My Child doll

Doll

A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...

s are a toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

 made by Mattel

Mattel

Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...

 from 1986-1988. Most had felt

Felt

Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....

 "skin" on their heads although some had vinyl

Vinyl

A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...

 skin.

The dolls are around 35cm in height, with petite features and poseable limbs. The sales slogan was that every child could have a doll just like them. These highly collectible dolls have a large international fan-base.

History

The first dolls were made in Taiwan. Their features differ slightly from those made later in China. A rounder face, smaller belly button and longer toes are just some of the differences. Taiwanese dolls are also known for eyes which protrude from their face and, as they age, are more prone to facial "sagging" and make-up fading (but are less prone to felt pilling) than those made in China.

Between 1987 and 1988, Mattel brought out a vinyl faced doll called a "Loving Baby". These dolls had bodies made with the same soft fabric as a My Child, with similar skin-tones, posable legs and solid arm-joints and pink or blue torsos. A button on their back allowed them to hug. Their skin-tone was either pale or peachy, and they had red, brunette, ash-blond or blond hair. They came with one outfit, a two piece short and top set in either blue or pink.

Description

Dolls came as boys or girls, with four different skin tones: American pale (with a green heart on the bottom), Australian/European peach, African-American and Hispanic.

Eye color varies too. All African-American and Hispanic dolls had brown eyes (Hispanic dolls eyes have orange rays above their pupils). The other dolls had blue, aqua, green or brown eyes. Occasionally a doll can be found with a factory "flaw" and their eye color can vary from the standard, for example hazel, lilac, blue-gray or blue-green. However, some people attribute this to aging rather than to a factory flaw.

There is also a variety of hair colors. The African-American dolls have black hair; Hispanics have brown hair, and the others had blond, ash-blond/two tone, brunette, red and (in the last year of production) strawberry-blond.

Hair styles varied as well. African-American girls all came with "curly pigtails

Pigtails

In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail shows considerable variation. According to most dictionaries, a pigtail is a braid of tightly woven hair. The name is based on the short, thin and kinked tail of a pig, referring to the way a short, tight braid may stand out from the...

" (two pigtails with a short fringe right around the head). Hispanic girls came with a v-part style (little bunches on either side of the head, and a full fringe). The other girls had top-knots (short hair with one small bunch on the side), double top-knot (short hair with a small bunch on either side), curly pigtails (similar to the African-American dolls), other variations of pigtails (double ribbons, ringlets), v-part (similar to the Hispanic girls), ringlets and their variations - side-part, mid-part and long ponytail, crimped and very long hair (nearly to dolls' ankles). Boys' hairstyles were either curly with no part or straight with a short part.

Other facial features differ between dolls. Eyelashes range in color from peachy-orange through to brown or dark (charcoal) with purple or gray color on eyelids. Cheek color is either pink or peachy-orange; lip color varies between pink and peach.

Clothing

The dolls came with many different clothing outfits. Girl dolls had sailor dresses, pinafore

Pinafore

A pinafore is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron.Pinafores may be worn by girls as a decorative garment and by both girls and women as a protective apron. A related term is pinafore dress, which is British English for what in American English is known as a jumper dress, i.e...

 outfits (with or without a little book and pocket bear), smocked party dresses, seersucker

Seersucker

Seersucker is a thin, puckered, all-cotton fabric, commonly striped or checkered, used to make clothing for spring and summer wear. The word came into English from Hindustani , which originates from the Persian words "shir o shekar", meaning "milk and sugar", probably from the resemblance of its...

 overall outfits, sleeper sets (with fluffy slippers and a teddy bear), ducky dresses, flare dresses, playtime/ABC dresses, Australian pinafores/jumpers, school dresses and many others. The boys had their own outfits; some of these are the sailor outfit, ducky overall outfit, vest and shorts outfit, sweater outfit. Other outfits were available separately.

Shoes were sold in 2 different styles, a Mary-Jane/t-bar style or a lace-up Oxford.

My Pets

My Pets were also sold. They were puppies (blue and tan), bears (gray and brown), cats (yellow and pink) and rabbits (purple and white). With the same "My Child" eyes, they had an animal-style mouth, with fur covered bodies (their hands, soles of their feet and stomachs showing through).

Collecting

Collectors look for many things when looking to purchase a doll. Certain facial features, eye and hair colors, styles and skin tone may affect a doll's desirability and so will influence the price. These dolls are now around 20 years old, and as they were designed as a children's toy, many are in "played-with" condition, which varies from slight pilling

Pill (textile)

A pill, colloquially known as a bobble, is a small ball of fibres that forms on a piece of cloth from wear. Pill is also a verb for the formation of such balls....

, eye scratches and other damage, stains, broken joints, "melted-eye syndrome" and hair-cuts.