SPECIAL FEATURES

Kansas City Trade Show
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Pictures added 3-10-99

I once again had the opportunity to work in the SWIBCO booth at the Kansas City Trade Show, January 22-26. I was able to see all of the new items and find out lots of cool new info! Click here to see some pictures!

I must say that the four new Puffkins are fantastic! Shaggs is an adorable ball of fur. He is so fuzzy that it took me 15 minutes to realize that he has a cute little pink tongue sticking out! Happy is the same bright yellow as Buttercup but with shorter plush. He has smaller eyes than the rest of the Puffkins but they are dark brown and not a solid black as I thought when first looking at him. Squawk is a very vibrant bird with an orange body, blue head with green above his orange and black beak. He has little black feet. Last but not least is Lenny who has unique spotted fur that is very much patterned as a real leopard! His muzzle is white and he has whiskers! These are going to be great additions to collectors' Puffkin families! Great job SWIBCO!!! Click here to see a picture!

Bumper, Chirps, and Bluebelle are adorable! They are so soft and sweet looking with their pastel colors. Bumper is going to be a big favorite. He is the same lavender as Henrietta with pink ears and a pink nose and a white tail. Chirps is pink with yellow feet and a yellow tuft of hair on her head. Yep, Chirps is a blonde! Haha! Bluebelle is so sweet! She is white and has the wool like Lizzy but her face, ears and feet are baby blue and her nose is pink. I think these are going to go over big for Easter and would also be fabulous baby gifts! Click here to see a picture!

I also noticed some new variations while stocking the Puffkin displays. In addition to the different eye colors on Hugs, Kisses and Patty, Franklin and Magic now come with two different colors of eyes.

The magnets are really wonderful! They are the same size as the keyrings but have magnets sewn into their backs. These magnets are very strong and are also covered by material so they will not scratch the surface you put them on. The only problem with a few of them is that they are so furry that you have to make sure to work the fur away from the magnet to get a good 'stick'! These will not only be popular for refrigerators but will also brighten up filing cabinets and lockers! Click here to see some pictures!

The new Fun Beads, while not strictly a Puffkin item, are great! They come in a variety of names with bright colors and fun accent beads. There are also many different sayings including 'Whatever', 'Q T Pie', and 'Class of 1999-2002'.

The new tag protectors are the slip on kind made out of a flexible plastic. They offer a tight fit to prevent them from slipping off. They come 24 to a package and retail for $2.50 which makes them one of the lowest cost protectors on the market.

I asked Mr. Pouleson, owner and president of SWIBCO, if there was anything he would like me to let visitors to our page know. He replied, "With the overwhelming success of the Halloween styles in 1998, we are going to have 4 more styles this year and 3 more for Christmas. We are also working on something for the 4th of July. Collectors can also anticipate 3 to 5 new Puffkins in March as well as more retirees." I asked him if Bruno will be one of the ones retiring since Michael Jordan has retired from basketball. Mr. Pouleson just smiled and said, "Well, we'll see. You never know."

Mr. Pouleson autographed several items for me including Easter, Valentine's, and St. Patrick's Puffkins. Click here to see a picture! Look for contests here at Puffkins Digest in the upcoming months for opportunities to win some of these treasured collectibles!

We will be posting pictures from the Kansas City Trade Show soon. They will include pictures of all of the new items as well as some of Mr. Pouleson himself. We will also be posting pictures of many of the variations as well as specialty tags.

Information gathered from:
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