The Softee is great because it can be used for just about anything. Obviously it can be used for vaginal penetration, but the large flared base means that it can also be used anally. The big flared base is also great because it gives you a great handle when using it solo, or it can do the same for your partner. Speaking of partners, this is also o-ring compatible, so in theory it should work with most harnesses out there. The base of it is a little awkward though, so while it may fit in harnesses, I wouldn't be surprised if it was uncomfortable for one partner during use. It has no suction cup though, which may hinder solo play for some. Also, because it's rather large, I would not recommend this for travel.

The Softee absolutely lives up to it's name; it's soft, flexible, and an absolute pleasure to hold and feel. Made from PVC though, it only ranks a 2 on the safety scale. Although PVC is water resistant and doesn't require much maintenance beyond cleaning, it's incredibly porous. That means you need to make sure to wash it thoroughly with soap and water after each use, or use a toy cleaner instead. Note, PVC is perfectly safe to use with silicone lube. Also, remember that this PVC is flexible. It hasn't been much of a problem, but every now and then the shaft will bend when you try to push it in.

Many of the others reviews focus on the terrible smell of this product. I won't lie to you, it's pretty bad, and it doesn't come off easily. It definitely wasn't a deal breaker for us though. While it does smell fairly bad, and the smell will permeate whatever room it's in, it will only do so if you leave it out in the open. When it first arrived, my girlfriend and I left the toy out on the dresser for a while and it stunk up the whole room with a distinctive plastic scent, with some weird manufactured floral undertones. Just an hour or two after we put it in a drawer though, the smell faded from the room.

The texture was like many other soft toys; it was almost velvety, but had a good deal of drag to it. This means that it's very good at picking up small debris, and also that you'll almost always need to use lube with it.

The size... some other reviewers said this is for size queens only. I wouldn't say that's entirely true. This dildo is 8" long, with 7" insertable, and it has a 1 3/4" diameter. This means that this dildo isn't nearly outside the realm of its organic counterpart. In fact, I have about the same girth as this toy, so it wasn't an issue for my girlfriend. I think what makes this toy so difficult for many to handle is that the head is just as wide as the rest of the shaft. A tapered head would have made the whole thing much easier to take. So, overall, I would recommend this for the more advanced users, but at the same time, even if you haven't ever had anything close to this girth before, don't be scared away. It will probably be difficult to fit in, but it's far from an unattainable goal. In fact, you could purchase this as a toy to work up to over a period of time.

By no means is this toy realistic or discreet though. The veined texture was entirely over done, in my opinion. Some enjoy the texture while using the toy, while others barely notice it exists. My girlfriend is one of them, so really all the over veined texture did for us was to give the dildo an almost comical look. Never know though, you might enjoy it immensely. Also, the three bright colors only add to the non-discreet, non-realistic aspects. Personally, I do enjoy the colors.

What's best about this toy? The fact that it does exactly what it's supposed to do and fills you up in all the right places. This toy doesn't have any fancy features, vibrations, attachments, etc. It's good for thrusting, and that's exactly what you should be doing with it. The wide base gives whoever's holding it a great grip to use it for thrusting as hard and fast as you can handle. I can't say it enough, the Softee is great at that.

Again though, a tapered head would have made this much easier to use for many.

This only gets kinked up when the dildo bends as you're trying to push it in. But with enough lube and foreplay, this isn't something to worry about, it'll slide right in and right back out.

The Softee is made from PVC, which ranks a 2 on the safety scale. That's because PVC is water resistant and doesn't require much maintenance beyond cleaning, but is also very porous. That means you need to make sure to wash it thoroughly with soap and water after each use, or use a toy cleaner.

There are no compatibility issues with lube -- you can use it with either water-based or silicone based lubricants.

Because of the versatility of PVC, storage really comes down to personal choice. You can store it loose with other toys, or you can keep it apart in its own case.

The packaging was nothing special. It gave the usual scant amounts of information, and had the usual in your face design. I don't see any reason not to give it as a gift. I mean, if you're giving someone a large pink dildo, are they really going to get hung up on the packaging? I can say that the packaging wasn't specifically meant for storage. That didn't stop us though. While it's not convenient for storage, the package does a very good job of keeping the smell contained, so usually we put the Softee back in it's original package so it doesn't smell up our other toys.