Doodle Bear
A plush bear that came with permission to destroy it—draw on it with markers, toss it in the washing machine, and it came out blank and ready for more doodles. Invented by Ed Kaplan and released by Tyco in 1995, Doodle Bear was the anti-collectible, the polar opposite of the untouched Beanie Baby sitting in its case. In an era when toys were meant to be preserved, this one begged to be drawn on.
Ed Kaplan, founder of EKA Associates, invented Doodle Bear, inspired by a 1950s and 1960s fad of autographing stuffed toys—particularly dogs—for special occasions like graduations. Tyco released the washable, marker-compatible plush bear in 1995, and it became an immediate phenomenon. According to Kaplan's son Douglas, Doodle Bear topped $50 million in sales in its first year alone.
Mattel acquired Tyco in 1997, and between 1997 and 2000, Doodle Bear sales tripled. The toy later changed hands several times: Play Along relaunched it in 2004 with spin-offs like Doodle Monster and Magic Glow Doodle, Fisher-Price held the license from 2010 to 2013, and TOMY brought it back in 2019. In the age of Beanie Babies—when collecting meant shrink-wrap and "don't touch"—Doodle Bear stood as the antithesis: a stuffed animal you were actively supposed to scribble all over, creating something new and uniquely yours before washing it clean and starting over.
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