As the unwavering, encouraging voice of the “B Party,” Barbie’s campaign platform calls for girls of all ages to “B inspired,” “B informed,” and “B involved.” To further deliver her message, Barbie will continue to partner with The White House Project – a national, nonpartisan women’s leadership development organization – from the presentation of the “Barbie I Can Be Award” to a young girl at the organization’s annual awards gala to a “Take Your Daughters to the Polls” movement in November.

“The Barbie brand’s career-focused line of I Can Be… dolls often shine a pink spotlight on professions that are historically underrepresented by women,” said Cathy Cline, Vice President of U.S. Marketing, Mattel Girls’ Brands. “We hope that Barbie will inspire girls to be leaders – be it in their schools, classrooms, or communities – with the President doll. We know that role play often becomes real play….and when better to plant the seed of leadership in a girl’s mind than during play time.”

A Doll That Stands on Her Own
With more than 130 careers, Barbie doll has always been both a career trailblazer and a trend-setting style icon. Now, in her fashionable pink wedge shoes, the Barbie I Can Be… President doll literally stands on her own without support or the need for a doll stand.

“We are ecstatic that for the first time Barbie will stand on her own two feet, as all powerful leaders do– and the Barbie for President doll has the perfect platform to debut this feature” said Tiffany Dufu, President, The White House Project. “This new feature goes well beyond the toy aisle with a message for girls across the world.”

I thought this would be an ideal opportunity for our DollObservers members, visitors and patrons to pose their own questions to George also. So if you have a question for George, don’t be shy and be sure to add it in the comments section below.

I hope to have the interview online in the next couple of weeks or so!

She is very much in the same vein as the American Girl dolls and as such is a historical doll, taking her place in the court of Henry VIII with a thoughtfully designed period costume and backstory.

Toy maker Frances Cain believes the fashion and music industries are stealing little girls’ childhood forcing them to grow up too quickly. This means there are no toys for the tween age group. As an antidote, Frances Cain has created a doll specifically for eight to twelve-year-olds.

Matilda is the first in a series of tween dolls being launched by Frances’ boutique toy company Daughters Of History. Themed to Tudor times, she comes complete with a range of period clothing and accessories. The aim being to allow girls to play intelligently and femininely without feeling pressured to be skinny and fashion conscious.

Frances takes up the story:

“It was impossible to find a doll for my daughter when she reached the age of ten so I decided to create one. Matilda has a young teenage figure to deliberately challenge aspirational fashion dolls like Bratz and Barbie.

The doll is not just about play. As well as introducing history to young girls, Matilda helps children to get to grips with some real life issues such as coping with loss”.

Standing 16 inches high, Matilda is beautifully crafted out of high-quality vinyl. Whilst looking like a porcelain doll, she has been made with play in mind and has fully-jointed arms and legs. Her extra-long hair will withstand endless brushing and styling.

Frances Cain has also extended the range with other Matilda products. As well as costumes, there’s also a keepsake book brimming with unique ideas such as a Tudor sleepover or making a pre-execution wish list. Matilda’s Secret is the accompanying novel which tells the story of her role as lady-in-waiting to Katherine Howard at the court of Henry VIIIth.

Matilda comes in her own sturdy carry case and costs £89.99 from www.agirlforalltime.com

That changed when I came upon their St Tropez range of dolls earlier this year. The dark beauty of Angelica took my heart and, credit card at the ready; a pre-order was eagerly made. So from this point the wait was on to receive her and after what seems like an eternity and a rude visit to customs, she finally arrived a week ago (see my reveal video below to savour the moment). The long wait between pre-order and delivery was certainly worth the wait for I was far from disappointed and have found myself a little bit in love!

Angelica came in an exquisitely packed box with lots of quality details such as welcome note and finely printed postcards. The doll herself comes packed minus her wig cap and wearing her dressing balled hands, which is a slight shock for the uninitiated. However what a revelation both of these technologies are!  The dressing balls put an end to struggling to get dolls fingers and hands through tiny sleeves (especially for those of us with chunkier fingers lol) and the nightmare pulled sleeve seems. The actual hands which come with Angelica are finely and realistically sculpted as well as surprisingly easy to change and attach. Separately sold hand sets can be purchased from Angelic Dreamz.

The wig cap is also easily attached and gives the doll a smooth and neat hairline without the slightest hint of unsightly plugs. The hair is very long and thick and a variety of separate wig caps can be purchased from the AD site. As if this wasn’t enough JAMIEshow dolls also come with a skull cap so that they can wear conventional wigs. I tried a number of Superfrock wigs on Angelica with great success, although I do find that due to her colouring and exotic beauty darker tones seem to work best. Angelica’s face-up is realistically done with expressive eyes, with applied lashes, as well as sensual pink and glossy lips. She is also able to wear earrings, although the basic dolls do not ship with any.

And now to the body sculpt and what a joy it is! Exquisite resin which is matt and wonderfully hand blushed, yet feels substantial in the hand and not scarily delicate as some BJD fashion dolls can be. This is a doll to be played with, posed and loved! Her 19 points of articulation are stiff enough that she isn’t floppy, yet loose enough that she poses easily and holds the pose well. She feels as if she could even stand unsupported, given the right shoes perhaps! The nuances of her pose-ability make her amazingly realistic, and  I am sure I have only just begun to discover all she can do. Her body is overall is lithe and well proportioned.

As she is a basic doll she comes wearing a 2 piece bikini, sandals and sarong. With the St. Tropez basic Angelica the bikinis come in randomly selected colours of blue/green/purple or orange. I had hoped for blue but my Angelica came wearing orange, but this is rather a minor set back in the scheme of things! I also purchased the separate St Tropez outfit consisting of crisp white shirt, denim pants and matching sandals for those evenings after the beach!

Overall I am mightily impressed with the JAMIEshow range and I am sure this will not be my last foray into this new Fashion Doll territory.

The ability to change wigs adds lots of dimensions to JAMIEshow

I have never fallen in love with a face sculpt for a doll more than Ellowyne’s ever before. She is Robert Tonner’s best. I just love her profile and her huge Anime eyes, pouty lips and sad eyebrows.  The doll’s character bio says that she lives in San Francisco and suffers from chronic ennui! I lived in that great city throughout my 20′s and, (sigh) …let’s just say the doll is very endeared to me. lol , She has the perfect amount of camp and class!

The wonder of Mark's artistic talent

Any tips for any members thinking about taking up sewing for their dolls?
Well, when I decided to start suiting up my Ellowyne dolls, I just bought some beautiful and affordable patterns made just for ellowyne on Ebay, got a used sewing machine from a friend, and taught myself how to sew from reading the instructions. Then, with some natural creativity, (I like to think, lol) started making my own custom patterns too. It’s addictive once you see what you can get yourself create.

I once took a personality test in which the question was to list your 3 favorite animals in order and why. the Answer ended up being that;  the First animal is how Others see You, the Second is how You see Yourself,  and the Third is what You really Are. My animals were,  “Cat,  Skunk,  Horse”.   I always thought that pretty much summed it up