The Fun of Colorforms

If you grew up in the 1970s, you do.

My sister and I had a few kinds. I remember a little one-dimensional figure “Wendy” and you could put a raincoat, rain hat, rain boots, and have her hold an umbrella – all in yellow.

Sounds like the Morton Salt girl, come to think of it.

Well, they’ve made a comeback but they’re not easy to find offline anyway.

Colorform toys originated with a business called Colorforms that was located in Norwood, NJ and some sets came in a long rectangular box.

“As a kid I also remember seeing Holly Hobbie Colorforms and many, many other sets as well,” said John Muir who runs a Generation X website of old toys and games.

There is now over 50 years documented of Colorforms play. It was born out of two struggling art students playing with different shapes to decorate their walls inexpensively.

Backtobasicstoys.com is one site where you can order a kit of Colorforms for $31.00.

There are standards in the toy industry for merchandising movies and t.v. shows that have stood the test of time.

There have been Colorforms from “The Addams Family” to Barbie as well as “Ultra Man.”

I also remember having the Colorforms of the weather – sun, clouds, rain; etc. and you could stick them on to the Colorforms board to determine the day. There was also a Colorforms calendar where you could stick the day of the week or month and year onto the background.

“I had no idea they were 50 years old,” said Kaitlin Lee, who works at a toy store and remember playing with the sticky figures as a child. “They are just a lot of fun and kids from every generation can just really enjoy the different people put out by the company.”

“It’s a history of popular culture,” said Paul Deion who owns the largest Colorforms collection. “If it’s something that’s well received and popular and everybody likes it, you don’t change it.”

Michelle, a mom now remembers playing with Colorforms quite a bit as a child.

“They’re a nice quiet activity,” she said. “I tried introducing my daughter to them but she didn’t find them interesting.”

“My babysitter used to help me peel off Colorforms,” said Richie Smith.

You can order all kinds of Colorforms at monstermarketplace.com.