The Koosh ball is a

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

ball made of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

filaments (strands) radiating from a steel-bound core, patented in 1987 by Scott H. Stillinger. The company later expanded their product line to include 50 other Koosh-related products, including keyrings, baseball sets, and

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

s. The ball consists of about 2,000

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

filaments, and has been released in a variety of color combinations. A variation was the

Koosh Kins The Koosh Kins were a variation on the popular Koosh ball, featuring faces and hands. They were originally created as a set of six characters, then released with variant colors. The characters were featured in a four-part comic book mini-series r ...

line of Koosh balls with cartoon faces and hands. Koosh Kins was made into a comic book miniseries by

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

, and the brand has recently expanded into different product lines starting with Koosh Galaxy. The new line consists of toy blasters that fire foam balls similar to the original

Nerf Nerf is a toy brand formed by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, with other Nerf products including balls for sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. The ...

ball, and includes a cross-promotion with ''

Angry Birds Star Wars ''Angry Birds Star Wars'' is a discontinued puzzle video game, a crossover between the ''Star Wars'' franchise and the ''Angry Birds'' series of video games, launched on November 8, 2012, first for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, later also t ...

''.

References

External links

Official site
at

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

* "Boom time for toys predicted as the Koosh ball arrives". ''Textline Multiple Source Collection (1981–1984)'' (January 30, 1989) * "New toys not just for kids". ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' (September 30, 1989) * "Novelty rubber ball rises on list of top 20 toys". ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' (October 28, 1989) * "What a Koosh Job. Strange ball bounces along the trend path". ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

'' (March 1, 1993) * "OddzOn announces Koosh Vortex line expansions". ''Playthings'' (February 1, 1994) * "Toymaker parlays Koosh Ball into entire line of tactile toys". ''The Pantagragh'' (

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

) (June 17, 1995) * "Firm selling 'WOW!' oddball toys generates profits". ''

Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetime f ...

'' (June 17, 1995) * Rimer, Sara. "Putting a Smile on Sober Science". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (May 13, 2004) * Adams, Katie
"Ridiculous Ideas That Made People Millions"
on Investopedia.com (May 11, 2009). 1980s toys Products introduced in 1989 2010s toys Hasbro products Rubber toys Toy brands Sensory toys {{Toy-stub