Melissa & Doug Bamboo Panda Bear Stuffed Animal

My daughter had an M&D Bamboo panda given to her when she was about 2yrs old (3.5 years ago) and she adored it. It was made of a kind of toweling material...strands of cotton tightly sewn together. It was extremely hard wearing...she took it everywhere (including to pre-school) and it slept with her every single night. Unfortunately, about 1yr ago, poor 'little' panda was lost and never found. In an attempt to replace him, I bought another M&D Bamboo panda. Same name, same company, etc. I was very disappointed to find that the newer Bamboo pandas are NOTHING like the originals. They're made from a VERY synthetic feeling material which also seems to 'shed', and you'll find yourself picking up black and white strands from all over the floor, bed, etc. The costs of manufacturing this are very obviously much less than the original Bamboo panda and boy, does it feel like it. It's such a shame that M&D decided to go down this route, when the end product is nothing like the previous version. :-(