Last updated: Sept 15, 2022
An assortment of Sesame Street figure puppets from my collection!
Topper / Educational Toys, 1971 - 1973
In 1971 the first set of toy hand puppets based on Sesame Street characters was released by Topper under their Educational Toys banner. In addition to these larger toys, Topper released a series of small, soft rubber finger puppets. These are among my most favourite Muppet collectables. In 1973 Questor/Child Guidance took over production of the entire line of Sesame Street puppets, including the finger puppets. Below is a complete collection of all the finger puppet characters that were made by Topper and Questor.
Top row, left to right: Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Grover.
Bottom row, left to right: Roosevelt Franklin, Lefty the Salesman, Sherlock Hemlock, The Count, and Herry Monster.
Originally, Topper only offered six characters in 1971 (top row shown above). All of the finger puppets were sold individually on bubble cards as well as in two different boxed gift sets of five characters each. Oscar and Grover were alternated in the gift sets, with boxes changed to have the correct character's name displayed under the puppet. The other four characters remained in the same position for both boxed sets.
In 1972 three more characters, Roosevelt Franklin, Lefty the Salesman, and Sherlock Hemlock (bottom row, above left) were planed for release. They were listed in the Topper 1972 catalogue without a photo, which suggests that Topper didn't yet have the prototypes completed in early '72.
However, all three of the new characters did show up more than a year and a half later in the 1973 Eaton's Christmas catalogue (shown above as seen on page 460). As such the three puppets would have had to been available by at least September 1973 in order for them to be included in the catalogue, which would have been distributed in October 1973. Here is a link to a website about vintage department store catalogues that explains the release dates of these catalogues in more detail: http://www.collectorville.net/index.php/ct-menu-item-3
It is still unknown if Topper released all three of these "new" characters, or if they were first released by Questor/Child Guidance. To date only the Roosevelt Franklin finger puppet has been found on a Topper card. We still don't know if the other two characters, Sherlock and Lefty, were released by Topper before the company lost the license to continue producing Sesame Street toys. None of the characters planned for 1972 were included in any boxed set, therefore if they were released at all by Topper they would have only been available on a bubble card.
Questor/ Child Guidance, 1973 - early 1980s
In 1973 Child Guidance took over the license to produce Sesame Street hand puppets and finger puppets. The company offered all six of the original Sesame Street finger puppets that Topper/Educational Toys had initially offered. In 1974 all three of the additional characters that Topper had planned to release in '72 were finally released. The three new puppets were listed in the Child Guidance 1974 catalogue as "new for '74". I's possible that it was Child Guidance who made them available in late '73 to be shown in the Eaton's catalogue (above), and then included them in the new Child Guidance catalogue at the start of 1974.
The Eaton's catalogue also offered the finger puppet characters in sets of three, however these would have been the individual carded figures as they were never packaged by Child Guidance in sets of three. Department stores often grouped small individually carded toys into sets, such action figures, toy cars, or these Sesame finger puppets, as this simplified selling such toys through a catalogue.
Here is a link to a site that has the entire Eatons 1973 Christmas catalogue available for viewing: http://192.185.93.157/~wishbook/1973_Eatons_Christmas_Catalog/index.htm
Another unknown mystery about these finger puppets is why the Child Guidance bubble card for Lefty the Salesman lists his name simply as "The Salesman", therefore excluding the character's actual name. This is similar to the 1972 Topper catalogue which lists the character as "Salesman". Unfortunately, the hats for Lefty the Salesman and Sherlock Hemlock tend to brake off easily, which makes them hard to find complete. Today, carded Child Guidance Roosevelt, Lefty and Sherlock examples are quite hard to find.
By 1978 the Roosevelt, Lefty and Sherlock finger puppets had all been discontinued by Questor/Child Guidance, but the original six puppets (Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar and Grover) were still being produced. Two additional characters were made as finger puppets in 1978, the Count and Herry Monster (shown above and below). These two finger puppets were only available for one year until 1979, and therefore they are the rarest characters in the series to find.
The purple rubber used for the Count finger puppet has a tendency to fade to light purple over time, making it even more difficult to find one in mint condition that has not yet started to fade. The example shown here is quite faded. Herry Monster is the largest puppet in the collection, he's even bigger than Big Bird.
Update Nov 2016: I'm very happy to finally add the Child Guidance Count finger puppet to my collection! Talk about being late to the party! Even though he has some issues with the paint flaking off and his purple is a tad faded, I'm very glad to have him and to at last complete the set...Yayyy!!! :)
The Count finger puppet for the 1970's Child Guidance set is holding the numbers 1, 2, 3, not to be mistaken with the 1980s Applause finger puppet of the Count, which has one arm raised up and no numbers! The Child Guidance Count finger puppet is quite rare, while the Applause Count finger puppet is much more common, though certainly not as common as the original six characters. I've seen e-bay auctions for the Applause Count finger puppet asking crazy amounts. Don't get tricked! The Applause Count, as awesome as it is, is not worth nearly as much as the Child Guidance Count!
When Questor/Child Guidance took over the Sesame Street finger puppet line from Topper, they sold the puppets on cards and, according to their product catalogues, offered two different boxed gift sets. However, I have never seen either of the Child Guidance boxed gift sets on e-bay or in photos of people's collections, which makes me wonder if they were actually produced. The first Child Guidance gift set was from 1973 and had the same characters as the Topper/Educational Toys set, with Grover as the fifth character. The characters were even packaged in the same order as the Topper gift set in the same style of box, but the box graphics and colours were completely different. The second Child Guidance gift set is quite bizarre as it replaced Bert and Grover with two less popular characters, Sherlock Hemlock and Lefty the Salesman. Yet again, I've never actually seen one of these in the wild.
CBS Toys / Child Guidance, early 1980's
In the early 1980s CBS Toys somehow ended up owning the Child Guidance brand name, and continued producing the original six Sesame Street finger puppets. The packaging was once again changed for this run, and the puppets were altered slightly creating some additional variations.
Variations
There are a number of variations for most of these finger puppets, including the colour of plastic used, paint colour, and even molding variations that show differences in sculpting details and size. They can be found with no markings on the bottom, or "Made in Hong Kong" marked in both small letters or larger letters, or "Made in Taiwan" in large letters. Here are a just few examples of the variations from my collection:
Ernie and Bert are both available with rooted hair (as shown above and below), with fake fur hair or with sculpted hair. The last two variations are less common. The Topper/Educational toys Ernie and Bert originally had a piece of fake fur hair glued on, but this was quickly changed to rooted doll hair. The CBS Toys versions have sculpted hair. Ernie was originally sold with his nose painted burgundy (above left), which was later changed to red (center and right). His shirt was also later changed to light blue (right) instead of dark blue. Even the orange plastic of his face can be lighter or darker.
Here is an example of the size difference for the Bert finger puppet. I believe the larger one is the Topper/Educational Toys version.
All of these Cookie Monster finger puppets are different! The first one on the left has separate eyes that were attached with just the iris painted, while all others have the eyes sculpted as part of the mold and are completely painted (both the white and black). The "attached eyes" Cookie Monster is the Topper/Educational Toys version from 1971. The next three each have different sized pupils and use different thicknesses of plastic making some softer than others. The last one is light blue instead of dark blue plastic and is quite solid, I believe this is the CBS Toys version.
Here is the Topper/Educational Toys Big Bird finger puppet on the left, next to a Child Guidance Big Bird finger puppet, second from left. Notice the detail in the feathers for the Topper/Educational Toys version is more pronounced than the Child Guidance copy. It is also made out of softer plastic. Unfortunately the tip of the beak is damaged. The other three Big Bird puppets are also each different. The middle one is slightly smaller than the Child Guidance puppet, the second last Big Bird on the right has a black trim on the eyelids, and the far right Big Bird has light blue trim on the eyelids with light blue irises. I believe the last two or at least one of them, is the CBS Toys version.
I only have two examples of Grover, very dark blue and a lighter dark blue. I've seen an even lighter blue version as well.
Variations for the Roosevelt Franklin finger puppet: The one on the left has an unpainted yellow shirt (it is made with yellow plastic) and is the Topper version, while the one on the right has an orange painted shirt over top of the yellow plastic, while the yellow collar is left unpainted. Why they bothered to paint the shirt is beyond me!? The painted one is the Child Guidance version. CBS Toys did not make Roosevelt.
I have two different Lefty the Salesman examples, though this may just be the plastic greying over time. The puppet on the left is made with a darker, greyer tinted plastic than the one on the right (as seen with the trench coat which is unpainted). The green paint for the puppet on the left is also slightly darker, more of a mossy green, while the one on the right is bright green. Unfortunately Lefty's hat breaks off easily so it is often missing from loose copies, as is the case with the puppet on the right.
Sherlock Hemlock variations include very dark green paint for his outfit, on the left, and a brighter dark green (if that makes sense!) on the right. The face paint is also slightly darker for the puppet on the left. As with Lefty the Salesman, Sherlock Hemlock's hat breaks off easily so it is often missing from loose copies, as is the case with the puppet on the right.
I'm not aware of any variations for the Count or Herry Monster, though I doubt there would be any as they weren't made for very long.
The Sesame Street finger puppets also have a wide variety of packaging variations which is fun for collectors! I have yet to start down that road however! The packaging and puppet variations get even more diverse if the internationally produced toys are taken into consideration.
International Companies, 1970's
As with the larger hand puppets, Vicma produced variations of these finger puppets in Spain and other markets, however Herry and the Count seem to only have been available in North America.
In Mexico, the toy company Lily Ledy produced Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster and Oscar, as well as Abelardo (an orange crocodile) and Paco (a green parrot) from "Plaza Sesemo" as finger puppets, adding two more characters to the collection! They're on my wish list to own someday!!
Tara Toys, made in the mid to late 1980's
By the early 1980's the Child Guidance finger puppets would at last go out of production after having been available in retail stores for a full decade. Tara Toy was the next company to make Sesame finger puppets in the mid to late 80's, and they introduced all new sculpts for each of the characters, shown below. Elmo was not yet a main character as he didn't emerge until the very late 1980's (1988-89), so he was not included in this set.
Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Grover
In addition to having "Muppets Inc." marked on the base of each of the puppets in this set they are also marked "Tara", as such it is certain that they were made by Tara Toys. None of the puppets are marked with a copyright date, however we know that they were made in the mid to late 1980's as they are shown on the back of the card packaging (shown below) for Tara Toys series of Sesame Street PVC figures along with Tara Toys' series of Sesame Street action figures. The card packaging for the PVC figures does not provide a copyright date, however the packaging for the action figures has a 1985 copyright date. I have never seen any of these finger puppets on a card. I recall that they were sold loose in a counter top box, which was a typical way to sell smaller toys and PVC figures at the time.
With the exception of Big Bird, all of these finger puppets unfortunately have oddly painted irises. The irises are either spaced apart too far so that the character does not have a proper focus (each eye is looking in a different direction), or the iris is painted too big for the eyes. Cookie Monster's eyes are supposed to be googly-eyes, however his irises never roll up to the top of his eyeball the way it is shown above.
This is the prototype of the Oscar finger puppet as pictured on the back of the bubble cards for Tara Toys PVC figures. It shows the worm painted with the correct colours to be Slimey. Unfortunately the actual toy that was produced has the worm painted light green (shown above in my own photo). The entire card back is shown below.
Tara Toy PVC figure card back
Notice that the prototype for the Ernie finger puppet has the inside of his mouth painted black. Fortunately the actual toy that was produced was corrected to have a red mouth, as seen in my own photo above.
Likely made by Applause, 1987
Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Grover
Prior to learning about the train set shown below, I had always believed this set of puppets to have been produced by Tara Toys as they are so similar in design to the Tara Toys set shown further above (which are marked "Tara" on them), and therefore I had listed them as such on this blog for many, many years. The fact that this set of puppets are not marked Applause is very curious. Applause was always vigilant in marking their products "Applause" and promoting their brand, so it would be quite bizarre if they neglected to do so for this set of puppets. However it is possible that an error was made during production.
I have always found the sculpting and finished look of this set of puppets to be somewhat nicer than the Tara Toys set, more along the lines of Applause products, even though both sets are so closely matched in size and style.
Tara Toys produced their PVC figure series in 1985, therefore it is possible that their finger puppets were also made in 1985 as well. If that's the case and Applause put out this finger puppet set two years later in 1987, they could have deliberately designed it to mimic the Tara Toys set as a means of competing with them. Of course, this is just my speculation.
Applause, late 1980's to early 1990's
Here is a 20th anniversary Sesame Street train set. As you can see, the Big Bird, Ernie and Cookie Monster figures that were used for this set are essentially identical to the finger puppets of those three characters. This is the only evidence that I have been able to find which links these puppets to Applause, as the back of the box (shown below) is marked Applause, but there is no date. The 20th anniversary of Sesame Street was in 1989, so the toy would likely have been made before then to make it available in stores in time for the anniversary. We know that the Ernie finger puppet is marked 1987, therefore this toy would have been made between 1987 and 1989.
I've found pictures online of the train sections loose from the box and can confirm that the puppets are attached to the train permanently, so they aren't actually puppets in this case. I can also confirm that these train figures are slightly smaller in size than the finger puppets, making them unique to this train set. I haven't yet seen anything to directly indicate if the remaining three characters, Bert, Oscar and Grover, were ever issued by Applause in any way.
The applause logo seen on the back of the box for Sesame Street Express.
Another clue that suggests that the puppets were made by Applause is that the set of four puppets shown below (Count, Elmo, Prairie Dawn and Alice) were marketed as a continuation of the above set of finger puppets, and they are each marked "Applause" on the base.
Though, perhaps the most telling sign that Tara Toys likely did not make the above set of puppets, is that they were never shown on the back of the bubble cards for their various PVC and action figure lines. The only set of puppets that were ever shown on Tara Toys packaging is the set that was marked "Tara".
I've found a slight variation of the Ernie figure puppet from this set. The one on the left has the mouth open wider than the one shown on the right. Also the blue stripes were painted thicker for the puppet on the left, and the tongue was painted with a different shade of pink. The one on the left is also marked 1987 on the bottom but the other one isn't.
Thick blue stripes on the left, thin blue stripes on the right.
Additional info about Applause Sesame Street toys!
Applause made three more sets of Sesame Street finger puppets that were each based on themes with the Sesame characters dressed in different outfits. I'm not certain which order these sets were released in, or if they were all released at the same time. Based on the markings on the bottom of the puppets, it appears that the above Western set came next as the puppets are marked the same way as the previous four puppets, "Muppets Inc. Applause TM China" with no date. The series shown below is marked differently, which is why I believe this Western set was the second series of four puppets that Applause made.
Season 1 of the TV series Friends premiered in September 1994. There are a few episodes in which two Sesame Street finger puppets are seen on the shelf in Monica's kitchen, as shown above from episode 12, "The One with the Dozen Lasagnas". I didn't make note of all the episodes the puppets are seen in, but there are a few. One of the toys is the above puppet of Big Bird dressed as a postman made by Applause, the other puppet is Ernie from the unmarked set that is likely also made by Applause. Below is a closer view.
The Count, Elmo, Betty Lou and Alice Snuffleupagus
The Applause toy company made the next series of finger puppets in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Only four puppets were made for this set. That's four! Four very awesome finger puppets! Ah! Ah! Ah! (That never gets old!) With the exception of the Count, this is the first time that these characters were made as finger puppets. Below is a back view to show the detail. All four puppets are marked "Muppets Inc. Applause TM China" with no date. Four seems to have been a magic number for Applause, as from this point on each Applause finger puppet series was released in sets of four, and only four more sets were made including this one.
This is an odd choice of characters to make for a series of finger puppets. It seems that the intent with this set of four was to expand upon the above series of six unmarked puppets which were likely made by Applause. I recall that Muppet Stuff stores sold a wide assortment of the Applause Sesame Street product line and remember seeing these four Applause finger puppets displayed right next to the above set of unmarked puppets as though they were all part of the same collection. They were presented in bins that had been built into the countertop similar to a candy shop.
After this first series, Applause would only make one more character which had not previously been offered as a finger puppet. Prairie Dawn is shown below in the Western series.
As Applause did a higher quality job on their finger puppets it's too bad that they didn't continue to make additional Sesame characters in this format. It would have been nice to see finger puppets of Mr. Snuffleupagus, Guy Smiley, Two-Headed Monster, Frazzle, Biff, Sully, Super Grover, Forgetful Jones, Telly, Grundgetta, Barkley, Honkers, and Twiddle Bugs, added to the finger puppet collection. Oddly enough, many of these characters were included in the assortment of Applause PVC figures, plush toys and hand puppets.
Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn
Above is the back view. I really like Oscar from this Western series. He's depicted in a wooden barrel instead of his trash can which is quite funny. In my experience, this Western Oscar finger puppet is very difficult to find and is far less common than the other three puppets in the series. Applause also produced a western series of Sesame PVC figures that was released in conjunction with these finger puppets, however a PVC figure of Oscar in a wooden barrel was unfortunately never produced. This is really too bad as that would have made for a really cool and unique PVC figure of the character. It's quite a creative idea to replace Oscar's trash can with a wooden barrel.
Ernie, Big Bird, Elmo and Betty Lou
I like to think of this next series of Applause finger puppets as "The People in Your Neighbourhood" series, after the popular Sesame Street song, as the set was based on the theme of different jobs. Shown above are:
Ernie as a Fireman
Big Bird as a Postman
Elmo as a Painter
Betty Lou as a Doctor
Instead of being marked "Muppets Inc." which had been done for the first two Applause sets, each puppet in this series was mistakenly marked "Jim Hanson Productions" with an "a" though they should have been marked "Henson" with an "e". As with the western series, Applause made matching PVC figures of this set. Fireman Ernie was made as both a regular PVC figure and as a pencil topper figure. Elmo as a painter was made as a pencil topper figure but for the regular PVC figure his job changed to a paper delivery boy. Prairie Dawn replaced Betty Lou as the doctor for the regular PVC figure. A pencil topper figure of Betty Lou or Prairie Dawn was not made. Big Bird as a postman was made as a regular PVC figure, but for the pencil topper figure his job changed to being a telephone line technician. The back view of the finger puppets is shown below.
Ernie and Big Bird finger puppets as seen in Season 1, episode 12 of Friends.
The Ernie and Big Bird puppets (copies of them) that were seen on the Friends TV show.
Baseball Series
Ernie, Bert and Elmo Baseball Series Finger Puppet
The final series of four Applause Sesame Street finger puppets was based on a baseball theme. These puppets are each marked "J.H.P" referring to Jim Henson Productions. I'm only missing Big Bird to complete this set and to have all 22 of the Applause Sesame finger puppets that were made!
The set includes:
Bert with a ball and glove
Ernie holding a baseball bat
Big Bird wearing a catchers outfit (not shown)
Elmo holding some baseball bats
The Big Bird finger puppet from this set is shown on the Muppet Wiki website. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sesame_Street_finger_puppets_(Applause
Here's the back view of the figures which have their names on their Baseball jerseys.
Applause Sesame Street Plush Walking Finger Puppets
In 1999 Applause made plush walking finger puppets in which your fingers operate the character's legs. The hang tag for Bert from this series is dated 1999.
Bert
Bert
Ernie
Elmo
Big Bird
Cookie Monster
Other Finger Puppet Sets
Arby's
The next set of plastic Sesame Street finger puppets that I know of were made in 1998 for Arby's restaurants. The set includes Elmo, Cookie Monster and Ernie all dressed for winter. These puppets are slightly smaller than the Applause finger puppets.
The next set of plastic Sesame Street finger puppets that I know of were made in 1998 for Arby's restaurants. The set includes Elmo, Cookie Monster and Ernie all dressed for winter. These puppets are slightly smaller than the Applause finger puppets.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Elmo_Saves_Christmas_finger_puppet_cups
Gund
Gund made three collections of plush Sesame Street finger puppets. The first set was made in 2003 and did not have any legs. Gund expanded the collection in 2007 to include plush walking finger puppets in which your fingers operated the character's legs. Bert and Ernie from this series are shown below. The third set was similar to the 2003 set only with stuffed legs attached.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sesame_Street_finger_puppets_(Gund)
Here are some really well made plush Bert and Ernie walking finger puppets made by Gund. The copyright date on the back of the card packaging is 2007. Big Bird, Elmo, Grover and Cookie Monster were also available in this series. The puppets are operated by placing your fingers inside the legs.
Reader's Digest
In 2007 Reader's Digest produced a set of four rubber finger puppets (Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Zoe and Elmo). These were sold with a book titled "Field Trip". This is the first sculpted finger puppet of Zoe. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Field_Trip!
Gund
Gund made three collections of plush Sesame Street finger puppets. The first set was made in 2003 and did not have any legs. Gund expanded the collection in 2007 to include plush walking finger puppets in which your fingers operated the character's legs. Bert and Ernie from this series are shown below. The third set was similar to the 2003 set only with stuffed legs attached.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sesame_Street_finger_puppets_(Gund)
Reader's Digest
In 2007 Reader's Digest produced a set of four rubber finger puppets (Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Zoe and Elmo). These were sold with a book titled "Field Trip". This is the first sculpted finger puppet of Zoe. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Field_Trip!