Danbury Mint's Michelle Obama at the Inaugural Ball

Screen capture from the Danbury Mint website -- see link below.

Please note the fine print regarding the 16-inch, porcelain doll depicted in the above Danbury Mint order image:  "Image shown is an artist's rendering. Actual doll will vary."  So buyers, please be aware of this. 

The doll wears a replica of the Jason Wu dress worn by the first lady to the 2013 Commander in Chief's Inaugural Ball.

The doll's cost is $149 + $9 shipping (payable in four monthly installments of $39.50 each).  Visit the Danbury Mint website for more information or to order. 

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16-inch FLOTUS Do You Have a Favorite?

Since 2009, post President Barack Obama's first election in 2008, there have been at least four, 16-inch vinyl or porcelain "portrait" dolls of First Lady Michelle Obama.  This post combines images from past blog posts of the various 16-inch FLOTUS dolls manufactured by Ashton-Drake, Danbury Mint, and Franklin Mint. The images, except where indicated, are mine (all rights reserved) and are of actual dolls, not the prototypes, which in at least one case was very misleading as the produced doll looked nothing like the advertised prototype.

Doll 1:  Danbury Mint's Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll in porcelain, not articulated

Danbury Mint's Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll wears replica of off-white gown designed by Jason Wu (worn by FLOTUS in January 2009).

See this doll and the advertised prototype here.

Doll 2:  Danbury Mint's Michelle Obama Lifelike Doll in vinyl

Danbury Mint's Michelle Obama Lifelike Doll wears replicate of the outfit worn during the Black History Month gathering on February 9, 2009.

This and the photograph immediately above are courtesy of Debra Richardson

Doll 3:  First Lady of Style Michelle Obama doll by Ashton-Drake in vinyl, articulated

First Lady of Style Michelle Obama doll by Ashton-Drake dressed in a glittering black gown inspired by the dress the First Lady wore as she greeted guests to the Govenor's Ball, February 29, 2009.



Doll 4:  Franklin Mint's Michelle Obama Official White House Vinyl Portrait Doll 

Michelle Obama Official White House Vinyl Portrait Doll  by Franklin Mint wears a black sheath inspired by the dress worn for the First Lady's official White House portrait.

Based on these images and/or if you own or have seen either of the dolls in person, which of the dolls illustrated here is your favorite and why?

Thanks in advance for your answer/comment.



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Need to See Actual Pictures...

...of this doll. 

Does anyone own the Michelle Obama Lifelike Doll by Danbury Mint?  She looks similar to their porcelain inaugural doll (that I returned); however, this one is vinyl and jointed.  Her features do not appear as well defined as Franklin Mint's Michelle Obama doll, and I am uncertain if the image on Danbury Mint's website is of the "actual" doll. 

I wrote Danbury Mint almost two weeks ago to request images of the actual doll, but the email has not been answered.  I like the outfit she's wearing, which is described on the Danbury Mint website as, "the outfit Michelle wore during the Black History Month gathering on February 9, 2009."  Liking the outfit is not enough for me to order.  I need to see what the actual doll looks like to stave off any disappointment that will result if the actual doll differs from the website image. 

If you own the Danbury Mint vinyl  Lifelike Michelle Obama doll and can share pictures with me, please do.

Thanks in advance.



dbg

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Poll Results and E-mail from Danbury Mint

The Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll "I like it; I don't like it" poll closed today.  Based on the photos of the actual doll that I took and shared in last week's The Excitement Has Fizzled blog, 18% of voters like the doll and 81% dislike it.

With reference to the aforementioned blog and the photos that I shared, I received the following e-mail from  Mr. Jerry March, Vice President, Danbury Mint.  I asked and was granted permission to share the contents of this email including its photo attachments:

Dear Debbie,


I am the marketing manager for the Michelle Obama Doll, and I just came across your posting and photos on your blog. I am very sorry that you are not happy with your doll. We've done everything possible to make sure that our doll is as close a likeness as you can get in a 16" porcelain doll, and we take your criticism seriously. In looking at the photos on your site, it appears that the doll is not positioned or styled as we had intended. Attached are two photos taken of a production doll from our warehouse with a standard camera that shows the doll after it has been styled as described in the unpacking card. Though it is not identical to the photo in the advertisement (which used an artist's rendering based on our actual sculpture since the doll had not been produced yet), I hope you would agree that it is an attractive doll, and actually a very good likeness of the First Lady. We've used only the finest quality porcelain, the dress is embellished with real crystals, and all the materials used for the dress and jewelry are of the highest quality. We chose to paint on the shoes because you can get much better accuracy and detail with hand painting than with constructing shoes that size.

We take our customers' opinions very seriously, and we are dedicated to creating the best products possible. I hope you will take another look at your doll and perhaps change your mind about its quality. If not, please accept my apologies, and know that we will do everything in our power to create the best product possible going forward, and will continue to go to great lengths to make our customers happy.

Thank you for understanding.

Best regards,


Jerry March
Vice President

I conveyed my appreciation to Mr. March for his personal attention and informed him that I had already returned the doll. 

There is a definite need for more companies like his, where customers' opinions truly matter.




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The Excitement Has Fizzled...

...actually it fizzled a couple of days ago upon hearing disappointing reviews for Danbury Mint's Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll.  My doll arrived today.  While her appearance is not as dreadful as I had imagined, I am not happy enough with her or with the quality of her cheesecloth-like dress to keep her.  Before returning the doll, I took several photographs.  A side-by-side image of Danbury Mint's ad image with that of the actual doll is offered for comparison.

L-R Danbury Mint's prototype, presale image of the doll and the actual Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll

Click here to see a larger side-by-side comparison.

Close-up view of the doll


View of the dress from the rear; the fabric is a very thin, gauze-type material, embellished with rhinestones.



The doll's jewelry is nice--rhinestone ring, three-strand bracelet and...


...rhinestone drop earrings.



The high-heel shoes are painted on.  The bottom of her feet have two metal pegs that attach to two holes in the wooden base. 

I was expecting to receive a doll that looked exactly or as close as possible to the image shown in Danbury Mint's ad.  Unfortunately, that is not what I received.

I created a poll.  Please share your opinion about this doll.  Thanks!

dbg

Postscript: After reboxing the doll, I discovered an insert ad that includes an image of the Barack Obama Inaugural Doll. Interestingly, DM used an image of the actual Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll in this ad. Why couldn't they have done that initially?

The Wait is Over, Almost!

I am very excited.  I have received notification from Danbury Mint... my Michelle Obama Inaugural Ball doll has been shipped!




(Image captured from Danbury Mint.com)

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