ctw sesame street puppets 1974

[rche]

hiya folks,

Looking for info on the CTW Sesame Street hand puppets made in the mid 70s. I have seen just about all of them, but recently came across a couple of odd variations. A Bert and a Roosevelt that are about 10% smaller than all other CTW puppets I have seen. Any info is appreciated.

rche

[sauce]

i know that Brian posted some catalog pics on these boards (Classic Toys Forum?) and there was some discussion that ensued.

[megoscott]

I collect the finger puppets extensively, but don't know all the variations of the hand puppets. I do know that the earliest versions of the hand puppets made by Topper have more quality than later versions---the eyes are glued on I think.

There is a distinct size difference in the finger puppets between Topper and then later Questor/Gabriel. Same mold, but a bit smaller, less detailed, which I think is due to plastic that shrunk more and became harder.

[starsky]

I collect the finger puppets extensively, but don't know all the variations of the hand puppets. I do know that the earliest versions of the hand puppets made by Topper have more quality than later versions---the eyes are glued on I think.

There is a distinct size difference in the finger puppets between Topper and then later Questor/Gabriel. Same mold, but a bit smaller, less detailed, which I think is due to plastic that shrunk more and became harder.

i would love to see your finger puppet collection, scott!! as a kid i only had bert and ernie.

[rche]

Hiya Megoscott,

That is sort of what these hand puppets are like. Smaller and harder than any other versions that have wandered past my little store. The Bert is definitely a later type as he has a molded eyebrow (as opposed to a strip of fur glued on). I was wondering about plastic shrinkage. Do you mean that the finger puppets shrank when removed from the mold; i.e. as they were curing? These guys have their hair and it matches up with the mold line, so I don't think it is a long term shrink.

thanks for the information.

rche

[megoscott]

Yep, the molded eyebrows are later models. It was a quick jump--Topper had them in 71-72 but lost the right and they quickly went to Questor. It may even be that Questor didn't get access to the original molds and remolded them from copies...?

Those hand puppets came in the green rectangular photo boxes. The Toppers come in the open brick wall boxes. I need to get my act together and do a site or a blog about them. Here's a crappy picture of the collection...

http://megomuseum.com/scottmegos/closet.jpg

Here's a few examples of the FPs....

[megoscott]

SESAME STREET vintage HERRY MONSTER puppet NIB so rare! - eBay (item 330260238286 end time Aug-14-08 17:55:59 PDT)

Crazy Rare.

[palitoy]

Wow, boxed and everything.

On a side note, I'm always amused at how off model these puppets look, it's not like they're translating them to another medium, shouldn't they look exactly like them?

[megoscott]

This is from the era that's very floppy and weird. The Count from that series looks like he was run over by a truck. The early rubber ones are better--and the early grover with the rubber nose is just awesome.

[palitoy]

This is from the era that's very floppy and weird. The Count from that series looks like he was run over by a truck. The early rubber ones are better--and the early grover with the rubber nose is just awesome.

Yeah I've seen that Count before, he looks odd. I need to get off my butt and do a Sesame Street week again...

[rche]

Hiya MegoScott,

Looks like the boxed Bert you have is the later version. It just looks a little smaller. I play with these with my kids all the time and can barely get my hand inside them and in some sort of position to operate the puppet. The two that I have that are smaller (Bert and RF)... no way. I can't get my knuckles past the neck.

You wouldn't happen to know when they made a Grover with a floppy head and plastic nose? That is another oddity that just came by. I thought perhaps the head insert had cracked and was removed, but it was not there to begin with. More run over by a truck syndrome.

thanks for the pics
rche