OVERVIEW: Happy Ness and the Secret of the Loch

In 1995, Galoob produced a very unusual line of toys called Happy Ness and the Secret of the Loch. Yep, they're all Nessies! For a small line based on a cartoon, there were a lot of different types of toys. The main line was 6" figures that had light-up necklaces and headdresses. There were smaller 3" minis of the same six Nesses, plus three Polly Pocket-style locket playsets with tiny figures, and four human characters. And finally, there were three plush toys made.

Happy Ness

Happy Ness is not the easiest line to collect. ebay searches mostly bring you listings for the videos. I've managed to get all six light-up figures and five of the six smaller figures, plus one plush. (I'm not after the human figures or the mini playsets.)

Silly Ness

My first toy was the mini figure of Silly Ness, who's my favorite with her jester hat. Someone on ebay had several of the figures up in March 2011 and she was the only one I managed to win! I've bought almost all of my figures mint on card, and Silly had some paint deterioration on her bells, so I touched that up with gold paint. (I later did the same for my large Silly Ness.)

My next Ness didn't come until August 2011, when I randomly found the mini Happy Ness on Bonanza for $5. Happy is my least fave of the six, but she's still plenty cute.

Kind Ness

Kind Ness was the next to be added in May 2012, again in the mini size. I love both sizes, but I think the faces on the minis are extra cute.

Mini Cool Ness followed in August 2012, alongside my first big Ness, Lovely. I got both from the same seller.

Cool Ness

The bigger figures tend to have more flaws than the small ones. A lot of mine have dried-on glue dripping from where their arms were attached and the bodies are very obviously a different color than the arms. But they've all worked if I put a fresh battery in! I don't leave batteries in them though.

Lovely Ness

Each Ness comes with either a mirror or a brush. Cool Ness and Silly Ness have the mirrors, since they don't have brushable hair.

I got the large version of Happy Ness in February 2013, not too long before we moved.

I've been quite productive in my Ness gathering since we moved down here to Florida. The large versions of Kind Ness and Silly Ness came during Christmas 2013. My mom bought me Silly and I got myself Kind, but saved her to open with Silly on Christmas day.

The elusive Bright Ness

March 2014 brought me the small version of Lovely Ness and the large Cool Ness came in June, leaving me with only both the large and small versions of Bright Ness to find, along with the plush. Bright Ness, for some reason, is the most seldom seen and the one that goes for the highest prices. I saw a mini of her once and it sold for over $100.

Plush Happy Ness

After years of looking, I finally got my first plush in July 2014! It was Happy Ness, of course. The other two in the line are Cool and Silly, who I love, so of course Happy is the one I got. She is actually seen somewhat frequently. I've seen her several times since I bought mine. The problem with searching for these plush is that so few people know what they are. And do you know how many listings are on ebay for plush dragons and dinosaurs? I simply don't have the patience to dig through them all, which is why I still only have this one plush.

Bright Ness got added to the family in December 2014. And sadly, I haven't added another item since her, but I only need the harder to find stuff now. I hope to eventually get the mini Bright Ness and the two remaining plush, but it could take another few years. That's part of the fun and frustration of liking lesser known lines like this.

Happy Ness are a great and unusual line, but definitely not for the impatient! If you're going to start collecting, be prepared for it to take years.

PHOTO CREDITS: All mine.