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This awkwardly made 1988 plastic drink kooler is one of the rarest and kitschiest of all my MJ memorabilia. You put the puppet kooler in the freezer til the patented freezing gel kicks in, insert a can in MJ’s torso once it’s out and flip his Smooth Criminal hat to get at the drink which supposedly stays cool for hours. It comes with a plastic drinking glass, a total inconvenience as there’s no place to keep it once the drink is popped into Michael. The bottom of the cooler reads “Sherman Oaks, CA., Made in Mexico”, a mysterious combo indeed. 

I would not suggest wearing matching white clothes while using this apparatus. The drink has a weird fit inside of the kooler and I’ve stained my own clothes along with Michael’s fabric legs when attempting to operate.

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10 Responses to “Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Michael Jackson Puppet Drink Kooler”

  1. Ludovicah

    Haha! This looks like it was designed by a six year old.. What were they thinking? I love it!

    Reply
  2. StoryTroy

    There are some things to which no response is appropriate but dropping the jaw and staring in befuddled wonderment. This is one of them.

    Reply
  3. Kenny J

    You won’t believe this, but my wife (Marsha J.) was the sculptor of all these original faces for the many finished and puppet kooler prototypes. Michael Jackson was the hardest because he had to approve every sculpted face. There was “Bad” Michael and this is Moonwalker. This product was doomed from the beginning; apparently this was an answer to a question nobody asked.
    We sculpted Every cartoon character you could think of; “New Kids on the Block”… President Bush to Hulk Hogan. If they existed…My wife sculpted them in prototype.
    This is great Kitsch!

    Reply
  4. Allee

    @Kenny J. Thrilling to read your comment! I can’t believe there is yet another one of these MJ koolers, the “Bad”. Do you actually have any of the prototypes she made or any more of these koolers? if so, would love you to put photos up at awmok.com, my Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch. Thanks for all the great info!

    Reply
  5. Adrie

    I used to have this mug when I was a child and a huge MJ fan. Sadly I threw it away when I was about 13…it would have been great to have it now.

    Reply
  6. tony wilson

    do you know what the kooler goes for and how much is it worth as well how rare is it do you also know how many were sold or made

    thank you love your site

    561-541-5765 tony wilson

    Reply