Also it would have defeated the purpose of the story. Hobbes was a generic tiger doll, not anything magical or secret in itself. The point was that Calvin’s wild imagination brought Hobbes and everything else in his fantasies to vivid life, and selling an “official” Hobbes doll would have flown in the face of that. The heart and soul of Watterson’s story suggests that any kid could have their own Hobbes-style adventures with any toy they happened to have and love and give life, not that they needed their parents to buy them the “real” Hobbes.
Also it would have defeated the purpose of the story. Hobbes was a generic tiger doll, not anything magical or secret in itself. The point was that Calvin’s wild imagination brought Hobbes and everything else in his fantasies to vivid life, and selling an “official” Hobbes doll would have flown in the face of that. The heart and soul of Watterson’s story suggests that any kid could have their own Hobbes-style adventures with any toy they happened to have and love and give life, not that they needed their parents to buy them the “real” Hobbes.