Tobar Giant Retro Space Hopper Outdoor Toy

Product Information

In the United States, the first mass-marketed hopping ball was a version of an earlier European toy—the Hoppity Hop, released by the Sun company after it introduced the ball in 1968 at the American International Toy Fair in New York. The European "Hop!" balls appeared in the beginning of the 1990s and are still available. Made by Italy's Ledragomma/Ledraplastic, these are essentially an exercise ball with a handle attached. The sizes of these balls range from the "Hop! 45" to the "Hop! 66" (66cm, about 26in).

The space hopper is a heavy rubber ball about 60–70 centimetres (24–28in) in diameter, with two rubber handles protruding from the top. A valve at the top allows the ball to be inflated by a bicycle pump or car tire pump. The original space hopper in the United Kingdom was manufactured by Mettoy ( Mettoy-Corgi). Wembley made a similar model, which had smooth handles rather than the ribbed original. The orange kangaroo design is now available in adult-sized versions in the UK. [2] The term "space hopper" is more common in the United Kingdom. The toy is less familiar in the United States and may be known as a "hoppity hop", "hippity hop", or a "sit and bounce". A similar toy, popular in the United States in the 1980s, was the pogo ball, which has a hard plastic ring encircling the ball instead of a handle. The pump has an inflate and deflate valve. Use the deflate valve to make the hopper ball as small as possible for storage.The Hoppity Hop sold steadily for decades, but by the 1990s, sales began to slip due to increased competition from foreign hoppers. The Hop! 66 is still primarily child-sized. Demand for truly adult-proportioned hopping balls was met with two notable items: The first was Kitt 2000 Velp, of the Netherlands Mega Skippyballs, a large hopping ball that, by virtue of its size, was intended only for adult use. It came in three sizes: 120 centimetres (47in), 100 centimetres (39in), and 80 centimetres (31in).

It's fairly common for hopper balls to be sold with a pump included for easy inflation. Hopper ball prices In a season-7 episode of Friends, " The One Where They All Turn Thirty", Phoebe bounced for a mile on a Hippity Hop. Space hoppers were introduced to the United Kingdom in 1969. The Cambridge Evening News contained an advertisement for the hopper in November of that year [1] and described it as a trend. The space hopper became a major craze for several years and remained widely popular through the 1980s. The toy is sometimes considered a symbol of the 1970s. It's important that the user doesn't exceed the maximum weight limit of their hopper. It will only be safe up to its weight limit — if someone heavier attempts to bounce, it could burst and cause an injury. Hopper ball weight limits are usually higher the larger they are, which is another reason why you should avoid using a model that's too small for you — so, no stealing your child's hopper ball for a bit of fun! Weight limits can range from less than 50 pounds for toddler models to more than 300 pounds for adult models. Features Design

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According to advertising materials, the Hoppity Hop's original targets were both adults and children. Since the balls only inflated to around 20 inches (51cm), however, it is doubtful that any but the shortest adults could have gotten much use out of one.