As a hard figure (ventriloquist) maker of many years, I have never owned a soft figure. My first grandson was coming to visit and, since my hard figures scare most kids I thought a soft figure would be fun for him to play with. He didn't like it, but my 15 year old youngest son, Enoch, did. He named it "Bernie" because it seemed to be a cross between Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. Enoch is autistic and so perhaps puppetry will become a new outlet for him to express himself. The puppet is superbly well made...by far the finest commercially available soft figure I've ever seen!