Sure, I'd like to wean my kid from Dora with some cool indie plush, you say, but what's the diff? The backstories of American indie toys are usually about as deep and complex as a Chinese zodiac placemat. ["Wage works at the supermarket...just like you."]
You'll be wanting to break out the reading glasses, clear the calendar, and send the kid to grandma's, because the Maoma story is freakin' Infinite Jest, and Ulysses combined, written in Elvish.
Maomaland's plush creatures are a bit furrier than most, but they're still cute. And coming, as they do, from Amsterdam, their heavy-lidded eyes probably look at privatized health care and an SUV-based economy with no small degree of skepticism. But most don't have mouths, so you'll never hear about it.
Maomas are still made in the old school, artisanal manner: by hand, in sync with the seasons, not in a factory following some giant Holiday Season marketing plan.
But wait, you say, wouldn't such handmade, limited edition, international goodness be expensive? Well, yeah, if you think of euros like dollars, which they most definitely are not. Instead, why not think of them as lira instead? Then these bad boys are practically free. At least until your credit card statement comes.
Maoma plush dolls, 40-110 euros + shipping [maomaland.com via notcot.org]
