The birth of Miss Barbie Millicent Roberts in March 1959 caused turmoil in the doll market. This teenage fashionista made manufacturers realize that their offerings were looking old-fashioned and out of step with the modern shopper.
Not surprising then that Mattel’s new creation spawned many imitators. Over time these so-called clone dolls have become collectible in their own right. Often of variable quality and construction, they were designed to appeal to a lower price-point than Miss Roberts herself.
Some were made of poor quality plastics, some had very sketchy face-ups and cheap rooting. But they all had plenty of character, which makes them appealing to collectors of today. Clones are often unmarked, which means they can also be found unloved among vintage lots for bargain prices.
Hong Kong Lilli (left), a lightweight plastic version of the German Bild Lilli doll presumed to be the inspiration for Mattel’s original Barbie. Black Miss Babette (above). Dresses are in the spirit of Bild Lilli fashions by Liz Retros.
Even Barbie’s wardrobe was plundered by the copycats, with variable success, and many look-alike fashions were created for these cheaper dolls. But it wasn’t all about poor-quality copying. This new batch of fashion dolls included some that are stars in their own right and that stand up to the vintage bench mark set by Mattel. There were innovations too: some of the earliest mass-produced articulated dolls were created in this era.
A selection of clone fashions. The backs of the fashion packs can be a useful reference for identification.
Ideal’s Mitzi #2 brunette in orginal purple velour bikini (just seen).
Uneeda’s Wendy heads look a treat on vintage Barbie bodies wearing home-made vintage sheath dresses in orange and turquoise.
Two EeGee dolls: Babette (left) is marked E43G on her neck, her vintage pants suit is Hong Kong made. The platinum doll (right) is an unknown model, the back of her head is marked EG. Her striped dress is a Hong Kong copy of a Barbie original, which has an orange ribbon instead of red.
Uneeda’s Suzette in both raven and blonde. The bubblecut is a wigged salvage doll (wig by Fashion Royalty) in a club dress from BADDD. The blonde ponytail doll has her original hair and she wears a factory-made clone dress. Suzette is marked and dated on her back with the Uneeda factory mark, shown at left.
Clockwise from above top left: Elite’s Babs in floral copy of Barbie’s apple print sheath dress (#917); an unwigged Fashion Queen clone by Camay in shorter version of Solo in the Spotlight (#982); Black Peggy Ann in an Evening Splendour copy (#961); Evergreen’s take on a Fashion Queen with rooted side-part hair wears Golden Girl (#911) in Party Date fabric (#958); Black Wendy wears a collarless version of Barbie Learns to Cook (#1634); Wendy in a tweedy version of Dancing Doll (#1626); Carol Channing Hello Dolly in a version of Golden Girl (#911). Numbers in parentheses refer to vintage Barbie original fashions as reference. Right: Miss Babette – mint in box, note that this doll has Tammy-like hands.
Two Tina Cassini dolls (above): Ross Products’ attempt to muscle in on the success of Ideal’s Tammy. This doll shamelessly Frankensteined Tammy’s body with a shrunken head from Ideal’s Liz (below). The company attributed the doll to Jackie Kennedy’s couturier Oleg Cassini who was married to the actress Gene Tierney, (Tina’s mother).
Ideal’s 16-inch Liz doll represented the company’s foray into larger fashion dolls. Hand-made, painted wooden chair by Minimagine from eBay
Peggy Ann (right) wears red plaid, Wendy (left) wears a clone version of Mattel’s Friday Night Date dress, her head is on an unmarked body.
Valentine’s Polly dolls resplendent in bright pastels. Valentine dolls are easily identified by the heart and arrow brand embossed on their backs (see inset image).
The magnificently named Petra von Plasty (left), oh-so-cheaply made yet strangely compelling. Hair by Terence Oldham.
Her companion, Mily GéGé (right) is the French entry to the 60s teen fashion doll pageant. Print mini shift dress from the Alameda Fashion Doll Club.
The Japanese beauty, Genevieve, was Japan’s lesser-known answer to Bild Lilli – right down to the painted-on shoes.
Ideal’s Tressy was a competitor with a twist. Even Barbie could not boast hair that grows! This doll was a success in her own right in the burgeoning teen doll line-up of the 60s. Highly collectible today, Tressy has a covetable range of fashions. Nautical cotton knit top by Deanna Marconi.
Ideal launched Misty (left) as the somewhat unlikely best friend of Tammy, presumably to extend the Tammy line into the teenage market. Misty never felt like a good fit with the rest of the family. She wears her own vintage leisure suit – an early take on velour. Tammy herself (above in yellow) was not immune to imitators like the UK’s Sindy by Pedigree (above in red).
Wendy dolls featured stylish green-and-white packaging and great fashion illustrations. The mint-in-box brunette Wendy is shown with one of her packaged outfits and some back-of-the box graphics.
Articulation a-go-go! Polly Play Pose (left) sports a first-issue Maddie Mod hat and coat in ocelot; Valentine’s Debbie Drake puts us through our exercise paces in her signature-pink body suit; Dollikin anticipates the 1970s in her flower-power jumpsuit.
This is an edited version of a feature that appeared in Doll News Magazine, Fall 2012