At the Toy Store

While I was in Washington recently, I stopped in a toy store. It's been a while since I visited one.


First, I saw this fairyland playhouse, which takes the form of the poisonous mushroom Amanita muscaria.


The store had a fine assortment of unicorn products, from Playmobil Advent calendars...


...to Toy Story 3 tie-ins...


...to sticky mosaics. Enough unicorn chasers to keep Boing Boing readers happy for days.


The last revelation was an entire wall of Calico Critters. This onslaught of cuteness included widdle kitties, an' bunnies, an' hedgehogs.


What is it about these pieces of plastic and fabric that makes them so adorable? The Wikipedia entry on cuteness (yes, there is a Wikipedia entry on cuteness) reviews Konrad Lorenz's theory that "humans react more positively to animals that resemble infants—with big eyes, big heads, shortened noses, etc.—than to animals that do not." The favored animals exhibit what's called pedomorphosis, "the retention of child-like characteristics—such as big heads or large eyes—into adulthood."


The Calico Critters are clearly a cute overload.


The Furbanks Squirrel Family! How cute and pedomorphic is that?