An interesting take on toddler dolls of the nineties

Several weeks ago (May 15th, to be exact) I watched this video by Don't Call Me Doll.  LOL, I love that handle name!  Makes me think of how I'm always telling Uncle Man-Child not to call me stupid nicknames.  Mama is the only one allowed to call me "hun," thank you too much.  Her and anyone lucky (unlucky?) enuff to marry me, and the nice lady at our local Taco Bell, but then she calls EVERYONE "hun."  Back to the point, Don't Call Me Doll released that video that skimmed the history of an unusual doll trend, one that lasted from 1989 to 1996, and had an usual reason for coming to an end.  I thought it would make a good blog post, so I'm ripping the video off.  I'm doing it because while I knew the objectifying of children was an issue, I didn't know these dolls (some of whom I like) may have had a role in it.  Oh, and spoilers, I will be discussing some of these dolls further in future posts.  Or I've done them already, as is the case with P.J. Sparkles (1989).

P.J. isn't really what I'd call a toddler fashion doll since she didn't rely heavily on clothes, makeup, or looks to sell herself, but she does sparkle.  Don't Call Me Doll lists her as the first of what I call the glitzy toddler dolls, so named because some of 'em look like they could compete in a glitz beauty pageant.  Coexisting with P.J. Sparkles were the Make Me Up Darlings, which were significantly smaller than P.J., but have a makeup theme and a toddler-like build.  Cookin' Cathy here is mine.  Again, they relied on a heavy dose of fantasy, but still!  They wore makeup!

Sally Secrets came next, meaning that Penni Secrets wasn't far behind.  I guess I'll count Li'l Secrets too, though they're built more like little girls than full-tilt toddlers.  Again, that Li'l Secrets doll is mine; she's just like one I owned when I was little.

Sally, Penni, and the little dolls didn't go as hard with the beauty factor as later glitzy toddler dolls did, though Sally's clothes could be decorated with stickers.  But for the most part these dolls focused on hidden little surprises, stuff like pens and stamps, stickers, stencils, and In the case of the Li'l Secrets, pencil toppers and charms for a bracelet.  Sally and Penni do look a little like they're wearing makeup, but that wasn't the focus of their gimmicks.

The Li'l Miss crowd...oh my, these put the "G" in glitzy toddler dolls!  This line started in 1989 with Li'l Miss Makeup, whose gimmick was just like that of the Make Me Up Darlings.  Her eyeshadow, lips, and cheeks would change color with hot or cold water, as would her nails and earlobes.  The commercial shows it better.

Li'l Miss Magic Hair focused on hair.  She developed rainbow streaks...or shapes, if that's what you wanted.  Her face doesn't change color, but she's pretty made up, with pink lips and a heart on her cheek.  This one is my favorite of the bunch; I've had to exert a lot of self control with her.

Triple Change Li'l Miss Makeup had the makeup gimmick, but also had multiple outfit pieces that one could change around.  She could thus qualify for both glitz and natural pageants.  Yep, there are beauty pageants for kids that don't rely on a ton of makeup and a fancy dress to win the grand prize.  Triple could easily do both.

The last Li'l Miss doll of 1989 was Li'l Miss Dress Up.  This one had the makeup gimmick, the hair color gimmick, and the multiple-piece outfit, and pieces of her clothing also changed color.  This one was about as pimped out as it got.

The Li'l Miss line didn't really pick up again until 1991, with Li'l Miss Singing Mermaid.  Despite her commercials, Miss Mermaid wasn't supposed to be completely submerged, as doing so would fry her singing mech.  The other Li'l Miss that year was one of my favorites, Li'l Miss Magic Jewels.

Both of these dolls had ample hair and at least some sparkle to their name, and Magic Jewels threw in a fancy ballgown to sweeten the deal.  Oh, and Miss Mermaid's stripes and seashells changed color in the water.  They both have some eyeshadow and hearts on their cheeks, so they're fairly made up, though not so much as Li'l Miss Makeup.

The final new doll in the Li'l Miss lineup came in 1993, with Li'l Miss Candi Stripes.  She has/had Li'l Miss Magic Hair's gimmick, but her hair was striped in shades of orange and pink...mmmm, like sherbet.  Or like the sunset, take your pick.

Don't Call Me Doll only touched on the Wee Li'l Miss bunch, but they too were a thing during the reign of the larger Li'l Miss dolls, kinda like Li'l Secrets.  These dolls were also a lot like Make Me Up Darlings, in that they could be one thing or another and had at least one color change feature.  Wee Li'l Miss Roller-Skater is my favorite of these because she had very dark hair and could go from roller skater to girl rocker.  Her dress would change from rainbow to black and back again with various temperatures of water.

Both Li'l Miss and Wee Li'l Miss had extra fashions too, so these dolls had pretty much everything that made them fun.  But as fond as I am of these dolls, especially Wee Li'l Miss Roller-Skater, they're enuff to make some folks uncomfortable.  We'll get to that.

Hasbro also had glitzy toddler dolls; Don't Call Me Doll lists their first one as this one, Starla.  She came out around 1990 and was in production for a couple'a years.

Starla had a small microphone for herself and a bigger one for her owner, and when the owner talked or sang into the big mike Starla would sing along in her own voice.  Her lips would even move.  Despite Starla's focus on music rather than beauty, she's pretty pimped out, with a shiny skirt and stars on her bodice, and tinsel in her bangs (kinda like P.J. Sparkles).

Don't Call Me Doll lists the Li'l Miss's competition as this doll:  Makeup Beauty, dating to 1993.

Killecrankie, this little gal could be gussied up!  Hair streaks, makeup, jewelry, nail polish...are those temporary tattoos???  Like Li'l Miss Makeup this doll reacted to hot and cold water, and her tools were held in a skirt-tray that went around her waist.  As far as I know she came with no clothes, just her painted on...underwear?  Bikini?  That's...kinda grown up for a little doll, but then little girls do wear two-piece swimsuits sometimes.  Mine was orange and pink with little frills at the legs!

Tyco's Kenya wasn't as glitzy as the Li'l Miss bunch, but she did go pretty hard on hair play and fashion so I'm including her here.

There was...I guess Flower Magic Mary counts as a glitzy toddler doll.  She kinda delves into fantasy, but she does involve gussying up an otherwise simple little doll, and her flowers are sparkly.  As with several of these, I'm VERY fond of Flower Magic Mary and I'll be discussing her in a future "dolls I like but don't need" post.

Another of my favorite dolls from the glitzy toddler doll era is Twist 'n' Style Tiffany, who had hair that one could style in infinite styles.  Again, I'll be discussing this doll in a future "random doll" post, and I may break my own rule, because I think this doll is super-cute.  Occupying the same timeline was My Pretty Topsy Tail, also a hair play doll that could be beautified.  Tiffany is on the left and Topsy is on the right.  Tiffany dates from 1994 and is a Hasbro doll, while Topsy is a year older and is a Tyco product.

Notice that Topsy's dress is even glitzy, with that foil-looking stuff that was...actually kinda popular on dolls of the nineties.  I didn't like it much, myself, because it was crinkly and stiff and held wrinkles like mad.  As for Tiffany, Don't Call Me Doll noted that her commercial (seen here) was the first one to give the black doll and the white doll equal billing.  The others largely focused on the white doll, though there were black variants in many cases.

Okay, what year is it...I forgot to date the ones above <goes back and does this>.  Oh right, 1995.  Chloe Charms debuted that year.  She had little silver baubles that could decorate her (or your) hair and clothes.  She's got the beauty pageant smile, I must say!

As with Twist 'n' Style Tiffany, I like the black doll better.  Her smile is bigger.

Tyco's entry in 1995 was Surprise Hat Susie...another Susie!  Susie's hair was concealed under her hat, like so.

According to Ghost of the Doll Susie's highlights could be one of four different color combinations, so there was a little bit of blind-boxing going on.  Her hat doubled as a purse and could carry Susie's hair do-dads when they weren't being used.

The last of the glitzy toddler dolls came in 1997, with this pet, Pretty Crazy Curls.  Don't Call Me Doll says that she did not sell well.  My doll is used and is thus a little frowsy, but I'm working on giving her her glitz back.  Her pet name is Alexis.  Look at her eyes!

Pretty Crazy Curls was yet another hair play doll, and she came with rollers that allegedly could give her boingy-sproingy curls with a spritz of...water?  Of something that was in her spray bottle.  My doll came with her very beat-up box, and I don't think her box self is as cute as her real self.

Oh, by the way, dig this price tag.  I remember when Wally World did these green stickers, AND I remember when a good-sized doll like this was a Jackson...or less.

Pretty Crazy Curls may be worth a closer look in the future.

Now...is there anything wrong with any of the dolls above?  Not really.  Yes, it's kinda weird that a little doll would be wearing full makeup, but I always saw it as a little kid wearing Mommy's makeup, which I myself did as a child.  Harmless, right?  So why did the glitzy toddler doll trend end so abruptly in 1997, you ask?  Don't Call Me Doll opines that this young lady may have been the reason.

For those of y'all who don't know, that is JonBenet Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty pageant veteran who was found beaten, molested, and strangled in her own home on Christmas Day of 1996.  Her murder was never solved.  I hypothesize that her brother killed her and her parents covered it up, but that's both conjecture and straying from the subject.  The murder was extremely high-profile, and most of the publicity pictures used were like the one above, showing JonBenet with professionally styled hair and a fair amount of makeup, both must-haves for a glitz beauty pageant.  As such she bears an eerie resemblance to the glitz toddler dolls, especially Li'l Miss Makeup.  I guess that gave parents (potential buyers of glitzy toddler dolls) the heebie-jeebies, and I can't say as I blame them.  The first segment of this video, showing JonBenet in big hair and a full skirt, dancing and singing into a microphone, makes me think of Wee Li'l Miss Roller-Skater, who transformed into a singer with big hair and a poofy skirt.

Of course it's conjecture that JonBenet's murder tied in with the fall of the glitzy toddler doll, but the timing of the fall speaks volumes, as does the rest of the doll market.  Coincidentally, American Girl's Just Like You line was beginning to gather steam in 1997 (they were American Girl of Today then), so that might've also been a factor.  I dunno.  Either way, regular baby dolls, the ones that could be nurtured instead of beautified, continued to sell normally, and as far as I know Barbie did too.  But glitzy toddler dolls never recovered, and they're not ubiquitous anymore.  That said, every so often we do see a revival of made-up, slightly (or very) vampy baby and toddler dolls, as Bratz Babyz (left) and L.O.L. Surprise's "Look, I'm So Big" line.

I'll go as far as to include the Jaggets, even though they're not wearing makeup like the Bratz and L.O.L. dolls are.  Indeed, the only thing super-edgy about the Jaggets are their clothes.

But these are...kinda the exception to the rule.  Kinda.  The L.O.L. Surprises are ridiculously popular in small form, and I think they count as glitzy toddler dolls even though they're small, but for the most part the dolls we find in stores nowadays are stuff like Barbie, American Girl imitators, and baby dolls, with something unusual finding its way in every so often, stuff like #FailFix and Fidgie Friends, or like Pinkie Cooper and Cutie Pops, if you remember that far back.  The Disney toddler dolls are sometimes sparkly, but then they're...well, they're Disney!  Disney dolls always have a little magic and a lot of fantasy thrown in.

I did find one exception, dating from 2000.  This is another Hasbro doll, Makeup Mindy, and she's a fairly obvious toddler doll.

She came with a Play-Doh beauty mask!  Okay, I don't know if it's brand-name Play-Doh, but it was something similar.  The rest of her reacted to temperature as far as I know, and I didn't find any evidence that this doll was popular.  eBay has a few of 'em for cheap, and YouTube has a commercial, but as far as I know this doll is pretty obscure.  I love obscure.  And hey, at least this one has clothes!  Poor ol' Makeup Beauty only had that stupid bikini.

I have to admit, I didn't think of this too much!  The dolls with heavy eye makeup did make me lift an eyebrow a little, but then I remembered how little girls often like to play with Mama's/Auntie's/Grandma's makeup (I was one of them, as I said above).  Another way to play make-believe, basically.  But...butbutbutbut, there's a big difference between a little kid playing with Mama's makeup and putting said little kid in a glitz pageant to strut around in front of God knows who.  I can definitely see why adults got the heebie-jeebies from glitzy toddler dolls, especially after JonBenet was murdered, since a lot of these dolls look...well, like they're going to compete in some sort of pageant.

What say y'all?  Are glitzy toddler dolls harmless toys that rely on make-believe, or do they give you the ick all over?  Or do you not give a crap?  Discuss.  As for me...sigh, I admit that Twist 'n' Style Tiffany is on her way to Casa Pizarro, and I already own Pretty Crazy Curls.  I think the objectification of children is definitely an issue, but...well, these are dolls.  I just see them as a way to play make-believe.  But as always, I welcome respectful dissent in the comments!

Glitzy love
RagingMoon1987