"Weebles Wobble But they Don't Fall Down!" It's true - no matter how hard you tried as a kid, back they'd spring.
Weebles were basically little plastic people with circular bottoms and no legs. They looked like eggs, but had painted faces to differentiate between an entire Weeble family: Mum, Dad, brother, sister, baby and dog. They were weighted in the bottom so that if you pushed it over it would just bob right back up again - leading to what seemed to be limitless fun! Because of this, Weebles became a hit from 1969, when they were released by toy manufacturer, Romper Room, taking over from the Little People toys that had gone before them.
By the early 70s, the Weebles had gained in popularity and, by now, Hasbro had started producing a range of accessories. One of the first was the Weeble Tree House, which was extremely popular, and featured slides for the Weebles to move between floors (after all, they ad no Weeble feet to get up stairs). they could even slide straight into the family car. Don't you wish regular houses were the same? Then there was the Weebles Haunted House, which included a glow-in-the-dark ghost, As well as a village full of people, Hasbro started producing an assortment of vehicles with special dimpled seats to hold the Weebles in. These included a boat, an aeroplane and even a Police Van. We were even treated to a Wigwam for the Indian Weebles, Wild West Weeble Wagons, as well as a Treasure Island for the pirate Weebles to live on.
So the kids who kept with these simple Weebles despite the lure of other more compex toys, were being rewarded more than they could ever have imagined... because next up came the best Weeble creation of all - the Circus! It came complete with Wobble the clown, a ringmaster, trapeze artist, stilt walker and a canon (a must for any circus).
Nowadays, Weebles have been superseded by the likes of Nintendo Wii and the like, but they're still popular with collectors, who can even pick up themed Weebles painted with characters of Sesame Street and Disney. They may have changed over the years, but one thing's stayed the same, just as we were promised, 'they haven't fallen down'.
Do You Remember Weebles?
Do You Remember Weebles?