Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Toy Chest Tuesday! Gummi Bears

From Catwoman to Gummi Bears... there is always a new twist and turn with Toy Chest Tuesday! Gummi Bears was a Disney animated show that aired from the mid '80s until the early '90s. The basic premise was that a group of magical bears called Gummi Bears lived in a Medieval world where humans had no idea of their existence. Long story short there were some humans that would find out about the Gummi Bears, some of these humans were good and some were evil. There was also a group of "bad" bears called the Barbics. The show and characters were actually a really big deal. This show was Disney's first foray into an animated serialized show and it actually lasted a long time with new content. I believe there were 5 seasons. The characters also had many dedicated followers.

Anyways this post is not about the details of the old cartoon, but instead about some toys that were made for collectors who liked their Gummi Bears to made out of plastic... and not gelatin. Fisher Price had actually come out with a line in stores based on the Gummi Bears, but it was Kelloggs that drove collectors into a frenzy with their pvc premium cereal treats.

Similar to the Rescue Rangers pvc toys from Kelloggs, the Gummi Bears toys were just as popular. I am not sure about all the characters that Kelloggs released, but I do recall Gruffi, Tummi, Sunni, and Cubbi being a part of the lineup. The names of each Gummi Bear also informed the audience about their character traits. Tummi was the slightly overweight bear that loved to eat Gummiberries. Cubbi was the youngest bear and full of mischief. He was always starting/getting into some form of scheme or another. Those two bears never found themselves in my collection, but Gruffi and Sunni did, so let's check them out!

Here we have Gruffi, the Gummi Bear leader. He was very serious and always fixing things that were broken. He was also very distrustful of humans. Looking at this version of Gruffi, I would not suspect him to be that "gruff." He actually looks kinda happy and sweet. Anyways this figure came in a box of cereal and is about 2 inches tall. These pvc toys really captured the look of the Gummi Bears. The Fisher Price figures came close, but they were nothing like these little pvc figures.


The next Gummi Bear we will be looking at is Sunni, my favorite Gummi Bear. (Shocking, I know.) Sunni was the bright and cheery bear that was interested in human life and fashion. She was girly and chic. I loved her! I also liked her color combo, the bright yellow and green was nice and bright. Perfect for Sunni! This pvc figure also features Sunni holding a flower.


Gummi Bears were really cute and an important part of Disney history. This was one of the first cartoons that had many other great Disney shows following right behind. (Though I really wish the Wuzzles had caught on just as much in popularity.) Anyways for fans of all things Gummi, these pvc toys are not hard to come by at all. There are many listings on ebay in great to perfectly new condition. My only problem with the Disney pvc cereal premiums from Kelloggs is that they eventually smell with age. By smell I mean total crayon scent all up on these bears, but they do look so darn cute!

So that is about it for Toy Chest Tuesday! Sort of a short, but sweet, Toy Chest. There are reasons for that, as Diary of a Dorkette will be celebrating big time on July 29th! Mark your calendars folks, because I've got a lot of fun stuff planned for Diary celebrating a year on the web!!!
   

16 comments:

  1. I love the Gummi Bears! I have all the Fisher Price Gummi Bear figures but I have never got around to buying the cereal toys.

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    1. I actually wish I had gotten some of those, but the Fisher Price figures are way too expensive on ebay. They were very interesting looking. They resembled the Gummi Bears, but in a different way. I don't know how to explain it. Thank you for the comment!

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  2. If your interested I did a post a while back with pictures of my Fisher Price set.

    http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.com/2012/06/gummi-bears-bouncing-here-and-there-and.html

    Im only missing Bubbles the baby Dragon, I have never seen it and Im not really sure it exists.

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    1. You have a great site! Thank you for the link. I am now following! I now want to put my Nancy Drew skills to the test and see what the scoop is on Bubbles.

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    2. Thanks and Please do! I have been in search of it for years and have only seen brief mention of its existence.

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    3. Well I have been searching, and this is what I have found so far, (I'm not sure if this is the same thing you have read)

      http://www.thisoldtoy.com/L_FP_Set/toy-pages/7000s/7076-bubblethedragon.html

      There is no picture of Bubble, but it does sound like a toy was made. Although that version of Bubble sounds like a playset vehicle. The plot thickens!

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  3. Wow in Spain we have the Gummi Bears cartoons on saturday afternoon,and i remember try to draw them. Thanks for bring back some good memories!

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    1. No problem! I need to get the show on dvd, as it would be really nice to watch the old episodes again. I know there is stuff on youtube, but I like owning the stuff. lol Talk to you later!

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  4. Gummi Bears, bouncin' here and there and everywhere... lol, I loved this show as a child, and I own the DVD set, I introduced my now almost 5 yr old cousin to it about a year ago or so and he loved it to, gotta bring all the old ones back! We watch that, care bears, teddy ruxpin, inspector gadget, and he-man/she-ra on DVD together.

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    1. Hey Sarah. I need to buy the Gummi Bears on dvd, I have yet to do that. I love the opening theme song, it was such a fun show! I'm glad you are introducing these fantastic old show to your cousin, that is awesome. And I love me some old Care Bears! That was a good cartoon too!

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  5. I still have my care bear, it's about 28 yrs old now, lol, and still in decent condition, my Grandma got it for me when I was 2 yrs old and had to go to the hospital to get my tonsils out.

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    1. Oh that is so cool! I still have my Care Bears too. I could never get rid of them. They were so much fun. And will probably be featured at some point soon. lol Which Care Bear do you have?

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  6. I have the peachy/orange one, friend bear, I also have a white/silver 25th anniversary carebear that I got a few years ago for Christmas from my other grandma, both grandmas are since gone, so I have kept the bears.

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    1. I loved the 25th anniversary Care Bears. They were so pretty. I liked Friend Bear too. I never had that one, but I liked the color. Care Bears were so cool because of all the various colors. I loved them.

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  7. Now I just regret not getting a care bear cousin, lol, I always thought they were cute too.

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    1. I love the Care Bear Cousins. I feel they are due for a major comeback!

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