TeeTurtle Releases New “Sanrio Scented Cupcake Reversible Plushies Collection” Toy Line

The Sanrio Scented Cupcake Reversible Plushies Collection from TeeTurtle is a new line of toys with a pleasing aroma that comes in a number of fun designs, including those of iconic and beloved characters such as Hello Kitty and Kuromi. These incredibly soft, pleasing scented, vibrantly colored toys can be turned inside-out to reveal a different “personality.” The line has proven to be extremely popular — especially among young girls — much to the delight of CEO Ramy Badie who recently discussed the collection via an exclusive interview.

Meagan Meehan (MM): How did you get interested in the toy industry and what led you to TeeTurtle?

Ramy Badie (RB): I’ve been a collector since I was a kid. It started with Beanie Babies and Pokemon cards, then progressed to Magic: The Gathering (and still Pokemon cards) as I got older. And the truth is that I never really grew up. I still feel the same delight when I hold an adorable plush toy today that I did then. But my path to where I am today was not exactly linear. I wanted to be an artist when I was a kid, but my parents nudged me towards medicine. While in college studying Neuroscience, I started traveling to conventions selling prints of my artwork and designing t-shirts for a couple of online retailers. Six months before starting med school, I decided to launch a website selling my designs as a fun side project. As you might have already guessed, that side project was

TeeTurtle. (And, in case you’re wondering, I still haven’t returned from my “leave of absence” from med school.)

MM: This new line of inside-out and aroma-rich plushies are truly adorable. How did you come up with their concept and design?

RB: It all started with our Original Reversible Octopus plushie. One day back in 2016, a member of our team brought in a giant crocheted octopus into the office. I was playing with it (naturally), and noticed it was particularly satisfying when I would flip it upside down and its legs would flop over. And then, suddenly, my eyes widened and I yelled, “what if another head came out of the other side??” I was met with a handful of confused looks as I ran to my desk and started doodling in a notebook, outlining plans for what soon became our first ever toy that could flip inside-out. From there, we started exploring many different paths, including different animals, fabrics, and licenses. Curiosity was our guiding value, and we eventually found our way to scents. What was particularly exciting when we started testing them was discovering that you’d get a little burst of the smell each time you flipped the plushie, making the innovations a perfect pairing.

MM: Was it difficult to create an item that needs to have long-lasting scent?

RB: There were a few challenges we had to overcome. The first was a construction that sealed in the scent to make sure it could last a long time while making sure it was still possible to smell it. We also had to figure out how to sew in the “scent pouch” into the reversible plushie without changing the texture when there is not a lot of stuffing between the two sides. But the biggest challenge was nailing down the scents themselves. Let’s just say we sniffed a lot of bad strawberries before we got to the good ones. The distance between Lemon Cake and Pinesol is not as far as you’d think, and nailing down the precise compositions and quantities to produce the scents we wanted was a new challenge for us. But Toucan Sam taught me in childhood to follow my nose, and we finally found the combinations that elicited the right combination of sweetness, joy, and nostalgia we were looking for.

MM: How did you choose the characters and do you have any favorites?

RB: When it came to designing more characters, the answer was pretty much always yes. Axolotl? Yes. Capybara? Yes. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Yes.

I’ve always been more interested in “relatable and a little weird” than cookie-cutter perfection. Our products have always leaned a bit quirky, and we wanted to create a wide range of characters that would help people express themselves.

As for my personal favorite? It changes based on my mood. Today, it’s a little red panda named Cupcake dressed in a scented pink teddy bear suit that’s currently sitting on my desk. But you’ll have to wait to see him ’til next year!

MM: What have been some of the reactions you’ve gotten from consumers regarding your toys?

RB: There’s a sense of vulnerability that comes with creating something and putting it out into the world. But the reception we’ve gotten has been astounding. Teachers have used our reversible plushies to help non-verbal students express their feelings. Couples have used our games to propose marriage (and we even have created a custom Proposal Unicorn card and sent it to fans to make it possible). And don’t get me started on the incredible tattoos fans have gotten of our characters. I thought one day the “pinch me” feeling would go away, but it’s been 13 years and I’m still fully convinced that I’m dreaming.

MM: What are your ultimate hopes for the brand?

RB: World domination. Next question. Ok fine — I’m kidding (mostly). In my experience, I’ve found that different companies have different driving forces behind the wheel. For many, they’re financially-driven. For others, they are marketing-driven. We’ve always been a creative-driven company, which means we lead with exploration and innovation, and everything else is secondary. At the end of the day, I want to keep making things that make people feel things. And I want to amplify the voices of designers with unique points of view. Through the years, we’ve learned a lot of lessons (and made a lot of mistakes), and along the way, we built an operational backbone to support our creative vision. We’re now building a Creative Incubator that will allow us to use that infrastructure to foster the ideas of inventors and help bring them to life alongside our own creations.

MM: What other kinds of plush — and toys in general — do you envision getting released by TeeTurtle in the near future?

RB: When designing a new kind of plush, we always start by looking for something that’s never been done before. That seems like a paradox: how can you look for something that doesn’t exist? The answer is to start with the impossible, the things that would normally be reserved only for the realm of imagination, then ask how to bring them into the physical world. It’s a lofty goal, but one that has been a guiding principle in our designs that has led us to many whimsical innovations. We have a new product line releasing this month that looks like it defies physics with its big head and teeny tiny body called Cloudheads, and I couldn’t be more excited about them.

MM: Is there anything else that you would like to mention?

RB: When I was three years old, I loved playing with dolls. Nothing brought me more joy than brushing and styling their hair for hours.

I was different from other boys my age. My mom and dad worried I’d be bullied, but I couldn’t care less. I knew who I was, and I happily carried my dolls with me everywhere I went. And I couldn’t be more grateful that my parents didn’t try to change me.

This is also part of the reason why it’s so important to me to create products that help people express their authentic selves. I’m still that same boy at heart, and that deep connection to my inner child has become my superpower. And to all the parents with a peculiar child at home, I hope you’ll celebrate what makes them different and raise them to find that superpower within themselves too.