Bright Star Gifts produces a line of USB storage drives that are hidden within a plush toy. They’re called DataPets. I counted over 100 different stuffed animals that are available as DataPets, spanning generic animals and licensed characters. I was given a choice as to which DataPet I’d like to check out for this review, but as soon as my kids saw a Pokemon character – the discussion ended.
So what is a DataPet? It’s essentially a manufactured stuffed animal that’s been cut open, had a USB drive inserted within its plush nether regions, had a cord run out of said nether regions, and then been stitched back up. The plush isn’t original (you can buy them from multiple outlets) and neither is the USB device. It’s basically the process and combination of pieces that creates a DataPet.
I was able to find approximates of the items that make up this specific DataPet on Amazon. The Pikachu in a Charizard outfit plush sells anywhere between $9 and $38 (if I were comparison shopping, I’d go with the $9 one). You can pick up a 16GB flash drive for around $6, and a 6-foot USB cable (male to female) sells for about the same $6. So, on the low end, you’d be looking at a cost of about $21 to make your own. But then you’d also need to learn how to sew.
The 16GB DataPets sell for $39.95 each. So the difference ($18.95) is basically the labor costs. Because, you could do this all yourself if you wanted to. The DataPet doesn’t have an internal speaker or load any programming onto your computer. It’s a basic flash drive.
One thing my kids didn’t like was that there was a large blue USB cable hanging out of Pikachu’s butt. They wanted to know how/if they could just rip that thing out. I suggested to the folks at Bright Star Gifts about possibly offering a retractable USB cable so you wouldn’t lose the ability for the thing to still be a stuffed animal. (It’s tough to cuddle with something that looks like it’s halfway through a colonoscopy) Also, I think the blue USB cable reminds me of those standard, old Ethernet cables. Very industrial and not very inconspicuous if you’re trying to hide this within your plush toy collection. But you should probably keep your cuddling stuffed animals separate from those you’re storing those important data files on.
You can pick one up at the following:
Bright Star Gifts: $39.95 (16GB DataPet)
