Koosh ball

Koosh
Type Rubber balls
Company
Country United States
Availability 1989–present
Materials Rubber, foam, plastic
Official website

The Koosh ball is a toy ball made of rubber filaments (strings) attached to a soft rubber core, patented in 1987 by Scott H. Stillinger.[1][2][3] The company later expanded their product line to include 50 other Koosh-related products, including keyrings, baseball sets, and yo-yos.

The ball consists of about 2,000 natural rubber filaments, and has been released in a variety of color combinations. A variation was the Koosh Kins line, of Koosh balls with cartoon faces and hands. Koosh Kins was made into a comic book mini-series by Archie Comics, where they kept their cartoon-like appearance.

Koosh balls are often used with QuickStart tennis exercises to help children develop motor skills.

As of 2017, Koosh balls are manufactured by Hasbro, and the brand has recently expanded into different product lines starting with Koosh Galaxy. The new line consists of toy blasters that fire foam balls similar to the original Nerf ball, and includes a cross-promotion with Angry Birds Star Wars.[4]

References

  1. ↑ McCarthy, Erin. "12 Kooky Facts About Koosh Balls". MentalFloss.com. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  2. ↑ "Generally spherical object with floppy filaments to promote sure capture US 4756529 A" (web). Google Patents. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  3. ↑ Townsend, Allie (2011-02-16). "All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  4. ↑ "Hasbro Announces New Angry Birds Star Wars Product Line". GalacticHunter. 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  • Official site at Hasbro
  • "Boom time for toys predicted as the Koosh ball arrives". Textline Multiple Source Collection (1981–1984) (January 30, 1989)
  • "New toys not just for kids". The Plain Dealer (September 30, 1989)
  • "Novelty rubber ball rises on list of top 20 toys". Houston Chronicle (October 28, 1989)
  • "What a Koosh Job. Strange ball bounces along the trend path". Los Angeles Daily News (March 1, 1993)
  • "OddzOn announces Koosh Vortex line expansions". Playthings (February 1, 1994)
  • "Toymaker parlays Koosh Ball into entire line of tactile toys". The Pantagragh (Bloomington, Illinois) (June 17, 1995)
  • "Firm selling 'WOW!' oddball toys generates profits". Cincinnati Post (June 17, 1995)
  • Rimer, Sara. "Putting a Smile on Sober Science". The New York Times (May 13, 2004)
  • Adams, Katie. "Ridiculous Ideas That Made People Millions". on Investopedia.com (May 11, 2009).


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.