Poppy Playtime: Buddy's Little Journal

March 20, 1999

Journal Entry - 7:31 p.m., Saturday

You may not have heard of the Buddy's Funhouse Extravaganza toy line and I understand that. It was an unusually obscure legacy of toys made by Playtime Co. as a way to compete with the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toy brand. They also saw the potential of my toy line if it were to cross over with other Playtime brands.

To understand what the brand would have been like, imagine a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles playset. My toys would have consisted of myself and my own cast of characters that children could play with, as well as large plastic sets representing locations from the cartoon that would have gone with the release of my brand. It was basically following the trend of action figures during this time.

However, there were several factors that prevented my line from ever launching. I will list them in numerical order.

1. CatNap Recall: Around this time, the Smiling Critters line was incredibly successful. Many children either wanted one or had at least one of the main eight Critters. And the CatNap plush toy debuted as a star among them. Unfortunately, the feature that made CatNap and the other Smiling Critters famous, scented smells emitted from a hole in their mouths used to help children go to sleep, was defective in the CatNap toy. Instead of his designated lavender scent, he came with some kind of gas I call Red Smoke. This Smoke was a sort of sedative that could put most humans and toys to sleep, but it came with the side effects of hallucinations and nightmares. Because of this mishap in the toy's design, the CatNap plush was recalled, and the Smiling Critters' reputation took a hit that it could not recover from.

2. No Direction of Project: And it was very clear. During the late 1980s, many had a low opinion about the use of animatronics as entertainment for children; This was mostly due to an incident that occurred in a pizzeria a long time ago. Supposedly, one of the animatronics allowed to roam the pizzeria during working hours had critically injured a child by biting down on their head, or more specifically the frontal lobe. In response to this, the pizzeria had to demote the popular robots to nighttime hours.

3.Cartoon Spinoff Was Never Made: The cartoon that was going to air with the production of Buddy's Funhouse Extravaganza's toyline; In my opinion, the cartoon would have kept the brand alive. This was because of the incredible animation (for that time anyway), being simple, yet colorful. The voice acting was perfect since the voice actors were literally in character. And, it would have rode the wave of popularity that the Smiling Critters brand through crossovers and such. The problem was the cost of the cartoon and the public's disapproval of Playtime Co. and animatronics. These actually canceled the cartoon before it could even take off.

4. The Hour of Joy: The entire brand was supposed to launch a few days after August 8, 1995. Unfortunately, the deadly event that the toys call "The Hour of Joy" scrapped any plan for the toy line's launch. We can owe it to this and the closing of the Playtime Factory for destroying any chance for the release of Buddy's Funhouse Extravaganza.

5. Fear Over Mascot's Appearance/Personality: Although they had been observing my behavior for years, company executives always had worries over the public's reaction to my fairly eerie look from long ago (as visitors in the Factory would have a chance to meet me) and my reaction towards children. The first worry is easy to explain (a six foot and five inch tall animatronic with several safety hazards like metal claws and a jaw able to crush bone will undoubtedly frighten not only kids, but their parents as well). The second worry, however, is... It's complicated. Unlike the other toys, I am shy and reserved. I cannot handle too many people at one time, but I do quite well with a few friends. This behavior proves to be a problem when you are supposed to represent a brave, outspoken badger who fights for what's right.

Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if my toy line was put into distribution. Would I have become as popular as my fellow toys? Would I be more susceptible to Experiment 1006's manipulation? Honestly, I have no idea. I do have a notion that the release of Buddy's Funhouse Extravaganza might have been the end of me. I don't know why I think this, but I know. Whether I like it or not...