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Dolls and Girls Collectibles
Hello dolly One of the more traditional toy categories, dolls and doll play continues to evolve along with the needs and wants of kids increasingly connected to the fast-paced world around them. Rachael Simpson-Jones finds out how animated content, social media and sustainability are shaping the Dolls category, and the latest innovations and trends breaking through for 2021.
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urture remains at the heart of the Dolls category, providing kids with classic play patterns that aid the development of social skills. While traditional features such as nappy wetting, sleeping, eating and crying are still seen across many leading brands, new technologies and innovation will this year be providing kids with an even more realistic experience. As revealed in our exclusive interview with Zapf’s Kasia Leskow (pages 44 and 46), leading brand Baby Annabell is launching a new Sweet Princess doll that blushes when she’s kissed, while Baby born Magic lets young mums and dads decide when their doll is asleep or awake using a special dummy. Mattel is poised for the July launch of its new large nurturing doll brand My Garden Baby, which introduces fantastical elements to this traditional category (find out more on pages 48 and 50), and in autumn/winter IMC Toys’ Cry Babies will unveil a more lifelike appearance for its best-selling dolls, featuring real rooted hair, glass crystal eyes and a soft-touch head. However, with kids constantly exposed to social media, and the influencers and content creators that call such platforms home, hair-play, fashion and makeover themes are becoming ever-increasing drivers behind best-selling doll brands. An enduring appeal of Barbie has been the ability to change her look by swapping her outfit, shoes and accessories. Barbie Extra
has taken this into new territory with eye-catching and over-the-top new looks, while Barbie Colour Reveal features an engaging water-reveal element and blind bagged clothing, pets and accessories to fashion-forward doll fans. MGA Entertainment’s doll range Rainbow High, which launched in autumn 2020, combines fashion with hair play, allowing kids to style their doll’s hair as well as their own, using safe hair chalks that easily wash out. Swiss doll brand I’m A Girly says it offers Gen Z a platform for self-expression with its diverse range of dolls, fashions, interchangeable wigs and more. To ensure its products accurately reflect what kids are seeking, the company involves them in the development process, as founder Theresia Le Battistini explains. “’Created by Kids4Kids’ isn’t just a slogan for us, but our guiding principle,” she says. “Inspired by our community, and always on a quest to create value and meaning that go beyond the products themselves, we’ve also started to collaborate with leaders from other consumer industries. For example, we’ve partnered with The R Collective for the first-of-its-kind sustainable and upcycled doll clothing line made of excess fabric from big fashion brands.” Accessories are also enhancing doll play. This is an area that Kasia at Zapf was keen to highlight during our interview when it came to Baby born’s 30th anniversary this year, telling me: “From the beginning kids could get
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their dolls any number of more imaginative accessories; we’re talking scooters and bikes, horses and dragons, camping and fishing gear. Each toy isn’t just a doll, it’s a friend with whom kids can go on adventures.” Speaking of adventures, the upcoming release of Spirit Untamed is also providing new opportunities in the dolls’ space, as Mattel has found with its new range of posable dolls and their equine companions. The excitement surrounding the launch of the new DreamWorks movie is likely to result in soaring demand for horse-themed doll sets. With Baby Annabell Little Sweet Princess also benefitting from a noble steed of her own this year, retailers should be able to capitalise on this trend in the coming months. Mattel is also tapping into emerging trends with My Garden Baby, off the back of a year that saw consumers recognising the importance of nature and time outside arguably more than ever before. Zapf and IMC Toys, meanwhile, are catering to the increased demand for bath time doll play, the former with a new pretend bathing feature for Baby Annabell, the latter with its bath-time collectible dolls, Bloopies Fairies, which light up when put in water. IMC’s content, hosted on its YouTube channel, Kitoons, is a fundamental driver behind the success of its Cry Babies and Bloopies dolls. When Kitoons launched three years ago it was available in five languages, but huge growth means it’s now available in 25 languages and has racked up 3b views, 300m
