Sesame Street Figurines Part 1, 1974 - 1999

Last updated: May 5, 2024

Comments can be posted here

Related Pages:

Sesame Street Action Figures and Bendy Figures, 1970's - present

Sesame Street Figurines Part 1, 1974 - 1999

Sesame Street Figurines Part 2, 2000 - present

Sesame Street Figurines Part 3, Fisher-Price / Illco / Tyco / Mattel, 1974 - 2010

Sesame Street Figurines Part 4, Applause PVC figures, mid 1980's - 2000

Shown above is just a small assortment of Sesame Street PVC figures out of the huge quantity that has been made over the last 50 years! I would estimate there are now well over three hundred figures available to collect.

From the very start of Sesame Street's broadcast history back in November 1969 there have been many, many, many Sesame Street PVC figures produced by many, many different toy companies. Some of these companies include Child Guidance/Questor, Tara Toy Corp, Applause, Illco, Tyco, Fisher-Price and Comics Spain, though there are numerous others. As such, identifying these figures can be quite a confusing and daunting task. Even the Muppet Wiki site, which I think is quite awesome and proved extremely helpful while compiling this page, has occasionally misidentified some PVC figures.

Over time, I'm going to collect what information I can about these tiny figures and include it all here in one place because, well, I'm just obsessed enough with these little Sesame dudes to do so! Once completed, I'm hoping this page will serve as a reference to help collectors properly identify these numerous, awesome little Sesame dudes. The list is in order by year beginning in 1974 up to 2010. Applause PVC figures are shown on their own page, as are figurines by Fisher-Price / Illco / Tyco / Mattel.

Very important! If you see that I've made a mistake identifying something, or think that I have,  please let me know on the comments page (link is above) or send me an email. I'd rather double check the info to see if it's correct than leave an error posted. I appreciate the second set of eyes! :)

As I'm just getting started, this page is still a work in progress and is by no means a complete list. I will update it every so often. Okay, here we go..... Yayyy! Sesame PVC figures!!!

Fisher-Price, Little People Playset, 1974
See Sesame Street Figurines Part 3, Fisher-Price / Tyco / Mattel 1974 - 2010


Questor / Child Horizons / Child Guidance, 1974
The year 1974 was very big for Sesame Street merchandising, as at least three different companies produced officially licensed figures based on the Muppet characters. One of those companies was Questor.

Questor produced some of the first Sesame Street toys through a division of their company called Child Horizons, which marketed the toys under the brand name Child Guidance. Confused yet? Me too! I don't know why there are so many layers of corporate shenanigans involved, but the toys that resulted from this chaos were pretty awesome!

Not only did Questor produce my favourite Sesame toy hand puppets and finger puppets to date, but in 1974 we also got some nifty little PVC dudes to play with. Sold in boxed sets of three, these were the very first Sesame Street PVC figures that were available in North America. They were marketed as "Muppet Miniatures".

These are the PVC figures from the three pack boxed set noted below.

Three pack boxed set Box designed to be a wall with three doors and a sidewalk, figures attached with individual bubbles in each door.
Big Bird, mouth open, both hands flat against tummy, feet attached together with a space between legs, detail of feathers and proportioning of figure is much nicer than the Minikins and Bullyland figures mentioned below
Cookie Monster dark blue, upper half of figure is sculpted to look the same as the Child Guidance Cookie Monster finger puppet with the mouth in the same shape and both hands overlapping on his tummy
Oscar, bright green fur, light grey trash can with unevenly dented sides, both hands on edge of can, a very nicely detailed figure

Bert from the three pack boxed set noted below.

Three pack boxed set Box designed to be a wall with three doors and a sidewalk, figures attached with individual bubbles in each door.
Bert, wearing solid green shirt, white collar, black pants and shoes, right hand flat on side of chin, mouth slightly open, left hand flat across tummy
Ernie wearing solid blue shirt, both hands flat against tummy, black pants and shoes, feet are sculpted too large for figure
Grover dark blue, head tilted to his left, left arm bent with hand on chest flat against figure, right hand behind back, legs together (this figure is the mirror opposite of the "Abrete Sesamo" version sold in Spain)

Three pack boxed set Box designed to be a police car with three figures inside, all are in the same bubble.
Bert, wearing small blue police hat, solid green shirt, white collar, black pants and shoes, right hand holding a whistle to his mouth, mouth slightly open, left hand flat across tummy
Ernie wearing large blue police hat, solid blue shirt, both hands flat against tummy, holding a stop sign flat against figure in right hand, black pants and shoes, feet are sculpted too large for figure
Sherlock Hemlock figure is sculpted to look the same as the Child Guidance Sherlock Hemlock finger puppet, light green face, mouth slightly open, dark green outfit and hat, holding magnifying glass flat against figure in left hand, right arm flat against side, black pants and shoes

Above are two variations of the Betty Lou figure (she's wearing a fire fighter's hat and holding a hose) which can be found with pink or purple skin tone. However, it might be that the purple figure on the right is simply a discolouration of the pink plastic over time, as it could have been stored in a box or container that bleeds colour which is a common problem for vintage toys.

Three pack boxed set Box designed to be a fire truck with three figures inside, all are in the same bubble.
Betty Lou, pink face, wearing red fire hat and light blue dress, pig tails stick out from sides of head, holding a fire hose
Betty Lou, variation with purple face, otherwise same as above figure (to be confirmed if this is an actual manufactured variation or simply discoloured plastic due to age)
Big Bird, wearing red fire hat, mouth open, both hands flat against tummy holding red axe, feet attached together with a space between legs,
Grover dark blue, head tilted to his left, wearing red fire hat, both hands and arms flat on chest holding a ladder, legs together

Three pack boxed set "Hansel and Gretel" theme, box designed to be a house, figures attached with individual bubbles in a large window
Connie the Witch green face and hands, light blue dress, green hat and shawl, holding a yellow and black broom in left hand, right hand flat against body (this is the only PVC figure of this character to date)
Ernie as Hansel, wearing green overall shorts, white short sleeve shirt, arms flat against sides, legs together
Betty Lou as Gretel, wearing blue dress with straps at shoulders, white shirt, arms flat against sides

Three pack boxed set "Little Red Riding Hood" theme, box designed to be a house, figures attached with individual bubbles in a large window
Big Bad Wolf (box says "Herry Monster dressed as the Wolf"), light blue wolf, yellow nightgown with white trim, arms held up at sides of head (this is the only PVC figure of this character to date)
Grover as the Woodsman, head tilted to left, wearing red jacket and hat, both hands and arms flat on chest holding a brown stick, legs together
Prairie Dawn as Little Red Riding Hood wearing a red hood with cape, light blue dress, basket on right arm, both hands flat against tummy

"Abrete Sesamo" Three pack boxed set 

Box is designed to be a wall with three doors and a sidewalk, figures attached with individual bubbles in each door. Sold in Spain.
Bert, wearing solid green shirt, white collar, black pants and shoes, right hand flat on center of chest, left arm flat against side
Ernie wearing solid blue shirt, left hand flat against chest, right hand sculpted out to side, black pants and shoes
Grover dark blue, head tilted to his right, right arm bent with hand on chest flat against figure, right hand behind back, legs together (this figure is the mirror opposite of the North American version)

Child Guidance / CBS Toys, 1982-1983

At some point in the late 1970's or early 80's CBC Toys acquired the Child Guidance brand name and used it to continue marketing Sesame Street toys. Although these are not PVC figures I wanted to include them on this page for the sake of identifying them. They are made out of hard plastic.

Sesame Street Train Set

This Cookie Monster figure was made in 1982 as part of a 25 piece train set that comes with train track pieces, three train cars, a truck, and a small station house. The set also came with a similarly shaped figure of Big Bird wearing a small blue hat. These figures are quite small at only 2 inches tall and in my view are unsafe for kids as they are small enough to pose a choking hazard. These are cool little figures to collect but thankfully they don't make toys like this anymore!

Sesame Street Firehouse Playset

Barkley the Dog, shown above, made his first ever appearance as a figurine in 1983 as part of the Sesame Street Firehouse playset. In addition to Barkley, the set came with figures of Big Bird and Grover both wearing red fire fighter hats and black coats. The set also came with the fire house and a fire truck.

Sesame Street Garage Playset

Also from the early 80's, Child Guidance released a garage playset with hard plastic figures of Ernie and Bert as gas bar attendants wearing light blue jackets over top of their striped shirts. These are odd looking figures as they have no legs and look as though they are finger puppets. I've never seen the bottom of the figures so I don't know if there would be a finger hole or not. Their arms are posed out to the sides with hands shaped similarly to the Big Bird firefighter figure shown above.

Child Guidance / Hasbro / Playskool, 1984-1986

Hasbro had acquired Child Guidance by 1986 and reissued their "123 Sesame Street" playset, which was first marketed by Child Guidance in 1984. 

Bert, Ernie and Big Bird

The Child Guidance playset of 123 Sesame Street came with four PVC sized figures that were made out of hard plastic. Three of them are shown above, the four figure is Cookie Monster. These are very nicely designed, stylized figures.

Oscar the Grouch's trash can was designed to be attached as part of the base of the playset, therefore he unfortunately could not be played with as a figurine. The trash can lid could be lifted up to reveal an illustration of Oscar, which is the same design idea as the Oscar figure that came with the Fisher-Price 123 Sesame Street playset produced a decade earlier in the 1970's.

Lilly Ledy, late 1970's

In Mexico, two boxed sets with three figures in each were made based on Plaza Sesamo. The boxes and four of the figures are similar to the Child Guidance figures. Two addition figures were made based on the Mexican Muppet characters, Abelardo (a reptile-like costume character) and Paco (a parrot).

Ernie

Bert

Oscar

Cookie Monster

Abelardo

Paco

Heimo "Minikins", 1974
Figures are marked with a small circle logo. These were sold only in Europe.

Series 1 Minikins figures: Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover, Herry Monster, and Lefty the Salesman. There are six more characters in the collection that I don't have, as well as a few deliberately made variation figures.



Series 1 A collection of 12 characters sold loose in a display box. Herry was made in two variations, with light blue or dark blue fur. Lefty the Salesman, Professor Hastings and Sherlock Hemlock were each made with grey suit variations. As such there are 16 figures to collect. I've also seen a few paint variations on ebay and have listed them here. As paint variations are random variations rather than planned ones I don't count them as actual figures in the set to collect, but it is still interesting to keep note of them none the less.
Bert with white collar

Bert with grey collar (shown above)
Betty Lou, pink face, blue dress with white collar, blue bow on top of head, yellow pig tails stick out from sides of head
Big Bird, mouth is clearly open, waiving with right hand, left hand flat against tummy, legs and feet painted dark orange, feet attached together with a space between legs

Big Bird legs and feet painted light orange

Big Bird legs unpainted, dark orange feet, dark red mouth 

Big Bird legs unpainted, light orange feet, light red mouth

Big Bird legs and feet unpainted
Cookie Monster, dark blue, mouth not painted (shown above)

Cookie Monster, dark blue with a red mouth, no markings, possibly a bootleg figure?
Ernie (shown above)
Grover (shown above)
Herry Monster, light blue fur, yellow pants
Herry Monster, dark blue fur variation (shown above)
Lefty the Salesman brown suit (shown above, this is the first PVC figure of this character)

Lefty the Salesman grey suit variation
Oscar holding a brown shoe, he does not have any eyebrows (they were not painted)
Professor Hastings, light blue head, brown moustache and hair, white vest and pants with yellow shirt, brown shoes (this is the first PVC figure of this character)

Professor Hastings, grey suit variation
Roosevelt Franklin, pink head, solid yellow shirt, black pants and shoes (this is the only PVC figure of this character to date)
Sherlock Hemlock green head, brown moustache and hair, brown suit and hat, black shoes, holding a magnifying glass in left hand

Sherlock Hemlock grey suit variation

Series 2 The Muppet Wiki sight has one photo showing all six of these figures. It is attached at the bottom of the photo list on their website with little information. Apparently the figures are from Australia, 1980's. They have a similar look to the Bullyland figures noted further below on this page.

Bert, wearing solid green shirt, white collar, brown pants, blue and white shoes, right hand flat on side of chin, left hand flat on tummy
Big Bird, mouth slightly open, head tilted back slightly, waiving with right hand, feet attached together with a small space between legs, feathers are not sculpted with as much detail as series 1 figure
Cookie Monster dark blue fur, holding cookie in left hand, right arm flat against figure
Ernie wearing solid red shirt with yellow trim, blue pants, red shoes, right arm held out to side waiving, lefts arm flat against tummy
Grover leaning against a grey object (possibly a fire hydrant), both arms hanging straight down, right leg crossed over left
Oscar, in trash can, does not appear to have any hands

Additional Figures (These are shown on the Muppet Wiki site, I have never seen them before otherwise)

Bert playing the accordion, black pants and shoes
Bert dressed as a fire fighter holding a hose, grey jacket with red stripe across back and arms, hat has grey brim with red top section, black pants, brown boots, green shirt, red nose nozzle, black hose

Cookie Monster playing a red and yellow horizontal drum
Cookie Monster dressed as a baker holding a spoon in his right hand, holding his finger to his mouth

Cookie Monster orange variation (made with orange plastic instead of blue)
Ernie playing a brown guitar, solid blue shirt, black pants and shoes

Paper Mate Pen Holders Marked "Muppets Inc. 1981" Each of these figures are attached to a brown base. Sold individually in window boxes. These are far more detailed and nicer than the above figures.
Bert green and yellow striped shirt, eyes/irises looking to left
Ernie red and blue striped shirt, eyes/irises looking to left
Sherlock Hemlock holding magnifying glass in right hand

Characters from Sesamstrasse (Info from Muppet Wiki) Samson is a bear and Tiffy is a pink bird
Samson furry brown chubby figure with dark brown face, black nose, white shoes, with his left hand straight down against his side, his right arm bent, both arms molded flat against the figure
Samson furry brown chubby figure with dark brown face, black nose, white shoes, wearing white bandana, holding a yellow cake (or waffle?) in his right hand
Tiffy pink figure, mouth closed, white eyes, no eyelids or irises, holding both arms out to the side, head turned slightly to the left, standing with legs and feet together, legs are extremely short, feet painted red
Tiffy pink figure, mouth partially open (a thin line), fingers molded spread apart, holding right arm out to the side, waiving with left hand, head turned to the left, standing with legs and feet together, legs are extremely short, feet painted red

Fabianplastica, 1970's

Fabinanplastica is Italian toy company that made a series of Sesame Street PVC figures. They are extremely crudely made (both the sculpting and painting), and are similar in size with the original series of Heimo "Minikins" figures from 1974. 

Big Bird

Cookie Monster

Ernie

Bert

Grover

Herry

Sherlock Hemlock

The Count, this is likely the first PVC figure of this character

Knickerbocker, 1978

In 1977 Knickerbocker produced a tub toy playset that came with three PVC figures, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch. Oddly enough, these figures are smaller versions of the Educational Toys finger puppets from 1971, which were later reissued by Child Guidance in 1973. Additionally, they are almost identical to the PVC figures made by Child Guidance in 1974. I have no idea why Knickerbocker was allowed to produce PVC figures that are based on toys from another toy companies product line? (When a toy company discontinues a licensed toy, I wonder if the license owner can then offer that toy to other company to produce???) A photo of the tub toy with figures is shown on Muppet Wiki.

Big Bird standing with hands flat against tummy, space between legs, feet attached together. The head is much rounder than the Child Guidance version.

Cookie Monster standing with hands flat against tummy, his lips do not stick out as seen on the Child Guidance version.

Oscar the Grouch standing as a full-body figure without his trash can, which is also how Knickerbocker designed their plush toys of Oscar. This is the only PVC figure of Oscar without his can that I know of.

Delacoste, 1978

"1 Rue Sesame" figures Sold in France
Toccata white bird, body is shaped similar to a penguin, black dots for eyes, brown eyebrows, orange beak and feet, feet attached together with a small space between legs, both arms straight out to sides
Mordicus dark blue figure, ears sticking out at sides of head, one black eyebrow over both eyes, right arm bent at elbow with hand out to side, left arm hanging down with hand slightly lifted out front, legs separate


Wilson, late 1970's or early 1980's, second set likely made in 1990's
Wilson made two sets of cake topper figures. The first set of figures are not PVC figures as they are made out of hard plastic, however I wanted to include them here for identification sake. I've often seen them listed on e-bay as PVC figures but they are not PVC! They're also much smaller than typical PVC figures. This was the standard Sesame Street cake decoration set available in stores for at least a full decade. An entire generation of kid's had these on their cake during birthday parties all across North America. As they were manufactured for so long there are many production variations, specifically colour variations, for each figure. 

Above, L to R: Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch

The complete set shown above is one of the poorer colour examples as these are from earlier in the production run. Later sets were finished with a really nice paint job. I've been tempted to collect all the different variations! This specific set is from one of my own birthdays when I was around 7 or 8 years old, as my parents knew how much I like Muppets and puppetry. And still have them! LOL! 

The second set of figures is likely from the 1990's as Elmo and Zoe were included. They are shown on Muppet Wiki but a date of production is not listed. There are four figures in the set, Elmo with a drum, Zoe with cymbals, Big Bird with a horn and Cookie Monster with a saxophone. These are all attached to a white circular base, the same as was done with the first series. They are similar to a series of Sesame cake topper figures later made by Bakery Crafts sometime between 2000 and 2011. These also show the characters instruments however the Bakery Crafts figures are attached to plastic bases that are the same colour as the character.

Tara Toy Corp, 1980's / Kid Dimension, 1993
In the 1980s Tara Toys made several collections of Sesame Street toys including four sets of Sesame Street PVC figures for a total of 27 figures. They also produced a set of six finger puppets, two Tricky Trikes figures, an awesome series of six action figures, six bendy figures, as well as a collector's case with space to hold up to 12 figures. All of Tara Toy's Sesame products were made in the 1980s. From the various packaging of these toys it's possible to determine the specific year the toys were made, with exception of two of the PVC sets shown directly below. 

To my knowledge, these 12 figures were the first Sesame PVC figure sets to be made by Tara Toy. Each set has the same six characters and were released simultaneously. They are not true PVC figures as they are made out of a harder type of plastic rather than the typical PVC rubber-like plastic, which makes them appear to be more cheaply made. The other two PVC figures sets released by Tara Toys (shown further below) were made with the typical PVC figure material and are better quality figures. So it looks like the quality of the Tara Toy Sesame figures improved over time. This is why I'm assuming that these 12 figures were the first that Tara Toys made as it would be odd for a toy company to do the reverse and start making cheaper, poorly made toys after establishing their brand as being of a certain quality, though it's certainly possible. 

Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Grover

Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Grover

All of these figures were marked "© Muppets Inc. / © CTW / Tara Toy / Made in China" with the exception of two: Bert with the cane has all of the markings except for "Tara Toy", and Oscar with cane has no markings at all.

Both of the Cookie Monster figures from these sets have variations....

The figure of Cookie Monster with the cane has three variations. He was made with a very thin cane, slightly thicker cane, and a very thick cane. The Irises are also different sizes for each figure, being large or small and looking up or forwards. The figure with the thickest cane is the Kid Dimension version from 1993. A variation of the Bert figure with a very thick cane is shown further below in the Kid Dimension packaging.

The figure of Cookie Monster holding the toy boat can be found with large or small irises.

Big Bird with a thin cane in the original packaging by Tara Toy

The above 12 Tara Toy figures were sold individually on bubble cards, as shown here with Big Bird, as well as in two pack and three pack sets:

Two Packs

Oscar with hat and bowtie / Ernie with kite

Ernie with cane / Oscar with Pickle Juice sign and cup

Big Bird with cane / Grover with toy airplane

Grover with cane / Big Bird playing tennis

Cookie Monster with cane / Bert playing golf

Presumably there is a two pack set of Bert with cane / Cookie Monster with boat, but I have yet to see this one anywhere online.

Three Pack

At least one boxed three pack set was available with Big Bird playing tennis, Ernie holding a kite, and Cookie Monster holding a toy boat. 

Six Pack

At least one six pack boxed set was released with all six of the figures from the second set shown above (the set without the canes).

No packaging

These 12 figures were also sold loose in bins through dollar stores as that's how I acquired both of the sets shown above, so I can confirm that they were sold that way. I recall buying these two PVC sets new from the store because it was a glorious moment of Muppet collecting! The store had two big baskets filled with the figures and I remember digging through them for quite some time to make sure that I had found all 12 of the different figures that were there.

In regards to when these PVC figures were made, the series of Sesame Street posable action figures by Tara Toys were made in 1985 as noted on the packaging for those figures. These same action figures are shown on the back of the bubble cards for these two undated sets of PVC figures (shown below). The card for the PVC figures does not have a date, however the posable action figures being pictured on the cards would confirm that the PVC figures were defiantly made in the 80's. However, it's still unknown if the PVC figures were made before or after 1985 as the figures could have been released loose prior to being sold on cards. 

Here is the back view of the above Big Bird figure card showing the assortment of toys that were available along with these "Mini-Collectables". The top row shows the awesome series of poseable Sesame action figures, and the bottom row shows the finger puppets. Click on the image to see a larger view.

In 1993 Kid Dimension, using the brand name Child Dimension, reissued at least four of these figures individually in new bubble card packaging. The back of the card has an illustration showing only the Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert figures from the set with canes, suggesting that the Oscar and Grover figures were not reissued. The Bert figure shown in the Kid Dimension packaging above has a fat cane like the variation Cookie Monster figure shown further above, which suggests that all of the Kid Dimension figures were made with fat canes.

Tara Toys / Drawing Board Greeting Cards Inc.

Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Grover

The next Tara Toy series presented the characters playing musical instruments. Unlike the first 12 figures, this set was made with the usual PVC rubber-like plastic. These were all sold individually on bubble cards. Muppet Wiki notes that all three of the Big Bird figures shown above (with cane, playing tennis, and with guitar) were also made with blue plastic to be figures of Pino from the Dutch version of Sesame Street, titled Sesamstraat.

This series of PVC figures was later reissued by Drawing Board Greeting Cards Inc. As such there are several variations of the figures in this set (shown below). Both Tara Toys and Drawing Board issued the figure individually on bubble cards making for two variations of packaging. 

Three Pack

Tara Toys also released a three pack boxed set with Cookie Monster (light blue with light brown guitar), Oscar (light green) and Big Bird.

Cookie Monster

There are four variations for the Cookie Monster figure from this series:

1) Dark blue with dark brown guitar (shown above)

2) Sky blue with light brown guitar (shown below)  

3) Light blue with dark brown guitar (shown below)

4) Light blue with light brown guitar (shown above)

Cookie Monster

Big Bird

Big Bird has two variations that I've noticed. The figure can be found with small or large irises. The tone of pink used on the leg stripes and eyelids is also slightly different for these two figures.

I've notice three variations for Ernie, though I only have one of the figures in my collection so this isn't yet confirmed. However, it looks as though Ernie was made with dark blue stripes on his shirt, shown above from my collection, and with light blue stripes on his shirt, shown below in a photo found online. There also seems to be two different variations of the light blue version, shown below.

Ernie with light blue stripes.

This second light blue striped Ernie appears to have been painted differently. The other Ernie's do not look like they have orange paint on the heads and hands, however this one seem to have been coloured with light orange paint. The yellow on the shirt cuffs and the red of the mouth look to be painted in a sloppy way as compared with the others.

Bert

Bert also has two variations. He was made with dark green or light green clothes as well

as small or large irises. The shoes are also painted black or brown, as shown below.

Oscar the Grouch

There's also a variation for the Oscar figure, which was made with dark green or light green fur. I haven't yet noticed a variation Grover from this set, but it wouldn't surprise me if one exists. 

Here is the back of the card for this series of PVC figures. The card is dated 1985, shown below.

Tara Toys, 1980's

"Sesamstraat" PVC figures
Pino with white hat and cane
Pino playing tennis
Pino playing a red acoustic guitar

Top row: Telly, Cookie Monster, Bert
Bottom row: Grover, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Ernie, Honker, and Count

Series 4: Figures with playsets (Some info found on Muppet Wiki)
This series of PVC figures were sold individually on bubble cards and came with a small rectangular playset that was illustrated to look like the section of a wall from a building. Each playset had a working door. Nine characters were included in this set, made in 1987. All 9 figures were also released together in a boxed set without the houses (shown below). The figures in this set were made with a nicer quality than previous Tara Toys Sesame PVC sets.

Tara Toys boxed set of 9 Sesame PVC figures from the 1980's.

I believe this was the first time that Telly Monster and Honker were made as PVC figures. The Applause toy company also made a Honker PVC figure in the 1980's, so I'm not sure which was first, but to my knowledge Applause didn't make a figure of Telly.

Bert wearing a blue police hat, holing both arms out to sides with whistle in left hand, dark green pants, white and black shoes. Came with Police station playset.
Big Bird as a mailman, standing holding a letter in his right hand, wearing a blue mailman hat (no jacket), his arms and the letter are sculpted to be flat against his body. Came with Post Office playset.
Cookie Monster, dressed as a baker (shown below). Came with Bake Shop playset.
Count with grey pants, solid green cape, holding up an ice cream cone with a black cone and white ice cream, both arms raise upwards, wearing a small white hat. Came with Ice Cream store playset.
Ernie wearing a red fire fighter's hat, holding a black hose that is wrapped around his left leg. Comes with Fire Department playset.
Grover dressed as a farmer (shown below). Came with barn wall playset.
Honker dressed as a crossing guard, pink fur, white belt, arms held up out to sides, legs separate. Comes with School playset.
Oscar in a silver trash can sweeping with a beige broom on left side using both hands, wearing a small grey hat. Comes with junkyard playset (illustrated wooden wall with door).
Telly Monster as a construction worker, pink fur, wide beige tool belt, holding up a hammer in his left hand, a saw in his right hand next to his leg. Comes with a construction zone playset (illustrated wooden beams as frame of building with blue sky)

Cookie Monster, Grover

Here's the back of the card for the fourth series of Tara Toy PVC figures.

Play and Carry

Also in 1985, Tara Toy produced four "Play and Carry" playsets that came with uniquely stylized Sesame figures, as the legs of the characters are shaped to be a singular pillar, similar to a Chess game piece.  

Train Station with Big Bird

Boat House with Cookie Monster

Firehouse with Ernie

Farmers Barn with Grover

Larger sized playsets

Schoolhouse with Ernie, Bert and Big Bird

Day Camp and Merry-go-round with Barkley, Alice and Snuffleupagus 

Cookie's Shop with Cookie Monster, Big Bird and the Count

Little Theatre with Big Bird, Grover and Oscar

Comics Spain, 1984

Ernie holding Rubber Duckie

In the 1980s Tara Toy and Applause produced the Sesame PVC figures that were sold in North America, while in Europe the company Comics Spain produced a series of figures in 1984 based on the Spanish version of Sesame Street, "Barrio Sesamo". The series included ten characters: 

Ernie (shown above)

Bert

Cookie Monster

Oscar the Grouch holding up a yellow can in his right hand

Grover

Betty Lou

The Count

Sherlock Hemlock, this is an exceptionally nice figure

Spanish characters include:

Espinete a light pink hedgehog costumed character, holding his chin with left hand, fur is sculpted with detail

Don Pimpon a large brown monster costumed character who wears farmer overalls and a hat, both arms held out to side

Bullyland / Bully, 1984 and 1990 (most of this info is from Muppet Wiki) 

The Muppet Wiki site doesn't mention where these were distributed. To my knowledge they were only available in Europe. Figures are marked "Bully".

Here is Big Bird by Bullyland, made in 1984 using the figure sculpt for Pino from the Dutch version of Sesame Street, in yellow plastic instead of blue plastic. Note that the beak was painted orange the same as Pino, even though Big Bird's beak is yellow. The figures neck and legs are also too short, while the body is too long. He also does not have eyelids and is missing the stripes on his legs! It's by far the most bizarre PVC figure of Big Bird that I've seen!

First series, 1984

Bert wearing a solid green shirt holding a present
Betty Lou sliming with mouth open, red mouth, pink face, yellow hair with long pony tails on both sides, light blue bow in top of head, light blue dress with white lace trim and belt, darker blue shoes, feet touching with space between legs, right hand holding up a white pinwheel toy on a stick (which looks like a flower) with green, red, and yellow stripes
Big Bird This is actually the sculpt for Pino in yellow plastic to be Big Bird [same pose as Pino figure] (shown above)
Cookie Monster wearing a baker hat eating cookies [holding a yellow cookie pot in his right arm, lifting a cookie to his mouth with his left hand]
Ernie wearing a solid red shirt with yellow trim, blue pants, red shows with a white base, and a yellow shoulder bag that looks like a purse... "the man-bag"! :)
Ernie in a car 

Oscar holding a yellow can 
Pino (Same as the Big Bird figure shown above but made with light blue plastic instead of yellow)

The 1990 Ernie Bullyland PVC figure, made in Germany.

Second series, 1990 Made in Germany

These are slightly larger figures than the 1984 series, with far better sculpting. I really like these!

Bert with a frown, standing with right leg slightly bent, holding up his right arm pointing, wearing V-neck green shirt with orange and blue stripes, white collar, light brown pants, solid white shoes

Bert variation of above figure with orange and white shoes
Bert leaning on a red "shultute" [a cone shape] with blue at the top of it and a green letter "B" inside, and his right arm wrapped around it, right leg crossed over left, green shirt with orange and blue stripes, light brown pants, orange and white shoes, wearing red back pack
Big Bird standing with head tilted to the left, waiving with left hand, holding right hand out in front of him, legs and feet apart
Cookie Monster standing with legs apart, holding up a cookie in his right hand with his other arm flat across his very round tummy
Count standing on his right leg holding his left leg up to the side, holding his arms open out to the side, wearing a solid green cape
Elmo standing with legs apart holding his left hand up waiving, with his right hand out to the side and fingers spread apart
Ernie with Rubber Duckie attached to his left foot (shown above)
Ernie very similar to above Ernie figure, with a soccer ball attached to his left foot, holding his left arm up and out to the side, and his right arm out and down to the side, red shirt with yellow trim and three blue stripes, light blue pants, red and white shoes
Grover standing in a very strange pose, possibly doing an "I'm a Little Teapot" song gesture, with his right hand on his hip (or his butt?), leaning forward with his butt sticking out, left hand held up near his head (therefore using his right arm to form the teapot handle and his left as the spout)
Oscar in his trash can with the lid on his head, holding out his left hand, with his right hand on the edge of the can next to a yellow banana peel
Pino This is the same sculpt for Big Bird but in blue plastic to be Pino [same pose as Big Bird], with orange beak, legs and feet

"Sesamstrasse" PVC figures
Samson is a bear and Tiffy is a bird. Tiffy also looks very much like a Fraggle.

Samson furry dark brown chubby figure with red shoes, lifting up his toes on his left foot, with his left hand behind his back, holding his right hand out in front of him
Tiffy pink figure wearing green handkerchief with white dots around neck, orange eyelids, with right hand molded across tummy, holding his left arm out to the side, with head turned to the left, standing with legs apart

Beach Series 

No date was given for this set on Muppet Wiki but they are likely from 1990 or early 1990's

Bert wearing a snorkeling mask, with a navy blue tire tube around his waist, red floaties on his upper arms, a white shirt, striped shorts, and royal blue swimming flippers
Elmo standing on his right leg, with a beach ball between his legs, wearing a yellow t-shirt, with yellow sunglasses resting above his eyes, waiving with his right hand
Ernie standing with legs apart, wearing white shorts with red, purple and blue stripes, blue sunglasses on his forehead, with a light blue towel draped over his right arm while waiving, holding Rubber Duckie in his left hand, Duckie is wearing sunglasses
Grover wearing red and white striped shorts, holding sunglasses above his eyes with his right hand and an ice cream cone in his left hand,

Rock N' Roll Series 

No date was given for this set on Muppet Wiki but they are likely from 1990 or early 1990's

Bert playing a silver electric guitar, wearing a dark purple jacket, brown pants, black biker boots
Cookie Monster playing a yellow drum with red trim, wearing a green vest, large letters "CM" on back of vest in white
Elmo playing a white and black electric keyboard, wearing a silver jacket, large black letter "E" on back of jacket
Ernie playing a white electric guitar, wearing a black "leather" jacket, red pants, black boots

Bendy series

I saw this Ernie figure on ebay which I had never seen before. It has very odd looking thin, long arms like a bendy figure so I am assuming that it is a bendy figure, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Ernie with long bendy arms, red shirt with thin blue stripes, light blue pants, red and white shoes

Unknown Maker, Unknown date

Characters from Barrio Sesamo, the Spanish version of Sesame Street. These are very crudely made figures.

Espinete a dark pink hedgehog costumed character, waving with right hand held up, left hand flat against body, not holding his chin, fur is not very detailed and is almost smooth

Don Pimpon a large brown monster wearing farmer overalls and a hat, he is holding his chin

Vanderbilt Productions, unknown date

Grover firefighter, large fridge magnet

At some point between the late 80's and early 90's, Vanderbilt Productions produced at least two different series of Sesame Street PVC figural magnets. The above Grover PVC figure is 4 inches tall and flat on the back with a magnet at the center. It's marked "Jim Henson Productions Inc." on the back, with no date or a manufacturer mark. I found this Grover magnet at a flea market in the early 1990's and it was a mystery to me until January 2024, when I finally found some information about it from another Muppet collector through Facebook. So I'm glad that this 30 plus year mystery has finally been solved!

The Muppet Wiki page doesn't have a picture of this Grover magnet on the page about Vanderbilt Sesame magnets, but it does show photos of two different series. One set shows the Sesame characters holding a small black board with a message on it. The other series shows the characters doing different jobs. I do not know which series came first. As Elmo is included in this series of magnet figures, they wouldn't have been made prior to the late 80's, as Elmo only began to be featured as a character on the show at that time. I also found this Grover magnet in the early 90's so that gives us a time frame, late 80's to early 90's, during which these magnets would have been made. 

Series with characters holding black boards with messages

#495 Big Bird, message says "I love you"

#496 Cookie Monster, message says "I love (heart symbol) Cookies"

#497 Ernie and Bert, message says "Let's be friends" (version1, different sculpt, no markings)

(#?) Ernie and Bert, message says "Let's be friends" (version2, different sculpt, marked VP on back)

#498 Oscar, message says "Keep Out!"

(#?) Grover wearing white bow tie, message says "Today's special"

Series with characters doing different jobs

Big Bird dressed as a mailman

Cookie Monster dressed as a baker holding a cake

Ernie and Bert

Ernie and Bert, dressed as painters (not shown on Muppet Wiki)

Oscar with white sign on trash can "I love recycled trash"

Grover, dressed as a painter in beige overalls

Grover, wearing firefighter hat, with fire hydrant and hose (shown above, not shown on Muppet Wiki)

Elmo with a lemonade stand

Illco/Tyco, 1980s or 1990's
See Sesame Street Figurines Part 3, Fisher-Price / Illco / Tyco / Mattel

Unknown Maker, 1991

The Norwegian co-production of Sesame Street is called Sesame Stasjon. A board game based on the program was made in 1991 by an unknown company. The game came with five figurines, two of them depict human actors and three are Muppets.

Max Mekker, a large blue monster character in orange pants with suspenders, arms are folded behind his back

Alfa, a smaller sized yellow monster

Bjarne Betjent, a human Muppet character

O.Tidemann, human actor

Leonora Dorothea Dahl, human actor

B.Lie AS, 1992

Muppet Wiki states that in 1992 the company B.Lie AS produced three PVC figures based on the Norwegian co-production of Sesame Street called Sesame Stasjon. 

Max Mekker, a large blue monster character in orange pants with suspenders, arms are out to his side

Alfa, a smaller sized yellow monster

Bjarne Betjent, a human Muppet character

Yolanda, made between 1993 and 2008

Muppet Wiki notes that these six figures were made in Europe and were likely sold in Spain as merchandising for Barrio Sesamo. No date was mentioned, however as Zoe is included in the collection the set could not have been made prior to 1993, when Zoe made her debut. The Muppet Wiki listing was initially posted in 2008, which gives us an end date for when the figures could have been made, therefore they were made between 1993 to 2008.

Cookie Monster

Ernie

Bert

Grover

Elmo

Zoe

Tyco/Fisher-Price/Mattel, 1998

See Sesame Street Figurines Part 3, Fisher-Price / Illco / Tyco / Mattel

Wilton Industries, 1998

Super Grover magnet, 1998, this is a sculpted magnet of Super Grover against a white cloud. Oddly the "G" with lightning logo was left out of the design for this figure (it is not sculpted on the figure or painted). The figure is sold on a bubble card dated 1998.

Readers Digest, made between 1998 and 2001

See Sesame Street Figurines Part 2, 2000 - Present

Arby's Restaurants, 1999

In conjunction with the release of the VHS home video "Elmo in Grouchland: Sing and Play" Arby's sold a variety of related toys at their restaurants. One of the toys was a PVC figure of Oscar the Grouch with the trash can lid on top of his head. Oscar is bright green while the garbage can is light grey with a white sign that says "Unwelcome to Grouchland". There is also a clear plastic drinking glass that has a miniature figure of Elmo standing inside of it within a plastic dome.

Unidentified Figures, 1974-1999

This is a list of Sesame PVC figures that I've seen but have yet to confirm what company manufactured them. 

1) Above is a a very odd yet nicely made PVC figure of the Count which looks to be about 3 inches tall. It's unknown if this is a bootleg figure or an officially licensed one, or what company made it. If you have any info about this figure please get in touch with me!!!

2) Cookie Monster dressed as a train conductor in light blue hat and red bandana with white spots, standing with head tilted slightly to the right holding left arm directly out to the side, legs together, right arm flat against body. Figure is much smaller than standard sized PVC figures as shown in the photo.

Big Bird car hood ornament PVC figure

3) This PVC figure of Big Bird is dated 1984 and was originally the hood ornament on a baby's activity center type of toy that resembled the front section of a car with a steering wheel. The purpose of the toy was to allow kids to pretend that they were driving a car, with different functions such as a horn and a lever for kids to operate. I don't recall what company made the toy and I haven't been able to find a picture of it online. I found this figure as is, loose at a thrift shop. It's interesting that Big Bird's irises are painted light blue instead of black. As this is technically a broken piece from a larger toy it doesn't actually count as a figurine, but it would still be nice to identify the toy that it came from and who made it.

Ernie and Bert

4) I spotted these two really cool keychain figures two on ebay but the text was in German so am not sure if the description listed the company name that manufactured the figures. It said: "Spion Bert von Henson Anhanger Gummi". The Ernie figure had the same text only with his name in place of Bert's. No other info was listed. The same listing had some Comics Spain Sesame PVC figures with keychains attached as well, though I have never seen keychains on those figures before. Therefore I'm not certain if the above figures originally came with keychains or not as they could have been added by the seller. Some sellers think that adding a keychain to the figure will make it more interesting to buyers, however all they are doing is damaging the figures by drilling a hole in their heads which makes them LESS valuable to collectors. I wish that sellers would stop doing that!

Ernie, dressed in a black suit, white shirt with teal tie, white shoes, grey hat with brim, blue sunglasses, keychain attached

Bert, same outfit as above with keychain attached

Oscar and slimy, front and side view

5) Oscar with slimy and three wheels on this trash can, wheels do not move. Figure is marked "Henson/ China" which let's us know that it would have been made in 2000 or earlier since the Jim Henson Company still owned the rights. This also tells us that it is not made by Applause as that company did not mark any of their products in this way. However there is no toy company name marked so it remains a mystery figure. Possibly made by Tyco/Mattel/Fisher-Price as it looks similar to their Oscar figures.

Home Page

Sesame Street Figurines: Part 2, 2000-present

Sesame Street Applause PVC Figures

Photos and Text © Mikey Artelle 1997, 2024