I freely admit to having an above-average fondness for stuffed animals, at least among 39 year-old men, and I even have some rather unconventional examples. That said, I do have some limits.

To give you one example, a few weeks ago, my friend Paul posted a link to Facebook about the axolotl, an endangered salamander native to the lakes surrounding Mexico City. Partly inspired by this, I bought a mini squishable axolotl from Squishable.com, because while the axolotl is a strange and off-putting beast, it is also rather cute in its own proud way. See if you can spot which is which:

I also have a squishable Cthulhu. Don’t try to understand why—it would only drive you mad.

(I’m adding some polite space here because the next picture might be jarring otherwise.)

Speaking of strange and off-putting beasts, this is a giant isopod, basically an oversized doodlebug that lives at the bottom of the ocean:

It is not the sort of thing one might expect to see as a stuffed animal, unless it received some sort of Disney treatment to make it look more like Sebastian the Crab than something that wants to slurp your soul out through your eye sockets. A company in Japan seems to disagree, however, since it is selling a plush giant isopod that is remarkably true to life (h/t Paul, again). Except, you know, cuddly:

By TST Advance, Inc., via boingboing.net

By TST Advance, Inc., via boingboing.net

BoingBoing describes the product:

There’s nothing quite so cuddly as a giant isopod plush toy. It has been encutified to make it even more adorable than the real-life version, with big, round, loving eyes. [Ed. note: compare these to the “large, highly reflective compound eyes” in the real-life photo above.] As the product description notes, these are “passionately loved” by some in Japan and are regarded as “mysterious and cute” — one in Toba Aquarium has (allegedly) eaten no food for over 4 years.

Okay, I’ll admit it. There’s something oddly cute about the thing in plush form. It’s about as well-armored as the pangolin, but has fewer recognizable facial features.

They are available on Amazon.com for the low, low price of……$115.25 each. Plus $9.95 shipping and handling. Hmmm, too rich for my blood, but if you have a mini squishable axolotl that needs a pal…

Photo credits: th1098 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons; photo by author; Friend of User:Borgx (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ROACH.JPG) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons; TST Advance, Inc., via boingboing.net.