Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I should admit that I didn't buy this item as a toy but rather as the basis for a Halloween costume. I intended to wear the head as a mask and attach the other parts of the body to myself as a makeshift giraffe costume. I'm about 6'3" and can say that it worked out quite nicely. What I found from dismantling it, though, may be useful to those buying it as a toy. I cut it up along the stitches which happened to be like one would dress the cape of an animal. It was stuffed tightly and the stitches took some work in most places since they weren't overly exposed and blended well. I imagine it would be hard to pull any strings out accidentally. More than that, the 'fur' was clean and even rustling it around didn't leave much if any mess behind. The outfit got tugged on quite a bit over the night, too, the places I didn't unstitch on purpose stayed together, and the aesthetic elements such as the mane and the face took a beating without a problem. Internally the workmanship was just as thoughtful. The whole thing stands up because of a wire frame that extends up through the head, down into each limb and reinforced in the back. It took an incredible effort pulling the wire out of the legs as they seemed to be either sewn inside or bunched up to prevent the wire frame from moving and/or the legs becoming accidentally torn off. I didn't try sitting on the frame when it was all together (I weigh about 175 lbs) but suspect it would have held up rather well, which bodes well for the load of a toddler or child who'd want to jump on. Also, the wire is wrapped in plastic and doubled up in each part (neck, limbs) so that there are no ends poking out where the wire extends. If in some fluke occurrence a part of the wire did come exposed, it's not going to easily injure anyone. The part where it's reinforced on the back does have some bolting that's a bit sharper, but one would have to get through almost a foot of stuffing from the belly to ever land on it in the wrong way. I'm a sucker for stuffed animals, and while this one will never be the same even if I did try to put it back together, I can say that if I ever have kids and come across this toy or a kind with similar quality I'd add it to their room in a second.