The European "Hop!" balls appeared in the beginning of the 1990s and are still available. Since the balls only inflated to around 20 inches (51 cm), however, it is doubtful that any but the shortest adults could have gotten much use out of one. The Hoppity Hop sold steadily for decades, but by the 1990s, sales began to slip due to increased competition from foreign hoppers.Īccording to advertising materials, the Hoppity Hop's original targets were both adults and children. In the 1970s, Sun introduced various character versions of the Hoppity Hop, such as the Hoppity Horse or Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (with hard plastic versions of the character's head attached to the ball). The earliest Hoppity Hops were made of rubber (usually red or blue) with a round ring handle on top and an automotive tire valve for inflation. Because of market and media saturation of this toy, any such ball, regardless of origin, is now generally known in the US by that name. Within the first three months, more than 300,000 units were sold across the country. In the United States, the first mass-marketed hopping ball was a version of an earlier European toy-the Hoppity Hop, released by the Sun company after it introduced the ball in 1968 at the American International Toy Fair in New York. The orange kangaroo design is now available in adult-sized versions in the UK. Wembley made a similar model, which had smooth handles rather than the ribbed original. The original space hopper in the United Kingdom was manufactured by Mettoy ( Mettoy-Corgi). The toy is sometimes considered a symbol of the 1970s. The space hopper became a major craze for several years and remained widely popular through the 1980s. The Cambridge Evening News contained an advertisement for the hopper in November of that year and described it as a trend. Space hoppers were introduced to the United Kingdom in 1969. He patented the idea in Italy in 1968, and in the United States in 1971. The space hopper was invented by Aquilino Cosani of Ledragomma, an Italian company that manufactured toy rubber balls. Sun's Hoppity Horse, from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis collection In practical terms, this is a very inefficient form of locomotion, but its simplicity, ease of use, low cost, and cheerful appearance appeal to children. By leaning, the driver can make the ball bounce in a particular direction. A valve at the top allows the ball to be inflated by a bicycle pump or car tire pump.Ī child can sit on top, holding the two handles, and bounce up and down until the ball leaves the ground. The space hopper is a heavy rubber ball about 60–70 centimetres (24–28 in) in diameter, with two rubber handles protruding from the top. A similar toy, popular in the United States in the 1980s, was the pogo ball, which has a hard plastic ring encircling the ball instead of a handle. The toy is less familiar in the United States and may be known as a "hoppity hop", "hippity hop", or a "sit and bounce". The term "space hopper" is more common in the United Kingdom. The user can attempt to hop around on the toy, using its elastic properties to move forward. A space hopper (also known as a moon hopper, skippyball, kangaroo ball, bouncer, hippity hop, hoppity hop, sit and bounce, or hop ball) is a rubber ball (similar to an exercise ball) with handles that allow one to sit on it without falling off.
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