Weebles is a range of children's

roly-poly toy A roly-poly toy, round-bottomed doll, tilting doll, tumbler, wobbly man, or wobble doll is a round-bottomed toy, usually egg-shaped, that tends to right itself when pushed at an angle, and does this in seeming contradiction to how it should fall. ...

s originating in the US in

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 ...

Playskool Playskool is an American company that produces educational toys and games for children. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. History The Playskool Institute was established by Lucille King in 192 ...

division on July 23, 1971. Tipping an

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

-shaped Weeble causes a weight located at the bottom-center to be lifted off the ground. Once released,

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

brings the Weeble back into an upright position. Weebles have been designed with a variety of shapes, including some designed to look like people or animals. The

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

"Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down" was used in advertising during their rise in popularity in the 1970s and during successive relaunches in the early 2000s. The line was coined by advertising executive Walter Cohen. Walter Cohen created the phrase when he and his partner Bernard Most, were assigned to the account at Benton & Bowles (B&B) in 1971. Walter and Bernard (as the creative team Bernie & Walter) used the phrase when they created the first TV commercials for the new Hasbro product, Weebles. Mitch Reed was the account executive assigned to the Hasbro account, but he did not coin the phrase, Walter did! The ''Weebles 1971–2011 Price Guide and Index'' lists and shows every Weeble model made over the preceding 40 years. There are 116 Weebles in total (83 regular; 21 peelable; 12 tumbling) including all egg-shaped sizes and variations made during 1971–1983. In 2011, Hasbro started making a new line of larger egg-shaped Weebles and had produced 42 new Weebles as of July 2011. A wide range of accessories was available for the Weebles, including vehicles, buildings and furniture. Some sets had themes, such as the Weebles circus set. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, Weebles were manufactured and marketed by

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...

under licence from 1973 onwards.

Design principle

Weeble is shaped like an egg—in order for the physics principles to work as intended, the shape must have a bottom which is a more or less smooth (unfaceted)

hemisphere Hemisphere refers to: * A half of a sphere As half of the Earth * A hemisphere of Earth ** Northern Hemisphere ** Southern Hemisphere ** Eastern Hemisphere ** Western Hemisphere ** Land and water hemispheres * A half of the (geocentric) celestia ...

(to allow the Weeble to roll) and from the central

vertical axis A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane (geometry), plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point (geometry), point uniquely by a pair of number, numerical coordinates, which are the positive and negative numbers, signed distance ...

the shape must be nearly cylindrically symmetrical (that is, any plane cut through the vertical axis line must produce close to the same profile). Next, the shape must be filled with two basic types of unmixed

solid Solid is one of the State of matter#Four fundamental states, four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and Plasma (physics), plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount o ...

s, and the

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

of the lighter solid must be greater than that of the heavier solid. Next, the overall shape must have constant positive curvature. Next, the relationship between the heavy solid and the light solid must be such that any orientation of the object off of the vertical axis line must cause the object's

centroid In mathematics and physics, the centroid, also known as geometric center or center of figure, of a plane figure or solid figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the surface of the figure. The same definition extends to any ob ...

to raise and to become offset. Lastly, the object must have only one position in which it can achieve stable

mechanical equilibrium In classical mechanics, a particle is in mechanical equilibrium if the net force on that particle is zero. By extension, a physical system made up of many parts is in mechanical equilibrium if the net force on each of its individual parts is zero ...

. Combining these characteristics produces a basic Weeble. In theory, it is not possible to have a Weeble with a centroid that is too low to achieve a stable mechanical equilibrium.

List of playsets

Numerous playsets were made and marketed in the United States throughout the 1970s including a Haunted House, Treehouse, Tarzan, Camper, Playground, Marina, Circus, Fun House, Mickey Mouse Club Set, Mickey Mouse Magic Kingdom, Western Theme Set, Weekender and others. Playsets often came with certain figures, though these could also be purchased separately. There are 44 Weebles sets that include at least one Weebles figure and a vehicle, or larger sets made between 1972 and 1982. A new line of Weebles was created in 2004 that were not egg-shaped but rather shaped like different animals. These were produced for a couple of years.

Weebleville (2004–2005)

Source:WEEBLES – browse
on Playskool web site *Weebleville Town Center *Weeschool *Wegetable Stand *Weebles Barn Dance *Weehicles (four sets) *Weemobile *Wescue Wagon *Weegoaway Camper *Weebly Wobbly Tree House *Figures *Mini Weebles Pals (larger figures)

Storybook World (2006)

Source: *Hansel and Gretel's Wobbly Adventure *Jack and Jill's Wobbly Adventure *Goldilocks' Adventure Cottage *Cinderella Carriage *Weebly Knight & Ogre Adventure *Weebalot Castle *Figures

New Weebles (since 2011)

* Musical Treehouse * Wobble-Go-Round * Figures * Weebles on the Bus * Bobblin' Boat * Wobblin' Wings * Turnin' Whirlin' Racers * Turn 'n Tumble Home * Rock 'n Wobble Playground

In popular culture

* In 2004, the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

introduced balloonicles with the Weebles characters Tibbey, Tooey, and Bumpus featuring in the debut.

References

{{Hasbro 1970s toys Toy figurines Hasbro products