Hasbro germinated the vegetable star in 1952 after acquiring the rights from designer George Lerner. The original toy was a set of 20 plastic body features that could stick in an actual potato. A year later the domestic Mrs. Potato Head arrived with her feather duster. In 1964 the popular spud was given a plastic body to the delight of joyful potatoes around the globe, saving them the indignity of stabbing and mutilation at the hands of zealous toddlers.

By the 1980’s the “modern” Potato Head had come into being, he with the large plastic potato body, and moveable, interchangeable pieces stored in a rear compartment.

In the 90’s with the Toy Story movies emerged yet another version of the vegetable man with a bowler hat and a fuller mustache.
The traditional, classic Mr. Potato Head is a six-inch oval pie
ce of hard, tan plastic with holes for arms, feet, eyes, mouth, nose, ears and green hat. The hinged door on his rear is an asset giving access to a cavity for storing extra Potato Head body parts. A young child can exercise his/her imagination and hand eye coordination by adding the soft, flexible body parts in various configurations.

It seems like there’s always a new Potato Head figure on the market liked to a season, sports figure, holiday, or movie. I probably own most of them, and the Kiss Potato Heads and Sponge Bob Potato Head are on my wish list. In the meantime I’ll have to be content with the dozens of Potato Heads that live on shelves in Spud Central. One of these plastic figures is The Looney Tunes Show Daffy Duck Mr. Potato Head.

He fits most of the criteria being made of plastic, born in China, and composed of removable body parts. Yet this tiny pretender doesn’t resemble most of the other Potato Head figures in my collection. This one is shorter and svelter and barely stands six inches tall. His girth is such that he could be a Potato Head after liposuction.

Daffy’s back hair/feather piece is one with the ears, and the unit pops off of his head with a little effort. His beak and eyes are also one piece and though fastened to the body like a regular Potato Head piece, there’s also an elastic band to hold the piece in place like a mask.

The arms are black with white, fingered hands that also can be removed or repositioned. One piece also contain Daffy’s two webbed feet and his black pants. I snapped off the piece for the first time just now with not a little effort. The removal revealed a serial number - 0711GP9. I wonder what that means.

For a collector this is a fun piece, but I’m not sure how much play value this one has. Many of the youngsters at out tutoring center have never even heard of Daffy Duck. In addition, Daffy doesn’t have many removable parts so his possible reconfigurations are limited. We had a young visitor of about five the other day. She noticed Daffy, picked him up, and played with him for all of a minute before abandoning him.

It might mean something that this Daffy Potato Head was purchased on a clearance table at WalMart for an incredibly low price.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: Other