Popples: Difference between revisions
Added plush designer and art director names. Rearranged some sentences. |
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A line extension brought about Pufflings which looked like little Popple pets (they were basically a ball of fluff with a face and tiny paws and tail coming out, they could flip inside out to look a bit like an anemone) and carried riddles and jokes on tags inside them. There were 6 different colors of Pufflings : Red, yellow, sky blue, purple, white and magenta. |
A line extension brought about Pufflings which looked like little Popple pets (they were basically a ball of fluff with a face and tiny paws and tail coming out, they could flip inside out to look a bit like an anemone) and carried riddles and jokes on tags inside them. There were 6 different colors of Pufflings : Red, yellow, sky blue, purple, white and magenta. |
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The Popples also had Sports Popples who turned into balls : Big Kick (soccer ball), Dunker (basketball), Touchdown (football), PC Pitcher (baseball), Net Set (tennis ball). The Sports Popples included Cuester, who turned into an 8-ball, but no known toys has been made of him. Same with Pitcher, no toy was made of the original Pitcher but they dressed PC in a baseball outfit to replace him. |
The Popples also had Sports Popples who turned into balls : Big Kick (soccer ball), Dunker (basketball), Touchdown (football), PC Pitcher (baseball), Net Set (tennis ball). The Sports Popples included Cuester, who turned into an 8-ball, but no known toys has been made of him. Same with Pitcher, no toy was made of the original Pitcher but they dressed PC in a baseball outfit to replace him. |
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| ⚫ | There were |
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| ⚫ | There were numerous variants, Flower Popples (who would turn into flowers when you flipped them inside out), Pillow Popples (wearing pajamas and turned into sleeping bag), Fruit Popples (who turned into different fruits. Special editions with limited distribution including an animal series with Popples that transformed into parrot, dog, and a rabbit, and Costume Popples who were wearing special clothes and turned into something related (example : a ballerina Popple that turns into a handbag). |
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| ⚫ | Besides the stuffed animals, another |
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| ⚫ | Besides the stuffed animals, another successful Popple themed merchandise was Pocket Popples. Based on same characters as the larger Popples they were scaled to fit in a pocket. The faces were PVC, they had articulated arms and legs but with fabric features of ears, tails and pocket (where they hid) |
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A revival was attempted by [[Playmates Toys]] (who are also the current makers of toys featuring another American Greetings property, [[Strawberry Shortcake]]) in 2007, this rendition which currently only has four characters: HappyPopp, PrettyPopp, KissyPopp and MonsterPopp marketed under the name 'Popp n Giggles Popples' which contains a sound box that makes a popping sound followed by a giggle when the popple comes out of its pouch (or when you press down on the shoulders). Also released in 2007 was a version of Popples 'pufflings' called 'Popp n'mini message popples' which could record a 'message'. |
A revival was attempted by [[Playmates Toys]] (who are also the current makers of toys featuring another American Greetings property, [[Strawberry Shortcake]]) in 2007, this rendition which currently only has four characters: HappyPopp, PrettyPopp, KissyPopp and MonsterPopp marketed under the name 'Popp n Giggles Popples' which contains a sound box that makes a popping sound followed by a giggle when the popple comes out of its pouch (or when you press down on the shoulders). Also released in 2007 was a version of Popples 'pufflings' called 'Popp n'mini message popples' which could record a 'message'. |
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Revision as of 04:32, 2 June 2009
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Popples was a series of fantasy characters created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), a creative think tank and subsidiary company of American Greetings Susan Trentel who worked for TCFC and had created the first prototypes on Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears was the plush designer who invented the method for transforming the Popple. The idea spark came from rolling up socks. She worked with art director Thomas Schneider on the creation of the first prototypes. The plush toys were manufactured by Mattel. Produced in the 1980s, these toys resemble brightly colored teddy bears or marsupials (but with long tails with pom-poms on the tip), and have pouches on their backs that can be inverted, so they are in the pouches and resemble brightly colored balls.
The first introduction included nine original Popples : PC (Pretty Cool) Popple (large blue boy), Party Popple (large pink girl), Pancake (large dark magenta girl), Puzzle (medium orange boy), Prize (medium dark magenta girl), Puffball (medium white girl), Pretty Bit (small lavender girl), Potato Chip (small yellow girl) and Putter (small green boy). The second launch brought the Rock Star Popples : Punkity (girl with microphone and star on her tummy) and Punkster (boy with guitar and lightning on his tummy) as well as the Popples Babies : Bibsy (white with purple and white hat, bib and booties with stars) and Cribsy (pink with blue and white striped hat, bib and bootises). The babies had rattles in their tails and came with a squeaking baby bottle. A line extension brought about Pufflings which looked like little Popple pets (they were basically a ball of fluff with a face and tiny paws and tail coming out, they could flip inside out to look a bit like an anemone) and carried riddles and jokes on tags inside them. There were 6 different colors of Pufflings : Red, yellow, sky blue, purple, white and magenta. The Popples also had Sports Popples who turned into balls : Big Kick (soccer ball), Dunker (basketball), Touchdown (football), PC Pitcher (baseball), Net Set (tennis ball). The Sports Popples included Cuester, who turned into an 8-ball, but no known toys has been made of him. Same with Pitcher, no toy was made of the original Pitcher but they dressed PC in a baseball outfit to replace him.
There were numerous variants, Flower Popples (who would turn into flowers when you flipped them inside out), Pillow Popples (wearing pajamas and turned into sleeping bag), Fruit Popples (who turned into different fruits. Special editions with limited distribution including an animal series with Popples that transformed into parrot, dog, and a rabbit, and Costume Popples who were wearing special clothes and turned into something related (example : a ballerina Popple that turns into a handbag).
Besides the stuffed animals, another successful Popple themed merchandise was Pocket Popples. Based on same characters as the larger Popples they were scaled to fit in a pocket. The faces were PVC, they had articulated arms and legs but with fabric features of ears, tails and pocket (where they hid)
A revival was attempted by Playmates Toys (who are also the current makers of toys featuring another American Greetings property, Strawberry Shortcake) in 2007, this rendition which currently only has four characters: HappyPopp, PrettyPopp, KissyPopp and MonsterPopp marketed under the name 'Popp n Giggles Popples' which contains a sound box that makes a popping sound followed by a giggle when the popple comes out of its pouch (or when you press down on the shoulders). Also released in 2007 was a version of Popples 'pufflings' called 'Popp n'mini message popples' which could record a 'message'.
Other merchandise
From 1986 to 1987, a two-season Popples cartoon series was broadcast on Saturday mornings in the United States, and there was a four-issue comic book series from Star Comics based on this cartoon (which was intended to be five issues long, but the fifth issue was never published).