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Welcome to the ZooBalls Page!
ZooBalls are goofy little balls made by TYCO. There were 18-24 of them made, all are small(about 3" round) spongy balls covered to look like animals. As the slogan was "Look Like Animals, Bounce Like Balls" Introduced in early 1997, they were apparently an attempt to cash in on the Beanie Baby craze that was going on with the TY made beanie animals. Even some of the ZooBalls came with "poems" on their card(some had "plain card" as well as, an apparently later, "poem" card). All ZooBalls had a name too, as you will see. Some had hard eyes/noses and are best avoided.The display box lauded "Bounce 'em, Cuddle 'em, Collect 'em". Right......cuddle with these things? Original price ranged about $4-$5 in the US.
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Apparently they were made for the kid's market, as they are noted "ages 3 and up". Well, I could just see a kid playing with one of these for a short while, but the interest would probably dwindle in no time. They would end up getting "whipped" at siblings, left under/behind furniture, and eventually forgotten. Well, not to be a completely forgotten toy, more than a few dog owners found these to be wonderful toys for their dogs! :) Oh, sure, I personally know of a few that were destroyed in no time flat by rather ambitious stuffing-removing dogs! On the other hand, there are dogs who have kept playing with them for months, and haven't destroyed one yet.
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My own story is one that is a great example. I had a young American Eskimo puppy(aren't they just so darling?), who was going through Nylabones quite readily, and didn't mind chewing on a number of other things either. Well....I had seen these ZooBalls in stores, but thought my little puppy would tear it up in no time. Well, I finally decided to try one.......picked out the owl, as he had no "hard part" that might get pulled off and swallowed, and figured he'd be relatively safe to try. As I do with all toys, I make sure I observe my dogs with them for a good while to be pretty sure they are going to be a safe toy for them. I bought a "denim retriever roll" a day after getting the owl. I figured the hardily constructed "roll" would far outlast the owl. Well, two days later, Shelby was getting the stuffing out of the roll, and within weeks we had it down to "no stuffing, just a rag toy". And the owl? Well.....he's doing just fine. The silk screened eyes eventually "rubbed" off, so he's a blind owl, but is otherwise among all our other toys here. Now.....some 20+ ZooBalls later(some are still unused), we have all kinds of these things laying around, and Shelby just loves playing with them. She "bounces 'em", "pounces 'em" "tosses 'em" "catches 'em", and "hauls 'em around by their appendages." They are, collectively, one of her favorite play things. And, after seeing her play with them, you'd wonder how any kid could have even half as much fun with them. Yep, as a few dog owners have said, "TYCO, you missed the market on these; you should have put them in pet stores!" I couldn't agree more.
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In early 1998, TYCO discontinued making ZooBalls. :( I have been told that it is a possibility(but it may not necessarily be a likelihood) that MATTEL(who owns TYCO) could maybe re-issue ZooBalls someday. Well, we'll just have to see about that. TYCO/MATTEL have a toll-free number you can call:
dial 1-800-FOR-TYCO (1-800-367-8926)
They do ask for your phone number when you call(they track customers' previous questions/calls about products, so be prepared for that), but tell them ZooBalls are for Dogs, and should be made for them, and NOT just for kids! And to please start making them again!
Well, here's the original 18:
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| Bunny | Bonnie | 1795-13 |
| Cat | Kitty | 1795-7 |
| Cow | Carmen | 1795-12 |
| Dalmatian | Dot | 1795-1 |
| Fish | Freddie | 1795-9 |
| Frog | Frankie | 1795-15 |
| Kangaroo | Kalvin | 1795-8 |
| LadyBug | Lanie | ??? |
| Lion | Louie | 1795-17 |
| Monkey | Monty | ??? |
| Mosquito | Marty | 1795-2 |
| Owl | Owen | 1795-16 |
| Penguin | Penny | 1795-18 |
| Pig | Paula | 1795-14 |
| Shark | Sammy | 1795-11 |
| Toucan | Timmy | 1795-4 |
| Turtle | Myrtle | 1795-10 |
| Walrus | Walter | 1795-5 |
....and the 6 additional "followers", of which I, personally, have not seen most, but have only seen in a list(except that Paully Parrot seems to be the same as Timmy Toucan only with a different name) , so here they are(this makes 24 total):
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| Beagle | Bart | ??? |
| Bear | Brian | ??? |
| Bee | Bailey | ??? |
| Kris | Crab | ??? |
| Davy | Dinosaur | ??? |
| Paully | Parrot | 1795-4 |
The million dollar question is "where's ASCII the Eskie?" Or even "Speedy the SpitzBall"? :) Enjoy the pictures. Thanks for stopping by, and do take care.......
Also of possible interest is the Consolidated Stores web site. Consolidated is the owner of Kay Bee Toys as well as Big Lots, the latter of which ZooBalls have shown up in, along with other odd, discounted, discontinued, etc. type of items. Go check them out, and see if there is a Big Lots/Odd Lots near you!
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