* * * * * ** CLONE CORNER By Barry S
The Maddie Mod Mannikin TRAVEL TRESSES: Maddie Mod’s clear carrying case allowed young stylists to work their magic on the go.
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hen is a clone not a clone? When it’s the first one, of course! And when it comes to Barbie doll, the automatic assumption is that a clone must be of Mattel’s most glamorous First Lady. But in this case, the clone we’re talking about is the Barbie Beauty Center (1972, #4027), and it’s an obvious knock off of Mego’s Maddie Mod Mannikin Doll (1970, No. 8002).
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SECOND BEST: Although Mattel was late to the party, the Barbie Beauty Center included more accessories and was a higher quality set than Mego’s original idea
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The Mannikin Doll arrived in a see-through plastic carrying case, similar to a 1960s wig box (which it probably was!). Mounted on a pink plastic base with suction cups to keep it in place, the large doll head came with a style booklet, 12 soft plastic, clip-on rollers, a bristle brush, plastic comb, two elastic ponytail grips, a hair rope and a 100% nylon wiglet that could be wet and set. But leave it to Mattel to jump on a great idea, and their clone version was introduced in 1972… two years after Mego’s set. Mattel raised the bar and added makeup, a growing hair strand and extra accessories in ‘70s neon colors. And attaching Barbie’s name to it is what gave the Beauty Center the push it needed to become a huge success, even inspiring other hair
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WHO AM I?: The Mannikin Doll was NOT a larger version of Maddie Mod, but a completely different “generic” doll head.
* * * * Mattel wasn’t the only company to copy the forward-thinking wig winders at Mego. A look at the 1972 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog shows the Barbie Beauty Center and a “MiniKin” styling head, a less expensive version of the noticeably higher quality Barbie item - a clone of a clone! READ BETWEEN THE LINES The styling booklet alone makes this set a treasure… represented by horrible black and white line drawings, the instructions are complicated and require items not included with the set. The hair styles are so complex it seems unlikely a young beauty operator could successfully create them, let alone have any fun doing it!
The Barbie Beauty Center is still a popular seller 40 years later. And there are clone versions made by other companies too, ranging from smaller-sized styling heads found at dollar stores to glitzy versions of Bratz dolls. And although Maddie Mod is no longer around, the forward-thinking wig winders at Mego seemed to know budding hair and make-up artists couldn’t resist working their magic on a customer who didn’t talk back...
BUYER BEWARE: Although the tag says it includes “18 different style hairdo’s”, there are only four shown in the booklet.
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