Description

Popples were manufactured by Mattel between 1986 and 1988. Each toy had a pouch on the back that could be inverted so the character rolled into the pouch and resembled a brightly coloured ball.

Original line (1986)

The first introduction included nine Popples in three different sizes

• Pretty Cool (P.C. for short) is a 13″ male Popple with blue fur, pink hair, orange cheeks and contrasting orange and yellow ears.
• Party is a 13″ female Popple, with pink fur, hot pink hair, lavender cheeks and contrasting lavender and pink ears.
• Pancake is a 13″ female Popple with purple fur, orange hair, pink cheeks and contrasting blue and pink ears.
• Puzzle is an 11″ male Popple with orange fur, green hair, pink cheeks and contrasting blue and red ears.
• Prize is an 11″ female Popple with dark magenta fur, white hair, lavender cheeks and contrasting green and pink ears.
• Puffball is an 11″ female Popple with white fur, yellow hair, orange cheeks and contrasting blue and magenta ears.
• Pretty Bit is a 8″ female Popple with lavender fur, hot pink hair, pink cheeks and contrasting pink and blue ears.
• Potato Chip is a 8″ female Popple with yellow fur, pink hair, pink cheeks and contrasting lavender and magenta ears.
• Putter is a 8″ male Popple with green fur, orange hair, pink cheeks and contrasting red and blue ears.

Rock Star Popples and Baby Popples

The second launch brought the Rock Star Popples: Punkity (magenta girl with microphone and star on her belly) and Punkster (blue boy with guitar and lightning on his belly) 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 booties). The babies had rattles in their tails and came with a squeaking baby bottle.

Pufflings

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, and could flip inside out to look a bit like a sea 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.

Sports Popples

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 toy has been made of him. Similarly, no toy was made of the original Pitcher but PC was dressed in a baseball outfit to replace him.

Other full-sized Popples

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 bags), Fruit Popples (who turned into different fruits), and Special Editions with limited distribution (including an animal series only released in Europe with Popples that resembled a parrot, dog and rabbit), and Costume Popples who were wearing special outfits and turned into something related (example: a ballerina Popple that turns into a handbag).

Pocket Popples

Besides the stuffed animals, another successful Popple-themed line of merchandise was Pocket Popples. Based on same characters as the larger Popples they were scaled to fit in a pocket. They had PVC faces, articulated arms and legs, and fabric features of ears, tails and pocket (where they hid).