Let’s just make it 75 because My Buddy deserves at least that. Prior to the upcoming Child’s Play series coming in October from SyFy, Chucky’s kill count sits at 74. But, it didn’t have the effect the toymakers’ thought it would and My Buddy went completely off line in the 90s’ due to poor sales. Hasbro subsidiary Playskool continued manufacturing the doll into the 1990s, while changing up his look a bit to distance the toy’s legacy away from the Child’s Play series. Whether it was the kids themselves, or parents making that association, the My Buddy toy line suffered. He did NOT want that thing in his room anymore and unfortunately, that same scenario rang true for many other kids as well. However, shortly after seeing the movie, we got rid of those fuckin’ nightmare inducing wads of stuffing on the fact it resembled it TOO much and it did give my brother several nightmares. My younger brother had a My Buddy doll prior to the movie coming out, as I did as well with his sister companion. Just like with Freddy, every kid in the late 80s’ early 90s’ knew all about Chucky and we closely associated the plastic terror with the My Buddy doll. Chucky was directly inspired by My Buddy- who in turn, had a hand in the down-fall of the doll. I’m eternally grateful to have such a marvelous, witty, pint-sized horror maniac in the horror movie legends roster. I’m certainly not giving the guy (Mancini) any shit. Heres a mashup of Chuckys best catchphrases from throughout the series If you thought he only said 3 sentences.you were wrong. It truly was the perfect combination for creating a memorable identity for a toy while cleverly referencing the doll’s name throughout the “earworm” so much so, all kids’ would remember the name My Buddy or Kid Sister when asking for an oversized bundle of plastic and stuffing with sewn-on clothing. In which case, was most certainly the biggest selling point of this doll. The true Chucky hidden away survives, however, and embarks on an 8 year search to be reunited with his Andy again desperate and eager for answers. And neither did his off-shoot Kid Sister either- which I TOTALLY HAD.Īnd intro the theme song that will probably be stuck in your head the rest of the day. Chuckys remotely controlled copy is defeated and destroyed by Mike Norris before he can react and process his owners actions. The My Buddy doll was officially stocked on store shelves in 1985 and actually sold fairly well – ranking in eighth place officially as the top-ten selling toys for that year. Up until Hasbro launched a market campaign with a doll, directly marketed to boys as, “ A little boy’s special friend! Rough and tough, yet soft and cuddly.” The boys had their GI JOES and HE-MAN, and that seemed to be the way it just was. Although considered non-gender specific, the dolls were mostly marketed towards little girls. In the earlier part of the decade, Cabbage Patch Dolls rules the ugly doll market with a mighty fist crushing any and all competitors that stood in their creepy, cabbage-dwelling way. Also, looking at this pair side-by-side, it’s beyond obvious we know where he got his look from. But My Buddy was in itself, was inspired by the Xavier Roberts’ line. Sure, the Cabbage Patch Kids as originally stated, served as some inspiration for good ol’ Chuck. If you do watch, don’t say I didn’t warn you.Without skipping a beat, 80s’ kids know that My Buddy jingle- and we also know without a doubt, THIS, without a doubt, is the true inspiration behind the Child’s Play franchise. Here is the commercial for “My Buddy” featuring that ear worm of a jingle ( WARNING: Do not watch unless you want to be humming the song for the rest of the day. Here are the lyrics to the “My Buddy” commercial jingle: That has to be a sign of a good jingle when it sticks in your brain and you can still recite it 35+ years later, so I both commend the jingle writers and kind of despise them (for the torment) at the same time. If you grew up at that time, there is a pretty good chance you can do the same thing, too. You see, the commercial played so much during cartoons back then that I can still sing the entire commercial jingle to this day. Now I was a little too old at this time to be the target market for this doll, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t make an impression on me. “My Buddy” could be sort of a companion for little boys while also teaching them about caring for their friends. Most dolls were marketed to girls, so maybe the thought was that there was potential in the other 50% of the market. In 1985, Hasbro made an attempt with “My Buddy”, a larger sized doll (not action figure) that was marketed to boys. Based on the success of Cabbage Patch Kids in the early ’80s, toy companies kept pursuing the next doll craze.
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