When you stop and think about it, the truth is that Mr. Potato Head is actually a dress-up doll, one that can be enjoyed equally by both boys and girls without the binaries of ‘this is what a girl should play with’ or ‘this is appropriate for boys’. The gender labeling of the toys themselves are even a curious misnomer.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head exist as separate models, Hasbro’s own product catalogue labels several accessory packs that would be stereotypically considered “female”, such as the Parts and Pieces Glamour Spud, the Mermaid Spud, and the Parts and Pieces Princess set, as being suitable for your Mr. Potato Head. Maybe Mr. Potato Head enjoys dress-up a little too much?

Mr. Potato Head’s feminine side. Shown are Glamour Spud and Parts and Pieces Princess Spud.

Jokes aside, the ungendered quality of today’s tater is actually a result of years of product evolution and changing safety regulations.

The original Mr. Potato Head kit actually was gendered, because the 1952 kit consisted of a plastic body with a huge spike for a neck that would be attached to the fruit. You would push a potato or apple or whathadyou onto the spike, creating the figure’s base, and then poke the eyes, nose, mouth and ears into the fruit to complete the toy. When Mrs. Potato Head’s kit came out in 1953 she actually had a different body mold, with a rounder figure, feminine shoes and a dress. They were the toy celebrity couple before Barbie and Ken, who didn’t reach the market until 1959 and 1961 respectively – Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head were even featured in LIFE magazine!

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, circa 1953 – note distinct gender molds for the bodies.

Naturally, as the years went on, a toy with a 3-inch spike on it became unkosher to give to little kids. In 1964 the equation was swapped around – both due to government regulations and possibly as a response to criticisms of ‘food wastage’ – a brown plastic ‘potato head’ was made by Hasbro. All the points of the pieces were rounded off, but the two distinct Mr. and Mrs. bodies retained slightly smaller pointy necks.

In the 1960’s, the first commercial tie-in packs appeared: Donald Duck, Bozo the Clown and a special Mr. Donut Head cross-promotion with Dunkin Donuts. Of course, the parts for each of these were all interchangeable. Primary accessories from the 60’s were Wild West, Masquerade, Circus, On The Farm, On the Railroad and On The Moon. Each came with a cardboard backdrop and a variety of strange pieces, some of which were repeated between sets. Some were intended for use with real vegetables rather than the plastic potato head, reflecting the crossover between versions.

From this era, the Picnic Pals are a quite obscure spinoff line, not well known today and difficult to locate.

Picnic Pals circa 1966.

In the 1970’s, the line began to diminish. The plastic potato head was darkened by several shades, and at this point the original body attachment disappeared entirely, replaced by just two simple plastic feet. Additionally the holes on the potato head became standardized to slots. Mrs. Potato Head disappeared from the line in 1973, no longer having a separate form of her own – she was only an add-on pack. She would not return as a separately labeled item until 1992.

Only a handful of kits – the Fire Chief, Sheriff and Lady packages – worked with the 70’s model potato. The strangest and rarest of all Mr. Potato Head accessory packs also hail from this era – the Fish, Bug and Bird sets. These sets include wobbly legs, wings, antennae and psychedelic-style beaks.

Literally the only available picture online of the Mr. Potato Fish, Bird and Bug sets.

The tater we know today took shape over the 80’s. The plastic body was retooled again, first to have attached arms and later detachable arms that could bend. A trap door backside was added to let kids store unused pieces inside the potato. It retained a slot for feet, and the slots on the body had been returned to peg-holes. The potato was now the entirety of the toy rather than one component. Kids were once more free to stick arms in ears and eyes in mouths. Finally, the signature pipe of the figure that had been a staple of the line since its beginning was swapped out for a pair of running shoes in support of the American Cancer Society’s “Great American Smoke Out”. (He also received a Presidential Sports Award in 1992!)

Accessory packs from the 80’s were somewhat thin on the ground except for the Bucket of Parts released in 1987 and the Super Silly Mr. Potato Head bucket in 1989 which featured muscle arms and crazy hair in extremely bright colors.

The release of Toy Story in the 90’s provided an explosion of attention for the tater. With Don Rickels providing the voice of the cynical spud in the box office smash, Pixar’s inclusion of the toy sent Mr. Potato Head skyrocketing in popularity, and a massive amount of new accessory kits and packs emerged. Some significant packs from this time were the Sheriff, Tool Belt, “Prima Spuderina” (ballerina), Pirate, Santa and “Cottontail” (rabbit, with a pull-on pink suit with ears!).

A clever variant of the figure from 1992 was the Soft Stuff Potato Head, which was a plush toy with Velcro-backed parts. Even more than the peg-version, these parts could be attached to literally any point of the soft body. Meanwhile, it’s possible that the re-release of Mrs. Potato Head as a separate character in 1992 was done in response to and preparation for the 1999 release of Toy Story 2, where the character was prominently featured.

As of 2011, there are over 100 separate team-specific versions of Mr. Potato Head, representing collegiate and pro teams. In this last decade the line has seen a tsunami of cross-merchandising- a real boom for collectors. There’ve been Star Wars spuds, Indiana Jones spuds, Transformers spuds, Spider-Man spuds, Elvis and KISS spuds… and in late 2011 there are plans to release Star Trek spuds too! Some special and cool new variants have emerged, like the “Silly Suitcases” for each model with over 40 mix and match accessories and body parts. There are even pets- the Spud Buds- a dog and cat.

Art from PPW Toys depicting planned Star Trek Mr. Potato Head licensed toys for late 2011.

Underneath all the ears, noses and funky plastic eyes, the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head bodies are now the same simple plastic shape with slight color variations. There once was a meaningful difference between the two, but that’s no longer true. Kits that work for one also work for the other. Moms and dads concerned about gender stereotyping in their toys might like a Potato Head as an inoffensive alternative to the Barbie/Hot Wheels dichotomy. Boys and girls get exactly the same experience with the toy. The kits are ridiculously low priced- as low as $4 for some accessory packs and around $20 for a Silly Suitcase with full figure included. At these prices, and with a huge variety of dressing options to boot, everyone can and should have a spud of their very own!

Cassandra, when not writing about media and randomness at her blog, cassandrapoe.com, prefers her nongendered potatoes dressed with butter and garlic.

Want more on the classics? Check these articles out:

-The History of Rainbow Brite

-Drench With Power: A Super Soaker Retrospective

-Throw Your Hands Up and Your Hands Back: A PEZ Retrospective

They also make great gifts for your dad.

I’m taking another day off video games to go into one of my favorite things from my childhood: Die-cast cars. The term can be applied to a lot of things, such as Hot Wheels and the like, but I actually won’t be bringing Hot Wheels into this since, well, that makes for an article in of itself sometime next week. Okay, not the classic thought of what makes a car a Hot Wheels car at least. I can’t lie, I’m talking about the most popular die-cast cars right now, so Hot Wheels are going to show up in some way or another.

Hot Wheels Showing Their Stuff

How are they showing up? The highest selling die-cast cars at the moment are Hot Wheels toys based off Disney and Pixar’s movie Cars. Y’all might be familiar with that movie, but if you’re not, the whole premise is centered around a car named Lightning McQueen that wants to be the DinoCo official car by winning all sorts of races. So pretty much the whole world is populated by cars. It’s actually a really good movie with Owen Wilson playing Lightning McQueen. The odd thing here is that the most popular die-cast car isn’t Lightning McQueen; it’s Mater, the junky tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy. I…I don’t make these things up. I wouldn’t make that up if I could.

I guess I can't make fun. My favorite die-cast car was a beat up old jeep.

So what else is popular these days? Star Trek. That means the USS Enterprise is getting bought by the galaxyful in the form of a 1:50 scale model on a nifty little display stand. If I had one of those as a kid, I’d have done nothing else but run around my house flying it from the kitchen to the living room and beyond. I was never into Star Trek at any point of my life, but anything that could fly was considered awesome to me. I assume the same still holds true for kids everywhere.

Something a Bit More Classic

Thus far we’ve had die-cast toys based off talking cars and space ships. There’s an actual car in the die-cast model best sellers, right? You’re dang right there is. High up on the list is the Burago-made Lamborghini 1:18 scale model, met closely by the 1957 Chevy Corvette made by Yat Ming. Kids that want these models are just classy folk and know style. If a kid walks up to his grandpa and says he wants a 1957 Chevy Corvette die-cast model for his birthday, I guarantee it’ll make that man weep tears of joy. I know it’d have that effect on my grandpa at least, and he’s awesome.

This is the USS enterprise, not a 1957 Chevy Corvette. If you can't tell the difference, I've severely over-estimated this generation.

All of these cool-sounding die-cast models must cost a fortune, right? Wrong. Everything I’ve mentioned here is priced under $30, with some, like the Mater toys from Mattel, priced under $6. Kids wanting a die-cast model of something are well within modesty when they request such an item, so treat ‘em well. Stay tuned next week for a larger article on Hot Wheels. Better go out and stock up in preparation.

It’s official, the new Star Trek action figures will be released on April 19, 2009.  These classic figures are made by Playmates, and will be available in 3¾-inch ($7), 6-inch ($9-$10) and 12-inch ($30) models, according to USA Today.

Star Trek figures represent a holy grail for toy manufactures: namely, earlier (and now collectable) Star Trek toys were some of the first action figures that were marketed to kids and adults.  This new series will also include key sets that are to scale with the action figures such as a Transporter playset, and a Bridge playset.

The Star Trek movie is opening in theaters on May 8.  By then, expect Star Trek toys to be everywhere!  The marketing plan is exuberant even by the standards of the final frontier.

Other tie-ins include card games (Uno), board games (Monopoly and Scrabble), a line of collector Babie dolls, plus die-cast vehicles and radio-controlled vehicles.  And that’s just the toys….. also be ready for new apparel, fragrances (Tribble perfume?), and even jewelry.

Oh, and don’t forget the Star Trek bobble heads!  These will probably go over better than these collectible Star Trek nutcrackers.

What makes this launch so important from my perspective is that the Star Trek universe has been moldering for so long that it has largely left the cultural landscape.  As Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Consumer Products, puts it:

“The momentum is building for the Star Trek brand as we approach the new feature film this May.  We are excited to continue our focus on expanding the Star Trek universe and bringing the whole franchise to a new generation.”

So, whether you are interested in collecting action figures, or are a Star Trek enthusiast, the action figure launch this spring should get you fired up for a whole new universe of characters.