Wrinkles dogs

Wrinkles Dogs (also referred to as Wrinkles) was a line of plush toys manufactured by Canadian toy manufacturer GANZ in the 1980s. They have been sold as part of the company's "Heritage Collection", though the line appears to have been discontinued. The toys were easily identifiable by their characteristic wrinkled faces and clothing. They were based on the Shar Pei breed of dog. The original design was created by Senitt Puppets based in Ontario. Senitt designed and sold hand made puppets for over twenty years throughout the United States and Canada. The Wrinkles was and still is their creation.

The dogs came in three sizes. Most common were the medium sized toys, which stood about 18 inches (46 cm) high, and were the most anthropomorphic, as they were designed to sit upright. They were dressed either in jogging suits, in overalls and a t-shirt, or in dresses, and had openings to allow them to double as hand puppet. There were also smaller, nine inches (23 cm) high toys, who sat on four leggs and wore bonnets and booties, and larger toys, which stood over 2 feet (61 cm) tall. Other Wrikles animals were also manufactured, including a moose named Moogums (or Moogy), and an elephant named Trunkit.

As proof of authenticity, all Wrinkles toys came with a bone-shaped symbol embroidered into their ear. As well, they all came with a fabric bone. The plush Wrinkles spawned some additional merchandise, including metal dinner trays, PVC figures, poseable dolls and even a direct to video movie.

The famous Wrinkles TV advert which aired during the 1980s featured the Wrinkles talking and chatting to the camera and finished with the dog looking to the screen and exclaiming "Hi, i'm wrinkles, i've got my name under my ear!", at which point it flicked it's little plush head to one side, lifting it's ear to reveal the bone shaped symbol under the ear.

Wrinkles dogs are fairly common fare on eBay and other auction sites selling toys. They can also still be purchased from the original designers at Senitt Puppets.

External links

* [http://www.ganz.com/products/heritage/wrinkles.html Ganz official Wrinkles site]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ganzbroswrinkles The Yahoo Wrinkles Group]
* [http://www.senittpuppets.com Website for the Original Designers of Wrinkles]