I haven’t always managed to obtain every item of Muppet merchandise I wanted, but I’ve been lucky enough to own some good ones. This is one of them. Click here to read about others!
As I’ve previously stated on this website, I’m less interested in acquiring stuff than I used to be. Buying new knickknacks and doodads doesn’t excite me as much as it did once, and that extends all the way to Muppet toys.
But sometimes you just can’t resist, you know?
That’s what happened recently at a vintage toy store. The aisles were full of treasures, and I was tempted to grab a Transformer or a Master of the Universe or a Star War. But every time I saw something intriguing, a voice in my head would say “You don’t need that.”
Eventually I made my way to the last corner of the store, and that’s when I saw him, in a bin full of die-cast Sesame Street cars: Barkley! And the voice in my head said “You… need that.” So I bought him, and now I have a cute little Barkley toy. (For those wondering, it’s a PVC made by Applause, but I don’t know what year it’s from.)
I’ve always liked Barkley. He’s a Muppet, so his appearance is stylized — and he’s huge — but he acts like a real, loveable dog, which is not so common for Muppet animals. I guess there probably aren’t many Sesame Street fans out there who don’t like him.
When I was a preschooler, I always loved watching the closing credits where Barkley and a bunch of kids ran around Central Park, especially the part where the kids disappeared behind a tree, much to Barkley’s confusion. (I’m still trying to figure out how those kids made themselves disappear like that.)
And come to think of it, that closing credits sequence means there were several years where Barkley was seen at least once a week, making him one of the most prominent Muppets on the show!
It wasn’t until I got the toy home that I realized a likely reason it had struck me as so appealing in the first place. I don’t think there’s been very much Barkley merchandise. There was a Barkley “Bean” as part of a 1998 Tyco set of “Sesame Street Beans”:
And after clicking through Muppet Wiki, I was able to find this PVC made by Applause in 2000 as part of a “Classic Sesame Street” line (he looks like he has pigtails!):
But I can’t think of any others! What am I missing? And how is it possible that such a nice dog hasn’t been merchandised more? You’d think every kid in America would want a Barkley doll to hug and drag around on a leash and throw dog treats at.
I haven’t quite decided where I’m going to display this Barkley. On top of my 123 Sesame St cookie jar? On the shelf in front of my Sesame Street Old School DVDs? Or maybe he should hang out with Dexter Jettster:
I have one final question about my new Barkley. Who do you think threw him the frisbee that he’s holding in his mouth? One obvious answer would be Linda, who was established as Barkley’s owner for years on the TV show. Or it could be Big Bird, who co-starred with Barkley in the specials where they went to China and Japan.
But it could be anybody, really. Which means it could be any other toy — although it would be more satisfying if they were the correct size next to Barkley, who is a very large dog. So the next time I go to a vintage toy store, I have a new goal: Find a toy that’s proportionate to this Barkley, with an arm that can be posed to look like it just tossed a frisbee. Maybe it’ll be a Big Bird. Maybe it’ll be a Cookie Monster. Or maybe… maybe it’ll be a Starscream or a Bebop or Rocksteady or one of those novelty action figures of the Pope.
If I find the perfect companion to frisbee-catching Barkley, I’ll let you know!
Click here to play a tiny game of fetch with Barkley on the Tough Pigs forum!
by Ryan Roe – [email protected]
