(Back to regular blogging, after all the recent unpleasantness. Whew. Hope you never have to deal with the Daily Mail, a paper I find to be utterly vile and spiteful in all its dealings. Anyway, done.)
I'll be adding more about Dolls and Toys to the various things I blog about here, as I go about my business of research, development, and the like, as we go through our phase one. Maybe even bits about startup stuff that I come across, as the volume of advice kicking about regarding startups and business-running is, well, staggering. (And often brilliantly contradictory \o/).
As we work through our first product, a doll line aimed at the 8+ group, a few things we've noted, thought I'd share. We've chosen the 8+group for a number of reasons.
Pretty much all "fashion" (as opposed to "baby") dolls are designed for the under-8s. Barbie is marketed at 3+, and Bratz/Moxie at 6+. Liv, Disney Princesses, Monster High - all for under-8s, and all under $25 too (for the basic doll). They're all pink, with the single exception of the newest, Monster High, which is pink, purple - and black. Tokyo-influence, very nice.
But 8 is an interesting age. It's the age around which point girls tend to start to become identity aware. They're a person, with tastes. They spot Facebook, and want in. Toys are becoming childish, and adult things like makeup and driving and clothes are becoming interesting. Toys stick around for a while longer, but this age is the beginning of the transition, from kid to teen.
There's only one doll line for the 8+ that I've found, American Girl, officially 8-12 (but in practice, more like 8-9, and conservative, too). An American Girl is $99, and by the time you've bought her jeans, glasses, and spa kit (!), she's more like $200+. American Girl is a $450m-a-year business for Mattel.
After 12, there's everyone else. No age limit. Here, it's a niche market of collectors, enthusiasts, modders, customisers. The niche is pretty big, globally, although not compared to the billion Polly Pockets sold, or the 18bn Barbies (3 per person on the planet, goes the legend). This group, however, are the big spenders. Dolls here start at around $99 but are more familiarly in the $300+ bracket, dolls like Blythe, Pullip and Delilah Noir, a new entrant (and a western one, too). The dolls are all BJDs, a (poseable, very photographable) style creeping west as the popularity in the east continues to spread. This is where personality really comes out.
Going for the Twilight crowd, I think.
More to come as we explore this stuff. There are Flickr pools groups (damn you Yahoo) for each type of doll ... and, of course, Etsy. ♥
As we've got a four year old girl, we've just been researching alternatives to Barbie. And we ended up going for Groovy Girls. Ragdolls - so not poseable - but with changeable clothes, more realistic body shape and much better mix of (alternative/crazy) fashions, hobby/job sets (the Groovy Girl drum kit, tent and sleeping bag and snowboarding outfits are particularly going down a storm here). A bit less self-consciously alternative than Monster High.
Posted by: Psimonk | August 25, 2011 at 12:28
Oh nice, I haven't come across that one yet (probably because we're in the hard-body fashion doll bit right now), but I'll check it out.
Ta Si!
Posted by: Alice | August 25, 2011 at 14:45
Just wanted to point out that Pullip and Blythe (not sure about Delilah) are not actually BJDs - they have articulated joints, and the newer bodies have peg-and-hole wrists, but they aren't quite as flexible, durable, or expensive as true ball-jointed dolls.
Love your blog, though - I'm excited to read more about your R&D with toys, since I'm a huge toy nerd myself :)
Posted by: Annye | August 25, 2011 at 15:17
Oh you're right. Sorry. I've done that thing where I chuck all the asian-made dolls into the BJD category, but yep, my blythe has a pretty basic, and frankly crappy, body.
Need to buy a pullip, and a bjd!
Thanks for the correction :) x
Posted by: Alice | August 25, 2011 at 15:39
Very interesting stuff about an area I know little about, having shunned Barbie and dolls as a child. (Getting a doll as a Christmas present was a "slot" that could have had something cool in it, like a Transformer or Lego, as far as I was concerned.) I've enjoyed the pictures of the Blythe and Pullip variations. Staggering! Art and fashion and play! Yay!
Posted by: Emeraldsong | September 03, 2011 at 08:15
I've done that thing where I chuck all the asian-made dolls into the BJD category, but yep, my blythe has a pretty basic, and frankly crappy, body. expensive as true ball-jointed dolls. I was concerned.
Posted by: James Craig | September 29, 2011 at 05:41
These games are made in an educational purpose. Which is why I have the courage to let my children play such games. All characters have a well defined story which takes even more attention to that character. This is another Draculaura game online that can be played online.
Posted by: Muskoida | June 24, 2015 at 21:24