It’s November, so ALDI’s special buys aisle is filled with Christmas crud. But what jumped out at me from the Wednesday 30 October selection was the “retro plush” for $24.99 each. There are five characters featured: Garfield, Elmo, Care Bears, Tweety and Scooby Doo.
The price is reasonable (these are all around 40cm-45cm high), and having given them a quick once over in my local ALDI, the quality seems OK. What’s slightly strange is the broad range of “retro” eras the characters cover. These are not soft toys for the young ‘uns.
Technically speaking, Elmo and Garfield are both current. The Garfield comic strip is still running, and Elmo is a key player on Sesame Street, which will debut season 55 soon. But let’s not kid ourselves. Garfield’s heyday was the 1980s, and Elmo’s heyday was the 1990s.
The others, while instantly recognisable, probably aren’t going to hit with a youthful audience. Tweety has never been much of a breakout character in the Looney Tunes universe. While Scooby Doo and Care Bears have seen multiple reboots since their own peak periods (the 1970s and 1980s respectively), neither has an active new series on air right now.
So while ALDI is bundling these with kiddie toys in the aisles, the target audience is clearly nostalgic adults.
I saw this play out in real life. A couple in their mid-20s were doing a top up shop in the store I visited today. “I think we’re done, unless you want this Elmo,” he said. She picked Elmo up, considered him. “Na, don’t need Elmo.” Them’s the breaks, Elmo.
Also note the “Experiencing delays” note from ALDI. On checking, Victoria and South Australia won’t have these on sale this week. Plush addicts in those states will just have to wait.
For more Garfield fun, check out how I helped him invade Garfield railway station in Victoria. For a bigger take on Sesame Street, check out the show’s early broadcast history in Australia. And for another ALDI special buys fix, remind yourself why ALDI vinyl records really are terrible.
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