Disclaimer: We were sent these Classic and Newborn Pound Puppies to review free of charge, but words and pictures are mine. This post contains affiliate links, see more information here.
Pound Puppies were first released in 1984 and have made almost every list of must-have 80s toys. When I was a young child – probably a similar age to my children now – my sister and I had one each. My pup was grey and I loved him, but my sister chewed its nose off while we were on holiday and I’ve never really got over it.
I wouldn’t say, as a 36 year old, that I still hold it against her but I wouldn’t say I definitely don’t.
Luckily for me, Basic Fun have released replica Pound Puppies which are just like their vintage counterparts.
When the chance to have my very own 80s-style Pound Puppy came up and I thought it might heal me of my past wounds. Unfortunately, my children had other ideas and I didn’t get much of a look in.
We were sent one large 17″ Pound Puppies plush, and an eight inch Pound Puppies Newborns plush, complete with cardboard kennels and adoption certificates. OK so it wasn’t the grey one, but maybe I’ll stick him on my Christmas list…
Classic Pound Puppies
Each classic 17 inch Pound Puppy come with an 80s-style cardboard carrier which you can use to house your new adopted puppy in or recycle if you don’t have the space to keep it.
There is no other packaging apart from a plastic bag containing the adoption certificate, as well as a sticker sheet because who doesn’t love stickers?
The Classic Pound Puppies have a collar and a plastic tag which you can write their name on and the Pound Puppies logo on their bottom.
Like the original Pound Puppies, they have hard eyes and big, hard noses and a soppy smile. They have a soft squashy body and floppy ears so they’re nice to cuddle, and these ones are big enough for small children to use as a cushion.
Word of warning though, keep your Pound Puppies away from small kids who like to chew because those noses are just too tempting (although nowadays they are just hard plastic; not covered in chewable fabric which is how I remember my 80s Pound Puppy to be…).
There are four different colour variations in this wave of vintage Classic Pound Puppies to adopt.
The large Classic Pound Puppies have an RRP of £19.99 each.
Pound Puppies Newborns
The Newborn Pound Puppies are much smaller at eight inches long. They’re soft, squishy and cute and there are eight different newborn puppies to adopt and collect.
They’re very similar in appearance to the bigger pups… Just smaller. Note that the Pound Puppies Newborns do not come with a nappy, which is shown on some of the pictures online. They also don’t come with the sticker sheet, or a hard tag on their collar, but they do have an adoption certificate.
They have an RRP of £7.99 each so are cute pocket money options for kids aged 3 and over.
Adopt a huggable best friend
Pound Puppies are puppies that you can adopt from the pound – they might not be called pounds these days but it’s a good way to open up conversation with kids about dog ownership and adoption. We have our own real life Pound Puppy at home and I am a firm believer in ‘adopt, don’t shop’ when it comes to dogs.
This wave of Pound Puppies is affiliated with Dogs Trust. At the moment, for each Dogs Trust Pound Puppy sold (which you can see on the packet), Basic Fun will make a small donation to Dogs Trust of 11p for the Newborns and 27p for the Classic Pound Puppies.
The Dog’s Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, caring for and rehoming around 15,000 dogs a year as well as providing expert dog training support and advice on dog welfare.
You can learn more about Dog’s Trust on their website.
How much and where to buy
If the pull of the cute vintage pups is too much, you can find the Classic Pound Puppies for sale at Smyths, and both types of pup at Amazon; you can find the Classic Pound Puppies here and Newborns here.
They’re suitable for kids aged from three years old and are suggested for kids aged 3-6 although maybe they meant 36? I don’t know.
The Pound Puppies 2020 versions have RRPs of £7.99 for the Newborn Pound Puppies and £19.99 for the larger Classic Pound Puppies.