Background

Rocket USA’s popular Lubies plush line has grown substantially with the acquisition of the Major League Baseball license. The company is releasing plushies for each of the 30 MLB teams (sometimes more than one version per team).

For this review, we’re going to take a look at four of the first series (and – of course – they’re all popular teams): the Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers and Mets.

The Facts



MLB Lubies
Series: Lubies
Manufacturer: Rocket USA
Material: Plush
Dimensions: 5” round
Designs: Boston Red Sox (White and Navy); Chicago Cubs (Pin Stripes and Blue); Los Angeles Dodgers (White and Blue); New York Mets (Pin Stripes and Blue)

Tag

Each of the MLB Lubies includes an attached tag that features an illustration of the home ballpark on the front of it. Inside, the tag has the team’s logo on the left side and a “Did You Know?” fact on the right side.

Our Opinion

It only makes sense that a plush line that’s been touted as being “softball size” teams up with Major League Baseball for an officially licensed run. There are plans to release all 30 MLB teams through a number of releases. This first series including Lubies from 9 different teams, but we’ve split them into two reviews of 4 each (the Yankees Lubies are back-ordered).

All of the teams in this review all use bears as the base Lubies character. But if a team has an animal mascot, Rocket USA will release that team’s Lubies using that animal as the base character. For example…St. Louis will be a cardinal plush.

Being a huge baseball fan (yes…I subscribe to MLB Extra Innings to watch the Phillies), this is a line I’ve been anxiously awaiting for. It combines the soft, cuddly Lubies plushies you love with a great license.

While I would have loved to see each team’s mascot being the base character for the plush, I think using a “generic” teddy bear makes the most sense. (Using the mascots probably would have bumped up the price, due to licensing issues) But since the Cubs mascot is a bear…that one is perfect.

Obviously, these will be collected by baseball fans. If you really like the Lubies bear, but have no MLB affiliation, then you’ll probably want a polar bear or a brown bear. But if you’re a Mets fan (I’m sorry), then these would be a perfect addition to your team collection.

You can pick one up at the following:

Rocket USA: $12.95 ea.

MLB Lubies Series 1 Grades

Plush Quality: 9/10
    Stitching: 8/10
    Material: 9/10
Softness: 10/10
Packaging/Tag: 9/10
Cuteness: 9/10
Fun Factor: 9/10
Value: 9/10

Overall: 9.2/10

Red Sox: 9.1/10
Cubs: 9.2/10
Dodgers: 9.1/10
Mets: 9.0/10