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Erwin The Little Patient

February 15, 2012 by · Comments Off on Erwin The Little Patient 

Erwin The Little Patient, Behold Erwin the little patient from Sigikid. He’s a plush doll with a crooked smile and take-out organs. Measuring in at 16-inch (41cm) and machine washable, Erwin hides his special nature under a hospital patient gown. Lift up the gown to see Erwin’s nippleless rectangular torso.

Unzip his chest cavity to find six removable plush objects: lungs, a heart (Valentine shaped), intestines, liver, spleen and kidneys. The six count is a little deceptive because the kidneys include an attached bladder and the intestinal piece contains both small and large intestine and also the stomach and esophagus.

Oh, and my wife, who is a nurse, doesn’t know a cecum from a hole in the ground. Yep, I correctly identified the brown nodule on the lower intestine as the appendix.

Each organ is a different, unrealistic and cheery color. The organs also have one, sometimes two, color-coded Velcro strips that indicate to which other organs they connect. Underneath it all, a posterior skeleton is embroidered on the inside back of Erwin’s interior.

Connecting the body parts is probably a tall order for kids under 5-years-old, but parents who buy the doll are likely to do so as a teaching tool. Parental assistance will be involved when all the king’s horses and all the king’s men put poor little Erwin back together again.

My almost 2-year-old son is happy to carry Erwin around, not yet realizing there is a zipper underneath the gown. My 5-year-old daughter loves the inside of the doll.

Age appropriateness is difficult to gauge. In addition to the Velcro assembly, there’s also the issue of squeamishness to consider.

My then-3-year-old daughter loved her Your Body anatomically correct multi-layer body puzzle, but when she brought the puzzle to a 3-year-old friend’s home, the friend was freaked out and scared.

It really depends on how proactive you’ve been as a parent to explain the human body. By 3-years-old we had read to her the Me and My Amazing Body picture book. Our journey began at 16-months-old when I explained Halloween-themed skeleton displays we saw in stores.

In any case, Erwin might as well be Erwina because the body is genderless with no reproductive organs and the doll’s hair style could best be described as a disheveled Tribble, or perhaps troll doll.

My daughter’s only criticism is that the doll has a crooked smile. My only criticism is that the hospital gown is secured by ties rather than Velcro. My wife’s only criticism is that esophagus gets incorrectly placed in front of the trachea. I think she’s overcompensating for the cecum slip.

Now, here is a bit of bad news. The doll doesn’t appear to be sold in America. I purchased it via German Amazon, and while Amazon.de will ship to America, it specifically won’t ship this doll to America. That’s right. I have illicitly circumvented international trade restrictions to obtain a children’s surgical doll plaything.

Actually, it was my wife who befriended a German exchange student in high school and later reconnected with her long lost friend via Facebook and convinced him to ship Erwin to us. That’s right. Another Facebook miracle!

Erwin The Little Patient Toy Available In Germany

February 15, 2012 by · Comments Off on Erwin The Little Patient Toy Available In Germany 

Erwin The Little Patient Toy Available In Germany, Behold Erwin the little patient from Sigikid. He’s a plush doll with a crooked smile and take-out organs. Measuring in at 16-inch (41cm) and machine washable, Erwin hides his special nature under a hospital patient gown. Lift up the gown to see Erwin’s nippleless rectangular torso.

Unzip his chest cavity to find six removable plush objects: lungs, a heart (Valentine shaped), intestines, liver, spleen and kidneys. The six count is a little deceptive because the kidneys include an attached bladder and the intestinal piece contains both small and large intestine and also the stomach and esophagus.

Oh, and my wife, who is a nurse, doesn’t know a cecum from a hole in the ground. Yep, I correctly identified the brown nodule on the lower intestine as the appendix.

Each organ is a different, unrealistic and cheery color. The organs also have one, sometimes two, color-coded Velcro strips that indicate to which other organs they connect. Underneath it all, a posterior skeleton is embroidered on the inside back of Erwin’s interior.

Connecting the body parts is probably a tall order for kids under 5-years-old, but parents who buy the doll are likely to do so as a teaching tool. Parental assistance will be involved when all the king’s horses and all the king’s men put poor little Erwin back together again.

My almost 2-year-old son is happy to carry Erwin around, not yet realizing there is a zipper underneath the gown. My 5-year-old daughter loves the inside of the doll.

Age appropriateness is difficult to gauge. In addition to the Velcro assembly, there’s also the issue of squeamishness to consider.

My then-3-year-old daughter loved her Your Body anatomically correct multi-layer body puzzle, but when she brought the puzzle to a 3-year-old friend’s home, the friend was freaked out and scared.

It really depends on how proactive you’ve been as a parent to explain the human body. By 3-years-old we had read to her the Me and My Amazing Body picture book. Our journey began at 16-months-old when I explained Halloween-themed skeleton displays we saw in stores.

In any case, Erwin might as well be Erwina because the body is genderless with no reproductive organs and the doll’s hair style could best be described as a disheveled Tribble, or perhaps troll doll.

My daughter’s only criticism is that the doll has a crooked smile. My only criticism is that the hospital gown is secured by ties rather than Velcro. My wife’s only criticism is that esophagus gets incorrectly placed in front of the trachea. I think she’s overcompensating for the cecum slip.

Now, here is a bit of bad news. The doll doesn’t appear to be sold in America. I purchased it via German Amazon, and while Amazon.de will ship to America, it specifically won’t ship this doll to America. That’s right. I have illicitly circumvented international trade restrictions to obtain a children’s surgical doll plaything.

Actually, it was my wife who befriended a German exchange student in high school and later reconnected with her long lost friend via Facebook and convinced him to ship Erwin to us. That’s right. Another Facebook miracle!

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