Patent ID: 6863588

Claim:
A toy assembly, comprising: a plurality of shell sections that join along at least one joint line to form a generally spherical body, said shell sections being symmetrically disposed around a central axis, wherein said spherical body is bisected by an imaginary equatorial plane that is perpendicular to said central axis, and wherein said at least one joint line is in a plane that is perpendicular to said equatorial plane; a connector mechanism having two components that temporarily connect when brought into abutment, each of said components being disposed along said central axis on opposite sides of said spherical body; wherein said shell sections are flexible and enable said spherical body to be compressed into a non-spherical shape so that said components of said connector mechanism abut and temporarily connect, said shell sections providing a spring bias that resists compression and causes said shell sections to return to a generally spherical shape when said components of said connector mechanism disconnect.