Sesame Street puppets (Topper)

Educational Toys, Inc., a division of Topper Corp., produced the first line of Sesame Street toys in 1971, including a set of five hand puppets -- Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. Three more characters, Roosevelt Franklin and Grover were added in 1972 and Count von Count was added in 1973, with Count only being available in Canada.
The Ernie, Bert, Count and Roosevelt Franklin puppets have vinyl cast heads and hands with Bert, Ernie, and Count having foam stuffed arms (Roosevelt having unstuffed arms). The Grover and Roosevelt come with a plastic "wand", which can be attached to the puppet's wrists to be used as an arm rod.
The Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch puppets are made of plush with hard plastic eyes, and they have a string with a ring attached that can be pulled to move the puppets' arms.
The Big Bird puppet is a full-body plush with plastic wired legs that can open its beak, flap its wings, bend its neck and legs, and walk.
Two different variations of Grover were made, one with a fabric, unstuffed head and a fully red mouth and the later release with a rubber skull covered in fur and a fully black mouth.
The Count von Count puppet was only available in Canada. The puppets have varied fabric textures which are shown below.
In the 1972 Topper catalog, two different Anything Muppet puppets are listed as being new products for the season, though only prototypes are known to have existed.
In 1973, Questor acquired the license from Topper, and produced a new line of Sesame Street puppets under the Child Guidance label. Questor's 1973 line borrowed a lot of elements from Topper's, and used similar "How to play with this puppet" instructional material on the boxes.
File:JimHensonBertHandPuppet1971.jpg|Jim Henson with a Bert puppet, 1971
File:JimHensonBigBirdHandPuppet1971.jpg|Henson with a Big Bird puppet, 1971
==1971 line==
===Bert===
File:Topper bert hand puppet.jpg
Berttoppetboxfront.jpg|box
Berttopperboxside.jpg|side of Bert's box
IMG_7329.jpg|back of Ernie and Bert's boxes
Topperbertbox.jpg|Sears shipping box
===Big Bird===
Bigbirdtopperpuppet.jpg
File:Big bird puppet topper.jpg|ad
Bigbirdtopperpuppetcloseup.jpg
Bigbirdtopperpuppetbox.jpg|box
Bigbirdtopperpuppetboxside.jpg|side of Big Bird's box
Bigbirdtopperpuppetboxarttop.jpg|top artwork on Big Bird's box
===Cookie Monster===
Cookietopperpuppet.jpg
Cookietopperpuppetbox.jpg|box
Cookietopperpuppetboxside.jpg|side of Cookie's box
Cookietopperpuppetboxart.jpg|box artwork
Cookietopperpuppetboxback.jpg|back of Cookie's box
Cookietopperpuppetinstructions.jpg|Cookie Monster's instructions
File:Topper educational toys cookie monster hand puppet instruction booklet 2.jpg
File:Topper educational toys cookie monster hand puppet instruction booklet 3.jpg
File:Topper educational toys cookie monster hand puppet instruction booklet 4.jpg
File:Topper educational toys cookie monster hand puppet instruction booklet 5.jpg
File:Topper educational toys cookie monster hand puppet instruction booklet 6.jpg
Cookietopperpuppetinstructions1.jpg|instructions explaining how Cookie "eats" the cardboard cookies on the back of the box
Topper short fur Cookie Monster.jpeg|Canadian short fur variation
===Ernie===
IMG_7752.jpg
IMG_7757.jpg|box
IMG_7298.jpg|side artwork of Ernie's box
Ernietopperboxtop.jpg|top of Ernie's box
IMG_7329.jpg|back of Ernie and Bert's boxes
IMG_7554.jpg|Ernie's instructions
===Oscar the Grouch===
File:Topper 1972 oscar hand puppet 2.jpg
File:Topper 1971 sesame oscar box.jpg|box
Oscartopperpuppetboxside.jpg|side of Oscar's box
Oscartopperpuppetboxtop.jpg|top of Oscar's box
Oscartopperpuppetboxback.jpg|back of Oscar's box
Oscartopperpuppetinstructions.jpg|Oscar's instructions
File:Oscar puppet booklet 4.jpg
File:Oscar puppet booklet 5.jpg
File:Oscar puppet booklet 2.jpg
Topper short fur Oscar.jpeg|Canadian short fur variation
==1972 Additions and Changes==
Ernietopperbox72.jpg|Ernie box
Berttopperpuppetbox72.jpg|Bert box
Berttopperpuppetbox72side.jpg|side of Bert's box.
Berttopperpuppetbox72top.jpg|top artwork from Bert's box
Berttopperpuppetbox72back.jpg|back of Bert's box
Oscartopperpuppet72box.jpg|Oscar's box
Oscartopperpuppet72boxside.jpg|Oscar's box side
Oscartopperpuppet72boxtop.jpg|top artwork of Oscar's box, taken from the 1971 Big Bird box
Oscartopperpuppet72boxback.jpg|Oscar's box back
Cookietopperpuppet72box.jpg|Cookie's box
IMG_7772.jpg
Topper big bird instruction sheet 1972.png|updated instruction sheet for Big Bird
Roosevelttopperpuppet.jpg|Roosevelt Franklin
File:Topper 1972 roosevelt box.jpg|Roosevelt Franklin in his box
Rooseveltfranklintopperpuppetboxside.jpg|side of Roosevelt's box
Rooseveltfranklintopperpuppetboxtop.jpg|top artwork of Roosevelt's box
Rooseveltfranklintopperpuppetboxback.jpg|the back of Roosevelt's box
Grover1topperpuppet.jpg|Grover (first version)
Grover1topperpuppetmouth.jpg|inside of the first Grover's mouth
Grover1topperpuppetbox.jpg|Grover in his box
Grover1topperpuppetboxside.jpg|side of Grover's box
Grover1topperpuppetboxback.jpg|back of Grover's box
Grover2topperpuppet.jpg|Grover (version 2)
Grover2topperpuppetmouth.jpg|inside of the second Grover's mouth
Grover2topperpuppettag.jpg|second Grover's tag
Counttopperpuppet.jpg|Count von Count (without tongue, with smooth white and black fabric)
Counttopperpuppetribbedwhite.jpg|with tongue and ribbed white fabric
Counttopperpuppetribbedblack.jpg|with tongue and ribbed black fabric
File:Topper 1972 count puppet 1.jpg|with cape
File:Topper 1972 count puppet 2.jpg
Counttopperpuppetdivot.jpg|The Count was supposed to come with a monocle, though it is unknown if he was ever released with one. The puppet has a molded divot by his left eye in which the monocle was supposed to sit.
Counttopperpuppetmold.jpg|the puppet next to a cast metal mold for his head.
Counttoppercatalogphoto.jpg|photo from a Canadian catalog showing Count (sans monocle and with cape) with the Topper Ernie, Oscar and Cookie Monster puppets, and a prototype Child Guidance finger puppet gift set
Topper 1972 catalog hand puppets.jpeg|photo from the 1972 Topper catalog stating Grover and Roosevelt were two new additions to the series, as well as listing two different Anything Muppets
==Prototypes==
Berternietopperpuppetprototypes.jpg|Ernie and Bert prototypes with different shirt patterns and Ernie sporting a black collar
Bigbirdtopperpuppetproto.jpg|Big Bird prototype with a shorter torso
Roosevelttopperpuppetproto.jpg|Roosevelt Franklin prototype with a different shirt pattern and a different collar material
Grover2topperpuppetproto.jpg|Grover (version 2) prototype with a tongue
Anythingmuppetproto1.jpg|Anything Muppet Prototype using Bert's hand mold
Topper puppet catalog prototype.jpeg|photo from a 1971 catalog showing prototype images of all five puppets from that year
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Category:Sesame Street Puppets
Category:Topper