’t complain.

Where to buy:

• Kidrobot – retails for $35 – it’s not a pre-order item, still in stock, and for me, shipping was quick and reliable. I had no issues purchasing online or receiving my product.
• Some Showcase brick & mortar stores have her in stock – be on the lookout!
• Many small businesses are reselling or authorized sellers – you can browse on Amazon right here, and you might even find a deal!

And that’s all I have! Stay on the lookout for Part 2, where I’ll be reviewing the Bandit plush that sold out on pretty much every Hello Kitty plushie website except the parent one, aka on Kidrobot.

Thanks for reading, and happy (belated) Halloween! Stay spooky everyone!

-L