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He's staring at me!Feb 26, 2008
Claude the crab is a Beanie Baby stuffed toy, by Ty, Inc. On a physical level, we are talking about a soft, highly flexible, floppy, crab-shaped stuffed animal, with the following attributes:
The Basics
Ty Name: Claude The Crab
Date of Birth: September 3, 1996
Age Recommendation: 3 and up
UPC Code: 08421 04083 4
Made In: China
Size: 10.5 x 2 x 10
[claw to claw measurements]
Positioning: Lays flat
Status: Retired
The little tag, that comes with every Beanie Baby, for Claude says:
Claude the crab paints by the sea
A famous artist he hopes to be
But the tide came in and his paints fell
Now his art is on his shell!
I am guessing, from the tag statement, that this crab was named Claude for two reasons: as a homonym of clawed and as an homage to artists named Claude, as in Claude Monet. On the artistic side, as the tag-words say, Claude the Crab has a very colorful shell, but the colors are not typical Beanie Baby colors, or even tyical colors for most stuffed toys. Instead of cheerful pastels or neon-like glowing colors, Claude's colors are somewhat muted or subdued, with a swirled blend of tans, browns, rust, blue-gray, touches of green and lighter blue, and a grayish-lavender. To me, the colors really make him stand apart, and that is why, when a friend of mine, years ago, was selling off his collection, and offered any one of his Beanie Babies as a gift, it was Claude that I chose.
Some people do not think much of Beanie Babies, and ask, "But what can you do with them?" It is a valid question, as they are not really good for playing catch, using in imaginary action play, or hitting with a bat (Well, I guess you can, but it would not go far or fly straight.) Many people collected them just to collect them and trade them and display them.
But, doing is not the main point of a stuffed animal. Thinking is the point of a stuffed animal, it is the tool of the imagination. When I look at Claude, I wonder if . . .
I sit atop this oft-humming machine called a "computer", calmly enjoying the scenery and watching he who lives here do . . . something . . . on another machine, making little clickety-clack noises, and I dream. I dream of the sea, and the tide, and the sands, and the foam that often sits astride the edge of the ocean as it meets the shore. I remember the coral with its splendiferous colors, and I think of all that could be done with the colors of the coral, the texture of the sand, the motion of the waves, the indistinctness caused by the sea-foam, and the way the water toned down the brilliance of the colors without muting them. I remember that, and I remember how I chose the colors for my shell when I became a crab, and I remember what I used to do with colors and textures and the illusion of motion and the beautiful vagueness of edges suggested by water and sea-foam. I remember water lilies.
As you can see, a stuffed animal is a beast of the imagination. Many children love fantasy and imaginary play, and a toy like Claude the Crab can be a pet, a friend, a confidante, or many other things. Beanie Babies, like Claude, and other stuffed animals and action figures are the receptacles of fantasy. I have had Claude for many years, and do not plan to part with him. He has been many things, and now he is the subject of a review.
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