Lost Jellycat Platypus and inconsolable DD

[Sycam0re]

Oh dear...

We lost my 7 year old's favourite cuddly toy 3 days ago & she is distraught. She was given it as a baby & it is very important to her. Now she is subdued & crying inconsolably as if she has been bereaved.

I feel like crying too as it was my fault for not stopping her from taking Platypus on an outing. I always have in the past but was tired & in a hurry this time.

So I googled 'Jellycat Bashful Platypus'' only to find that they have been discontinued & there are none for sale on eBay. I have tried all sorts of websites, links etc. but no luck.

Does anyone know, please, where I might be able to buy a secondhand Jellycat Bashful Platypus? Or do you know of anyone who owns this Platypus who might be willing to sell it?

I can't think what else to do. I know it's 'only a toy' but to her it's a best friend. 😢 Thank you.

Sycam0re I'm so sorry about the loss of DD's precious toy, but please don't blame yourself.

This section of Mumsnet doesn't get as much traffic as others and maybe if you posted in another one such as AIBU you could reach more people who might be able to help. There must be someone in the whole of Mumsnet who has platypus or knows someone who has. It's just a thought.

Good luck.

The french word for platypus is ornithorynque according to google as it's such an odd word might be worth using that in an email to disney lost and found. Good luck I have been searching all over the internet and can't find one even on a collecters sites

Try Harrods toy dept, they have lots of jellycats that I have never seen in other shops. Website is rubbish but you could give them a call

That's so sad I'm sorry it's had such a devastating effect x

Hi your platypus dilemma woke me up in the night!
Have you had any luck?
Are you on facebook? I was wondering about posting a photo of platypus with a little poem and getting people to pass it on. We have lots of jellycat animals that we could spare. I am sure there must be a platypus somewhere. who could come and live with you.

Please can anybody help us?
My daughter is so sad.
We lost platypus on holiday
We are feeling very bad.

I rung and emailed, searched in shops.
across the world the internet
But platypus is elusive.
I have had no luck as yet.

Please search your cupboards, ask your friends. For a platypus all alone.
My daughter would be thrilled to find one she could re home.

Our home and hearts feel heavy.
Please help us if you can.
If we could buy your platypus
We would be your greatest fan.

That is such a good idea!

Thank you ilikepinicoladas. Yes, another good idea - I tried it yesterday & had several replies from sellers but they seem to be selling new stock. Unfortunately the platypus was discontinued in 2009 so I imagine that most shops will have sold all their stock years ago...

Thank you so much everyone! You are being so supportive with such great ideas.

I will try Disneyland again. They haven't replied to my email offering a reward yet so I will email again with a new description (duck, French for Platypus etc.). I don't want to think this but I wonder if someone found him but didn't hand him in - maybe someone who thought that we would never look or even someone who knew that there is a market for old Jellycat toys.

Also I'll try a different post on mumsnet as ApricotCrush suggested. Thank you for the sweet poem, PanannyPanoo - what a brilliant suggestion.

I think I've accepted that it's happened now & am just trying to cover all bases. Luckily my daughter has been a bit distracted by returning to school but I know she will miss him when anything upsetting happens.

As platypus was last made/sold around 2009/2010, there must be some that are unwanted but not yet cleared out in toy cupboards. I must just spread the word. Unfortunately I've never used Facebook, Twitter etc. & am completely bamboozled! I'm going to ask a friend for a lesson.

Okay, so I started a new thread under AIBU as suggested & there has been a huge number of posts. It has been an interesting experience as I have never written a potentially contentious post before. Most of the replies have been very supportive, a few candid & one positively lacking in empathy but I guess that's what you ask for when you post an AIBU.

Actually, I am feeling a bit better now as I have accepted that this has happened, that Disneyland Paris is probably not going to go the extra mile & that my dd will just have to get over it. She isn't crying anymore, just spending more time alone in her bedroom. I think it was the 'Goodbye Ceremony' that tipped me over the edge temporarily.

I am so grateful to you all for reading my posts & coming to my aid as it genuinely made me feel supported & gave me ideas to try. Thank you for taking the time to understand & empathise with something which might seem trivial if you have not experienced it.

OP, if you are on eBay you can set up an alert which will email you if your searched item is listed.

I was going to suggest Teddy Bear Lost and Found on FB, but I see (as I logged on to it to check the a name of it!) that platypus has already featured on there. The story of the platypus funeral was so sad, your daughter sounds very sweet. There's no chance you did pick it up at the restaurant and shove it in a bag or something and forgot about it?? I know you will have thought of that but we did that once where we thought we'd left something behind while out, and then found it at home. Good luck x

Nooooo! Just looked on the Jellycat website in the retired toys sections and your Platypus is the image for 2009 so I really thought I'd found one. Unfortunately it is not one of the 2009 toys available.

Hope you are lucky and find one

Bump!

Not sure how desperate you are to replace this in a monetary sense but there is a company called cuddle clones that make plush replicas of pets and I think they will make replica soft toys , they're in the USA but do ship all over but it is ££££ . Obviously would be difficult to exactly replicate the fur but you could always say he'd had to swim back and that affected his coat .

Asmoto - thank you, I've done this.

ClarenceOddbody - I don't understand Facebook at all but I put a photo on a Mexican Jellycat page?! Not sure how it got into the lost/found teddy section - a friend must have helped me.

loveisenough - yes, I thought I had found one too - thank you for looking.

Floralnomad - thank you so much for your info about the American company that copies soft toys - I thought that might be in breach of copywrite? I will investigate...

Oh this broke my heart.
Facebook/ebay/harass the park

My friends son left a teddy at the park - weeks later they got it back

Good luck

You could try 'The Lost Toy Fairy' which sells good condition toys on eBay. I found a spare of our most precious toy by searching for the serial number.

Their main business is making pet replicas but it does say they do toys , I assume they get round it by using different material .

Thank you. Yes, I will carry on contacting the park...

Thank you for telling me about The Lost Toy Fairy - I will look it up.

I have looke up the US company that makes replica toys - it looks very good & they do advertise copying lost toys so there must be a way around the potential copyright infringement.

I've suggested to Jellycat that they might consider the idea of keeping 100 toys of each retired type so that they can really help those unfortunate children who lose their toys...

Bump for the evening crowd

I have been lucky in that respect OP, three kids who never had a special toy mainly cos they coslept with me and we have bought/been given/won various cuddlies over the years: sadly no jellycat platypus or it would be heading your way.

Thank you GinSwigmore. Yes, some children get very attached to a cuddly toy & some not.

My older dd was very attached to a muslin cloth. Luckily I had 20 & when we got down to the last 2, they stayed at home.

My younger dd was also attached to a muslin but she always arranged a few cuddly toys very carefully on her bed. Gradually her platypus became the most important to her & was very much a friend, not just a toy.

It was because she derived such comfort from him, that I let her take him on holiday, thinking that she would be soothed if something frightening happened away from home. Platypus always stayed in the car or hotel room until this fateful occasion...

I just wanted to update all those kind mums who gave me so much support when we lost platypus back in April.

My dd has been brave about the loss but there have been moments when she has been very sad & wanted him badly. She is unhappy at school & was wishing she had platypus to comfort her very recently. I had more-or-less given up looking for one because there didn't seem to be any for sale.

Then suddenly, we managed to find a platypus for sale & thanks to the enormous kindness & generosity of the person selling it, my dd now has a platypus to cuddle again.

She is overjoyed to have almost-her-platypus back again. The lady who sold platypus to us is going through a terribly stressful time so we are incredibly grateful that she went out of her way to help us when she is dealing with so much herself.

Needless to say, this platypus is staying at home & will be looked after very carefully.

Thank you again to everyone for your support.

Aw, lovely to hear that you found a platypus