The popular orange hopper was introduced to the market and called the Spacehopper by Mettoy in 1968. Mettoy produced the vinyl toy with horns and face in different sizes for children and adults. In the meanwhile an Italian firm, Ledraplastic, had been making bouncing balls with a handle for use in physiotherapy since the early 1960s. Ledraplastic was one of the first companies that applied the non-toxic vinyl for their products. The gymnastic balls had different names like Pon Pon but the name Spacehopper became the generic name for all these types of ball. The Happy Hopper is Mettoy's less well known blue version of its Spacehopper.