build-a-bear collection

soufie time!
Souffle, a 2005 Build-a-Bear Vanilla Fudge Bunny, with her face close to the camera and somewhat distorted

souffle, or スフレ, was the first build-a-bear (bab) i got as an adult. i've always loved collecting plushies, but no bab really grabbed my attention until i saw the discontinued "vanilla fudge bunny", or vfb for short.
according to the build-a-bear furry friends hall of fame, the vfb was released in february 2005. the build a bear wiki reports that it was available in the us, canada, and japan. an old japanese advertisement also states that the vfb was so popular it was re-released in december, i assume in the same year it came out. there's also a different "australian" or v2 vfb that was released in a bunch more countries, but that was several years later.
A card of info about the vanilla fudge bunny by Build-a-bear. It states the bunny released in February 2005 and is now retired A promotional picture for Build-a-Bear's vanilla fudge bunny
i first learned of the vfb in late september 2023 and i was INSTANTLY obsessed. i think the beauty of the vanilla fudge bunny is the subtle details in the design: the multicolor brown fur, the toe beans, the large ears with fur that sticks up at the top, and little extra fluff on the bridge of the nose are all so adorable. they all have different faces and fur patterns, too. there's a real specialness to the vfb, and i just fell in love with it--that vintage bab charm is hard to beat.
at the time, there were only a few vfbs listed on mercari (for considerably less than they are today). one caught my eye, though, and i ended up impulsively ordering her just a few hours later despite there only being one photo in the listing:
A close-up picture of Souffle. Her fur is rumpled and she's wearing a jumpsuit with Diva written across the chest in pink letters
i love the diva jumpsuit. here's her when she finally came:
Souffle sitting against a wall wearing a silver jumpsuit with pink trim
i was so nervous to open up her back seam because it was my first time, but everything ended up okay! at that time, she was already 18 years old, so she definitely needed a bath and i wanted to wash her stuffing (neither were dirty, but the stuffing definitely smelled like it was almost two decades old). she still had her factory thread. she got one heck of a soak and i spent hours brushing her because she was a bit matted--understandable with her age. she was also stuffed really firm (which made her too chubby for some outfits!) so she ended up a little smaller than before. here's her heart, broken soundbox, and original tag, as well as deflated spa day souf:
A Build-a-Bear heart, old soundbox, and the scrap of a tag Souffle lying on a beach towel without any stuffing. She is deflated and wet
i eventually named her souffle after the japanese souffle pancake because she's chubby and cute just like one of those (hence why she also has a japanese version of her name). i also like to call her souf or soufie!

i can't believe i got her so long ago already. she's such a special plushie to me and i've really bonded so much with her--she's taught me a lot! who knows if i ever would have been brave enough to start modding other babs, buying more secondhand plushies, or even start my sewing journey if i hadn't taken that first leap to open up her back? nowadays, she enjoys a comfy perch atop the shelf next to my computer, joined by several other animal friends. here are some of my favorite pics of her:
Souffle sitting against a brown bag and wearing a pink dress. Her fur is nicely brushed and there are pink bows on her ears. Souffle in front of a computer screen with a small, cartoon-style drawing of Souffle on the monitor Souffle peeking out of a pink paper bag with ribbon handles. There are pink bows on her ears

image credits:
build-a-bear wiki

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