Best Star Wars Themed Squishmallows

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, we were given some of the most recognizable character designs ever to exist. Some are cute, some are cool, and even people who have never seen the movies know who these characters are. As one of the most successful franchises of all time, it is nearly impossible to avoid having at least base-level Star Wars knowledge.

You can probably find any kind of Star Wars merch possible. Nothing would really surprise me at this point. Still, my personal favorite when it comes to Stars Wars merchandise is definitely the squishmallows. My family has tossed aside our couch pillows in favor of cuddling into these giant balls of intergalactic fluff. They are soft, durable, and, most importantly, insanely adorable.

Kellytoy released these characters in three sizes, 5-inch, 10-inch, and 20-inch. The 20-inch plushes, in particular, were a massive success. Enough so that when looking for the plush online without specifying a size, you’ll find mostly 20-inch with a few 10-inch ones scattered among them. To find a 5-inch plush, you have to search for it specifically.

What Works and What Doesn’t

Currently, there are only four official Star Wars squishmallows to choose from, Baby Yoda, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and BB-8. It’s not a large selection, and there are clear distinctions between the best and worst. Mostly based on how well they translate into squishmallow form. Not every character can become a squishmallow.

Their round shape and simplistic faces mean characters chosen to become plushies must have a design that would still be recognizable and pleasant to look at in orb form. This, typically, does not include humans. So the Star Wars line consists of the most popular non-human characters.

These four characters fall into two categories: droids and aliens. I firmly believe that the aliens make for far better squishmallows. Baby Yoda is already a roughly round character with a simplistic design. Taking away his arms and legs doesn’t hurt his image enough for it to be impactful. So you just need to add some large ears to a traditional squishmallow orb, and you’ve got a cute little green guy.

Then there’s Chewbacca. While he’s the same shape as a human, his most recognizable features are animalistic. His nose is wide and flat like a dog’s; it’s even a bit connected to his mouth like a muzzle. Not to mention, he’s entirely covered in fur! Squishmallow focuses on animals, so translating Chewy’s features is no problem.

Then there are the droids. Their problem is that while they are non-human characters, their designs heavily rely on their silhouettes. You can look at the outline of pretty much any droid in Star Wars and identify it. Any good character design should have a distinct profile, but when there’s no face or clothing, that and the color palette are really all you have.

BB-8 is the least offensive of the two. He’s already circular. The problem is that BB-8 is made from two round shapes, not one. The difference in the size of BB-8’s head and body allows him to be expressive and interesting. Combining his whole body into one sphere with a grey line separating the head and body makes him look boring. The plush has BB-8’s patterning, but it lacks BB-8’s charm.

I think R2-D2 looks the worst. Since Squishmallows are all made from one round shape, they are, essentially, all just heads. However, they never feel like that. The face positioning and body patterning make the plushes feel like a whole being.

Look at Baby Yoda, he’s got his little robes, and the furry collar separates the two halves of the orb. Everything about his design makes it clear that he has a head and a body. Even BB-8 has a line differentiating his head and body. R2-D2 gets no such luxury; he is only a head.

R2-D2 is nowhere near a round shape. He’s vaguely a cylinder, but he’s got two long ‘arms’ on his sides that break the roundness. The only smooth thing on his body is his head. So they made a Squishmallow of only his head. The eye lens is directly in the middle of the plush, and the segmented blue stripe at the base of his head is at the bottom. I do not want the decapitated head of a beloved character sitting on my couch.

My Top Pick

Of the four choices and three sizes, I would choose the 20-inch Chewbacca as my favorite. Baby Yoda does come in at a close second, but I am far more interested in Chewbacca as a character than Grogu. The loyal best friend archetype has always been one of my favorites, so I’ve been a fan of the Wookie.

I then choose the 20-inch specifically for a couple of reasons. One, Chewbacca is a large character, and I think that it is worthwhile to reflect that in his merchandise. Two, being able to snuggle into a huge pillow nearly the size of my entire torso is beyond comfy. it may be pricey, but if you find it at the right retailer, like Costco, you can get a good deal.

All the Characters in Depth

These four characters come from various Star Wars projects. Only Chewbacca and R2-D2 share an origin in the original trilogy. Then BB-8 comes around from the sequel trilogy and Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian. Guess the prequel trilogy didn’t have the right stuff to be included.

Baby Yoda

The Child, Grogu, Baby Yoda, this adorable little guy, has many names. Still, no matter what you call him, you must know about his massive popularity. The release of The Mandalorian was a big deal to Star Wars fans. They finally got a crumb of insight into the mysterious bounty hunter, Boba Fett. The show was met with overwhelming positivity.

Then there was the reaction outside of those watching the series. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single character gain so much popularity so fast. Baby Yoda and The Mandalorian pretty much have completely different fanbases. I’ve seen people gush over every little piece of baby Yoda merch, having seen only a few hours of Star Wars content in their lives. My nephew even refers to Yoda as Old Yoda, which makes sense. The Child is just as prevalent, maybe even more, than the Jedi Master nowadays.

The Baby Yoda squishmallow is an excellent example of the bountiful merch this character has received. Translating a character with so many wrinkles is a challenge. Too many wrinkles and they start to look weird and old, not enough, and it doesn’t look like the character anymore. Yet they managed to find the correct balance that even doubled as a way to give the little guy some eyebrows for a playful expression. They even added extra highlights to the eyes to give them that cute, watery look.

This plush isn’t restricted to the normal Squishmallow form either. Grogu is given large ears on either side of his face. The ears even fold slightly near the head to give them shape and dimension. They also provide the robe some extra attention by making the collar a fluffier material. 

Pros

• The soft pastel colors are very pleasing to look at.
• The ears make it stand out from other Squishmallows
• The simple smiling expression is adorable.

Cons

• The brown of the robe and dark green stitching clash when put next to each other.
• The smaller sections of stitching, like the mouth, are susceptible to coming unraveled if treated too roughly.
• Depending on how you use the plush the ears may get in the way.

The 5-inch doesn’t look quite as refined as the others, but that’s true for any small plush. In fact, the decreased surface area makes the face look bigger, which makes it cuter, in my opinion. This is definitely the best of the 5-inch plushes.

10 inches is good for a plush meant to be moved around or amongst other plushes, maybe for collecting or playing. It’s pretty versatile. You can still cuddle with it, but it’s not taking up too much space.

Finally, we have the master size, 20-inches. They say bigger is better; in this case, it’s hard to argue. I love leaning into a giant squishmallow. It is just so hard to resist how comfortable they are. Yet of the four we are looking at, Baby Yoda might not be the best choice for 20 inches. Sometimes, the giant ears can get in the way. While I’ll often sit and rub the ears to relax while watching TV, I’ll just as often find myself trying to rotate the pillow to that the ears aren’t poking my back or hiding the remote.

Chewbacca

The Chewy plush is a lovely, rich shade of brown with a fuzzy spot of lighter brown to distinguish his face. He’s got his iconic bandolier wrapped around his lower half, denoting his preparedness. I absolutely love his cheery expression. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of wide-eyed, toothy grin from Chewbacca in any movie, but I don’t care. It’s far too contagious for me to mind some canon inaccuracy.

Pros

• The big smile with two little fangs is extremely endearing.
• His darker colors pop against the lighter colors of the rest of the collection.

Cons

• The expression isn’t exactly in character.
• The dark brown of the bandolier and plush is too close to the fur color.

Like Baby Yoda, the 5-inch Chewbacca isn’t nearly as popular as the larger versions. I’m not as compelled by this little guy as his larger size. His considerable size is part of Chewy’s character, and this mini plush just doesn’t work as well as the larger ones. Plus, the stitching in the fabric is much more apparent at this smaller size.

The 10-inch Chewy has a surprising amount of flaws. I’ve noticed the stitching still pulls at the fabric, like the smaller size, and the seams at the bottom are very noticeable.

If you’ve got the space and money for it, I highly suggest going for the 20-inch Chewy. He makes such a good pillow to lean against or sleep on. Some of my best naps have been curled up on the couch, halfway sunk into this behemoth of fluff. Children will also love his friendly face and huggable size. Of the Star Wars squishmallow collection, I don’t think there’s a better co-pilot than this one.

BB-8

Of the two droids, I think BB-8 makes for the better squishmallow. I don’t think the design is perfect because of the lack of expression, but the roundness of BB-8 means it isn’t awful. Suppose you’re looking for a large cuddly robot or a sci-fi addition to your squishmallow collection. In that case, you won’t be disappointed.

Pros

• The white and orange color scheme is very satisfying.
• The geometric lines and circles are very clean.

Cons

• Without a face, there isn’t much expression to connect with.
• Turning BB-8 into one orb takes away his personality and recongizablitiy.
• The patterns don’t extend to the bottom of the plush so they stop abruptly.

I think the 5-inch BB-8 is best suited for young children who are fans of the droid and squishmallows and people looking to complete a collection. There are far better BB-8 plushes out there for plush lovers.

There’s not much special about the 10-inch plush. It has the same problems as the 5-inch, so I would only recommend it to the same groups of people looking for something larger. In fact, I’d recommend this one over the 5-inch cause at least this one would be huggable.

The 20-inch is really the only BB-8 that might be worth it for the average buyer. It’s still not a great representation of the droid but giving more space for the head, and the larger eye-lens mean it’s a bit easier to connect with the character. I would still recommend Chewy or the Child over this one, but if your heart is set on a big BB-8, this will do the job.

R2-D2

As someone who grew up watching the original trilogy, R2-D2 was always my favorite droid. They somehow managed to convey so much personality and sass with beeps, head swivels, and violent shaking. That’s why this squishmallow disappoints me so much.

To be fair, I don’t think there was a way for Kellytoy to make R2-D2 into a satisfying squishmallow. The soft sphere just doesn’t translate to hard robotics very well. Yet, the collection would feel far too small with just Chewbacca and Baby Yoda, droids are a huge part of the Star Wars universe, and BB-8 and R2-D2 are the most popular ones. So while their choices are understandable, they just didn’t work out.

Pros

• I like the dark blue and white combination with a touch of red.

Cons

• It is unsettling that it is just his head.
• There’s no personality or expression.
• It looks a lot cleaner than the R2-D2 in the movies.

The least egregious of the R2-D2s is probably the 5-inch. Since it’s smaller, the fact that it’s just a head isn’t quite as jarring. It gets across enough of the signature squishmallow cuteness to be enjoyable.

I wouldn’t recommend either the 10-inch or 20-inch plushes. They simply don’t resemble R2-D2 enough, and when you look at them too long, it really sinks in that he is missing his body. Get another 20-inch plush, or get an R2-D2 figurine instead.

In Summary

As of right now, there aren’t a lot of Star Wars Squishmallows to choose from. Due to the limited characters from the Star Wars universe that could work as a squishmallow, there might not be many more in the future. The four we have hold up to the squishmallow standard of quality. They are all soft and huggable. Still, not all the characters work well as pillows. Baby Yoda and Chewbacca both look amazing in all their sizes, yet R2-D2 and BB-8 are lacking.

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Mika Zans

Mika is a content writer who has a weakness for plush merch. She enjoys anything soft and cuddly. Her shelves and walls are filled with art and various knick-knacks from shows she likes, mostly animated or fantasy-based properties. She finds a personal connection with her favorites and shares them with you. When she's not writing, she enjoys playing Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and Stardew Valley.

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