Boglin

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Boglins were rubbery hand puppets that resembled small monsters or goblins. They were characterized by their unique packaging (a cardboard box with a plastic "cage" entrance) and by movable eyes and mouth. Boglins were manufactured in the late 1980s by a number of companies including Action GT and Ideal and distributed by Mattel. Their popularity reached its peak thanks to a deal with Kellogg's in 1989 to use them in promotions contained in and on boxes of Rice Krispies cereal, including rubber stampers, stamp collections and cut-out masks.

[edit] Types of Boglins

Boglins were large and would fit comfortably on the hand. They were sold in boxes resembling crates with a jail-like front. There were three varieties: Drool, Dwork and Vlobb. [On the 1987 UK box, these are Plunk, Dwork, and Flurp]

Medium Boglins were slightly smaller than regular Boglins, resulting in reduced freedom of motion and simpler features. The varieties were Splat, Blap, Bonk, Doink, Klang, Squidge, and Squit.

Soggy Boglins were puppets in the shapes of mutated animals. They were slightly smaller than regular Boglins. There were three varieties: Snish the Fish, which squirted water; Slogg the Frog, which had a sticky tongue; and Slobster the Lobster, which had a snapping claw.

Baby Boglins were finger sized boglins with fixed facial expressions and googly eyes which were sold in egg-shaped boxes.

Halloween Boglins were Boglins painted in halloween forms. There were two varieties: Blobkin which looked like a pumpkin and Bog o' Bones which resembled a skeleton.

Acrobat Boglins were made of a flexible, sticky material which allowed them to be thrown at walls and slowly 'crawl' down them. They could be stretched and knotted and would return to their original shape. They were roughly the size of baby boglins and were sold in egg-shaped boxes but had no finger hole and very little face detail. Acrobat boglins are difficult for collectors to preserve due to the material from which they were made, which collects dust and particles.

Bash 'em Boglins were highly detailed, with cartoon-like features and detachable body parts. There were two varieties: Splat and Swish.

Action Boglins were larger than Baby Boglins, but lay on their stomachs with full body length. They performed actions when squeezed, sticking their tongues or eyeballs our or squirting water from their mouths.

Baby Squirt Boglins were semi-solid PVC Boglins with detailed facial features which could squirt water when squeezed. There were three varieties modeled on Klang, Squit and Boink.

Hairy Boglins were Plunk and Flurp Boglins with tufts of hair on their heads. The Plunk Boglin had red hair and the Flurp brown.

Talking Boglins which talked and made noises were released shortly after the original three.

Glow Boglins were medium Boglins which glowed in the dark. They were naturally white with green tints and were modelled on Klang and Doink.

Elderly Boglins were the two Hairy Plunk and Flurp Boglins with grey rather than coloured hair on their heads.

Bat Boglins: Mattel planned to release "Bat Boglins" in 1989, but the winged creatures were never released in the United States.

[edit] Re-released Boglins

Mattel restarted the Boglin line in 2000 with two new lines of Boglins. There were two large, talking Boglins named Belcher and Gangrene, as well as several smaller ones: I Ball/Deg, a turquoise Boglin whose eyes popped out on stalks; Mr Mucus/Mr Crad, a purple Boglin which spat water when squeezed; and Warty/Pustule, a green Boglin with sticky red blisters that oozed. The large Boglins Belcher and Gangrene were usually too big for their box and regularly came with damaged, ripped tails or otherwise disfigured tails.

The variety least like the standard "large" and "small" hand puppets were the "mini" boglins. They were made out of plastic and unlike their older cousins had no moveable parts, so were essentially plastic models. Mini Boglins came in all colours with the exception of the spy and the scout, and bore little resemblance to boglins at all, other than by name.

They were divided into tribes, with each Boglin having attributes that related to the nature of the tribe. Furtherore, each Boglin was given a rank within the tribe, and the higher ranks had a small symbol carved on them somewhere:

Chief: The highest rank, the chief ruled the tribe and was respected by all others. Not exactly rare, but very prestigious, these dictators were given small crown symbols to show their skills in leadership

Scout: By far the rarest form of boglin, the scout was glow in the dark and the next in the tribe rankings.

Messenger: This was the messenger of the tribe. He was branded with a small envelope symbol to show he was a messenger. They varied in rarity, with some being very common whilst others rivalled the rarity of scouts.

Spy: The spy always appeared cheeky and mischievous, and came in only one colour: Black. Like messengers, some were common and others were rare.

Peon: There are four common peons to a tribe, each having their own skills. Most were common apart from the very few which were rarer.