The Buggy Ladies of GLO FRIENDS!

A Spotlight on my 3 Favorite Glo Friends - Hasbro/Playskool 1986-1988
 
I know a review like this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the mantra of this blog is "Uniting All Women of Plastic", and that means all.  I'm aware that the vast majority of my readership is anchored in the superhero arena, but I'm hoping that there's just as much interest in the awesome nostalgic 80's properties out there as well - because I'll be sure to pepper reviews like this in every few months.  In 1982, Hasbro created a plush toy sensation in the form of Glo Worm.  The "Glo" brand immediately took off and soon spawned a series of books, cartoons, and a popular line of small glow-in-the-dark figures called Glo Friends.  I think every child of the 80's had at least one of these.  They were the default stocking stuffers for years in my family, but I eventually melted or destroyed them all.   In 1986, these figures hit the market under the new-ish Hasbro subsidiary, Playskool (although some of the packaging still lists the maker as "Hasbro Preschool").   There were 28 figures in all.  Let's check out my favorite three below!



The 28 figures were spread out among an initial single-carded wave of 12, 6 playset-exclusive characters, 2 mail-aways figures, and a set of 12 Wendy's Kid's Meal figures (that included some repeats of the original wave).  There are at least 7 females in the series, but I am focusing this review on my three favorite: Bonnie Beetle, Bashful Bug, and Prayer Bug.

We'll Start with my absolute favorite of the three:

Glo Bashfulbug

 

I think she was actually the girlfriend of the main character Glo Worm.  Every time she appears in the Christmas Special (posted below), Glo Worm is glued to her hip or snuggling against her.  I like her because she looks like an alien :)

 

 

 

Next up is a mysterious lady:

 

 

Glo Bonnie Beetle

 

Bonnie Beetle apparently doesn't appear in any of the cartoons or Ladybird books.  So mysterious!  I like her because she has these cool eyespots on her wings that remind me of the Eastern Click Beetles I used to play with when I was a young hayseed.

 

 

Last up is the rarest of the bunch,

 

 

Glo Prayerbug

 

Prayerbug was a mailaway exclusive that you needed to clip "Moondrop Points" from off the packaging of other Glo Friends in order to get.  I just have a love for praying mantises so she's a no-brainer.

 

 

 

 

 

Most Glo Friends came with "Sleeping Bags."  Apparently the Wendy's figures and the characters included with playsets did not.  So forgive the fact that I'm showing Prayerbug here in a bag that she most likely did not come with.  (Adorable though, isn't she?)

 

 

 

 

 

Here are an assortment of carded and polybagged pics, just to give you an idea of how they appeared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few images from the cartoon followed by a clip from the Christmas Special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Sally Struthers voices the evil witch, Blanche)

 

 

 

 

 

Like I mentioned above, there are a lot of female Glo Friends.  One of the reasons these previous three are my favorites are because they look distinctly feminine.  So many of the others are less specific in their appearances.  (Photos swiped from MyLittleWiki - check it out for pics of all the Friends)

 

 

 

Clockwise from top Left: Glo Butterfly, Glo Bedbug, Glo Snugbug, and Glo Grannybug.  (Bedbug and Snugbug don't seem very ladylike to me.)

 

 

 

 

Time for some Group and Comparison Shots!

 

 

 

 

Cheers!