Today on Fisher Price Friday I've got quite the buzz. It's the Queen Buzzy Bee #444 made from 1962-1985. Fisher Price made quite a few bee toys but this one had the longest run. The original Buzzy Bee #325 was made from 1950-1956. This newer blue eyed sweet bee is a female version of the pull toy and it makes a fun "buzzing" sound when pulled. It has wood body with lithographs on each side. In my version the crown, wings, wheels and antenna's are all plastic.
The back of the bee has a lithograph of brown and yellow bee stripes as well as bee wings and the name "Queen Buzzy Bee". You can also see the orange/red plastic wings on each side that spin around when the bee is pulled.
This is the front of the bee. You can see her white plastic crown, fuzzy brown forehead (lithograph) and the Fisher Price logo. The red antennas were mostly made with wood beads but they switched to plastic towards the end of production. The blue wheels were originally made of wood as well but also switched to plastic. You can have a plastic bead/wood wheel combo or a plastic bead/plastic wheel combo.
The bottom of the bee shows the wood base/body and the plastic mechanism that contributes to the buzzing sound it makes when moved.
The Queen Buzzy Bee is advertised for children ages 1-3. I'd say that is just about right as my now 2 year old thinks it's perfect.
One more little bee mystery. I have one of the later models since both the wheels and the antenna beads are plastic. However, I have been unable to find the version in my typical sources as the flowers on the wheels don't match. The flowers described were white with green stems, mine are missing the stems, never mind the color (as the ones I see online look like white stems but that's another issue altogether). My theory is that the last version (plastic wheels/plastic antenna) have different flowers as shown in my bee. These flowers are white but scattered with no stems.
Do you have a Queen Buzzy Bee with flowers like mine? If so can you prove or discount my theory? :)
SOLVED: The bee wheel mystery has been solved. A very early edition of the bee had a lithograph of flowers with green stems on the wheels instead of paint. It's hard to find but it is out there!
For more Fisher Price Pull Toys check out:
Pull a Tune Xylophone #870
Chatter Telephone #747
Little Snoopy #693
Fisher-price toys are now available in India too.
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