#garfield collector

[garfkart]

welcome! this is a blog dedicated to posting garfield merchandise.

note that this is a side blog. i like collecting garfield stuff so i want somewhere to archive the merch i want, or for other collectors purposes

[spaceghostswim]

to all my fellow Garfield collectors, you KNOW how hard it is to get your hands on an original suction cup Garf, especially in 100% barely touched, unsunbleached condition.

My aunt bought him at my local vintage warehouse as a gift, he was less than half the price i saw the low quality ones going for on eBay, but to me he will always be worth more than anything. it's been so hard to find any Garfield merch that isn't overpriced or all bought out, i have been a lifelong fan so this little guy is going to be SO LOVED !

[garfdetective]

3.11.2024: What I Know and Where to Go

While the simplest and most brute-force way to catalog every Garfield plush would just be to get on Ebay and put each unique listing into a spreadsheet (which trust, I AM doing), just ending there would mean that a LOT of plushies slip through the cracks, and what's the point in an ultimate spreadsheet without all of the available data? As such, I've been trying to use a more top-down approach to fill in the blanks where Ebay cannot.

So far, I've had trouble finding any leads that aren't just dead ends. I haven't been actively recording the process so far, so this is a way to get this blog up to date and also sort out what to do next.

Here's what I know so far:

Dakin Inc has a long winding history, from selling guns to plush animals, but what's important to know for our investigation is that it was founded in 1955 and began merchandising Garfield plushies in the 1980's. It's reasonable to assume that this started at the earliest in 1981, since that was the year that Paws Inc was officially founded and allowed to freely merchandise Garfield's likeness.

Applause Inc, another toy company, bought out Dakin in 1995, after the 1994 San Francisco earthquake, which destroyed their headquarters. I haven't found any evidence of Garfield plushies ever being produced or sold under Applause, which leads me to believe that they stopped Garfield production in that year at the latest.

These give us a hypothetical timeline: 1981-1995. Sweet. Given this timeline, copies/scans of physical catalogs would be a good resource, however I'm having trouble finding them at all, let alone any that feature the Garfield plushies. I'm still trawling the internet looking for them, though I might resort to hoping on Reddit or some old forums to see if anyone else has good leads.

It's hard to find any former members of Dakin Inc as well, especially any who worked during this time period. I'm not deep into this aspect of the investigation yet, so I'll return to this more later.

As for the toys themselves, there are a few details that might be worth looking over, mostly on the tags. First up is the copyright dates on the tags. Some will have just one year number, ex. 1983, while some will have two specific years together, ex. 1978, 1983. These seem to refer to the year that Garfield was picked up and printed by Feature Syndicate (1978) and the year the plushie was produced (1983, here). These will help us create a timeline.

The second feature on the tag is that some plushes will have a number in a circle on the back of their tags. However, I've been yet to find any sort of pattern or meaning to these. It's not character based, as the same character in a different pose will have different numbers and two different characters will have the same number. There's no pattern with similar poses either, nor year of production. Most plushies have them, but I've noticed that some of the Garfield ones don't for whatever reason??

It's been frustrating, because it seems that these numbers might either be related to the production process or catalog ordering, but without the context they mean virtually nothing. I've looked into tagging practices at the time, even going so far as to email some employees at the US Consumer Product Safety Committee about old tagging standards, but I've come up with nothing. This suggests that this was a practice exclusive (relatively) to Dakins, which is further backed up by noticing that some other Dakin plushes from the time had these numbers as well. The Garfield numbers tended to stay in the teens though, while the numbers I could find on other plushes have been in the 20's and higher.

These are the leads I have for now. My next steps look like this:

scrape the internet for catalog scans

ask in forums for any leads

look into former employees that could answer questions

try and figure out what the numbers on the tags could mean

continue logging new Ebay finds

[parkadeparade]

My thrift posts often do well, so how about a second hand book store post?

I was searching for warrior cats first editions and moomin valley books, unfortunately no finds! BUT I found some wonderful Jim Davis collections and the animators survival kit! (A book I have been looking for)

+ a lovecraft collection! Love me my Eldritch horrors!!

I bought a handful of other things as well! (Prints, scrap booking things, and a book I didn’t feel worthy enough for a post!)

[fruitstickerr]

vintage garfield stickers

[cinderelmo]

1980s Garfield “The Entertainer” Music Box

[6boolett]

I wish I could get some #moots but I don’t really know how to,,,

I am going to tag everything I like and see if it does something

I’m 18 yo and I’m a literature student

<3

[packratshiloh]

Garfield 🧡

[prettiepalette]

maximalism...

[bannythesillybunny]

Found my first classic Garfield at a thrift store today! So happy to add him to my collection <3

[crysta-loves-titans]

Hey guys, long time no post! Life just happens, ya know? 

Anyway I got this beautiful Starfire statue last week (well almost 2 weeks ago now) to add to my small but growing geeky collection, and she is an absolute stunner! The way Starfire should always be! Oh, the Beast Boy exclusive piece is just so darn adorable! Hoping a Raven is made soon! 

[t4timberwolf]

epic thrift finds 🐛🧩

[garfening]

your banner image is absolutely stunning

thank you! here it is in full since i realize i never actually posted it on this site :0

the full story behind this pic is under the cut!

in college i took a photography class during my first semester (as required by my degree lol) and for the second day of class we were asked to bring things to take photos of in the studio, so i chose this lil garfie!

there was tons of stuff for us to use as backgrounds and i found this truly iconic star fabric to use. got to take pics of lil garf with it using the most expensive camera ive ever touched (very nerve wracking to use) and it turned out sooo good, i was obsessed

(a pic of him i took while waiting for my turn with the camera)

my degree was in graphics and printing so this garf pic quickly became an icon in my class. i put that picture on post cards, stickers, notebooks, and i even made a giant print where the garf/stars were glossy lol

(sample of the gloss print, i have no pics of the big one but its large)

i loved it so much that when i had videography class in my final semester i got the star fabric back out to make a commercial with my garfield phone for an assignment

(still image from the commercial- hes beautiful)

anyway thats about it! its my fave pic ive ever taken and bringing it back in different projects made college very fun :)

tl:dr i took this pic in college and it became iconic in my class cuz i kept printing it on stuff lmao

[garfdetective]

Intro

Hello! I've created this blog to track my journey to track every Garfield ever made by now-defunct company Dakin Inc/Dakin Toys. Why am I pouring hours of my one and only life into this?

I believe that the loss of any knowledge leaves this world colder and sadder that it was in it's presence. All knowledge is worth knowing and holding, and there is no such thing as a meaningless research topic.

These plushies are some of the most prolific and widely-known pieces of Garfield merch. Having a definitive list of every one ever produced would be useful for collectors and other members of the community, and give us a better idea of the history of Garfield merchandising.

I'm autistic.

I have a few leads on where to look for more information, but that'll be in a post coming soon catching this blog up to where I've gotten so far. This has so far been both an interesting and frustration project, since most related documentation is either lost or nonexistent, so I hope you'll join along with me as I work through it!

(p.s. if you happen to have any information or ideas, I am always open to suggestion! feel free to send stuff through either the ask or submit buttons and I'll get to them when I have time :] )

[oktobearfest]

yeah i like chopper a normal amount

also me:

[fruitstickerr]

vintage garfield stickers (1978)