Puffkins

Puffkins is a series of spherical stuffed animals distributed by Lisle, Illinois-based Swibco. It was introduced in 1997 as a competitor to Beanie Babies. Puffkins are sold with a tag containing a birthdate and poem, and like Beanie Babies, the toys have new designs introduced and other designs retired. Although Puffkins were retired in 2002, Swibco re-introduced the line as Puffkins 2 in 2007 with mostly the same design.

History

Swibco, a toy company based in Lisle, Illinois, introduced the Puffkins line on May 24, 1997. Thirteen different Puffkins designs were released on that day.[1][2] Like Beanie Babies, every Puffkin wore a heart-shaped swing tag bearing a name, poem and birth date,[3] and various designs were retired and introduced periodically. Certain designs of the toys were also considered more valuable, usually because of a low production number or a rarely seen color variation. The most valuable was a white tiger named Snowball; the first Puffkin to be retired, its original design sold for as high as $150.[2] Puffkins are designed in a spherical form without arms, and measure about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter, with a smaller keyring variation measuring 4 inches (10 cm).[2] Swibco retired the Puffkins line in 2002, but restarted the toy line in 2007 under the name Puffkins 2, which feature largely the same design but are made of a softer material.[4]

References
  1. O'Neal, Denise I. (1998-11-04). "Life's plush for Lisle firm". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  2. Bossmin, Lydia; Ofelia de los Santos (June 1998). "The New Puffkins Collectibles". Mary Beth's Beanie World. 1 (5): 36–38.
  3. O'Niell, Brendan (January 2000). "Behind the scenes at Swibco". Mary Beth's Bean Bag World. 3 (4): 192–194.
  4. "Puffkins 2". Swibco. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2009-07-12.


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