Three Doll Kickstarters

First time trying to type since the thing with my shoulder started. And it lasted barely more than a sentence before I had to stop, clutching my arm as it surged with pins and needles. 😦

So now I’m composing the draft text on my phone (dammit, the thing’s becoming a part of me, despite how I didn’t want to get it!) because I can do that without pain. (Okay, technically the pins and needles thing doesn’t hurt as such, but…) Then once I’ve written all the text, I’ll add the pics.

So, there are three doll Kickstarter campaigns going on right now. I’m only actually backing two of them, but I’ll get to that later.

So, we’re starting with this one, with the campaign title “IT’S TIME TO MAKE LOTS OF DOLLS”

Image copyright Fam Bam Toys. Click for link,

Their company name is Fam Bam Toys, but I’m not clear on the name of the doll line itself. There aren’t a lot of details yet, but here’s what I do know:

The line features African-American dolls who come with wigs, allowing them a wide range of hairstyles and looks. Based on the price point, I think they’re probably 1/6 scale.

This is their prototype doll, Symone. I think she’s quite pretty, and certainly a promising start for the line, if they can meet their funding goal.

Speaking of which, to get the money, they’ll need backers to pledge $5,000 in the next 17 days (so, by July 1st), and they are currently at $621. Certainly possible, but I think the creator may not be pushing it on social media and such as strongly as she needs to. That, and the lack of details is probably scaring off potential backers. But it does sound like they’ve researched the production side of things enough to know what they’re doing; it’s just the Kickstarter side of things they didn’t research enough.

There have been other lines of play dolls to come with wigs (Moxie Teenz, some Brats, Imani), but for the most part they were one-time experiments (Fashion Queen Barbie, for example) or the wigs got abandoned later on for cheaper, simpler rooted dolls (Moxie Teenz) so it’s been a while since wigged dolls were out there for kids. (Us grown-ups get to have all the wigging fun we want with our BJDs and custom Pullips and Blythes, after all!)

Okay, moving on.

Image copyright…um…there’s no company name…well, click for link, anyway.

As the logo shows you, this one is called My CityDoll. The campaign page says she’s 14″ tall, which is a slightly odd scale; it’s smaller than American Girl dolls, but maybe that’s about the size of the AG offshoot line Wellie Wishers? It’s not really my preferred type of doll, so I don’t have much info to draw on here.

Again, this is a copyrighted image that came from the Kickstarter page. Click for link.

What I do know is that that is one adorable face! That little half-smile really gets me. 🙂 the eyes are really nice, too.

She’s all vinyl (no cloth torso here) but only has the basic shoulder and hip joints, no knees and elbows, sadly. (I have no idea if kids get as annoyed by dolls who sit with their legs just stretched out from the chair as I do…)

I’d be happier if the launch doll wasn’t a blue-eyed blonde, but the line was inspired by the campaign runner’s granddaughter, so I’m presuming said granddaughter is herself a blonde. Besides, those gorgeous eye chips make up for a lot. 😉 (And there are always wigs and reroots…)

The price point on this one is a bit steeper: $125 (plus shipping) for the non-limited edition of the doll. But as they need to get $10,000 in the next 22 days (July 5), the doll’s high price tag is necessary. (And, really, American Girl and other dolls of that type cost a ridiculous amount, so…) At the moment, they’ve been pledged $2,851, so while they’re in a stronger place than the other, their Kickstarter success is by no means certain. (As with the other, I think the dolls should be successfully manufactured, if they can just get the funds.)

All right, last one, the one I’m not backing.

No company name again, but it’s still a copyrighted image. Click for link.

This one is called “El-Lynn, a Doll With A Message of Love” and the doll is very much an American Girl-type, being 18″ tall and having a cloth torso.

And is that why I’m not backing her?

Well, no. Not really.

Is it the relatively lifeless face? (Which, of course, still makes it very AG-like.)

While that’s part of it, it’s not the main reason.

And no, it’s not that I think the campaign creator will be unable to get the doll successfully made; she seems to be pretty much on top of that situation.

So why is it?

Honestly, it’s the doll’s “message of love.” Because it’s not (just) “love of mankind” or “love in general”, but specifically “love of God.” Which is great for a lot of people, but it makes me uncomfortable. I do believe that a sentient higher power set the Big Bang in motion and engineered the laws of physics, but my personal belief is that there’s no way we puny humans could actually comprehend a being on that level, so organized religion always feels to me like it’s more about the human than the divine. Plus lately a lot of people have used religion (especially Christianity) as an excuse to do really horrible things to other people, which just leaves me squirming in discomfort whenever I see or hear someone loudly proclaiming their faith. And yes, I know that’s completely unreasonable, because the people doing the awful things are all doing things that Christianity specifically teaches that a person shouldn’t do, but…knowing that doesn’t change my discomfort.

Anyway, since my reason for not backing the campaign had nothing to do with the doll herself, I thought it would be deeply unfair if I didn’t share the campaign along with the other two. This one has the highest goal of the three, $20,000, has until the 3rd of July, and so far gas only been pledged $871. (Maybe I’m not the only one on Kickstarter who’s put off by the religious angle. Or maybe it’s the face.)

Ooookay, stopping abruptly here, because it turns out that trying to type on my phone is mind-bogglingly more time consuming, due to all the freakin’ typos caused by the teeny-tiny on-screen keyboard keys.