Sesame Street Toy Puppets: Variations

Last updated: Dec 1, 2024
Comments can be posted here

Important Note: This page is written as a continuation to the previous page of this blog "Sesame Street Toy Puppets 1971-1984" so it's best to start there first to understand what on earth this page is about. 

These are the very first Sesame Street toy puppets made in 1971 and 72. Shown here are 

(L to R) Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Roosevelt Franklin, Oscar the Grouch, and the Count.

For die hard collectors of these vintage Sesame Street puppets, or for sellers who are trying to identify specific items, I've put together this list of manufacturing variations that I've noticed.... I'm also just an obsessed fan of these puppets and couldn't help myself! Although I tried to include everything that I've found out about these puppets, I suspect this list is not complete.

From 1971 to the early 1980's this series of Sesame Street puppets switched production companies numerous times resulting in several manufacturing variations for almost every character. Educational Toys/Topper produced the toys for the first two years, followed by Child Guidance/Questor which made major changes to the line in the late 1970s, likely in order to reduce the costs of producing the toys. By 1980 most of the puppets that originally had rubber/plastic heads (Ernie, Bert, Grover, and even Big Bird) had been replaced with lower quality puppets that had fabric heads, or were no longer being produced.

Ernie

Shown below are three of the rubber/plastic head versions of the puppet. The two larger puppets on the left are the same size, made by Educational Toys Inc./Topper, with eyes that are separate plastic pieces glued on, while the smaller, brighter orange puppet is the Child Guidance version. Notice the smaller Ernie puppet has different fabric for his shirt compared with the other two puppets, and the stripes on his arms are horizontal.  The smaller Child Guidance Ernie puppet also has painted eyes and is made with very thick plastic.

A fourth plastic head version of Ernie (not shown) is slightly smaller than the Educational Toys versions shown below, but still very much larger than the Child Guidance/Questor version shown. This "medium sized" Ernie has shorter arms with horizontal stripes on the arms and painted eyes, just like the Child Guidance version. So I've now confirmed four different sizes of the plastic head version of Ernie, and they were all sold in North America. Both Vicma and Harbert made their own plastic head Ernie puppets, making a 5th and 6th version that were only sold internationally. Lastly, two different fabric head Ernie puppets were sold in North America by Child Guidance/Questor, for a total of eight different Ernie puppets from this series. I've also seen a version of this puppet from Germany for a possible 9th variation. 

The two Educational Toys puppets shown on the left are made with different molds, each with a different thickness of rubber/plastic. The one shown on the far left is softer plastic, which is why the mouth is closed, and it has a molded lip around the edge of the mouth. The back of the head at the hair line doesn't have a molded lip. The puppet shown in the middle doesn't have a lip around the mouth, but there is a lip at the back around the hair line. See the pictures below....

Ernie puppet with a molded lip...

Ernie puppet without a molded lip...

Ernie puppet without a molded hair line at back...

Ernie puppet with a molded hair line at back...

It seems the reason for the variations of the Educational Toys Ernie puppet was because the company did two production runs. The first run was in late 1970 or early 1971 and was sold in stores during 1971. These were packaged in larger sized open window boxes (as shown on the previous page of this blog). The second run was in late 1971 or early 1972 and was sold in stores during1972. These came in slightly smaller open window boxes that are mainly white rather than illustrated. With information from the collection of David M. (a very dedicated collector of these original Sesame puppets who has a mint in mint box 1971 Ernie puppet) we can confirm that Ernie was made in Korea, as the puppet has a paper "Made in Korea" tag sewn to the inside of the shirt. This is the version of Ernie with the molded lip, and without the molded hair line at the back of his head. 

So far I've noticed that there are at least eight versions of Ernie from this collection, five with rubber/plastic heads and two with fabric heads:

1. Educational Toys, plastic head "large" version, sold in North America, made in Korea, open box, 1971
2. Educational Toys, plastic head "large" version, sold in North America, made in ? (to be confirmed), open box, 1972
3. Child Guidance, plastic head "small" version, sold in North America, made in ?, solid box, made between 1973 - 1977
4. Child Guidance, plastic head "medium" version, sold in North America, solid box, made between 1973 - 1977
5. Vicma, plastic head, international markets: sold in Spain/Abrete Sesamo, France/1 Rue Sesame, made in ?, closed window box, made between 1976 - 1979
6. Child Guidance, fabric head, sold in North America, made in ?, solid box, made between 1977 - 1980

7. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, fabric head, sold in North America, made in ?, more commonly sold on a cardboard puppet stand, these were also sold without any packaging other than a hang tag and plastic hook to be hung on a pegboard, 1980 -1984,
8. Harbert, Italy/Apriti Sesamo, plastic head, likely sold in Italy, solid box, early 1980s,
9. (maker unknown), Germany/Sesamstrasse, plastic head, made in ?, likely sold in Germany, 1970's or 1980's

Here is a comparison of the larger Ernie hands with the smaller Child Guidance version. It's difficult to see in the photo, but they are both very different in size. I also added the Count's hand too as all three are different molds. The Count puppet is below, but first we'll take a look at the different Bert puppets!

Bert

Here are two of the rubber/plastic head versions of the Bert puppet. The larger one on the left is the Educational Toys/Topper version, the smaller one is the Child Guidance/Questor version. Notice the difference with the stripes of Bert's shirt. The colours are brighter for the Child Guidance puppet on the right. As with Ernie, there is likely a "medium" sized version of Bert as well. There are also plastic head Bert puppets made by Vicma, Harbert, and a German version, so there are at least five or six versions of this plastic head puppet that I know of. Add to this the two fabric head versions by Child Guidance/Questor, and there are a total of eight different Bert puppets in this collection.

1. Educational Toys, plastic head "large" version, sold in North America, likely made in Korea, open box, 1971-1972

2. Child Guidance, plastic head "small" version, sold in North America, made in ?, solid box, made between 1973 - 1977

3. Child Guidance, plastic head "medium" version, sold in North America, made in ?, solid box, made between 1973 - 1977

4. Vicma, plastic head, international markets: Spain/Abrete Sesamo, France/1 Rue Sesame, closed window box, 1976 to late 1970s

5. Child Guidance, fabric head, sold in North America, made in ?, solid box, late 1970s

6. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, fabric head, sold in North America, made in ?, more commonly sold on a cardboard puppet stand, also sold without any packaging other than a hang tag and a plastic hook for hanging on a pegboard, early 1980s
7. Harbert, Italy/Apriti Sesamo,  plastic head, solid box, early 1980s,
8. (maker unknown), Germany/Sesamstrasse, plastic head, from the 1970's or 1980's

Here is a closer look at the Educational Toys version. The eyes are separate white plastic pieces that were glued on, and the unibrow is fake fur rather than molded.

Here is the Child Guidance "small" Bert puppet. The eyes and unibrow are part of the molded head and simply painted. This puppet head is also made with very thick plastic, so much so that the mouth doesn't close. The "medium" version of this puppet looks identical to this one but it is slightly larger, and it is made with softer plastic that allows the mouth to close.

Here is a comparison of the hands for the two Bert puppets. The Child Guidance version on the right has wider fingers and the plastic is solid (does not bend). The Educational Toys version on the left has soft plastic hands.

Oscar the Grouch

Here is the a comparison of the Educational Toys/Topper Oscar the Grouch hand puppet (on the left), the Child Guidance puppets (both puppets in center), and the CBS Toys puppet (on right). 

After I took the group shot of four puppets shown above I found a fifth variation. The Educational Toys puppet, made in the early 1970s, is darker green and there is less fur around the bottom lip (shown at the far left in the group shot and in the above photo on the right). This puppet was made with short fur (above left) or long fur (above right), making for two very different variations. The short fur version was "sewn in Canada" by Irwin Toys, as a licensee of Educational Toys. The long fur version was "sewn in Jamaica" for Educational Toys. I have also seen a lighter green long fur version of the Educational Toys Oscar puppet that has lighter brown eyebrows.

All of the Educational Toys/Topper versions of the Oscar puppet have a pull string feature that was unique to Oscar and Cookie Monster. With the puppet placed on one hand, the other hand is used to pull the string which is attached to the hands on the inside of the puppet. A piece of flat, flexible boning across the inside of the puppet's back keeps the body stiff, but when the string is pulled it bends to make the arms move. Child Guidance dropped this feature from production and made their puppets without it. Child Guidance used very bright (almost florescent) light green fabric for one version of Oscar, and a more natural light green for another version. Both were made in the mid to late 1970s. As such there are a total of at least eight variations of this puppet.

1. Irwin Toys /Educational Toys, pull string version, short hair, sewn in Canada, made between 1971 -72

2. Educational Toys, pull string version, dark green long hair, dark brown eyebrows, sewn in Jamaica, made between 1971 -72

3. Educational Toys, pull string version, light green long hair, light brown eyebrows, N/A, made between 1971 -72

4. Child Guidance, no pull string, very bright green, North America, made between 1973 - 80
5. Child Guidance, no pull string, light green, North America, made between 1973 - 80

6. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, no pull string, this is a much smaller version, North America, sold on a cardboard puppet stand (or hanging on a peg board), early 1980s, 
7. (maker unknown), Germany/Sesamstrasse, 1970's or 80's

8. Vicma, no pull string, 1970's

Note: To my knowledge Harbert does not seem to have made an Oscar hand puppet.

Here a view inside the Educational Toys Oscar puppet showing the boning rod that is simply ironed onto the fabric with a strip of adhesive fabric. The Educational Toys Cookie Monster puppet is made the same way.

Here is the same puppet flipped over to show the string. There is a large ring to pull on, and a smaller ring inside to gather the strings. The tag says "Sewn in Jamaica."

Cookie Monster

Here is the Educational Toys Cookie Monster puppet (on the left), the Child Guidance puppet (center), and the CBS Toys puppet (on the right). The same thing goes for these as with the Oscar puppet, only the Educational Toys version has the pull String and there are short and long hair versions. The Child Guidance Cookie Monster was more commonly made with dark blue hands that match his fur, but a variation was made with light blue felt hands. The CBS Toys puppet is significantly smaller than all the others, and has smaller sized eyes.

Here is the tag from Cookie Monster that says:

 "Educational Toys Inc. A subsidiary of Topper Corp Sewn in Jamaica B.W.L"

Here is the opposite side of the above tag. The Educational Toys Oscar the Grouch puppet has an identical tag.

Here is the front of the tag from the "Canadian" Cookie Monster puppet. The back of the tag is shown below. It has English and French text that says: "Produced by Irwin Toy Limited in connection with the Children's Television Workshop under license from Educational Toys Inc. [French text] Sewn in Canada [French text]" I have yet to find an Oscar puppet with this Canadian tag, but as the Cookie Monster and Oscar puppets are so similar, I suspect that both would have been made in Canada and Jamaica in 1971 and 1972.

Below is a comparison of the puppet sleeve opening of the Educational Toys Cookie Monster puppet (seen at lower half of image) and the larger Child Guidance puppet sleeve (top half of image).

Here are the variations of Cookie Monster:

1. Educational Toys, pull string version, long fur, North America, made in Jamaica, early 1970s

2. Educational Toys, pull string version, long fur, North America, made in Canada, early 1970s

3. Educational Toys, pull string version, shot fur, early 1970's

3. Child Guidance, no pull string, dark blue hands, made in USA, North America, mid  to late 1970s

4. Child Guidance, no pull string, light blue hands, made in USA, North America, mid  to late 1970s

5. Vicma, (unknown if it has a pull string), Spain/Abrete Sesamo, late 1970s, this puppet is completely different in design and has larger eyes

6. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, smaller version, no pull string, North America, early 1980s, sold on a cardboard puppet stand

7. Harbert, Italy/Apriti Sesamo, no pull string, early 1980s
8. (maker unknown), Germany/Sesamstrasse

Big Bird Stuffed Puppet

Image from 1973 Ghild Guidance box 

Images from 1974 Child Guidance box, and 1977 Child Guidance box

Throughout the 1970s the Big Bird Stuffed Puppet went through several noticable manufacturing changes creating many variations of this toy. Only the Educational Toys version of the Big Bird Stuffed Puppet sold from 1972 to 1973 had plastic legs. All others variations were made after 1973 and have fabric legs.

1. Educational Toys, plastic legs, North America, 1971-1972.
2. Child Guidance, light orange fabric legs, long fake fur head and tail feathers, North America, 1973 -1974
3. Child Guidance, dark orange fake fur legs, yarn head and tail feathers, North America, 1974 -1977
4. Child Guidance, light orange fake fur legs, yarn head and tail feathers, North America, 1977 -1979
5. Child Guidance, pull-string talking doll version, North America, late 1970s to early 1980s

6. Hasbro, pull-string talking doll version, North America, early to mid 1980s
7. Hasbro, non talking doll version, North America, early to mid 1980s

Big Bird Hand Puppet

The larger Big Bird puppet on the left is the 1977 Child Guidance puppet. It has plastic inside to shape the mouth and beak, as well as to secure the eyes in position. The smaller Big Bird puppet was made by CBS Toys/Child Guidance in 1980 and only has plastic to shape the mouth. The smaller puppet can have orange felt hands or yellow felt hands.

The eyes on the 1977 Child Guidance puppet are much larger with painted iris, while the smaller CBS Toys puppet eyes have moulded (slightly raised) irises that are also painted. See below.

1977 Child Guidance Big Bird puppet

1980 CBS Toys Big Bird puppet

Here are the variations for the Big Bird hand puppet:

1. Child Guidance, plastic beak with yellow hands, North America, mid to late 1970s, sold in a box

2. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, fabric beak with yellow hands, North America, early 1980s, sold on a cardboard puppet stand

3. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, fabric beak with orange hands, North America, early 1980s, sold on a cardboard puppet stand.

Grover

The 1973 Child Guidance puppet with the plastic head (and nose) is on the left, and the CBS Toys puppet (with a pom pom nose) is on the right. I stuffed the head of the CBS puppet for the photo to give it some shape.

Educational Toys made an earlier version of the "plastic head" Grover puppet with a solid red fabric mouth. The Child Guidance version has a black fabric mouth with a red fabric lower lip as shown above.

Here are the variations for the Grover puppet:

1. Educational Toys, plastic head, solid red mouth, 1972 or 1973
2. Child Guidance, plastic head, North America, 1973 to late 1970s

3. Vicma, plastic head, Spain/Abrete Sesamo, late 1970s

4. CBS Toys/Child Guidance, fabric head with pompom nose, North America, early 1980s, sold on a cardboard puppet stand

5. Harbert, Italy/Apriti Sesamo, early 1980s, plastic head

Roosevelt Franklin

I'm aware of three distinct versions of the Roosevelt puppet:
1. Educational Toys, black irises are molded to stick up, arms do not have sponge tubes and are flat with sponge lining, North America, 1972 or 1973
2. Child Guidance, black irises are flat and do not stick up, arms have sponge tubes, North America, 1973 to late 1970's
3. Vicma, this one has a pink head instead of purple and it is sculpted differently with a distinctly rounded edge on the mouth, Spain/Abrete Sesamo, late 1970's

The Count

The fabric head version of the Count puppet is arguably the worst puppet in the collection. There was also a fabric head Count puppet made in Italy by Harbert that was similar to the United States version. Therefore there were three different Count puppets:

1. (maker unknown, likely Educational Toys/Irwin Toy), plastic head version, North America, (date unknown, likely early 1970s)
2. Child Guidance, fabric head, North America, 1974 until late 1970s
3. Harbert, Italy/Apriti Sesamo, fabric head, early 1980s,

All photos and text on this blog page are copyright Mike Artelle