 |
| Curly Girls United |
As a memory refresher, the 18-inch Curly Girls United dolls, shown above, were introduced by Brand Manager Margaret Fitzpatrick, in a guest post that can be read here. As a result of that post, I added the blonde Curly Girls United (CGU) doll to my doll family.
In the midst of writing my post about my CGU doll, I named her Honey. At the time of the guest post and my post to introduce my doll, Kayla (the CGU doll with the deepest complexion) was the only one with an official name.
On June 8, 2016, I received the following email from Ms. Fitzpatrick that made me smile from ear to ear:
Subject: Honey is her name!
Woo hoo, "I thought." Of course, I am pleased to have inspired the naming of their doll. The Curly Girls United dolls and their official names can be seen and/or purchased here.
dbg
(I am still smiling.)
 |
| Close-up of the doll I chose and named, Honey. |
On June 8, 2016, I received the following email from Ms. Fitzpatrick that made me smile from ear to ear:
Subject: Honey is her name!
Hi Debbie,
We had such positive response to the idea of naming our blonde doll Honey that we have made it official. I hope you do not mind that we used your inspiration and gave her that name. It just really does fit.
Thanks again for your help,
MargaretBrand Manager
Brown Eyed Dolls/ Curly Girls United Dolls
Woo hoo, "I thought." Of course, I am pleased to have inspired the naming of their doll. The Curly Girls United dolls and their official names can be seen and/or purchased here.
dbg
(I am still smiling.)
You did pick the perfect name for her:D
ReplyDeleteLook at you changing the industry!... or getting dolls named, lol.
ReplyDeleteHoney is a wonderful name for her! Congratulations Debbie!
ReplyDeleteMaricha, Muff, and Roxanne, thanks!
ReplyDeleteOne step at a time, Muff; one step (or doll) at a time.
dbg
That is awesome Debbie!!! Congratulations! Honey is the perfect name for her. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic! Honey really suits her.
ReplyDeleteGG and Tammy,
ReplyDeleteThank you! (I think the name suits her, too.)
dbg
Ha! Your blog is always a step ahead.:-) I saw these dolls last Friday on the Toybox show you told us about and immediately remembered Honey.
ReplyDeleteI think the woman who presented these dolls would have done better if she'd built on the idea you gave her by providing one of her dolls with a name. The American Girl influence means people buying 16-18 inch tall dolls these days expect to hear their backstory whenever possible. She mentioned having been influenced to create them by growing up on the South side of Chicago which was great, but she wasn't there to convince them about her, she was there to make them want to produce her dolls.
I've got to say, though, that having two boys on a panel to judge toys puts a dollmaker at an obvious and unfair disadvantage. It's likely that girls can evaluate all types of toys with impartiality but boys still don't generally like dolls or avoid admitting they do.
Hi Maricha,
DeleteI watched last week's episode of the Toy Box specifically to see if Curly Girls United would be entered into the "toy box." I was disappointed when the dolls did not make it past the toy experts. I don't think Mattel (who owns American Girl dolls) wants competition for that brand and being priced slightly lower, Curly Girls United would be competition and still might be. While the dolls did not make it into the Toy Box, they are available for $69.99 at the company's website as well as on Amazon. com.
Having a backstory for each doll would make the dolls more appealing to the target market, much more so than adding hair accessories, as suggested by one of the toy experts. The dolls have soft curly hair that can be finger combed/styled without the use of combs or brushes. Combs and brushes would defeat the purpose of a doll with textured curls.
I also agree that the boys will never be impartial judges of dolls. One admittedly stated he "hates dolls." It's unfortunate Mattel chose to use the gimmickry of children judges to determine the fate of contestants' entrance into the Toy Box.
dbg
When you posted this I sent the information to a few friends with little girls who are interested in dolls that size and they bought Honey and the dark-skinned doll for the holidays and were quite pleased. Often curly hair on dolls turns into a nightmare but these dolls have really nice hair. Dolls that big can wear children's hair accessories so I agree that adding some would be pointless. Also, you can't act as if a doll is too expensive and then advise the dollmaker to add items that would make it more costly.
DeleteI thought it was ridiculous when the adult judges assured the dollmaker that most people have straight hair so they wouldn't want a doll with curly hair. Where are they living? Why would people be buying billions worth of dollars of flat-irons, blow-out products, etc. if curly hair was rare? What's rare is an appreciation of curly hair.
It did occur to me that bringing this concept to Mattel might put their nose out of joint because of AGs but they often have similar types/sizes of dolls vying for the same consumers like Barbie, Monster High and Everlasting High so I hoped they'd see the bigger picture.
Ah well! As you point out the dolls are on the market anyways and I'm sure appearing on a network show was good publicity. Perhaps not getting picked up by a giant corporation that could discontinue the line on a whim later on will turn out to be a blessing in disguise for this small company.
Thank you for sharing Curly Curls United Dolls' info with your friends with girls interested in dolls that size. It's good to know the girls are pleased with the dolls. I really like Honey.
DeleteI am sure the TV exposure will help boost sales for the company even if Mattel failed to see see the bigger picture, as you indicated.
dbg