Polly Pocket creator dies in France at 74

Polly Pocket inventor Chris Wiggs has died at age 74.

Wiggs died at his home in France on June 20, the New York Post reported, after being diagnosed with an unnamed rare brain cancer. Wiggs invented Polly Pocket, the iconic children’s toy packaged in compact cases that unfolded into dollhouses or other playsets.

Wiggs made the first Polly Pocket prototype for his daughter, Kate Wiggs, in 1983 using an old makeup compact. Kate told the Post her father was a natural inventor.

“I’m trying to remember the first moment he handed over the compact and I think it would have just been very ordinary. ‘Oh, I made this. Here you go,’” she told the outlet. “Because he was always making stuff, it was the most natural thing in the world.”

Polly Pockets hit stores in 1989. Mattel, the toy brand that also makes Barbies, began to sell them soon afterwards. The brand redesigned the toys in 1998 to include new clothing and increased their size to 3.5 inches, according to the Post.

Wiggs maintained the rights to Polly Pocket even after Mattel purchased it but finally sold them to the toy giant in 2007 to focus on his passion for music. The toys sold until 2012, when Mattel took them off shelves. Mattel brought them back in 2018, and Mattel launched an animated series for the toys, according to the Post.

The compact dolls have become a childhood staple for people around the world.

“[Polly Pocket] kind of exploded and became this thing that still, however many decades later, people remember so fondly and want to talk about,” Kate told the Post.

Lynn Rosenblum, former marketing director at Mattel, told the Post everyone knew the brand was small “but was very special.”

“Many small dolls came and went,” Rosenblum told the outlet. “The Polly Pocket toys were easy to package, the commercial was good, the price was right and the character was so darn cute.”

Given their iconic status, Mattel announced a Polly Pocket film in 2021. The movie, which does not yet have a release date, will be directed by Lena Dunham and feature Lily Collins, the star of Emily in Paris, according to People.

Mattel’s last doll-related film, Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, was the highest-grossing film of 2023 worldwide.