Popples
Popples is a toy and television franchise created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), a subsidiary of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored marsupial teddy bears with long tails ending in a pom-pom. Each Popple character transforms to resemble a brightly colored ball. In 2018, Popples was sold to Hasbro. History. Susan Trentel, who worked for TCFC and had created the first prototypes on Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears, was the plush toy designer who invented the method for transforming the Popple. Supposedly, the idea came from rolling up socks. Trentel worked with art director Thomas Schneider on  the creation of the first prototypes (Patent # 4614505). Toy merchandise. 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 colored ball. Original line: 1986–1988. The first introduction included nine Popples. 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). 2001  revival lines. In 2001, Toymax started making the Popples once again, but they made the new Glow 'n' Charm Popples (Pitter Patty, Pizazzy Jazzy and Popsy Daisy). This rendition features four characters named Pixie Doodle, Polka Dottie and Pinwheel Penny (who looks like Putter from the 1980s toyline, but with blue stripes). There is also a Snoozytime Popple who looks like P.C. Popple, but wears pyjamas and a nightcap, plus celebrity Popples which includes the Popples who had their name based on celebrities including Tiffany, Rachael Leigh Cook, Elisa Donovan, Nicole Oliver, Melissa Joan Hart, Amanda Lewis, Shoshanna Lonstein, Jessica  Biel and Christina Ricci. Plus they introduced the items starring the classic 80's Popples, including stickers, notebook, folder, pen, keyring and tin box keyring. They introduced birthday cards as well. 2007 revival lines. A revival was attempted by Playmates Toys (who is also the current manufacturer of toys featuring another American Greetings property, Strawberry Shortcake) in 2007. This rendition only has four characters, KissyPopp (pink), HappyPopp (yellow), MonsterPopp (blue), and PrettyPopp (purple), marketed under the name 'Popp n Giggles Popples' which contain 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 while in its box, or sitting on a hard surface). Also released in 2007 was a version of Popples 'Pufflings' called 'Popp n Mini Message Popples', SpeedyPopp (red), FriendlyPopp (purple), RiddlePopp (blue) and SecretPopp (pink) which could record a 'message'. There are also "Key Chain" and "Cell Phone Charm" mini plush Popples that more closely resemble the Popples of the 1980s available in countries outside the US, such as Japan. (Key Chain Popples that have been spotted include those that resemble Party, Puffball and Potato Chip. Various "Deco Packing  Tape", and T-shirts, stationery and school supplies featuring the original Popples exist as well. 2015 revival. Coinciding with the new "Popples" series on Netflix, a revived toy line was released in November 2015 by Spin Master and Saban Brands, including the characters Bubbles, Lulu, Sunny, Izzy, and Yikes. 2020 revival lines. A revival by Hasbro is attempted which they launched a Funko POP Vinyl toyline of the original 86's Popples, starting with Prize and P.C and continuing on with other Popples in the future. Television media. Original series: 1986. The original "Popples" animated series was broadcast between 1986  and 1987 in United States, and later rebroadcast in the United Kingdom. Netflix series: 2015. The franchise was adapted for a Netflix original series that premiered October 30, 2015. Other media. Star Comics released a four-issue series between 1986 and 1987, coinciding with the original cartoon.