Popples

Popples is a series of fantasy characters created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), a subsidiary company of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored teddy bears or marsupials (but with long tails with pom-poms on the tip), and have pouches on their backs that they can go into and resemble brightly colored balls. 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. Supposedly, the idea came from rolling up socks. Trentel worked with art director Thomas Schneider on the creation of the first prototypes (Patent # 4614505). The Popples plush toys were manufactured by Mattel. Produced in...