Koosh ball

The Koosh ball is a toy ball made of rubber filaments (strands) radiating from a steel-bound core, patented in 1987 by Scott H. Stillinger.[1][2][3] The company later expanded their product line to include 50 other Koosh-related products, including keyrings, baseball sets, and yo-yos.

Koosh
TypeRubber balls
Company
CountryUnited States
Availability1989–present
MaterialsRubber, foam, plastic

The ball consists of about 2,000 natural rubber filaments, and has been released in a variety of color combinations.

Koosh balls are often used with QuickStart tennis exercises to help children develop motor skills.

As of 2017, Koosh balls are manufactured by Hasbro, and the brand has recently expanded into different product lines, starting with Koosh Galaxy. The new line consists of toy blasters that fire foam balls similar to the original Nerf ball, and includes a cross-promotion with Angry Birds Star Wars.[4]

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 miniseries released by Archie Comics, as well as a series of coloring books. In that series, they lived on the planet Koosh, a large Koosh ball planetoid that, in lieu of a proper orbit, bounced against other planets to travel across the universe. While exploring a volcano, the Koosh Kins were flung into space, where they landed on Earth, in the company of downtrodden everyman Zak Taylor. Predictably, hilarity ensued, with the Koosh Kins aiding Zak in his acquisition of a girlfriend, and the aliens discovering a taste for hip hop and pizza.

Characters include:

  • T.K. – the stereotypical cool character, this toy's molded face sported perpetual sunglasses. In the comic, he often abbreviated his long strings of slang 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 face, Scopes had two periscope-style eyes, similar to cartoon depictions of a crab, 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 – almost the Reggie Mantle of the group, 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
  1. McCarthy, Erin (12 January 2016). "12 Kooky Facts About Koosh Balls". MentalFloss.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  2. "Generally spherical object with floppy filaments to promote sure capture US 4756529 A" (web). Google Patents. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  3. Townsend, Allie (2011-02-16). "All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys". TIME.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  4. "Hasbro Announces New Angry Birds Star Wars Product Line". GalacticHunter. 2012-10-08. Archived from the original on 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2013-02-18.

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 (September 30, 1989)
  • "Novelty rubber ball rises on list of top 20 toys". Houston Chronicle (October 28, 1989)
  • "What a Koosh Job. Strange ball bounces along the trend path". Los Angeles Daily News (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) (June 17, 1995)
  • "Firm selling 'WOW!' oddball toys generates profits". Cincinnati Post (June 17, 1995)
  • Rimer, Sara. "Putting a Smile on Sober Science". The New York Times (May 13, 2004)
  • Adams, Katie (May 11, 2009). "Ridiculous Ideas That Made People Millions". Investopedia.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
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