Background
If you’ve been around the designer toy world for an extended amount of time, it’s probable that you’ve come across Eric 'Thunderpanda' Wirjanata’s character Lemi the Space Wanderer. He started out as a doodle, and then became a comic. From there, Lemi became a papertoy, then resin figure then now a plush toy.
The first edition of Lemi the Space Wanderer Plush are handmade by Slanted Toys - a small home industry in the suburb of Jakarta. But in the US, they are being distributed exclusively in the North America by Tenacious Toys.
The Facts
Lemi the Space Wanderer
Manufacturer: Slanted Toys
Artist: Eric 'Thunderpanda' Wirjanata
Material: Plush
Dimensions: 10” tall
Accessories: Includes a Lemi pin and fridge magnet (first 10)
Edition Size: 100 pieces (first edition)
Packaging
The Lemi plush is packaged inside of a matching canvas drawstring bag. The bag has a screen-printed drawing of the character on the front (and back) of it.
Our Opinion
It was several years back when I came across Eric Wirjanata’s Lemi the Space Wanderer as a papercraft toy. I’m not sure if there was ever a specific background story about the character. From my research – I couldn’t find one. But I always assumed Lemi was some sort of alien television. It has a screen, rabbit ears and some buttons underneath the screen. Of course, I could be way off.
Slanted Toys actually produced a few smaller runs of Lemi before this one. Run number one consisted of 12 pieces, while number two had only 2 Lemis. They were also handmade, but produced using a towel material. Batch number three is more like your standard mass-produced plush – a lot of embroidered details – but they’re handmade. Around some of the embroidered spots, there is leftover plastic. This gives those specific spots a scratchy feeling, but if you have patience, you can pull off some of the plastic.
The plush is fairly soft (I’d say Uglydoll softness, with a longer fur material). There are a number of seams, since the character has cylindrical legs, long ears and arms. I found one small spot under the arms where a little stuffing was creeping out.
I actually like that the Lemi plush is not perfectly symmetrical. If you look closely, you can see that the arms look a little different – one slightly curved and the other more angled. Also, the legs aren’t positioned the same distance from the edge of the body. All of these give the plushies that handmade, one-of-a-kind look (even though they’re one of one hundred).
You can’t really beat $19 for this handmade plush Lemi the Space Wanderer. Tenacious Toys (the exclusive US retailer) also throws in a pin and – for the first 10 orders – a fridge magnet. So, if you’re a plush collector or a fan of Lemi in his other various forms, you’ll want to pick this one up before it sells out.
You can pick one up at the following:
Tenacious Toys: $19.00
Lemi the Space Wanderer Plush Grades
Plush Quality: 8/10
Stitching: 7/10
Material: 8/10
Softness: 8/10
Packaging/Tag: 9/10
Cuteness: 9/10
Fun Factor: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9.0/10
