Why did Hello Kitty become blue?

October 27, 2007 5:39 AM

When I was a kid, I took a trip once. The whole time, a plush Hello Kitty doll was in the back of the car, bombarded by the sun. It changed color from pink to dark blue. Any explanation for this phenomenon?

When I was a kid living in Saudi Arabia, our family went for a picnic to a southern city in the Kingdom. The whole time we were driving, I had my Hello Kitty plush toy in the back of the car, in that area behind the seats. The toy was being bombarded by sun all day.

As we drove, I noticed that the toy had changed colors from a light pink to a sky blue shade. It was this color for a few hours, and then changed back to normal. I tried to recreate this effect in later months, but to no avail.

Is there any explanation for this phenomenon?

posted by reenum to grab bag (13 comments total)

Tinted windows causing coloured light to fall on your toy, perhaps?
posted by anaelith at 6:01 AM on October 27, 2007

When I was a kid, I had a plush Hello Kitty doll that changed color in the bathtub. Not mysteriously--it was sold with the color-changing ability as its feature. I believe it was hot water that changed it and you could change it back by dipping it in cold water.

This is the kind of feature, I've found, that does fade over time. After a while, mine didn't change colors anymore.

So maybe this was the same kind of doll you had, and the heat from the sun had the same effect as the hot water. It doesn't say whether in the months between you first noticing it and you trying to recreate it, the toy had continued to ride around in the back window of the car. But if it did, maybe that wore out the feature prematurely, as it could have been inadvertently heated up and cooled down several times a day for all that time.
posted by lampoil at 6:14 AM on October 27, 2007

I actually even think pink to blue were the colors of my color-changing Hello Kitty.
posted by lampoil at 6:18 AM on October 27, 2007

lampoil, I had the same Kitty, same colors.
posted by whatzit at 6:21 AM on October 27, 2007

One of the pigments was more light sensitive than the others and over time it faded leaving you with the remaining pigments and the present color.
posted by caddis at 7:20 AM on October 27, 2007

Color-shifting toys were quite popular many years ago. Generally, the color-shift was triggered by heat (usually in the form of someone's touch) It's not surprising that the toy would color-shift during long exposure to the sun.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:25 AM on October 27, 2007

Is it possible that it actually changed from blue to pink? That would be the more usual progression for sun-fading...
posted by bricoleur at 8:04 AM on October 27, 2007

I had the same color changing bath Hello Kitty.
posted by k8t at 8:21 AM on October 27, 2007

That sounds like the cobalt color shift.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:01 AM on October 27, 2007

Note this can't be sun fading as the toy returned to it's pink colour after the exposure.
posted by Mitheral at 9:13 AM on October 27, 2007

Everybody likes to play in the bathtub, with new Hello Color.
Everybody likes to stay in the bathtub, with new Hello Color.
Hello Color changes color, changes color in the bath.
Hello Color changes color just to make you laugh.
Everybody likes to play in the bathtub, with new Hello Color!
posted by i less than three nsima at 9:38 AM on October 27, 2007

It was this color for a few hours, and then changed back to normal.

* must remember to read the whole question
posted by caddis at 9:56 AM on October 27, 2007

What lampoil said. I had the same doll. A bathtub toy. It was pretty awesome!
posted by SassHat at 11:44 AM on October 27, 2007