Keypers
Encyclopedia
Keypers are toy
s in the shape of animal
s that were designed with opening compartments for children to store small items in. They were made in the 1980s
by Tonka
Corp.
, ladybug and turtle
) and have small compartments which are intended for children to hide things in. The large adult Keypers have special keys so you can lock and unlock the compartments they have located on them. The small baby Keypers have a slit in their backs so you can squeeze, open and then hide things inside. The Keypers also have small Finders for friends. The Finders help the Keypers find lost items.
even has different names depending on the US
or UK
version.
reasons. Some items can be found in thrift stores, on online auction websites like eBay
, and on 1980s toy-selling webpages.
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
s in the shape of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s that were designed with opening compartments for children to store small items in. They were made in the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
by Tonka
Tonka
Tonka is an American toy company most known for its signature toy trucks and construction equipment.-History:On September 18, 1946 Mound Metalcraft was created in Mound, Minnesota with three men as partners, Lynn Everett Baker , Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. The first products produced by...
Corp.
Overview
The Keypers characters depict animals (including a snailSnail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
, ladybug and turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
) and have small compartments which are intended for children to hide things in. The large adult Keypers have special keys so you can lock and unlock the compartments they have located on them. The small baby Keypers have a slit in their backs so you can squeeze, open and then hide things inside. The Keypers also have small Finders for friends. The Finders help the Keypers find lost items.
Styles
Various styles of Keypers were made, with many color variations depending on which country it was released in. Other variations were that some had glitter and non glittery eyes, and the adult bearBear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
even has different names depending on the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
version.
As a collectors' item
Some Keypers items are very rare and are now sought after by collectors or for nostalgicNostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
reasons. Some items can be found in thrift stores, on online auction websites like eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, and on 1980s toy-selling webpages.
External links
- 80sToysale.com Keypers collectors identification page.
- http://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/Toys_Keypers.htm Ghostofthedoll, Keypers ID page.