My family recently went on a trip to DisneyWorld.  While we were there, we did some souvenir shopping.  One of the things that we found was a Lotso Plush.  I hadn’t intended to buy a Lotso, but he caught my eye when we were at Hollywood Studios.  There was a little open-air shop full of Toy Story products.  They had two sizes of Lotso plushes.  The smaller one was $12.95, and I was surprised to see that the larger one was only $19.95.  It was at least twice as big as the small one, if not three times as big!  The larger Lotso went home with us!

For those of you who are not familiar with this Disney character, Lotso appears in Toy Story 3.  He’s actually the villain of the piece, and he does some things that are pretty irredeemable.  But he gets his comeuppance in the end, so I suppose it was okay for him to come home with us.

This Lotso is about 14 inches tall from his head to his feet.  He’s been shaped in such a way that he can sit down quite naturally, and that’s how we keep him most of the time.  This makes him easy to store on a bed, or if he is moved to a shelf.  He even looks nice sitting on the ground instead of lying helplessly on his back! 

Lotso is a deep red color.  It’s almost a purple, but not quite.  Lotso has a grey muzzle and belly, as well as grey on the pads of his hands/feet.  He’s got a wry smile on his face, and one eyebrow is raised, while the other one is lowered.  It’s hard to see his eyes behind his bushy eyebrows, but they are a vivid amber color.  My mother-in-law has not seen Toy Story 3, so she is not familiar with Lotso.  She asked us if we had gotten a defective Lotso because his one eyebrow is completely covering his eye!  We’ll have to sit her down and show her the movie as soon as possible! 

The best thing about Lotso is that he smells like strawberries.  This is true to the movie; in that world, Lotso was a popular toy in the 1980s (probably similar to Teddy Ruxpin) that smelled like strawberries.  The strawberry smell is not noticeable unless you are up close.  It does become a little distracting after awhile, but I think this is a fun and whimsical touch.  It’s kind of hard to take a disgruntled and bitter bear seriously when he smells like strawberries! 

As I mentioned, my family got our Lotso bear at Disney World.  If you’re not going to be in Orlando any time soon, it looks like the Disney Store sells a Lotso who looks just like this one.  They describe it as a 12 inch Lotso, but indicate that that is the seated height.  By my measurements, this appears to be the same Lotso, so it’s nice to know that there are options outside of going to the park.  

I would highly recommend this Lotso plush, but not everyone is going to like Lotso.  I remember when the movie came out, we asked my oldest daughter (then 3) if she wanted a Lotso, and she was vehemently against that “bad bear”.  She is no longer afraid of Lotso, and her baby sisters (just about three) don’t seem to have the same reaction, so Lotso is a welcome addition in my home.  If you are looking for a Lotso plush, this one is reasonable priced, soft, and smells like strawberries!  How can you go wrong?   

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 20