The Koosh ball is a

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

ball made of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

filaments (strands) radiating from a steel-bound core, patented in 1987 by Scott H. Stillinger. The company later expanded their product line to include 50 other Koosh-related products, including keyrings, baseball sets, and

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 440 BC. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in th ...

s. The ball consists of about 2,000

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

filaments, and has been released in a variety of color combinations. As of 2020, Koosh balls are manufactured by PlayMonster in cooperation with

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

. They have introduced a range of new product lines, including Koosh Galaxy and Koosh Cameos.

Koosh Kins

The Koosh Kins were a variation on the Koosh ball, featuring faces and hands. They were originally created as a set of six characters, then released with variant colors. The characters were featured in a four-part

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

released by

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...

, as well as a series of coloring books. In that series, they lived on the

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

Koosh, a large Koosh ball planetoid that, in lieu of a proper

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

, bounced against other planets to travel across the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

. Characters include: *T.K. – the stereotypical cool character, this toy's molded face sported perpetual

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...

. In the comic, he often abbreviated his long strings of

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

into a series of letters standing for each word. His colors were a light blue face and hands, paired with a darker blue body. *Scopes – the only character without a

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of ...

face, Scopes had two

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

-style eyes, similar to cartoon depictions of a

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

, rising from the top of the Koosh ball. In the comics, he never spoke, but featured word balloons with question marks from time to time. His eyestalks and hands were dark blue, and his ball was green. *Grinby – all yellow (hands and faces), Grinby was the down-to-earth but physically strong character. *Slats – was portrayed as sly. His colors were green for face and hands, and purple for his ball. He is shown in the comics as sweet on Gee Gee. *Gee Gee – the female of the group, she featured a predictable pink hue on her ball, with darker pink hands and face. In the comics, she's displayed as sweet and long-suffering. *Boingo – with a predilection for parties and pizza, Boingo was the stereotypical wacky member of the group, always ready to explode into feverish energy. His coloring was red.

References

Bibliography

* "Boom time for toys predicted as the Koosh ball arrives". ''Textline Multiple Source Collection (1981–1984)'' (January 30, 1989) * "New toys not just for kids". ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' (September 30, 1989) * "Novelty rubber ball rises on list of top 20 toys". ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' (October 28, 1989) * "What a Koosh Job. Strange ball bounces along the trend path". ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'' (March 1, 1993) * "OddzOn announces Koosh Vortex line expansions". ''Playthings'' (February 1, 1994) * "Toymaker parlays Koosh Ball into entire line of tactile toys". ''The Pantagragh'' (

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

) (June 17, 1995) * "Firm selling 'WOW!' oddball toys generates profits". '' Cincinnati Post'' (June 17, 1995) * {{Hasbro 1980s toys Products introduced in 1989 2010s toys Hasbro products Rubber toys Toy brands Sensory toys