I admit it — I bought the plush Wind Rider Cub and the plush Gryphon Hatchling the moment that they became available on the Blizzard Store. I was getting a bit worried about them, though, because I never got any e-mail confirming the purchase or letting me know if they’d shipped. But they arrived today!
Both came in little black drawstring bags, about 11″x13″, with “World of Warcraft” and the name of the critter on one side, and a faction symbol on the other. The Gryphon Hatchling bag has a big Alliance lion in yellow and the Wind Rider Cub bag has a big Horde symbol in red. I rather wish the bags didn’t have the names on them: a reusable drawstring bag with the Alliance or Horde symbol would be cool, but a bag that says “Wind Rider Cub” is just a little too geeky for me.
I am somewhat surprised by the size of these kids. I was picturing something about 5″-6″ tall (akin to the stuffed snail I have, or the little rhino) but these are a full 9″ tall and about that wide across the bottom. Both seem to be fairly high quality — and both are absolutely adorable, of course.
The Wind Rider Cub narrowly wins the cute content with his fuzzy mane and darling little fabric wings. The gryphon’s head is a bit big and his wings, oddly, are attached to his head — but he does have a charming little fuzzy tuft at the end of his tail. (Can you tell I’m running out of synonyms for ‘cute’?)
Each also comes with a code for an in-game mini-pet, of course — which is how I justified spending $24.99 on each of them. (I would have bought the in-game pets for $10 each, so the plush animals themselves are effectively only $14.99 … right?) The Blizzard store has Flash video of both in-game models in flight. (Click the pictures or the links above to see ‘em.)
Something I found very interesting: Rather than just including the code on the receipt or something, each plush mount comes with a card in a protective plastic sleeve. The card has an illustration of the mini-pet over a ‘tooltip’ — i.e. “Wind Rider Cub” (in blue), “Binds when picked up.” and “Use: Right click to summon a wind rider cub.” Under this is a scratch-off strip with the code itself.
So I expect it will be approximately 3 nanoseconds before we see unscratched cards on eBay, minus the toys. Or vice versa, I suppose. If you really want only the real-life or only the in-game version of these critters, that might be one avenue for you.
I haven’t redeemed the codes yet — not because I’m going to sell them but because every time I start I find myself cuddling the Wind Rider Cub and thinking about puppies. But I suppose I’ll get to it some time today …
[edit] Warcraft Pets has added these kids, so be sure to update your collection when you get them! [/edit]
I’m just wondering if I can justify getting one or not, my kids would take it, no big deal there and I would get the card, but man, I’m probably spending too much time and money on Warcraft already. I’ll continue this debate … and I’ll probably cave in.
Next paycheck I am definitely buying myself the Wind Rider Cub. ^.^ Perhaps I’ll get the Gryphon sometime in the future, however my limited funding and love of the Horde pretty much can only justify the one for now. I can’t wait to get this adorable plushie (and more importantly, the minipet xD).
I will be getting the cub next weekend but will probably just go ahead and get both. I ordered 2 authenticators about 3 weeks ago and I didn’t get a conformation email before I got them in the mail either.
Oh so you get a card with the code like the tradeing card pets? cool.
I got both the second they went live on the sotre, and I am not disappointed. To make it even better, they arrived Friday, along with my Issue 1 of the WoW Magazine!
“…and his wings, oddly, are attached to his head…”
If you look, it’s just a circle-stitch on the point to support the top of the wings, it’s not stitched all the way down . It could probably be separated with a fine blade to no ill effect.
I’ve seen enough plushie collectables over the years to know that kind of support stitching is fairly common when it’s meant as a display piece rather than an actual toy.
Hmm when you do redeem your code, can ya let us know if it’s only one toon or the whole account that gets the pet. Example is like how Hippogryph hatchling goes to one, and Lil’kt goes to the all chars :D
aww, envious! No way I can justify getting them, would have to get them for my bf as well, and let’s face it, 100$ for some collectables might be pushing it :P
Aya, here you go:
INCLUDES A LOOT CODE FOR A MATCHING IN-GAME NON-COMBAT PET, WHICH ONCE ACTIVATED, APPLIES TOO ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE CHARACTERS ON A SINGLE WORLD OF WARCRAFT LICENSE
Must.Get.Both.
And grats,Mania!
just got our wind riders this evening.all my alts got the pet in the mail and the nelf rogue i made after wards got one to.its just so HAPPY looking.and they ether run after you or fly depending on how fast you move.they fly after a flying mount as well.for some reason the wind rider cub doesnt seem to have the wing membranes when its just idling on the ground…
I just got mine today, Windrider cub for me and Gryphon hatchling for my girlfriend. We are both happy with them! <3
:D /sets his lil WoW buddy on the speaker next to him…
ok now time to raid!
Heh, my husband got himself the gryph and I was just hassling him for not getting a wyvern. Actually that seems like a reason for me to get myself a wyvern…
Er I meant not getting a wyvern to go with his gryph! Because for some reason it made more sense to get the set!
I got these two in the post, I absolutely adore them!! Kept the Wyvern for myself, Gryphon for my BF! Called the Verne and Griff…have a guess why :D
I was wondering if there was any sort of cut off date for redeeming the wind rider cub ingame pet. I doubt it because this isn’t the case with trading card loot but I would like it confirmed.
I say this because my account is currently inactive and wanted to keep it that way until post cata release. Would I be unable to redeem this code at that later point in time?
I got the set, and they are Very very cute! In game and out :D I did like to, how they are for the entire account rather than just one toon.
@ThistleBrush I asked about that, and as long as WoW is running you will be able to redeem them since it is their own endorsed product.