Purple padded pouch - storage container discontinued by Don Wands - review by No-nita

As a lover of glass toys, I am also a lover of padded storage. Too many times I've ordered a glass toy, only to have it shipped to me in nothing but a velvet baggie and some bubble wrap. The packaging of a lot of glass toys (or, to be more specific, "lower end" glass toys) is very lacking, to say the least. This means it falls to the consumer to find some way of protecting them. Enter the Purple Padded Pouch.

These pouches seemed absolutely perfect to me when I first saw them. They were purple (and, at the time, also came in a pink variety), which is an automatic plus in my book, but they were also a lot longer than other single-toy storage bags I'd seen. At least in the case of the large bag, anyway. The Large Purple Padded Pouch measures 6" wide by 10" long, with a black drawstring around its opening. Unfortunately, the measurements do not exactly tell all. The pouch may be 6" across, but with a heavy amount of padding inside the lining, that width is shortened considerably. I would be very surprised if you could actually fit 6" worth of toys in here, side-by-side (I am tempted to say it would be impossible, but I just know that someone would show me up if I made that claim). I bought my large pouches for single-toy storage, though, as I said, so I will review them from that point of view.

The first thing I noticed about these babies - besides the purple color and the immense padding - was that the pouches are well constructed. I don't feel like I'll rip them while handling them, and that is definitely a quality I look for when I'm seeking someplace to ferret away my most fragile toys. I've placed the Nubby G Wand inside one and found that it fit perfectly, with a little room to spare, lengthwise (that toy is a little over 7" long and almost 2" in diameter). I attempted to stuff my Flexi-power Rod into one, as well, and it was too long, measuring in at almost a full 12 inches. The battery pack and control pad at the base of that toy ended up stretching the pouch wide at its mouth, though, and there is no way to "close" the pouch around a toy with its drawstring.

I have dropped these pouches, toys inside, several times - onto a carpeted floor, mind you - and my lovelies were, thankfully, unharmed. I trust these pouches to protect my toys in situations like this, but I would never risk dropping one onto hardwood or, heaven forbid, tile flooring. The padding in the lining of the pouches can shift around a bit, and get squished, so while it offers a bit of protection, your toy is still far from invulnerable.

The pouches are made of polyester, so avoid them if you have issues with that sort of material. I didn't notice any strange smell to them at all, but after washing them, the fuzzy exterior of the pouches looks... different. A little matted down, in places. It doesn't bother me much, but it may bother you, so I feel like it's a detail worth including.

All in all, they're good pouches. They are what they say they are. They protect your toys, assuming they fit, and assuming they don't fall out of the open end. I wish these pouches came in different colors than just the purple (and, previously, pink) pastel. I would snap up black ones, blue ones, red ones... even metallic-sheened versions if they existed. And bigger dimensions. Wider ones, preferably. They're a great idea that's well executed, but for a few of the flaws that I mentioned. I like them well enough to recommend them to all but the most mobile and clumsy of toy owners.

If you're just looking for a way to store your daintier toys within your toy box or drawers, then these pouches will suit your needs perfectly, I suspect.

If you want to be able to safely fling the things around your house without worrying that your toy will be harmed, however, I'm afraid I can't think of anything that would protect them that well. Certainly not this pouch.

I've never been able to use the drawstrings on these pouches to actually close at the mouth. I can't get them to secure themselves and stay in the tight, closed position that I put them in, no matter how much I wiggle that little black plastic bit they're strung through. Perhaps the purpose of that black plastic bit is not to lock the drawstring in place, but rather to neatly separate each side of the string... but I feel it would have been a great idea to make that little piece into a "stopper" rather than requiring us to actually tie the string in a knot if we want the pouch to stay closed. Tying and untying knots is never fun - especially not when you're scrambling to grab your favorite glass toy out of its pouch in the heat of the moment.