Totally Quackers! (Rubber Ducks)

Member Name: gothiron

Product:	Rubber Ducks
Date:	23/11/01 (1646 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original Idea, Great Presents, Suits all sorts

Disadvantages: Hard to find, Hurt when you sit on one!, People think you mean those cute little yellow ones

Rubba Ducks - Ducks with attitude!

The real dilemma was what category should this go under, Collectibles, Children’s Toys, Presents for Men or probably the yet to be launched category of Gothiron’s Weird Stuff (the present my nephew is getting from me for Christmas would fit nicely in that category!. These aren't your bath-standard yellow ducks, these are Rubba Ducks from the USA!

So what’s so brilliant about ducks you quack? Are you trying to capture a lost childhood you sad person? Not a bit of it, I never liked the standard rubber ducks you get, shiny bright yellow things that bob around in the bath and are usually more accurately described as Plastic Ducks, I’m not even that barmy about ducks in general and was always a Daffy rather than Donald person when it came to cartoons. The reason that I have become totally addicted to Rubbaducks is this: they are just fantastically odd! Yes kids would live them but of yes, adults will love them more!

Rubba Ducks are themed ducks, hence the idea that they could quite easily fall into the Presents for Blokes category, and are bit like an aquatic version of Beanie Babies. They are fully working rubber ducks – ie they are made of rubber and float in the bath but their attraction is their quirky customisation. The ducks are all the same basic “duck shape” but then are customised to have individual characteristics, which are moulded onto them. Duck Tape for instance is the Handyman’s duck, resplendent with safetyspecs, and tools in his pouch, Duckerball is football/soccerball patterned (but still duckshaped), Teacher’s pet is apple featured, Sitting Duck looks like a target and Cowduck is cow patterned and is like a cowboy and so on. You get the drift, there are over 50 over them and this op isn’t a list!

Woolies charges £3.99 per duck – personally I think that they don’t realise just how collectab
le they are!

Favourite Duck for me – or as my husband phrased it, “the one that is weird enough” is Gray. It’s a gray duck with a nose stud and is the oddest thing I’ve seen (apart from my nephew’s present) – at last, a rubber duck for all the Goths out there.

It’s really hard to explain what they look like, best thing to do is look at the website.

This op splits in to two parts as my sheer delight over Rubbaducks is partly down to the ducks themselves but almost as importantly, the excellent website www.rubbaduck.com. Word of advice here –it uses Flash5, works best under Netscape and make sure you have a decent sound card!


Even if these ducks didn’t exist as merchandise, not have their own TV cartoon in the States and you couldn’t get the T-Shirts, Swimsuits and knickers – Rubbawear to all tastes as it were, the website alone would be enough to justify an op. It’s great!

The Flashmovie features mean that it can take a while to run but is feature filled as a result. Mouse over various headings and there is relevant animation and sounds. Oh yes, the sounds – no there isn’t quacking, but rather a nifty theme tune (and yes, those of you even sadder than myself, you can get a cd of the song) and various other soundbites (or should that be sound pecks?). You can register your details and store a “wanted list” on the site, as well as read up about the forthcoming retirements, new lauches and special features. There is the “Rubbawear” section, a bit about the TV show and even a quiz. Plus of course see pictures of all the ducks. Brilliant!

Children will love this site, and overgrown kids like me will throw a total strop when their long suffering partner suggests that he would quite like his computer back to look at the Sci-Fi sites.

Now the bad news……
The only pla
ce I have seen these is my local Woolworths, and they are situated in the baby toy section rather than Toys in general. In America they are available at Toys-R-Us and departmental stores but so far my duck-hunt options are restricted to Woolies and Ebay but I’m confident that the ducks are out there!

You can’t order the ducks or merchandise (other than T-Shirts and cd) from the website – this is a big minus in my eyes but then that would make the whole collectable things just too simple. Like Beanie Babies, they have a limited lifetime and are retired and replaced with newer models during the year (no, they don’t have first wife ducks!)

The site is totally US focussed with no international links or details of availability outside the US, but then is true of the TY Beanie Baby site and various other collectible web sites.

So if you want an original idea for someone and you can get a Rubba duck, then do it. Only please mail me to tell me where you bought it!!

So what was my nephew’s present? Whilst in Glastonbury I found a brilliant toy and book set entitled “My First Gargoyle” – he’s a lucky boy that his Aunty Gothiron is prepared to part with it!!

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