#1078 MIX 'EM UP MONSTERS - GROPPLE, THUGGER and BLIBBLE (McDONALDS' PROMOTIONAL) (1989)

I got these three monsters over the years with no real intend to collect them. They must be so common, that they simply slided in lots of toys that I purchased.

They are giveaways from McDonalds that could be found in the Happy Meal boxes. There is some kind of disagreement on when they came out. The copyright is from 1988, and some people say the promotion was available in 1988. Others say 1989, and other webpages with a high confidence date the promotion in the UK as late as may/june 1991.Of course the promotion could have been available first in the US, then in some countries in Europe, then somewhere else... I guess there are some people tracking this kind of information as there are many McDonald's toy collectors. 

The collection comprised four monsters, named originally Corkle (light blue), Gropple (yellow), Thugger (purple) and Blibble (green). I have three of them plus the inlay/instructions of the fourth one in German language. In this piece of paper, we learn that the blue one (Corkle in the original) was named Türki (probably because of German Türkis, or turquoise, the main color of the figure).

The toys and the name Mix 'Em Up Monsters are a trademark of Current Inc. and are actually a by-product of a children's book with the same name, published in 1980. This book consisted of 8 pages, divided in three sections each, that could be turned independently, mixing the heads, bodies and tails of 8 different dragons. It was probably a best-seller at the time, according to the big number of books for sale (second hand) today. With 8 different monsters and three parts each, you could build up to 512 differtent monsters. With only 4 toys, it is only 64 combinations you can make.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: GROPPLE, THUGGER and BLIBBLE (McDONALDS' PROMOTIONAL)
• Toy Line: MIX 'EM UP MONSTERS
• Year: 1989
• Company: Current Inc. Books, McDonalds (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 7 cm approx.