BLOG ON BOGLINS

The mid 1980s, unlike any time in history, was a great time to be an ugly toy. Madballs, Garbage Pail Kids, and Boglins ruled the toy shelves. The Boglin was a rubber hand puppet that was useful for scaring your little sister or acting as a the voice of the little boy who lived in your belly and liked to burn things. I am not making this up. The ability to get away with murder and blame it on your hand friend was pretty much the keystone of their advertising.



"Say your right words..." the boglins said, "and we'll take the child away forever and ever and..."

The original three Boglins were released in 1987 and came packaged in a nifty little cage. It was a great packaging concept and a lot of kids kept the box just because it was neat and sturdy.







I remember these larger Boglins were real popular and sold out real quick at the toy stores. The three main Boglins were about the size of a small cantaloupe and were really rubbery with movable glow in the dark eyes. If your parents wouldn't shell out the cash for one of those there was also an assortment of half-sized Boglins that didn't quite fit your hand as well as the large ones. Eventually Mattel came out with mini Boglins which were small figures made of hard plastic, and an additional set of hairy Boglins, baby Boglins, glow Boglins, action Boglins, night Boglins, and water Boglins.









Here's some funny ads for some of the different types of Boglins. For some reason you'll see the kid that poses for these photos always has a nice stock of Snickers candy bars. I guess if you want to catch yourself a Boglin you need Snickers for bait?







Here's the commercial that got us boys all wanting our very own Boglin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcor3EbCnP4&feature=PlayList&p=19E1C375EE45C025&index=0&playnext=1