Our goal is to make realistic dinosaur plushies that are soft, semi-realistic, and posable! Each plushie features coloring based off modern day animals that live where that dinosaur has been found and a neck tag with facts about them!
Dinosaurs. The giant, scaly monsters of the past. After all, Tyrannosaurus Rex literally means "Tyrant Lizard King!" At Varmintfeathers Plush LLC, that's not the picture we're trying to paint. Dinosaurs were an incredibly diverse caste of animals ranging from small insect eaters who could glide high in the canopy, to quick, agile road-runner-esque predators who hunted the proto mammals of the time, to the towering, leaf eating sauropods. Most of all however, dinosaurs were animals, just like the ones in our world today.
And so Varmintfeathers Plush Co. is launching its first run of plush- dinosaurs! These amazing creatures have been brought back to life in the form of adorable, soft plushies! These plush are the perfect intersection of realism and hugability with their high quality materials and strategically added weighted beads! For lovers of all plush SOS, Leosco, Unitoys, Douglas, and other popular collector’s brands, you’re sure to find something you like here!
The goal with these plushies is to give you a plush you might've gotten at the zoo after seeing magnificent animals up close (in an alternate reality of course)! My dinosaurs feature coloring that resembles modern day animals living where these dinosaurs roamed millions of years ago. Each plushie will also come with a unique neck tag with facts about that dinosaur!
Finally, 10% of sales from each plush will go to a conservation group supporting threatened animals in the region that that dinosaur used to live in! I have 12 different designs I’m hoping to get funded, and each design has its own conservation group that your pledges will be contributing to.
Hi, I’m Varmintfeathers! I handmake custom plushies on my Instagram varmintfeathers, and I’ve been creating in online spaces since I was 14 years old. Each plush pattern I create is mapped in my head before I ever take pen to paper. Every seam is visualized in 3D, and then I freehand them on fleece. After that they are tweaked and refined as needed.
I know how it feels to want to hold a unique animal as a plushie when it doesn’t exist, and how frustrating it can be trying to find realistic dinosaurs in the plush world. My goal has always been to make the plush that are hard to find; the unusual or forgotten animals that are left behind by big plush companies. I have over one-thousand hours on The Isle (and likely a similar amount on Path of Titans too), so it’s safe to say I absolutely LOVE dinosaurs and animals in general.
I am so incredibly grateful to have my amazing audience. You all have helped me in my process of moving out and spending less time at my back-breaking job and more time pursuing my dreams! I have EDS, with one joint surgery so far, and back surgery in my future. The company I have built today is my lifeline.
I currently live in a studio apartment with my beautiful girlfriend and our two cats. I hope to launch my own plush company, and eventually get some land to build a homestead with my family! :)
Creating stuffed animals is something I’ve been practicing from a very young age. I started by drawing two animals on paper, stapling them together, and stuffing them with cotton balls. It’s crazy to think that ten years of trial and error would lead me from two-dimensional paper animals to custom stuffed dinosaurs with a waitlist of eager commissioners.
The first thing I hand-sewed was a 3 foot “worm on a string” plush in October of 2019. The stitching was gnarly, there was sharpie visible along the seams, and he was stuffed hard as a rock – and yet, this plush inspired the next five years of plushmaking.
In the winter of 2024, after creating a cute fluffy Allosaurus (bottom right), my plush-making style finally began to solidify. Soon after, I’d crafted the plush that would cause my profile to really gain interest, allow me to move out, and officially start VarmintFeathersLLC! My life size velociraptor;
I took every single measurement from a diagram of a velociraptor fossil, ensuring he was as realistic as possible while still maintaining my signature semi-realistic plush style. I didn't know it when I finished him, but this guy was about to change my life. Now, I've taken over a dozen plush commissions since then with more people waiting excitedly to get their dream plushie made! You can see my portfolio and other plushies I've made here
So, where does this campaign fit in? Since my current business making handmade plush has been successful, it’s easy to question why I'm running this campaign.
As any freelancer knows, work can be inconsistent. While I have a lot of people on my waitlist, it would only be enough to keep me afloat for about three months because I try to keep my prices as low as I can. With my joint disorder slowly taking away my mobility, and painful bulging discs in my back, it’s become difficult to work full time at my day job. That's not a risk I can take.
For these reasons, I’ve decided to take a gamble and try to get a real plush brand off the ground. The work will be much easier on my body, and I'll also have more time to handmake stuffed animals; so that side of things will grow too! My vision for unique, high quality, wonderfully floppy stuffed animals will become accessible to a lot more like-minded people, and I'll also be able to give back to the incredible creatures that inspire us!
What kind of conservation work and animals will be supported by my pledge?
As I’ve said; 10% of plush sales will go to 12 different conservation organizations that support endangered wildlife where each respective dinosaur used to roam- but what exactly will your pledge be supporting? Find out below!
Photo by Hans-Jurgen Mager on Unsplash
Polar Bears International - supported by the Nanuqsaurus Plush Since 1992, the Polar Bears International Fund has put time, effort, and funds into lab and field research and conservation studies; using science to support healthy populations. Polar Bears International has made incredible change thanks to donations like yours; assisting in population management, preservation of arctic sea ice, genetic and den research on mothers, and even advancements in polar bear detection technologies; keeping unsafe human and bear encounters to a minimum to preserve populations!
Photo by Studio Crevettes on Unsplash
Pangolin Crisis Fund - supported by the Guanlong Plush Created in 2019, this relatively new organization is committed to protecting pangolins through community outreach. Only through donations is this group able to send out anti-poaching groups, assemble research teams, and rally groups to form bonds with lawmakers on an international scale to demand protections. In just seven years, the PCF has successfully completed 95 projects in 28 different countries, with hopes to complete more!
Photo by mana5280 on Unsplash
Sea Otter Foundation and Trust - supported by the Pachyrhinosaurus Plush Beginning their efforts in late 2013, the Sea Otter Foundation and Trust takes donations and makes a real impact through funding marine biology studies, education programs, and habitat conservation projects. Through generous donations, this trust was able to fund their first grant in 2014, only one year after being created, and since then over 23 more have been funded and continue to support the habitat saving research and outreach sea otters need!
Photo by Tapan Kumar Choudhury on Unsplash
International Tiger Project - supported by the Therizinosaurus Plush
Established in 2010, the International Tiger Project is committed to helping all species of tiger all over the world thrive, and revive their dwindling populations. Through generous donations, this foundation is able to protect vital lands, deploy park rangers, and even rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured tigers back into areas where they are needed most!
Photo by Dgwildlife on iStock
Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme - supported by the Spinosaurus Plush Founded in 1995, the Ethiopian Wolf Foundation has worked to build a stable population of this extremely endangered species By rebuilding habitats, limiting human interactions, educating, and vaccinating domestic dogs who can potentially spread diseases, this group has been able to keep this species from going extinct, and hopes to help them repopulate to a sturdy number!
Photo by Nick Dunlap on Unsplash
National Buffalo Foundation - supported by the Parasaurolophus Plush Since 1905, the National Buffalo Foundation has been dedicated to promoting education and policy change that directly affect the prognosis for this iconic American species. Through donations, research projects, herd tracking, and advocacy programs can be organized; helping secure a stable future for the buffalo.
Photo by Abigail Lynn on Unsplash
Whale and Dolphin Conservation - supported by the Quetzalcoatlus Plush Starting in 1987, the WDC has worked boots-on-the-ground to help clean oceans and rescue sea life from injuries, netting, and pollution as well as doing studies on deceased animals to pinpoint threats. They also work with government officials all around the globe to pass laws on whaling, capture for captivity, and dolphin hunts! Through donations, WDC has been able to help thousands of injured whales, hosted classes and educational information to avoid boating injuries, cleaned oceans, and more!
Photo by Stephen Walker on Unsplash
The Orca conservancy - supported by the Mosasaurus Plush Founded in 1996, the Orca Conservancy has used donations to fund major changes in the way orcas are protected, and their habitat is defended. By working with whale watching teams to create safer practices, establishing better protocols for the Navy, offering new guidelines for wildlife encounters, this group has established itself as a leader in orca conservation.
Photo by Stephen Walker on Unsplash
Red Panda Network - supported by the Shantungosaurus Plush Established in 2007, the RPN has taken donations and used them to take a holistic approach to conservation. By putting their efforts towards habitat rebuilding and educating those who coexist in said habitats, they are able to keep human and red panda interactions to a minimum and attempt to eliminate habitat destruction!
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
Friends of California Condors Wild and Free - supported by the Camarasaurus Plush Founded in 2008, this organization focuses on education and outreach for communities to positively impact California Condors. They focus on telling people what they can do to support condors, and common threats to them; thus giving people who care a route to make smaller scale adjustments to their lives and give condors a fighting chance. One of their most important programs involves taking guided tours through areas typically closed off to the public; giving people an up close look at condors and their habitat, and hopefully allowing them to gain newfound respect for one of America’s most iconic birds.
Photo by Mathieu Odin on Unsplash
Snow Leopard Trust - supported by the Deinocheirus Plush The snow leopard trust was founded and 1981, and since then has worked in educating both indigenous and local communities in cohabitation as well as being hands-on to track specific leopards via radio collars and even setting up trail cams whose ‘selfies’ can be viewed on their website!
Photo by Eva Blue on Unsplash
American Wolf Foundation - supported by the Tyrannosaurus Rex Plush Founded in 2018, the American Wolf Foundation has put in mountains of effort to build their organization from the ground up. Specializing in outreach, positive coexistence, and conservation, this group operates by raising awareness of the positive impact of this species, and educating on methods of coexistence that are safe for both humans, livestock, AND wolves. Less wolves die for simply living, and more effort can be directed to preservation of those that remain.
In addition to the main goals of this project, some stickers will be available as bonus rewards! Two of them will be free to earlybird backers in the first 48 hours, and the third will be free to those following the campaign before launch! If you follow and back in the first 48 hours, that's 3 free stickers!!
The first, main goal of this project is to get the fluffy snowy owl Nanuq made!
In addition to the Nanuq, I have 11 other designs I'm hoping to get funded this time around!
If we somehow get all 12 plushies funded and keep going, I'll do two community vote plush! I know only two super stretch goals isn't many, but this is my first crowdfunding project and it's already pretty ambitious, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew XD
These will be updated as I receive pictures/get the samples and can take my own pictures!
Note: in plushie prototyping, there are typically three versions: first, second, and the final!
16" Nanuqsaurus - Finalized! He will not be receiving any more changes
16" Guanlong - Waiting on the final version- these were the last changes I sent! *NOTE i told them to ignore me saying to remove the line on the mouth! brainfart moment, its literally his mouth lol
16" Pachyrhinosaurus - Finalized! He will not be receiving any more changes
28" Spinosaurus - Finalized! He will not be receiving any more changes.
16" Therizinosaurus - Finalized! He will not be receiving any more changes
16" Parasaurolophus - Waiting on the third version- this was the last round of changes I sent!
16" Quetzalcoatlus - Waiting on the third version- this was the last round of changes I sent!
28" Shantungosaurus - Waiting on the fourth version- this was the last round of changes I sent!
16" Mosasaurus - Pretty much finalized! The only change is that the white spot and the black stripe on his head will not be embroidered like it is here.
16" Camarasaurus - Waiting on the final version- this was the last round of changes I sent!
16" Deinocheirus - Waiting on the second version- this was the last round of changes I sent!
28" Tyrannosaurus Rex - Waiting on the second version- this was the last round of changes I sent!
16" Utahraptor - Waiting to get the first sample rolling!
28" Ankylosaurus - Waiting to get the first sample rolling!
There's everybody so far!! THe original 12 will be finalized or close to it before I send out surveys <3 Utah and Anky will hopefully have the first prototype complete
New to crowdfunding/backerkit? Here's how it works!
1) Create an Account Create an account to pledge and join the crowdfunding community! Doing so helps you stay up to date with the campaign and enables you to interact with polls, join discussions, leave feedback, and ask questions!
2) Select a Pledge Level Choose the pledge that best fits your wants and budget! If you pledge for more items at once, you'll save 5-10% per item! Once you pledge, your payment method will NOT be charged until the end of the campaign, and only if we reach our funding goal of $4,000. If you know you want multiple plushies, please pledge for all of them right away! When people hold back to see if what they want gets unlocked, it takes us longer to reach goals! If the designs you want don't get unlocked, you can edit your pledge after the campaign has ended!
3) Include Add-ons After selecting your pledge level, pick some add-ons! Add-ons allow you to further customize your pledge and get exactly what you want. Do you want one plushie to be super weighted? Or maybe you want to pick the exact plushie you take home? Fear not, we have add-ons for extra weight and picking a face!
4) Check out Finish your order, and you're done! Sit tight, and watch to see how the campaign does. Once the campaign ends, keep a close eye on your email for your survey to pick your plushies, and other production updates!
5) Manage Your Pledge After the campaign ends a survey will be sent to your email. This will allow you to pick the exact plushies you want, as well as which ones will be weighted or specially picked! You can still edit your pledge at this point if a design you want didn't get unlocked! Awhile after the campaign has ended, orders will be locked and no longer able to be changed, so make sure you do your survey ASAP and keep an eye on the project for updates!
International shipping is available! These numbers are estimates of what shipping will be for your plushies based on how many you got and where you are! I tried to pick the farthest away places from myself for each country, so these should be HIGH END estimates! If your order has a different combination of plushies than what is seen here, feel free to reach out for a custom shipping estimate.
Shipping will be charged AFTER the campaign has ended. Once I receive the plushies in May/June and begin packing orders, you will get an invoice for your personal shipping cost at that time! I will not be able to ship your order until this invoice is paid. So in total for this campaign, there will be two charges; one when the campaign ends (~Feb 6th) and another for shipping (~May/June).
**Please note, adding extra weight to plush will increase your shipping cost since they weigh more!
Campaign dates: January 5th, 2026 - February 5th 2026 Feb 5th your payment methods will be charged 2-3 weeks after the campaign, funds should be paid out to me
Chinese New Year: February 15th - February 23rd (manufacturer on break)
March - April: Manufacturing of all designs unlocked + community vote plush (if we unlock those too!)
April - May: Plushies delivered to me depending on how long manufacturing and shipping takes!
May - June: Orders get shipped! Orders with pick-a-face and extra weighting included will take longer to process as I have to do all that by hand!
I have estimated everything to take longer than expected, so things may happen sooner, but I don't want to disappoint anyone if we have delays along the way.
And of course, I could've never pulled this project off without help! Here's a big thank you to my friends and family who've supported me throughout this journey <3
