Inflatable of the Day 4/11
14Today I want to show you the biggest toy in my collection! This is Zephyr, a winged wolf who is a whopping 16 feet long! He was made by a company in China called Guangzhou Hongyi (everyone just calls them Hongyi for short), and was a custom one-off at this size, though more have been made since he was delivered to his original owner a few years ago. I bought Zephyr for a fire sale price off my friend, the original owner, since he needed money and knew how much I love inflatable wolves. Zeph dwarfs every other toy in my collection. He takes approximately ten minutes to fully inflate with a good electric air pump, and has a total of nine air chambers: body, legs, tail, wings, and hair! Once you climb up onto his back by stepping carefully onto his front leg, he feels like sitting on a cloud…you sink into his soft vinyl a bit, and his wings surround you. I have fallen asleep on him many times! Zephyr doesn’t come out very often, simply because his massive size makes him a chore to deflate, but whenever he makes an appearance he is instantly the star. I fall for that big adorable face every time!
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I love his facial expression.
@f00l Totally adorable, right?
@PooltoyWolf
Affirmative
Dang! That’s longer than many cars and SUVs!
@narfcake Hmmm, I should take his picture next to the car…
For a custom inflatable that size do they use premium materials and seam processes, or is that too much of a hassle for a one-off build?
@Limewater Most of them are made using the same vinyl and welding processes that are used for everything else the factory builds. The toy size can be scaled up pretty far without causing issues.
@Limewater @PooltoyWolf
What else besides inflatables does your factory make @PooltoyWolf?
@Limewater @Lynnerizer I only wish I had my own factory! Typically the factories I work with make other vinyl goods too, such as raincoats, shower curtains, bags, etc., but quite a few, like Hongyi, manufacture exclusively inflatables.
Wowza! Yes, that’s longer than MY car. And probably cost more, too!
@Kyeh I believe the new build cost for this toy was about $1,400
@PooltoyWolf That’s a lot less than I expected, cool! The enclosed swimming pool looks so nice (as I currently look out the window at snow, about 4" so far and still falling)
@Kyeh It sure does look nice, doesn’t it? It’s not my pool.
@PooltoyWolf Oh, too bad!
What other things do you use these beautiful bad boys for? Did I read correctly that some are used in movies for the big screen? Not much more room in the pool for guests when you have a blow up in there. Making a statement to your fair weather friends.
@Lynnerizer They are wonderful for so many things! Airbeds, lounge chairs, gaming chairs, advertising, snuggle buddies, emotional support, floatation devices, and even partners on lonely nights, heh. They’re very versatile!
Do you have a special process that you use for deflating all of your inflatables?
@j2 Most of the time I just lay on them until most of the air is out, then use a reversible air pump to suck the rest out. Folding depends on toy, but usually I fold in thirds, then roll up like a sleeping bag.
He’s beautiful!!
. Glad we don’t have to pick a favorite - I would be torn between them all.
Of course I love him too
I’m glad you included the shot with you riding Zephyr. Really gives a sense of the scale!
@llangley I feel like we should not say torn on this thread lol
@llangley He is one of my favorites, but he’s just so damn big that I don’t get to blow him up very often! I may sleep on him tonight…
@llangley @PooltoyWolf And if you fall out of bed???
@Kidsandliz @llangley His wings will cushion my fall
How did you get into collecting these? Not exactly a common kind of collection.
@Kidsandliz It started when I was very young, but unfortunately my memory from way back when has quite a few gaps. I just know I always loved how soft they are, and becoming a furry really pushed me in the direction of collecting the animal ones. I then found the various Internet communities and learned that I wasn’t alone in my weird hobby!
How many of these do you have? Your inclosed pool area is awesome.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
@star2236 Sadly that’s not my pool, haha! As for my collection, I couldn’t put a number on it…easily over 100 toys!
@PooltoyWolf @star2236 Woah, over 100!?!!
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @star2236 that sounds like my shoe collection!!
@PooltoyWolf @star2236 @tinamarie1974
How about a shoe-of-the-day thread next month, tinamarie1974?
@Kyeh @star2236 Indeed!
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @star2236 hhuummm. I don’t think people will enjoy that as much as @pooltoywolf and his inflatable of the day threads
@Kyeh @star2236 @tinamarie1974 You’re making me blush!
@PooltoyWolf @star2236 @tinamarie1974 It would be hard for anyone to top that, for sure!
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @tinamarie1974
That would be my kind of thread. We could have everybody show off their favorite collections. I got some favorites, some are beat up but still my favorites bc they remind me of good times and they never hurt my feet no matter how long I stand, dance or party in them.
@star2236 I think we found a daily fun thread for you next month!!!
@PooltoyWolf @star2236 @tinamarie1974 Yes, we’ll need something to fill the void after PooltoyWolf stops displaying his collection - although it sounds like he could go on several more months!
@Kyeh @star2236 @tinamarie1974 Perhaps I could keep featuring an inflatable once per week? If popular demand supports it, of course
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @star2236 @tinamarie1974
Popular demand supports it. : )
@f00l @Kyeh @star2236 @tinamarie1974 Duly noted :B
@f00l @PooltoyWolf @star2236 @tinamarie1974 Yes, definitely!!!
@f00l @Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @tinamarie1974
Well I can’t wait till the shoe thread, I might just have to buy a new pair of shoes for it.
@f00l @PooltoyWolf @star2236 @tinamarie1974
Sounds like a pretty good excuse!
@star2236 this should be your thread
I tried to add a topic today (is that the same a thread?) but it didn’t work for some reason.
@star2236 yup yup. Same thing
@star2236 @tinamarie1974 You guys should make a blame topic thread for this sort of thing.
@chienfou is hoarding all of the toilet paper… again.
@star2236 @therealjrn should but we won’t be able to find it!!!