Nerful

Nerfuls were a line of toy figures produced by Parker Brothers in the 1980s. They were typically constructed of three or four pieces including a spherical vinyl head and a bowl-shaped body in which the head would sit. The web has a few sites devoted to serving collectors of this product line of toys, and the figures can still be bought at internet auction sites.

In the mid 1980s, Bonnie Zacherle submitted a series of patents which would later become known as the Nerfuls.

The tag line for this product line was "They're a ball to be around!"

According to their marketing, Nerfuls are a "group of bouncy, colorful little creatures who love fast action and great fun! They've traveled far from their tiny planet, Erf, just so they can roll around, bounce around, and always be around children. Make Nerfuls your friend and keep the good times rolling!" "When you take away the top and bottom of any Nerfuls 3-piece figure you'll have a real ball. Each round little face is a ball for rolling, spinning, tossing and catching. But what makes Nerfuls even more fun to be around is the way you can take them apart and put them together in all sorts of silly ways!"

There were eight characters in the original series of Nerfuls. The UK had slightly different names from the USA. In Argentina there were only six characters released (no Astro or Fetch). They were made out of slightly harder plastic, weren't painted as well and some colors differed. Three of them also came on skates (like Katie from Nerfuls On Wheels). On the boxes the skates were all yellow, but seem to be either blue or red. Also, Barty's head was actually Fetch's.

According to their marketing, "Nerfuls On Wheels are fast movers! Snap on any Nerfuls 3-piece figure and they're off and rolling."
There were four Nerfuls On Wheels. Each one was just like the original 3-piece Nerfuls, only with an added toy to ride on. Stewie was known as Stevie in the UK set.

There were three exclusive Mail Order offer Nerfuls. The first one offered was simply named "13th Character". This came from him literally being the 13th Nerful in production as he came after the eight original Nerfuls and the four Nerfuls On Wheels. he is referred to by collectors as "Visor Guy" because of his blue visor. Tumbles the Gymnast was offered in 1987 and Honey Bear just after that (exclusively in the UK).

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Wikipedia