Celebrity doll: Encyclopedia - Celebrity doll

Celebrity doll

A celebrity doll is a doll modelled after a celebrity.

Celebrity dolls have been in production for a very long time. In the 1840s, several famous ballerinas were featured as paper dolls. Also in the 1800s, various military heroes were portrayed as dolls/figures. Things really heated up in the early 1900s with the advent of the silent films. The John Bunny doll (a silent film star) was one of the first produced in 1914 by Louis Amberg & Sons. The first Charlie Chaplin doll was produced in 1915. The composition Baby Peggy doll was a huge success in 1923, also produced by the Amberg company. The Shirley Temple doll by Ideal was a phenomena in the 1930s, first produced in 1934, millions of the composition Shirley dolls were produced (and, variations of the Shirley doll are being produced to this day, generally in porcelain or vinyl). After Shirley, companies like Madame Alexander and Ideal produced many different celebrity dolls, including Sonja Henie, Jane Withers and Deanna Durbin.

Celebrity dolls still remain popular today, especially given the cult of the celebrity that has developed in the 1980s-2000s. Because of the wide collecting audience for these dolls and their appeal as a cross-over collectible in many instances, some collectors also believe that the dolls have the possibility of appreciating in value in the future.

Celebrity dolls of pop stars are one of the most popular types. One of the best-selling celebrity dolls of all time is the Britney Spears doll, made in 1999. Other extremely successful dolls include the Spice Girls (selling over seven million dolls), New Kids on the Block (selling over two million dolls) and Christina Aguilera dolls (selling over six million dolls). Recently, dolls of Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Destiny's Child, and Raven-Symone have been made in 2005.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Celebrity doll", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki