Collectiblog

Pillsbury Doughboy "Poppin' Fresh" could very well be the hardest-working mascot in television history. He's appeared in over 600 commercials and has been poked in the belly on television over 30,000 times. He's also appeared on 30 billion Pillsbury packages, making him one of the best-known icons of all time -- as well as being one of the most collected. 

Created by the Leo Burnett Company's ad man Rudy Perz, the Doughboy was an instant success when his stop-motion, clay-animation commercials debuted in 1965. According to Ad Age, the first Doughboy cost $16,000 to make -- which was a lot of dough in 1965!

Although there were a few premium plush dolls available earlier, it wasn't until 1971 that the first mass-marketed Doughboy vinyl figures were licensed and sold to the general public. After a successful year as a vinyl bachelor, a dough-mate named Poppie Fresh was introduced. Not long after, a whole dough family popped up including Grandmommer, Grandpopper and Baby Bun Bun. 

Poppin' and Poppie were sold in the millions for many years, and can still be found  at yard sales and flea markets. You can usually pick out the earlier editions of the Pillsbury Playthings line, as the vinyl tends to be yellowed and a little sticky to the touch; the newer pieces were made with a more stable material. The other family members are a little harder to find and were sold in much smaller numbers or in special sets like The Pillsbury Playhouse.

Many of the hundreds of Doughboy items available over the years have been mail-away premiums. There have been several cookie jars, figural mugs, puppets, aprons, clocks, watches and figures that could be swapped for a handful of box tops and a few dollars. These premiums were increasingly available from the mid '70s and remain an incentive to this day.

The '80s became the salad days of the Doughboy Empire. A variety of kitchen products were produced specifically to be sold in retail stores. More cookie jars, egg timers, magnets, spoon holders, soap dishes, tea pots, pot holders and even ki... are still being manufactured and sold. Figural key chains were also found in novelty shops for many years as well as plush Doughboy Beanie Babies (in more recent years).

Since the Dot-Com revolution of the late '90s, there has been a whole other set of products sold exclusively in the Doughboy Shop on the Pillsbury website. Some of the more popular items are ceramic figures, Christmas ornaments and toy trucks with the Pillsbury Doughboy image. There are also plenty of kitchen accessories, plates, and cookbooks too.

Another special classification of Doughboy collectibles are the high-quality items sold by the Danbury Mint. These items are mail-order only, but are made in collectible series and are among the highest valued items bearing the Doughboy's image. I generally stay away from items that are created especially to be collectible, but I confess I couldn't resist subscribing to the 1997 series of small porcelain Doughboys depicting the months of the year.