FUZ Ducks: an inadvertent retrospective

(pictures here)

We bought these ducks in the middle of last year, received them in December (2006) from the parent company in Hong Kong, and have loved them well ever since.  I had photographed them immediately upon receipt, with full intentions of writing up a glowing article about them as soon as possible.  It’s the same old sad story of excuses and time crunches that turns a good intention into a long-forgotten item at the bottom of the stack on a messy desk.  Now I have the time and the motivation to finally address the topic, just in time to find that the year’s dramatic rise in anti-PVC and anti-pthalate lobbying may well have spelled the demise of these ducks.

First, though, let’s go back to the beginning, circa August 2006.  I initially found out about these ducks, then listed under the possibly ill-advised trade name DUCKDOO, by following a DuckPlanet link to a web site for Hong Kong based Boldwin Industrial Company, Ltd.  The web site listed different kinds of scented duck prototypes, including MAN-GOO (the mango-scented duck) and LAMP-MOO (the lemon-scented duck).  None of these eccentric names, however, could top the apparently chocolate-chip-cookie scented duck with the unfortunate name of DOOKIE and the even more unfortunate brown, lumpy appearance.  That particular duck prototype has since been removed completely from cyberspace, much to my sorrow for not having gotten a screen capture to prove its existence. 

I registered on Boldwin’s web site and tried to get some more information about purchasing these ducks.  The manufacturer was selling them in 48-piece lots, which I was not about to buy.  However, after some email correspondence, I did get an invitation to preorder in smaller quantities (a minimum of 6 being much more palatable to my budget).  It was in early September of 2006 that DuckPlanet became the official distributor of this line, so I happily placed my order through their site for one of each of the available ducks: mango, orange, lemon, strawberry, grape, and banana.  I was so sad that the chocolate-scented duck, which appeared on the manufacturer’s web site, was not slated to be available until the ‘next run’. 

Nevertheless, I anticipated my shipment with much excitement.  In November, when the ducks were scheduled to arrive, I received instead a bitter-sweet email from Boldwin:  my scented rubber duck shipment had been delayed due to a delay in package printing and would not arrive until mid-December.  However, by way of apology, the company noted that they would be including a chocolate-scented duck in my order free of charge!  I was elated, and perfectly happy to accept my shipment in December, like an early Christmas present.

The package arrived at the post office, just before the new year, in shocking condition.  The outer wrapping and container appeared to have been chewed open by a blunt-toothed animal.  Several of the ‘gift boxes’ the ducks were packaged in were damaged.  And most disturbing of all, the orange duck appeared to have been cut and pried open at the seal.  A single, smug-looking sticker pathetically placed across the package’s gaping hole, like a tiny band-aid over a severed limb, proudly proclaimed my package to have passed inspection of the US Department of Agriculture.  I think it is more accurate to say that my package was masticated and passed through the digestion of the US D of A.  I was incredulous at the damage to the packaging inside and out.  I was livid about the damage to the orange duck.  And yet I felt totally helpless, imagining myself becoming entangled in the merciless jaws of bureaucracy in an attempt to get satisfaction.   Gradually, my ire lessened as I took the ducks home and assimilated them into my collection.  I never did make any attempt to right the grievous wrong done to my poor orange duck and to this day I wince a little when I see him.

The ducks’ homecoming was quiet at first.  Alone in my house I gingerly opened the package and removed each duck from its gift box home.  I carefully inspected and admired each one, and just as carefully returned them to their boxes.  The smell of each duck was so strong as to be almost sickening.  It was love at first sight.  I was torn about allowing my just-turned-three-year-old daughter to play with them.  If what I felt was love at first sight, it was not a patch on the exuberant covetousness my daughter expressed the first time she saw them.  And so, in the end, I could not say no, and I let my daughter play with them.

But, and this obsessivness is hard to admit to in print, originally there were strict rules.  I only allowed my daughter to play with one at a time, and only under strict supervision.  She adopted the strawberry duck as her favorite and most often asked for her, leaving her sibling ducks waiting in their boxes on top of the tall cabinet for their turn.  After a few weeks of this my husband lovingly pointed out that I was being perversely possessive and that I should either let the kid play with the ducks and have done, or put them all away in the garage to gather dust like any proper collector’s item.  I broke down and let my daughter have the ducks, but I didn’t cave on one rule and to this day the ducks do not go in the bathtub.  I just didn’t ever want poor orange duck to develop mold from his US D of A wound and it was easier to just keep the whole group of them out of the bath tub, rather than have to explain the particulars to my three year old. 

The first night that the ducks were home, I stayed up until midnight photographing them.  It was a serendipitous evening where I just happened to have a fantastic selection of fruits in the house to perfectly complement the ducks in pictures, and a generous husband to give me a crash course in digital photography.  Those are the last, best photos we have of the ducks, as shortly after I allowed my daughter to play with them all, the ducks began to acquire the small scuffs and marks that all rubber ducks develop with use over time. 

All things considered, the ducks have held up very well.  The overpowering scent stuck around for a few months, as I kept them in their boxes initially.  Once they were released from their gift boxes, the scents continued to hang around in a slightly less powerful way.  I recall being able to tell where in the house any given duck was just by ‘following my nose’.  My daughter once left grape duck in our car for a few hours and the car smelled softly of synthetic grapes for a few days.  Today the scent is only apparent when the duck is held within an inch or so of my nose, with a slightly stronger scent emanating a few inches away from the bottom seal of the duck.  The scents themselves have mellowed from cloying chemical-sweetness to a softer, more organic-like smell.   I have to admit, though, that the chocolate duck always initially reminds me of cola rather than chocolate.

The appeal of these ducks is not only in their gimmicky scents.  The look and feel of each duck is so pleasing to eye and hand.  I love the nappy-smooth skin of the mango duck, the bumpy, citrusy surfaces of the orange and lemon ducks.  I love the coloring of each duck, how the beak is colored to complement the rest of the duck, how some of the ducks have stems or even leaves on top of their heads.  I like the pleasant weight of the duck – I think the seal on the bottom of each duck is weighted for balance in order to float properly, though I’ve never tested this theory.  I love the chunky molded letters on the seal declaring each one a FUZ Duck – the name they adopted in place of the ill-fated DUCKDOO.

I think my favorite is the mango duck.  It’s truly hard to say, because they are all so appealing and unique.  Of course, chocolate is my favorite flavor, but I’m not eating these ducks, and as I noted the chocolate one doesn’t smell exactly chocolaty.   To me the mango scent is the most pleasant, the coloring the most interesting and the texture the most inviting.  My daughter still prefers the strawberry duck, who now figures largely in a lot of duck wedding play, where she is frequently seen ‘kissing’ her groom, grape duck. 

The scented ducks have worked their way seamlessly into our collection and are, I must say, the pride of our haul.  I almost feel justified in the idea of buying multiple sets of these ducks, just because my daughter and I enjoy them so much, and because I think they would make neat gifts and, secretly, because it would be so indulgent to have a set still in boxes hoarded away in the garage gathering dust. 

But I worry about these ducks.  The whole anti-plastic movement has got me paranoid about these sweet additions to our collection.  My daughter was already past the stage of mouthing things when we first got the ducks, so I haven’t been particularly worried about ‘contaminating’ her, and we do keep them out of her bath tub, albeit for more esoteric reasons.  I am worried that the product is not (forgive the term) flexible enough to adapt to the current anti-plastic climate.  I don’t think the Hong Kong company, with so many other products and markets for its business, is interested in pursuing a more eco-friendly version of the ducks.  I fear that this line has hit an insurmountable obstacle, prematurely dooming an otherwise charming set of rubber ducks.

(on to pictures)