From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Healthy Mr. Potato Head in the Macy's 2006 Parade

Mr. Potato Head is a popular children's doll, consisting of a plastic model of a potato. Originally, the potato is blank; however, it can be decorated with numerous attachable plastic parts to make a face, including a mustache, hat, nose and other features.

Original 1952 Mr. Potato Head boxed set

Mr. Potato Head was invented by George Lerner in the late 1940s. The original plan was to have it be a prize in breakfast cereal so that the separate parts could be distributed as cereal package premiums. But later, Lerner showed the idea to textile manufacturers Henry and Merrill Hassenfeld, who did business as the Hassenfeld Brothers (later shortened to Hasbro). and they loved it, so they bought back the rights.

When the toy was first manufactured, it came with 30 accessories.

When it was first sold to the public in 1952, it became the first toy to be sold through national television advertising and netted Hasbro more than USD$4 million in its first year of production. In 1953, Mrs. Potato Head was added, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the Potato Head family. Although originally produced as separate plastic parts to be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, a plastic body was added to the kit in the late 1950s.

In 1973, the main potato part of the toy doubled in size and the dimensions of its accessories were similarly increased. This was done mainly because of new toy child safety regulations that were introduced by the U.S. government. Hasbro also replaced the holes with flat slats, which made it impossible for users to put the face pieces and other body parts the wrong way around. In the 1980s, Hasbro reduced the range of accessories for Mr. Potato Head to one set of parts. The company did however reintroduce round holes in the main potato body, and once again parts were able to go onto the toy in the wrong locations. In 1987, one Mr. Potato Head part, the smoking pipe, was discontinued.

Mr. Potato Head first appeared on TV in Potato Head Kids, in which, ironically, he played a supporting character. He has appeared in both Toy Story movies (voiced by Don Rickles), had his own short-lived Fox Kids series The Mr. Potato Head Show from 1998-1999, been the subject of a comic strip created by Jim Davis, and advertised fries for Burger King in commercials after there was a considerable change in their taste. Currently, in Britain, Walkers crisps has a line of crisps called Potato Heads, featuring a Potato head rendition of Gary Lineker on the packet.

Mr. Potato Head enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with various tie-ins with other properties such as Star Wars, Spider-Man and Transformers. Starting in 2005 with a Mr. Potato Head hybrid crossing over popular characters from Star Wars, including Darth Vader, Storm Trooper and R2-D2 resulting in Potato Head versions, Darth Tater, Spud Trooper and Artoo-Potatoo. The year 2007 saw the release of a Spider-Man cross-over resulting in Spider Spud, and with the release of the first live-action Transformers film, Optimash Prime.

In 2006, Hasbro also began selling individual pieces as sets to add to a collection instead of having to buy an entire Potato Head set with a body. Some of these themed sets included Mermaid, Rockstar, Pirate, King, Princess, Firefighter, Construction Worker, Halloween, Santa Claus, Chef, and Police Officer.

• Pontiki

• Hasbro's Mr. Potato Head website
• Mr. Potato Head Net
• Movie Inspired Mr. Potatoheads Mashups
• The world's most travelled Mr. Potato Head website
• Mr. Potato Head license plates
• Mr Potato Head (information about Mr Potato Head from the V&A Museum of Childhood)
• The Little People Meet Mr. Potato Head: The Little People Meet Mr. Potato Head