I’m on a bit of a fantasy toys kick at the moment, and one of the products in my ‘to be reviewed’ box I’ve been most excited about is the Vulpini Design Taro! Vulpini Design are an indie fantasy toy company who also produce the Sheath Packer, which I included in my Fantasy Packers Roundup. When they reached out to me to ask if I wanted to review one of their toys, I was extremely tempted to review the Sheath, but had my eye caught by the thick and stout Taro. I’ve been on the lookout for a thick but relatively short dildo for anal play, as I prefer shallower penetration but thicker toys.
That said, it was extremely hard to choose, because so many of Vulpini Design’s designs caught my eye. I’ve recently been reading a lot of alien erotica, so the insectoid alien Mancer was intriguing. I was also interested in the blended fantasy-realistic elements of Charlie, and the originality of Rover’s Toy (plus the puppy play possibilities) was really tempting. In the end though, the Taro won out.
I received a small Taro, and even then this dildo is thick, with a diameter that ranges from 1.78 inches at the head to 2.3 inches at its widest point (which is actually the middle rather than the base). For comparison, my most used strap-on toy, the NYTC Shilo, is about 1.5 inches in diameter and the BMS Addiction Tom is 1.75 inches at its widest point. While it’s relatively short, with an insertable length of just over 4.75 inches, the Taro is a very solid, very chunky toy.
Among the other customisation options, the Taro has a few firmness options— soft (which is a 00-30 shore) and medium (which is a 00-50 shore). I chose a medium firmness, as I mostly wanted to use my Taro for anal, and felt I might struggle with insertion with a 00-30 shore. Vulpini Design also offer a bunch of colouration options, including having shaft and base be different colours and ‘cum drip’ patterns, as well as plain, fade, marble, and spiral options for custom colours. As with customisable toys, the price of a Taro varies, but the options for my Taro (small, single colour, no cum drips) would be $65.
Vulpini Design
Before I review the Taro itself, I want to talk about Vulpini themselves. They’re relatively new, having been formed in 2020 by two college friends, and hand pour all their toys in the US. Something I want to highlight because it’s not super common is that they offer custom designs! If you have an idea for a toy you can’t find on the market, they will design and cast it for you. It’s a really cool service, and I am extremely tempted by turning some of the ideas I have knocking about in my head into physical toys/packers.
Using The Taro
I mentioned that I asked to review the Taro mostly because I wanted to see what it was like anally. While I have used it vaginally a few times, I have a lot more to say about it for anal use.
The first thing I want to say is that 00-50 was 100% the right choice for firmness. It has some give—enough that it’s comfortable once inserted, but not enough that it’s difficult to insert. If you were to pick a larger size, I can see an argument for going for 00-30 shore. Plus I think the shaft is substantial enough the whole way down and the base relatively centred enough you’re unlikely to have as much difficulty inserting it as, say, a soft plug. But if you know you want a small Taro—and again, check the measurements first and do not let your eyes be bigger than your hole—then I think the medium firmness is perfect.
Because the Taro has a flared head with no taper, it requires a lot of warmup beforehand, so that’s something else to bear in mind when choosing a size. I played around a lot with what toys I used to warm up, and found that using my Colors Pleasures Yum Yum (which has a max diameter of 1.9 inches) right before I used my Taro worked well for warmup anally, especially as the Yum Yum is significantly firmer than the Taro so it feels a bit more substantial.
I keep talking about the squish, but it really is perfect for the small Taro. I don’t really feel the vein design in-use because of the softness of the 00-50, but because the point of the Taro—for me at least—is the thickness of it, I don’t mind so much. I also don’t mind how short the insertable shaft is. If anything, I actually have a preference for shorter dildos anally, and if I’m feeling lazy or not in the mood for deep stimulation, I sometimes won’t even take it past the medial ring. On the subject of the medial ring, while I don’t feel the veins in use, I definitely feel the medial vein, and it adds a wonderful widening and then narrowing to the shaft.
I haven’t used the Taro as much vaginally, partly because I’m not as into vaginal play and partly because, uh, I cannot fit it in the same way as I can anally. I can press the head in, but I have to tap out before making it past much of half the way to the medial ring. The base is really comfortable to hold between my thighs though, so if I’m in the mood for shallow penetration to go with external vibrations, it is pretty good!
Strapping On The Taro
I didn’t actually try strapping on the Taro until nearer the end of my testing period, as I honestly thought it’d be a big struggle to fit into a harness. And it was— out of all my strap-on harnesses, I only really managed to make it work with my Sh! Classic Harness, and that was after switching out the metal ring for a stretchy one.
But once I’d won the battle to get it into a harness… it ruled actually. I’m not sure how much of that can be credited to which harness I wore it with, but the base was super comfortable against my body. I generally do not like strapping on dildos that have balls, but the Taro’s fit so well with my body that it scratched a lot of my ‘my strapped-on cock feeling like an extension of my body’ feelings. Plus, because the base with the balls is so wide, it gives a lot of really nice good pressure all over my vulva just on its own. And in combination with my Alia grinder? So good.
You do lose a bit of the Taro’s already short length with it harnessed, but what can make it difficult to use anally harnessed makes it good for strap-on blowjobs. It’s not as soft or small as some of the other dildos I’d recommend and personally use for strap-on blowjobs, but the fact it’s so thick and short means it’s a real challenge, without as much risk of going too deep. In the name of thorough testing I obviously gave my Taro a blowjob myself, and because it’s so thick, it leaves me with jaw ache. Which I’m aware isn’t a plus for everyone, but I find really hot! I think whether or not I’d recommend it for strap-on blowjobs depends a lot on your personal style of blowjobs— it’s not a toy for facefucking, but if you like the blowjob giver to lead the action (and they like a challenge), it’s really good at pushing pressure back onto the wearer’s junk.
Overall
I’ve already run through my caveats for recommending the Taro multiple times, so if you’ve read through this review and are going ‘oh, the Taro sounds like a good match for me’, you know what my summary/recommendation is going to be. So all I’ve really got to say is that if it sweetens the deal, the Taro is really well sculpted and neatly trimmed and (while it’s not a colour I would have chosen of my own accord) I’m actually very fond of the soft dusky purple of my Taro’s silicone! The Taro is more expensive than some of the other toys Vulpini Designs carry, but given how much silicone it uses (I know I keep calling it chunky, but it really is), it’s absolutely worth it.
Buy the Taro from Vulpini Designs from $65
This product was sent to me by Vulpini Designs, in exchange for a fair and impartial review. No affiliate links we used in this post.
