The first Warriors mini plush were released on November 15th this year. After teasing fans with videos for several weeks, the drop was quick and exciting. Unlike the mini figurines in sets of two, arguably the biggest hit of Warriors merchandise, the mini plush were released as singular purchases or as a set of six. The characters included are Firestar, Scourge, Graystripe, Ravenpaw, Brightheart, and Tiger(claw)star.
Though I purchased them the moment they came out, it took a little under a month for the plush to get to me. After looking at social media, it appeared that people closest to their production state were getting them fast while those farther away took longer. With the holiday season as well, it makes sense that shipping wasn’t as fast. However, this is a trend with their production of the figurines too. As someone on the opposite coast, I often wait weeks longer than those nearby.
Interestingly, these mini plush have been added to Amazon. On the Warriors website, they are only $14.99 each, and you have to pay shipping (which for me was around $13). On Amazon, they’re $17.99 each; however, if you’re a Prime member, shipping is free. It may be worth it to pay a little extra on the base price to get free shipping.
Overall, I am SO satisfied with these new plush. They remind me of the mini figurines (seemingly directly modeled after them as the photos show below), something I collect every release of. I’ve never been a big fan of the bigger plush they do, so these mini ones are the perfect compromise. I’ll be happy to buy every mini plush release from here on out.
Currently, the plush are exclusive to the US store. They will arrive in the UK and EU stores in 2025.
Firestar (Amazon)
Pros:
As one of my favorites from this release, I have a lot of positives for Firestar. I enjoy his orange pelt color the most. It’s not highlighter orange like his first mini, but closer to the bright but muted orange of his revamped mini (the one with the collar). If anything, it might be a good mix between the two. His eyes are also an excellent choice of green, almost perfectly matching the shade of the ThunderClan symbol on the back of his left ear.
I personally love the diamond marking on his forehead, too. It’s stretched out but it reminds me of the common fandom choice of putting a diamond on a leader’s forehead to denote their ranking. I’m not sure if this was an intentional nod towards the fandom, but I like it either way.
While I go back and forth on his expression, I do like it. When Firestar was an apprentice and young warrior, he was sassier and bold. The determined smile coupled with the even-lidded eyes conveys that well.
Cons:
Frankly, I’m nitpicking when it comes to most of the plush’s cons. For Firestar, his nose is what bothers me the most. The coloring is strange, an orange-red color that feels sort of like Rudolph. It’s almost funny to think of it in that context since he’s the “special” one like that red-nosed reindeer, but I’m sure that’s not what they were going for. It should have been less red and more pink.
A weird thing I dislike is the yellow tail tip. I would’ve preferred the tail to be fully orange with one more stripe instead. I also think they could’ve made at least one of his markings more fire-related. While the ones on the back of his head are nice and wispy, maybe adding a third offshoot would’ve given that “fire” appearance. Compared to his minis, they should’ve added many more stripes to the back.
Scourge (Amazon)
Pros:
The best part of this plush is the sullen, angry expression on Scourge’s face. His lips are an almost perfect triangle top of anger, with that sharp little tooth sticking down. His eyes are narrowed angrily, looking even sharper than Tigerstar’s. The cut out of his ear, a fairly large chunk, is also fun. I like how soft it feels.
I’m super thankful they kept him primarily black-furred, with only one white paw. I was worried they might try to break the design up, though they didn’t for him figurine so I should’ve known it’d be fine. The icy blue of his eyes is pleasing as well, matching his cold description.
Including a Clan symbol on the back of his ear was a relief. Though they never made an official one for BloodClan, it was good to see the basic cat-ear shape with a red outline instead.
Cons:
For Scourge, his collar seems to be the most inconsistent design-wise. The fabric/fur isn’t as pressed down and even, and the tooth designs aren’t even down too. Now, it would make sense since the teeth are supposed to be haphazard, but on a 2D design, it looks off. It might’ve been better for it to overlap up or down off the collar, but I imagine that would’ve been difficult to do on a plush. The red color of the collar is also a little bothersome, too bright.
Graystripe (Amazon)
Pros:
Graystripe’s is one of my least favorites of the bunch. I think they messed up a few things with his design; only a couple of aspects were done right. His main base color is the perfect gray, not too dark or light. They also went appropriately darker with his stripe, as his name indicates. The yellow of his eyes is probably one of the most striking of the plush too, especially since he has the largest in the group. He’s overall pleasant to look at too, with a simple cat mouth and three whiskers.
Whether intentional or not, the stripe on his back also looks like a tree at the top. It might look more like a pine tree, better representing ShadowClan, but it’s a lovely touch for a ThunderClan warrior too.
Cons:
I despise the three-lumped hair tuft on the top of his head, I really do. Since the rest of his plush is smooth, with no cheek fluffy or any way to have chest fluff, it looks out of place next to the sleekness. I agree that Graystripe is a more long-haired character, but this was a poor representation of that. His plush might’ve looked boring without it I suppose, but I still wish they’d cut it out.
Also, though this is a small detail, I dislike that his nose is pink. It’s the same way for his figurine, which I also hate. With varying shades of gray fur, nearly black for the stripe, why wouldn’t his nose be gray or black as well? It would fit much better in the design.
**DEATH SPOILER BELOW THIS**
I am also curious why he’s not counted as a StarClan member like Firestar and Ravenpaw. If this idea was conceived before his death, I guess it’d make sense. However, there’s been over six books since his death so it seems strange.
Ravenpaw (Amazon)
Pros:
Regrettably, Ravenpaw’s is also one of my least-liked plush. It has nothing to do with the fun details they added to the plush and everything to do with how it’s the wrong characterization for him. Before getting into that, I want to acknowledge how cute it is that his Clan marking is blank with a green border. It references how he was ThunderClan born, despite becoming a barn cat with Barley.
I also like the small detail of his inner ears being gray. It provides some good distinction from Scourge, who has full black ears. They also kept his design consistent, with the white tail-tip and white chest fur.
Cons:
Why does the nervous, kindhearted cat have a frown, a tooth sticking out, and bored-looking eyes? That’s my primary concern with this plush design. I know Ravenpaw gains more confidence as the books go on (in the appearances we do get of him), but I would have expected at least a smile of some kind. I don’t think the tooth sticking out is fitting either. He’ll always be a warrior at heart, but he doesn’t have to fight as often.
Strangely too, his nose is smaller than Firestar, Graystripe, Brightheart, and Tigerstar. It is almost exactly like Scourge’s is, which feels like a weird and lazy connection.
While I do like the tufts of fur on his cheek in a general sense, I don’t like it for him. I always pictured Ravenpaw as a sleek-furred cat and not overly furry, so including this detail doesn’t make sense. If anything, It would’ve made more sense for Graystripe to have the tuft on his head and the fluffy cheeks from Ravenpaw. He’s certainly cute, but it’s not right for him.
Brightheart (Amazon)
Pros:
As one of the cats that has become a fan favorite (with the merchandise to prove it), I wasn’t surprised to see Brightheart included in this first wave of mini plush. For the most part, I find her successful. I like that her orange is a deeper color and her markings are unique. All of the scars on her lower body are great with a perfect shade of pink and fun shapes.
Her missing ear is also done well, a soft jagged line close to her head. I’m also glad that her blue eye color is slightly different than Scourge’s (or appears that way to me). Her nose color is also just as it should be for her fur pattern and color.
Cons:
My biggest gripe about her design is the yellow of the three scars covering her torn eye. I could be wrong with this considering the size and depth of her injury, but I expected these most extreme of her scars to be lighter in color from healing. The yellow almost gives an infected feel to them which is generally uncomfortable. I would’ve been fine with them using the same pink color they used for her body scars to overlap on the deeper pink of the missing eye.
I wish she was smiling more like Graystripe. Her lips are mellow with only a subtle upturn at the corners. A name starting with “Bright” could’ve been a little happier in expression.
One small detail bothering me is her one good ear. While every other plush has a solid color in their ears, they allowed Brightheart to have some pink inside the orange. They should have either committed to one color or the other.
Tigerclaw/star (Amazon)
Pros:
I feel neutral to good about Tigerstar’s plush. His markings, including the classic tabby “M” are great, as well as the markings around his eyes are unique to any other plush. They accentuate his mischievous, evil expression in his narrowed gaze. I really enjoy the smirk for his mouth too, with a little mark indicating it on the right corner. He is the perfect candidate to have one tooth hanging out.
I would’ve maybe preferred for his eyes to have a more orange or red base, but I do like that the yellow they chose is darker than Graystripe’s.
Cons:
It genuinely bothers me that the ShadowClan symbol on the back of Tigerstar’s ear is dark blue. Rarely do I see ShadowClan represented with a blue color, especially since RiverClan usually is. Also, on the tags ShadowClan’s symbol is red. Now, I understand that BloodClan’s outline is red, so that’d be a bit confusing, but choosing blue instead was the wrong move. Since I doubt they’ll make any StarClan symbol cats (purple on the tag), they could’ve done a dark purple.
For him, I usually prefer a darker brown base for his fur to emphasize his villainy. The little nick of out his ear could’ve been bigger. His nose bridge scar could’ve been lower and bigger too. I’m not complaining much since it looks cute and makes me giggle, but still.
The overall quality of the plush is great. They are soft, the seams are well done, and the ears have a satisfying little squish to them. The markings aren’t airbrushed, like with the big plush, which hopefully means better durability. Their size is nice too, not too small but not too large.
They also include the perfect tags with information on the Clans the characters have been in, their position, and their first appearance. On the right-hand side is a quote as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how these evolve with other releases. I think their facial expressions are a little repetitive right now, especially with over half having the same tooth sticking down (though they do have little variations in the mouth that help).
For now, I think these are the perfect gifts for Warriors fans! I’d highly recommend them.
