TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 1,975
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Those were the days.
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It's that time of year where everyone says they're going to sort out the boxes and bags of stuff that have been thrown into storage, and yes, I'm among the crowd who is desperately trying to do the same. But half the fun of deciding to do this is finding things I've simply forgotten I own, which includes a collection I hold quite near to my heart: my Webkinz. I had about 60 of them growing up, which is absolutely excessive I know, but I didn't love a browser game as much as I loved Webkinz to say the least.
Welcome to Character Select, a weekly column where PC Gamer takes a look at the art and cosplay created by you. Each week, I'll highlight a few of my favourite pieces, spotlight and interview creators and artists, or generally just chew your ear off about the talents of the gaming community.
If you don't know what a Webkinz is, it's basically a brand of plush toys which come with a code for you to redeem on the browser game to bring your pet to life, essentially. You can feed them, pet them, take them to the arcade, do daily challenges, you know, all the early 2000s good stuff. It didn't take long at all for me to become utterly obsessed, hence the almost-60+ plushie collection.
However, a few years into my obsession, Webkinz started to release pets that were exclusively virtual, like the Cotton Candy Sheep, the Birthstone Puppies, and the Cloud Sheep. I didn't really understand why, as getting the plushie was half of the fun, but these virtual-only pets were popular and to this day I still see people online looking for them.
When I was younger though, I just accepted the fact they were virtual only and didn't think much of it. What I didn't realise is that people were going out of their way to create handmade, unique plushies of these digital-only critters to put in their collections.
A post shared by Factory of Hearts (@factory_of_hearts)
A photo posted by on
For example, Instagram user Factory_of_Hearts has been creating custom Webkinz for virtual-only pets for years, including both full-sized plushies which you'd get a pet code with, and "Kinz Clips" which were the smaller, bag hanger plushies. You could easily convince me that these were part of the original Webkinz collection, as all of the details even down to their "Magic W" (an embroidered rainbow W patch each of the plushies had) are identical to their vir...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
It's that time of year where everyone says they're going to sort out the boxes and bags of stuff that have been thrown into storage, and yes, I'm among the crowd who is desperately trying to do the same. But half the fun of deciding to do this is finding things I've simply forgotten I own, which includes a collection I hold quite near to my heart: my Webkinz. I had about 60 of them growing up, which is absolutely excessive I know, but I didn't love a browser game as much as I loved Webkinz to say the least.
Welcome to Character Select, a weekly column where PC Gamer takes a look at the art and cosplay created by you. Each week, I'll highlight a few of my favourite pieces, spotlight and interview creators and artists, or generally just chew your ear off about the talents of the gaming community.
If you don't know what a Webkinz is, it's basically a brand of plush toys which come with a code for you to redeem on the browser game to bring your pet to life, essentially. You can feed them, pet them, take them to the arcade, do daily challenges, you know, all the early 2000s good stuff. It didn't take long at all for me to become utterly obsessed, hence the almost-60+ plushie collection.
However, a few years into my obsession, Webkinz started to release pets that were exclusively virtual, like the Cotton Candy Sheep, the Birthstone Puppies, and the Cloud Sheep. I didn't really understand why, as getting the plushie was half of the fun, but these virtual-only pets were popular and to this day I still see people online looking for them.
When I was younger though, I just accepted the fact they were virtual only and didn't think much of it. What I didn't realise is that people were going out of their way to create handmade, unique plushies of these digital-only critters to put in their collections.
A post shared by Factory of Hearts (@factory_of_hearts)
A photo posted by on
For example, Instagram user Factory_of_Hearts has been creating custom Webkinz for virtual-only pets for years, including both full-sized plushies which you'd get a pet code with, and "Kinz Clips" which were the smaller, bag hanger plushies. You could easily convince me that these were part of the original Webkinz collection, as all of the details even down to their "Magic W" (an embroidered rainbow W patch each of the plushies had) are identical to their vir...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?