Here is a great little story from Janice (thank you for sharing)...what a great imagination her little sweetie has!

I bought a cute dollhouse at the Goodwill that fascinated me. It had a little goldfish that circled round and round if you turned the knob and a hamster that ran inside a wheel if you turned it. It had a bed that the (plastic) covers lifted up and a toilet lid that opened, a swing that you can move back and forth, oh, and so many other details that a child could discover by playing with it. I didn't know anything about Polly Pocket but I knew I loved this dollhouse!

I couldn't wait until my three year old granddaughter, Brandie's next visit to introduce this new toy. She loved it! I didn't have any "little people" to go with it, but I thought she would be content with it "as is". I had cleaned it up real good before her visit, but when I was putting the toys away I noticed it had something all over it. It was chalk! And underneath the bed covers she had put a "baby", a small piece of blackboard chalk! That chalk "baby" had gotten around, I'll tell you, as she explored the whole playset! It had taken a bath in the bathtub, visited the toilet, sat on the couch, played on the swing, etc.! There was chalk all over! Well, I could see she needed the "little people" that came with this playset, so I looked up "Polly Pocket" which was the name on the gate on the front. Turns out it was the Petland playset. I found the website "www.onlypollypocket.com", and since then I have collected more playsets and some of the dolls, to the delight of my grandchildren!

Thought it would be fun to share a story about my granddaughter, Miss Bay. When she was just getting out of diapers, we kept saying to her "Do you need to go to the little girls' room? It has been awhile since you went."

My daughter and I were playing games on the computer and Bay was lying on the floor playing with the 1999 Polly Pocket Petland set. All was quiet for about 30 minutes...we were involved in our thing and she was playing quietly. All of sudden, we heard a tiny little voice of our two-year-old asking, "Polly, do you need to go to the little girls' room? It has been quite awhile since you went."

Needless to say, we were hysterical!

Many thanks to Philipa for sharing her Polly Pocket story with us!

My dad originally brought a big box of polly pockets when I was a baby and we lived in england. He would give me one at a time when I was good or we were going on hoilday. At first, he thought I didn't like them very much and suggested giving them to my older cousins. But luckily, mum stepped in the way and said I just needed time to grow up and really appreciate them. Now twelve years on, I have fifty polly pockets and still collecting. I live in a small country down da bottom of the world so there are not many ways to get hold of new polly pockets for my collection. So my collection doesn't get added to very much. I'm not allowed on ebay so I rely on acquaintances to hook me up with people they know with unwanted polly pockets.

My first polly pocket I ever got was the pink present compact with the townhouse inside.

Let's begin at the beginning....

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BLUEBIRD TOYS

In 1980 London businessman, Torquil Norman, founded Bluebird Toys, Ltd. locating in Swindon, England. The company achieved a huge success with the Big Yellow Teapot and a number of other innovative and unique new toys. In 1985 the company expanded its operations and moved to a larger site in Wales. In 1987 Bluebird acquired the license to produce our own Polly Pocket from Origin Products, Ltd., the company founded by her inventors Chris Wiggs and Chris Taylor. By then the company had become a major force in the toy industry, reaping several prestigious awards along the way. In the following years Bluebird Toys made some prime acquisitions and signed with Disney in 1995. But, alas, fortune turned tail in 1997 and reduced profits prompted a major shareholder, Guiness Peat Group, to attempt an hostile takeover. GPG was outbid by the giant Mattel, Inc. and in May/June of 1998 Bluebird became a part of Mattel. Mattel, Inc. still produces Polly Pocket as a part of its ongoing line.

AND NOW ABOUT POLLY POCKET

Polly actually started life as a small wooden doll in a lady’s powder compact. She was presented to Bluebird Toys, Ltd. (now in a decorated box) as a potential product by her creator, Chris Wiggs. He explained that he had made the item for his daughter, Kate, six years prior when she was three years old, and she was so taken with it that he felt that it might have commercial possibilities. The Bluebird executive was interested but asked if he could find a way to make the doll bend at the waist. Mr. Wiggs could and did. He and his partner, Chris Taylor, in Origin Products, Ltd. along with Bluebird developed Polly into the wonderfully clever sets that we have today. Origin still owns the rights to Polly Pocket. They licensed Bluebird Toys to manufacture Polly from the outset which they did until Mattel, Inc. acquired the license in 1998. Now Origin and Mattel develop many exciting new toys from playsets to little houses to fantasy palaces.

So far there have been about 100 million little girls (and big girls, too) who have thrilled to the intricate detail and wonderful secrets and surprises. No doubt, Polly will continue to amuse and amaze for many years to come.

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