Character Analysis
When the Velveteen Rabbit first arrives in the nursery, he meets some of the other toys. And, boy, do they have attitude:
Some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms[…] Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government. (3)
So these guys are the fancy show-offs in the toy box. There's a model boat who thinks he's all that and a wooden lion who has joints who's really pretty full of himself. The poor Velveteen Rabbit feels like second best when it comes to these guys.
After meeting all these toys that having moving parts or triggers inside them, the Rabbit even wonders if this is what makes a toy Real. But the Skin Horse assures him that "Real isn't how you are made" (6). It's not about bells and whistles and gears and wheels. It's what inside your little sawdust heart that counts.