Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Mego of the Day: Frankenbumps!

He never saw release but this cool concept of a figure was eventually retooled into Vac-Man in the 1990s. What is Frankenbumps? Here's what the patent says:

A stuffed toy includes a toy body, a tubular air control seat and an air extractor. The toy body is made from an air impermeable and stretchable cloth material and confines a hollow space that is stuffed with a solid filling material. The toy body is formed with a tubular connecting portion which defines an opening for accessing the hollow space. The air control seat is made from a pliable and resilient material and is secured in the tubular connecting portion of the toy body. The air control seat has a first tubular part and a second tubular part with a first end connected to the first tubular part and a second end that is formed with a control valve. The air extractor is secured in the first tubular part of the air control seat and is operable so as to draw air from the hollow space of the toy body into the air control seat in order to stiffen the toy body and enable the toy body to sustain a desired posture. The second tubular part of the air control seat is deformable to open the control valve and permit air flow into the hollow space of the toy body to release the toy body from the desired posture.

Phew!

There are currently no known samples of Mr Franken known to exist but maybe someday on will turn up.

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