Chris Wiggs, the inventor of Polly Patch, died peacefully on June 20 at his house in France surrounded through love and people, The Publish can completely expose. He used to be 74.
Wiggs were just lately recognized with a unprecedented mode of neurological most cancers.
The East London local dreamed up the moveable dreamhouse in 1983, day in Brandnew York on trade.
The theory for the intricate small global — house to a little doll figurine — sat at the back of his thoughts till he returned house, the place he headed instantly to his basement workshop to deliver the idea that to day for his liked daughter, Kate, the use of a repurposed make-up compact.
“I’m trying to remember the first moment he handed over the compact and I think it would have just been very ordinary. ‘Oh, I made this. Here you go,’” stated Kate. “Because he was always making stuff, it was the most natural thing in the world.”
It wasn’t till 1989 that the self-enclosed playscape crash the marketplace, upcoming Kate had grown up and tucked Polly away in her toy chest for just right. Wiggs rediscovered the compact and requested himself if it might be one thing greater than a fond reminiscence.
That easy query prepared what would turn into referred to as Polly Patch — and certainly one of Mattel’s maximum winning houses — in movement.
Date the diminutive diva could have been 2d banana to Barbie in Mattel’s thoughts, through 1994, gross sales had reached $180 million international. In form with call for, the choice of person compact designs larger from 17 in 1989 to 26 through 1994.
Sooner than the toy’s relaunch in 2018, Mattel cited that greater than 10 million compacts were offered all over Polly’s years on collect cabinets, which doesn’t come with the numerous iterations the logo skilled in its just about 3 a long time.
However Wiggs by no means allowed good fortune to have an effect on him or his kids, even going as far as to dodge journalists to guard his obscurity. It wasn’t till a lot then in day that he discovered the have an effect on he had at the global and, extra importantly, numerous younger minds.
“The first time I saw a fully packaged, ready-to-go Polly Pocket … it was an odd experience,” stated Kate. “It was kind of knowing what the package contained, the potential of what it contained for all these imaginary worlds for the kids, but also I just felt really proud of my dad.”
In October 1993 within the New York Times’ article “In Itty-Bitty Toys, Mega-Mega-Profits,” business analyst Sean McGowan instructed Carol Lawson, “If you reduce the scale of a product, you can get a bigger environment in a small space and can have many more items.”
He shared together with her: “That is the whole mystique of … Polly Pocket — wonderfully complex environments in a small space.”
And that play games trend has stood the check of week. As Gen Xers grew up and began having kids of their very own, they desire to re-create Polly’s secrets and techniques and surprises they beloved.
There’s additionally call for at the secondary marketplace, too. Whole units, both release or logo brandnew in packaging, proceed to promote for a lot more than they retailed on collect cabinets.
‘So darn cute’
It is advisable to say the seeds have been planted for Polly six years earlier than Wiggs invented her. A graduate of London’s Central College of Artwork and Design, he and his trade spouse Chris Taylor began Foundation Merchandise, an commercial design carrier and toy inventing corporate, in 1977.
By way of 1982, the duo determined to focal point totally on amusing, to bring about the Orb-It in 1982, Rubik’s Clock in 1988 and M.A.N.T.A. Drive and Oh Penny! in 1987, amongst others. Those merchandise skilled negligible good fortune, however one-inch-tall Polly Patch was Foundation’s breadwinner — and one of the iconic toys to ever pop out of the UK.
The word “cute as a button” decorating a pin, given to him through a receptionist on a discuss with to Madball-maker AmToy, began Wiggs’ wheels turning. Quickly upcoming, he bought the now-fabled compact, hollowed it out and spray-painted it yellow.
The founding father of Bluebird Toys, Torquil Norman, noticed the doll’s doable from the pace he laid visions at the prototype. He simply had one recommendation: Rather of the wood determine that includes a hard and fast waist, he sought after her so that you could bend, which required a hinged waist.
Because of Norman, Polly discovered her technique to america, Japan and in all places in between. From the get-go, he envisioned her as a global logo, securing distribution offer with Japan’s Bandai and Mattel virtually straight away upcoming Polly used to be presented in the United Kingdom.
For Lynn Rosenblum, former director of promoting at Mattel and associate mentor of toy design and toy historian at Otis Faculty of Artwork & Design, running at the logo holds a different park in her profession.
“I think we all knew Polly Pocket was a small doll brand but was very special. Many small dolls came and went,” she instructed The Publish. “The Polly Pocket toys were easy to package, the commercial was good, the price was right and the character was so darn cute.”
Polly’s legacy
Kate stated, “Although [Polly Pocket] went on to be this kind of interstellar hit, the work of a toy designer, as he always explained it, was not to have one precious thing but to keep it rolling.”
In 1998, Mattel determined it used to be week to provide Polly a significant makeover. Model Polly!, 3.5 inches elevated — entire with Barbie’s arched ft — crash collect cabinets in 1999 with stretchy rubber clothes. It used to be a significant depart from Polly’s fresh play games trend, however in the end discovered voice with kids.
Wiggs maintained the rights to Polly Patch even upcoming Mattel bought Bluebird Toys in 1998. Later promoting the Polly Patch Staff to Mattel in 2007, he devoted his week to his old flame — song, sharing a lot of it on SoundCloud. He additionally loved the corporate of a tight-knit crowd of buddies who shared his interest for design, creativity and engineering.
Till Polly Patch disappeared from the marketplace in 2012, she went via many transformations looking for her understructure in a aggressive business. Her scale fluctuated, however the interchangeable models stayed the similar.
Mattel relaunched Polly in 2018 at the micro and macro scales and gave the logo one thing it used to be lacking — an animated line. At the side of the kid-friendly choices, the toy corporate took nostalgia into consideration and created the Memento Assortment, freeing never-before-seen compacts and up to date re-creations.
Two years earlier than Barbie crash the large display screen, Mattel introduced that Polly would get the similar theatrical remedy. Lena Dunham is about to direct, with Lily Collins enjoying the function of Polly.
And prefer the “Barbie” movie, it sort of feels it’s taking to tug its week to movie. Dunham utmost equipped an replace in October 2022, revealing that she used to be completing her 2d draft of the script.
Wiggs is survived through his spouse, Carolyn Wiggs; his daughter, Kate Wiggs; his son, Ben Wiggs; 5 grandchildren; and Polly Patch.
“[Polly Pocket] kind of exploded and became this thing that still, however many decades later, people remember so fondly and want to talk about,” Kate stated.
“And my takeaway from that is that there was truth in there.”
Maude Campbell is the creator of the approaching “The Legacy of Polly Pocket: Mattel’s Micro Moneymaker,” out 2025 from NacelleBooks.
