Hello all!  I have been thinking on these older Dalmatian Mattel plush sets a lot recently and have been wanting to write up a guide on them as I did last year for the Disney Store Best of Show plush collection which can be found here: [link]

To start us off, I'm just going to go over the basics real quick.  Mattel released two different sets of plush dalmatian puppies and one set of the parents, Pongo and Perdy, to coincide with the movie's July 1991 re-release in theaters (Disney's original release of 101 Dalmatians to theaters was on January 25, 1961).  


The Cardboard Collar Tag Set

One set of these puppies was smaller and had different collars and tags.  The collars of these puppies were made from a satiny smooth ribbon that had a bow tied above the name tag which was made of cardboard. Also, from what I have seen, these puppies were released in packs of two.  One pack had Patch and Rolly and the other available pack had Patch and Penny.  Needless to say, this makes the Patch of this set fairly common compared to the other puppies.  I have also seen one auction on eBay that had the three previously mentioned puppies (Patch, Penny, and Rolly) as well as a Lucky.  This is the only time I have seen this smaller version of Lucky come up for sale.

These are the descriptions for each pup in this set:

Patch, wearing a red collar and standing

Penny, wearing a pink collar and sitting

Rolly, wearing a blue collar and lying down

Lucky, wearing a yellow collar and begging


For a photo all four of these puppies, see here: [link]

For a new in box (NIB) set of Patch and Rolly, see here: [link]



The Plastic Collar Tag Set

The puppies of the larger, plastic tagged set featured the same four puppies as the smaller set, Patch, Penny, Rolly, and Lucky, as well as Pongo and Perdita.  Each puppy had the same color of collar, and the Patch and Penny were even in the same poses as their smaller counterparts.  Similarities aside, the biggest differences between the two sets were the materials that their collars were made from and the plushes' size (for example Plastic Collar Tag Patch is about 12 inches high while Cardboard Collar Tag Patch is only about 7 inches high).  The collars for this set were also made from ribbon, but instead of a satiny-type ribbon, this did not have a sheen to it and was ridged (aka grosgrain ribbon).  These grosgrain ribbon collars did not have bows and the name tags were made of sturdy plastic with scalloped edges.

Another similarity this set has to the smaller one is that the Lucky is the rarest of the bunch (though I do not believe Plastic Collar Tag Lucky is quite as rare as Cardboard Collar Tag Lucky).  It is interesting to note that, while Lucky was regularly available with the other puppies in this set for awhile, somewhere in production, he was discontinued.  You can see evidence of this in the following pictures.

Back of box, all six dogs are available: [link]

Back of box, Lucky has been crossed out: [link]


Here are a few additional pictures of the puppies in this set.

Penny, new in box (NIB with $16.99 Toys R Us price sticker): [link] , [link]

Rolly, new in box (NIB): [link] , [link]


The Mattel 1991 Pongo and Perdita plushes were released with Plastic Collar Tags and, to my knowledge, were never released with Cardboard Collar Tags or as a smaller size.

A quick shot of them side by side can be seen here: [link]

And a photo of Pongo and Perdita new in their boxes: [link]


Here are the descriptions for each plush in the Plastic Collar Tag set:

Pongo, wearing a red collar and sitting facing right

Perdita, wearing blue collar and sitting facing left with left forepaw raised

Patch, wearing a red collar and standing

Penny, wearing a pink collar and sitting

Rolly, wearing a blue collar and sitting

Lucky, wearing a yellow collar and begging


And this is the original 1991 commercial that aired on TV to advertize for the Plastic Collar Tag set:[link]



That should cover everything.  I hope I was able to present everything in a clear and easy to understand format and maybe I was able to teach something new to some of you.    The information here has been gathered over several years of interest and research of Disney plushes.  

I remember way back in 1991 when I first saw the Plastic Collar Tag plushes on the shelves at Toys R Us.  I had seen the film in theaters for the first time that summer which triggered my childhood obsession for Disney's 101 Dalmatians and I wanted those plushes.  I ended up with a Penny, a Rolly, and two Patches from the Cardboard Collar Set the following Christmas and though I liked them, it was the other set that I was after.  Fast-forward several years to where I have internet access and a job and I now have all the Plastic Collar Tag plushes added to my collection save for Penny (which I will find and add one day soon!).  

I want to conclude with the fact that none of the photos presented in this journal belong to me.  They have been slowly gathered over the past several months as I watch what comes up on eBay.  Nor do I have any of these plushes for sale.  This journal is meant to inform only.  Again, nothing is for sale.  And finally, if you have input or corrections, please comment!  I am always interested in learning more about the collectibles that I love.