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!
Not so long ago on this website, I wrote an article about my changing attitudes toward Muppet merchandise. Everything I said in the article was true: I don’t have nearly the same drive to collect new or old Muppet stuff that I had in years past.
A side effect of that newly reduced interest in merchandise is that I now feel fine getting rid of Muppet stuff I’ve had for years — giving it away to friends, selling it, putting it in a cardboard box and writing “FREE THINGAMAJIGS” and leaving it in the parking lot at Foot Locker. There’s a lot of Muppet stuff in my collection that I no longer feel the need to cling to.
But then there’s the stuff I can’t see myself getting rid of. For example: This Sesame Street Honker doll.
I’ve had this Honker as long as I can remember. I’ve definitely had it since I was in Sesame Street‘s target age demographic. I’ve always referred to it as a “Baby Honker,” because I thought that’s what it was. (You know, like the adorable little hatchling seen in these segments.) But I’ve just looked it up on Muppet Wiki for the first time, and it turns out it’s just a “Hasbro Softie purple Honker doll.”
All this time I must have assumed it was a baby Honker because it’s small. It’s natural to think of small versions of things as babies — when I see a refrigerator and then I see a minifridge, I shout “BABY FRIDGE!” But now that I really look at the Honker doll, it’s not that small. It’s about the same size as any number of plush versions of other Sesame Street characters that I would never assume were supposed to be baby versions of themselves.
So I don’t know where I got that from. I guess all the educational lessons of Sesame Street can’t change the fact that kids are dumb.
Oh, but you know what? His arms are pretty short! They’re definitely shorter than the arms of the adult Honkers we see on the TV show. That probably has something to do with it too. Although… a tyrannosaurus rex also had short arms. Would I assume all of those were babies?
Anyway, look at this guy! He’s cute! He has a little tuft of hair! His eyes are ever-so-slightly off, but I would never dream of entering him in the Ugly Toy Pageant. Another thing I learned from Muppet Wiki is that back in 1983 there was also a pink one and an orange one:
Honkers are pretty underrepresented in Sesame Street merchandise, so it makes me happy to find out that they made three different ones. I’ve always liked the Honkers, but they don’t seem to pop up as much in Sesame nostalgia as the similarly quirky Martians. Maybe that’s because the Martians’ “Yiiiiip-yiiiiip-yiiiiip” catchphrase is easy to emulate, whereas the Honkers don’t speak and most human Sesame Street fans can’t make a honking sound by smacking their own noses.
Oh, that reminds me! The best thing about this Honker doll that I’ve had my entire life is that it has a honking nose, and it still works! After all these years, I can still give it a squeeze and hear a little honk. That’s a solidly built Honker, I tell you what! And if I ever lose my bicycle horn, this would work great as a last-minute replacement. Thanks, Hasbro!
I’d love to hear from other folks out there who have one of these Hasbro Softie Honkers. Does yours still honk? Did you ever think it was a baby, or is it just me?
In conclusion: Honk honk honk honk, honk honk. Honk honk!
Click here to go honkin’ down the gosh-darn highway on the Tough Pigs Discord!
by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
