Melissa & Doug Plush Giraffe

Update: 5 days later. Customer Service at Melissa and Doug reached out to me and they are replacing both the giraffe and the elephant. They will be analyzing the giraffe information thoroughly and I get the impression this is a highly irregular event and may not have happened before now. Given that there are nearly 1700 absolutely positive reviews for this item, I'm kind of thinking that this truly was a one- off event. They are making it right and sending me a new one. Also, I questioned whether or not the problem was...us? Were we playing too rough with these animals? Are they more designed for decoration? She said that they can be played with, but not with a great deal of roughness. I'm kind of thinking that the stitching that came undone on the elephant may have truly been our fault as it just invites a kid to try to sit on it, thereby stressing the stitches. They aren't designed to be ridden but she did say the seams shouldn't have come apart that easily. She is sending me a new one as well. In this day and age, that is truly amazing and a little inspiring too. They are clearly watching for feedback...constantly. They want you to be absolutely happy with their products and they will make it right if there is a problem. I know of no other toy company that would do this. Original: I truly love and appreciate Melissa and Doug. I have a family of 4 young kiddos and we truly support Melissa and Doug. My kids love the huge stuffed animals but this is where we have had some trouble with Melissa and Doug. Pros: Huge. Kids go crazy for these. It's giant size really appeals to all of them from ages 2-7. Cons: Serious quality control. This is the 2nd large animal we purchased and both had critical failures. The giraffe somehow broke a wire internally and it stuck outside of it. I, being crazy busy, did not notice this. My youngest son got pretty cut with this wire and this beloved toy went immediately to the trash. I thought about replacing it, but this was the second large stuffed toy failure from M&D. The elephant we purchased had a split seam down the back and I could not seem to get it to stay closed though I sewed it shut twice with heavy duty thread. Basic play just put too much stress on it. Usually, M&D has awesome stuff. This one though, I would call a serious hazard. The wire was SHARP and although it didn't need stitches, it was a bad cut that ran about 6 inches down his little leg. It was serious enough to trash a favorite toy (and all parents know - that's not a decision taken lightly. It was done swiftly, but not without a pang of nostalgia and not without a lot of consoling to a very upset kiddo).