It is a puggle Puggles were soft toys, made in the 1980s, that were part of a range of toys and literature that were sold in toy shops in the early 1980s, and then at a chain of themed gift-shops/children's party facilities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America that immersed children into a mythical world, set in the Australian bush. The gift shops were called The Lost Forests, and they were located across New South Wales, Victoria, Melbourne, Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia Between 1988 and 1994. There were also three stores in the United States of America and one store in New Zealand during that period.
The concept for the Lost Forests books, themes and merchandise were the brainchild of the late Australian rock legend Billy Thorpe and his guitar player from the days of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Tony Barber. Thorpe and Barber wrote a series of children's books: 'The Puggle Tales' and 'Tales of the Lost Forests' in the early 1980s while they were residing in the United States of America. Inspired by the success of the books, Barber set up the Lost Forests company and became its director; however, the intellectual rights for the Lost Forests has been retained by the company's financial backers. All of the Lost Forests stores had closed across Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America by 1993; however, the owners of the intellectual property, The McDonnell family, re-established the company as an on-line business in 2006.
it's a manfrotto foot which I placed on the puggle.... he is a beanbag toy.... but he came in handy to steady my 600mm... so I thought why not shoot him with the manfrotto foot on him...Now if a child saw a toy being used in such a way I would have been called mean.. hence "meanfrotto" and I don't think they make them anymore I got mine in 1982.....