Tomopop Review: Patch Together's Glowing Mushroom Wolf

12:00 PM on 07.04.2010   |   Rio McCarthy

Patch Together strikes once again, but this time, it's in the land of glow in the dark toys! I'll be honest, I don't really collect glow in the dark toys. It's not that I dislike them by any means; I just rarely have all the lights off in my house so that they can be seen in all their glory. That being said, I'm totally thrilled to have a glowing wolf bless my room's presence now!

Luminescent Wolves (Canis Mycena Luminous) were created from Khaosdog's love for bioluminescence, especially glowing mushrooms (Panellus Stipticus, for example). The glowing wolves' fur is a white/green champagne color and they tend to grow mushrooms on their back.

Now that you know where they came from, I'd say it's time to check one out, right? Hit the jump to learn more about this Glowing Mushroom Wolf!

Of course, we start things off with the classy white packaging from Patch Together which houses the figure inside styrofoam. As you can see, it comes in two parts, the wolf itself and its base, as well as a tube of super glue. I thought to myself, "Why would I need super glue?" Oh trust me ... I would suggest it.

You can see on the base there are some paw prints where you should have the glowing wolf stand so that he's secure. My mind said, "Oh that should be good enough, there's no glue needed." About that time is when he fell backwards, barely an inch off the ground, and snapped one of his legs off. Yeah ... needless to say, I would suggest gluing it.

He is definitely far more fragile than any of the previous Patch Together toys I've reviewed, and I'm assuming that has something to do with the fact that it's glow in the dark. I would definitely suggest that if you're going to be buying this, be sure to have it up high where neither children or pets can get near it.

After that minor mishap and my fancy gluing skills, you can see that it's not even noticeable. We went outside so he could soak up the rays and be ready for a glow show after we got back inside. I really like the walking pose of the mushroom wolf, and it's nice to look at since everything's well in proportion. He's about 7 inches long and stands roughly 4 1/2 inches tall.

Although the base is rather simple, I do like that it's textured, quite like the wolf itself is. It's also nice that the entire piece is glow in the dark instead of just having a blank and boring base that makes itself look completely separate. Considering how fragile the figure is, I was pleasantly surprised that all of the toenails and everything else was completely intact upon receiving it: the only time it wasn't is when I did it myself. *facepalm*

The mushrooms are also very nicely detailed. They're very smooth on the tops of them, which makes it extra fun to touch. If I find it amusing to touch I can only imagine how grabby a child might be, so again I implore that you keep it out of the reach of children so that it doesn't get broken. He's so adorable, you wouldn't want that to happen!

Look at that little face! How can you say no to it? I'd love to have a glowing wolf plushie to go along with this figure so he's not so fragile and I could hug him! All the small details, especially with the fur and eyes make this such an awesome figure to look at both up close and from afar.

As soon as I stepped back into the garage, you could see him immediately start to glow. This is actually one of the brightest glowing figures I've ever seen in person. The pictures may not come across that way, but it's definitely nice looking in person. Sadly, it only really glows that brightly if you've had it outside, so perhaps if you could put it in a window it might constantly look nice?

This is when a tripod for my camera would have come in handy, but at least you can get an idea of just how bright it is in the dark. I wish all glow in the dark figures would look this bright in the dark all the time and I'd just use them to light up my room at night! By all means, I'm not saying it doesn't glow at all on its own, as it does so quite nicely, I just don't want to get your hopes up that you could use it as a lamp under normal circumstances.

Lucky! We managed to find some mushrooms growing after the rain, which was perfect. Perhaps it had something to do with the glowing wolf? Who knows! They weren't the kind you eat though, which is fine by me anyhow because I'm not exactly a fan of eating mushrooms. They're too slimy. They do look great on glowing wolves, though, so this figure and I got along swimmingly!

This is a tad different suggestion from me as opposed to majority of my reviews. As much as I love the Glowing Mushroom Wolf, I can't suggest it to everyone. If you've got lots of children or pets around and nowhere safe to store this, it's probably going to be busted quickly. It's very fragile, so take that into consideration — other than that I would suggest it wholeheartedly.

You can pick up your very own Glowing Mushroom Wolf from Patch Together's online store now for $39.95 while they last. I can say I'm definitely enjoying having him watch over my kitchen, just as long as he doesn't sneak into my snacks while I'm not looking!