Chris Wiggs dead: British inventor who created Polly Pocket dies aged 74 after rare cancer battle
THE INVENTOR of iconic 1990s toy Polly Pocket has died aged 74 after a battle with a rare form of brain cancer.
Chris Wiggs first created the miniature portable house and doll in 1983 for his own daughter, using a makeup compact.
A Swindon toy company, Bluebird Toys, snapped it up in 1989 and it became a wildly popular kids toy in the next decade.
By 1994 roughly three quarters of all girls in Britain were believed to have owned one.
The company sold more than £100 million worth of the tiny product.
They were discontinued to the heartbreak of many in 1998 when Mattel took over Bluebird Toys.
Chris died peacefully at his home in France surrounded by his loved ones, according to the New York Post.
He was suffering from a form of neurological cancer before he died.
Chris leaves behind his wife Carolyn, his daughter Kate, son Ben and five grandchildren.
His Polly Pocket dolls were priced at around £10 in their original release and went up over the years as their popularity soared.
Toy giant and Barbie manufacturer Mattel redesigned the dolls in the 1990s making them several inches tall.
Kids could then dress their dolls in clothes and accessories.
Unopened editions of the toys sell on eBay now for extortionate prices – with one 2002 version listed at over £1,000.
Mattel again relaunched the toys in 2018 with mini and full-size options on sale.
The dolls could even form the inspiration for a film like Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Barbie last year.
Lena Dunham is due to direct the movie with Lily Collins playing Polly, according to the New York Post.
