My Child

My Child dolls are a toy made by Mattel from 1985-1988. Most had felt "skin" on their heads although some had vinyl skin.

The dolls are around 35cm in height, with petite features and poseable limbs. The sales slogan was that every child could have a doll just like them. These highly collectible dolls have a large international fan-base.

The first dolls were made in Taiwan. Their features differ slightly from those made later in China. A rounder face, smaller belly button and longer toes are just some of the differences. Taiwanese dolls are also known for eyes which protrude from their face and, as they age, are more prone to facial "sagging" and make-up fading (but are less prone to felt pilling) than those made in China.

Between 1987 and 1988, Mattel brought out a vinyl faced doll called a "Loving Baby". These dolls had bodies made with the same soft fabric as a My Child, with similar skin-tones, posable legs and solid arm-joints and pink or blue torsos. A button on their back allowed them to hug. Their skin-tone was either pale or peachy, and they had red, brunette, ash-blond or blond hair. They came with one outfit, a two piece short and top set in either blue or pink.

Dolls came as boys or girls, with four different skin tones: American pale (with a green heart on the bottom), Australian/European peach, African-American and Hispanic.

Eye color varies too. All African-American and Hispanic dolls had brown eyes (Hispanic dolls eyes have orange rays above their pupils). The other dolls had blue, aqua, green or brown eyes. Occasionally a doll can be found with a factory "flaw" and their eye color can vary from the standard, for example hazel, lilac, blue-gray or blue-green. However, some people attribute this to aging rather than to a factory flaw.

There is also a variety of hair colors. The African-American dolls have black hair; Hispanics have brown hair, and the others had blond, ash-blond/two tone, brunette, red, and (in the last year of production) strawberry-blonde.

Hair styles varied as well. African-American girls all came with "curly pigtails" (two pigtails with a short fringe right around the head). Hispanic girls came with a v-part style (little bunches on either side of the head, and a full fringe). The other girls had top-knots (short hair with one small bunch on the side), double top-knot (short hair with a small bunch on either side), curly pigtails (similar to the African-American dolls), other variations of pigtails (double ribbons, ringlets), v-part (similar to the Hispanic girls), ringlets and their variations - side-part, mid-part and long ponytail, crimped and very long hair (nearly to dolls' ankles). Boys' hairstyles were either curly with no part or straight with a short part.

...
Wikipedia