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Wacky Wall Walkers
Synopsis of Toy
The creepy crawlies came to town when Ken Hakuta, TV’s “Dr. Fad,” introduced the ‘Wacky Wall Walker’ to the world in the 80’s. The simple rubber toy octopus with sticky legs was made to be abused. Need to blow off a little steam? Throw that wacky eight-legged octopus against the wall, watch it cling, start to quiver, and then begin its slow, but wacky tumble down the wall. Slimy things have always enticed, and bugs always excite, and when you put the two together, 250 million get sold to make one of the biggest fads since the Slinky.
Ken Hakuta knew a hit fad when he spied it, and when he saw a Japanese toy with sticky feet that clung to walls, mirrors, and any vertical surface and then slowly ‘crawled’ down the wall by a strange ballet of sticky-legged attraction, he knew he had hit the mother lode. All he needed were the licensing rights before he would become infamous for his fad prowess. Hakuta decided to take a gamble, pulling his life savings together to purchase the rights from the toy manufacturer in Japan.
Thanks to this wacky inventor, the Wall Walkers came to the West. Made of super supple and squishy rubber, then coated with a sticky material, the spindly-legged creature was a big hit with Americans. Slimy rubber things became all the rage, with a bunch of imitators producing rubber bugs like spiders and caterpillars, and even fly-catching frogs with coiled tongues that could be whipped out across the room to attack your little sister, over 6 feet away, and just as quickly snap back. "Mom! Timmy's hitting me!" "Am not--I'm sitting on the other side of the room! You must be crazy."
Wall walkers whizzed past like a high-speed, windshield homicide; but unlike the real thing, there was no harm done. No matter how hard you slammed it against the wall, the rubber toy came out alive and well. And what if it fell in the dirt? Fear not, as the creature could be washed off, and yet magically retained its stickiness for the next mission of wacky wall walking.