Koosh ball

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The Koosh ball is a toy ball made of rubber filaments (strings) attached to a soft plasma rubber core.

The Koosh ball was developed in 1986 by Scott Stillinger to be easy for his daughter and son (5 and 8 years old respectively) to hold and throw. It was named after the sound it made when it landed. Stillinger started the OddzOn Products Inc. company with his brother-in-law, Mark Button (who had previously been a marketing manager for Mattel), in 1987 in order to sell it. The Koosh ball was one of 1988's hot Christmas toys. The company later expanded their product line to include 50 other Koosh-related products, including keyrings, baseball sets, and yo-yos. The number of Koosh Balls sold is estimated to be in the millions.

The ball consists of approximately 2000 natural rubber filaments, and has been released in a variety of color combinations. A variation was the Koosh Kins line, of Koosh balls with cartooney faces and hands. Koosh Kins was made into a comic book mini-series by Archie Comics where they kept their cartoon-like appearance.

[edit] References

• "Boom time for toys predicted as the Koosh ball arrives". Textline Multiple Source Collection (1981-1984). January 30, 1989.
• "New toys not just for kids". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. September 30, 1989.
• "Novelty rubber ball rises on list of top 20 toys". Houston Chronicle. October 28, 1989.
• "What a Koosh Job. Strange ball bounces along the trend path." Los Angeles Daily News. March 1, 1993.
• "OddzOn announces Koosh Vortex line expansions". Playthings. February 1, 1994.
• "Toymaker parlays Koosh Ball into entire line of tactile toys." The Pantagragh (Bloomington, IL). June 17, 1995.
• "Firm selling 'WOW!' oddball toys generates profits". The Cincinnati Post. June 17, 1995.
• Sara Rimer, "Putting a Smile on Sober Science." The New York Times. May 13, 2004.
• Katie Adams, Ridiculous Ideas That Made People Millions. Published May 14 2009. Retrieved May 16 2009.