Has anyone else heard of lower-case "g" gumbies?

October 6, 2014 10:29 AM

When I was a child in the late 70's, I remember these tiny, usually pink bendy toys we called "gumbies."

They had nothing to do with Gumby or Monty Python. I had teachers who would give them away as class prizes, or you could find them in gumball machines, etc. It was really cool to have a collection of them, in elementary school.

They were sort of gingerbread-man-shaped, if I remember correctly. Does anyone else recall these? I would love to see a photo of one and find out what they were really called.

posted by 41swans to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

1. How tiny? M.U.S.C.L.E. tiny? (M.U.S.C.L.E. did not exist until the mid-eighties.)

2. Where?
posted by Sys Rq at 10:42 AM on October 6, 2014

It reminds of the mid-1980s M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, which were also made of pink rubber and sold in gumball machines. According to the internet they were made of "pink PVC gum" which might help you search for any 70s predecessors.
posted by mbrubeck at 10:43 AM on October 6, 2014

I can't do a direct link right now, but any chance they were sticky wall climbers? http://www.amazon.com/Sticky-Wall-Climbers-Dozen-Package/dp/B004K6NOJO/ref=pd_sim_t_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0M4NXPXQPYC94V10VHTH
posted by shortyJBot at 11:37 AM on October 6, 2014

Response by poster: Definitely M.U.S.C.L.E. tiny or slightly bigger, but not them. And not sticky! I will definitely use "pink PVC gum" as a search term.

Midwestern US was my location.
posted by 41swans at 12:11 PM on October 6, 2014

Jack in the box had bendable buddies as a promo in the mid 70s.
posted by brujita at 1:50 PM on October 6, 2014

Response by poster: I found one in green! Note the lack of resemblance to actual Gumby.
posted by 41swans at 4:15 PM on October 8, 2014 [1 favorite]