Dapper Dan
The big brother: a larger board with a dapper gent to decorate, usually costing about three times the standard box when it surfaces.
Smethport, Pennsylvania, since 1955
Wooly Willy, the bald man you draw hair on
A printed face, a pile of iron shavings and a magnet on a stick: that is the whole toy, and it has been selling since 1955. This site keeps the four live listings side by side, a stack of drawing prompts, and the story of how magnet-factory dust became one of the best selling toys of its century.
Four boxes, one toy
Every box on sale today holds the same 7 by 8.75 inch board. What changes is the packaging, the pitch and the cost, so the real question is which listing suits you, not which toy.
The one in stores
Original Wooly Willy
The current PlayMonster box of the 1955 magnetic drawing toy, and the listing most people land on first.
$7.994.4 stars, 5,097 voices
Usually cheapest full boxWooly Willy Original: value listing
The same full-size board on a plainer listing, and usually the lowest cost of the standard boxes.
$5.85too few voices to rate yet
The nostalgia boxWooly Willy: Patch Products era box
An older box from the Patch Products years, the same toy wearing the packaging it had before 2016.
$7.994.6 stars, 463 voices
Travel and gift pitchWooly Willy: travel and gift listing
The newest listing on the shelf, pitched at road trips, party bags and the bottom of a stocking.
$4.994.2 stars, 30 voices
The short version, before you click into any of them:
| Listing | What sets it apart | Cost today | Stars (voices) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original Wooly Willy | The one in stores | $7.99 | 4.4 (5,097) |
| Wooly Willy Original: value listing | Usually cheapest full box | $5.85 | unrated |
| Wooly Willy: Patch Products era box | The nostalgia box | $7.99 | 4.6 (463) |
| Wooly Willy: travel and gift listing | Travel and gift pitch | $4.99 | 4.2 (30) |
Costs move around; each number is from the last time these pages were rebuilt. The listing page always has the number that counts.
How the powder becomes hair
No batteries, no ink, no cleanup. The whole trick is one weak magnet and a sealed bubble.
1
Lay it flat
The magnetite powder rests along the bottom edge of the card. Flat on a table or a lap, it stays where gravity left it.
2
Drag the wand
Hold the magnetic wand against the bubble and the shavings climb toward it. Slow drags leave lines; short taps pile up tufts. Beards, brows, sideburns, a questionable haircut.
3
Tilt to erase
Done laughing? Tip the frame upright and the shavings slide back down to the bottom. The face is bald again in two seconds and nothing has left the frame.
What should Willy look like today
Everyone draws the mustache first. Then the eyebrows. Then the toy goes quiet, because nobody tells you what to draw third. The prompt spinner fixes that: it deals a random face to build, from a two-minute handlebar mustache to a full portrait of your grandfather, and the guides hold a printable list of fifty more.
From factory dust to 75 million boxes
The toy was invented in Smethport, Pennsylvania, by two brothers who worked with magnets for a living. Nobody wanted it at first.
- 1955
Dust on the grinding floor
James Herzog watches iron dust jump around the magnet grinders at the family's Smethport factory and starts sketching a toy around it.
- 1955
The bubble problem
Loose iron dust needs a lid. Brother Donald borrows vacuum-forming, a technique he learned on army radar equipment, and seals the powder under a clear dome. Artist Leonard Mackowski of Bradford paints the bald face.
- 1955
Twenty-nine cents of failure
Buyers at the New York toy fair call it one of the worst toys of the year. It goes on sale at 29 cents mostly out of stubbornness.
- 1956
Six dozen to prove a point
A G. C. Murphy buyer orders six dozen just to show the salesman it will not sell. The boxes are gone in days; the reorder is for twelve thousand.
- Today
Still in print
More than 75 million sold, a spot on the toy industry's list of the century's best, and the same board still coming off the line under PlayMonster.
The shelf in numbers
1955the year it was born
$4.99cheapest listing today
4.4average stars across rated boxes
5,590buyers who left a note
The Magnetic Personalities family
Willy was never alone. The same factory spun the idea into a whole cast, and a few relatives still turn up.
Hair-Do Harriet
The sister board. Same powder, same wand, a woman's face waiting for curls. Long out of regular print, still common at flea markets.
World's Smallest Wooly Willy
A licensed miniature from Super Impulse, small enough to lose in a coat pocket. Currently between print runs, so treat any live listing as a lucky find.
The full family history, with the boards you can still hunt down, lives in the family tree guide.
The questions parents actually ask
What age does this really work for?
The boxes print ages 3 or 4 and up. A three-year-old can drag powder around and enjoy it; deliberate faces with separate eyebrows start around five. Under three is a no because of the wand, which is a genuine small part.
Does the powder get everywhere?
No. The shavings are sealed under the plastic bubble at the factory and there is no way to open it short of breaking the toy. It survives being shaken, dropped and sat on.
Will the magnet hurt my phone or cards?
The wand is a weak craft magnet. Modern phones carry stronger magnets inside their own cases. The sensible habit is keeping any magnet off hotel key cards and the magnetic stripe of an older bank card, and that is about the extent of it.
Can it fly in a carry-on?
It is a flat cardboard toy and it has ridden in carry-ons for decades without drama. The magnet is far too weak to bother an aircraft. Security may still swab any toy, so give yourself the usual minute at the belt.
More of these on the You asked us page.
Notes from the checkout line
Bought one for a four hour drive to my in-laws. He drew beards on Willy from the on-ramp to their driveway and never once asked for my phone.
a parent of a five-year-old
I had the 1962 board as a kid. Handed my granddaughter the new box and the look on her face was the same one I must have had. Same powder, same little wand.
a grandfather of six
I keep two in the waiting room basket. They outlast every coloring book, and there are no crayons to pick up off the floor at closing time.
a pediatric receptionist
Pick a box and draw the man some hair
Every listing on the shelf holds the same board that left Smethport in 1955, so you cannot really pick wrong. Check the table for the cheapest page today, spin the prompt wheel once the box arrives, and when the mustache comes out crooked, tilt and try again. That is the whole game.