Be a Doll

Here I am with Dolly. Apparently she was a favorite friend back in the day. But after those very early years, I was not infatuated with dolls or remember playing with them much. I was certainly not a collector.

I remember Thumbelina. She had a wind-up key and from the commercials she should have been kicking her legs and practically rolling over and standing up. False advertising and major disappointment when mine on Christmas morning barely stirred.

Most of my dolls ended up with bad haircuts. I was not handy with scissors anyway. I cut what I knew. Looking in the mirror, all I saw were crooked bangs. I cut 'em, as I saw 'em. My mother wasn't pleased.

As for Barbie, I probably owned one, but it's not memorable. She did not influence my life. Thus I read the 2/8/16 issue of Time Magazine with curiosity. Barbie is on the cover and there's a whole discussion about American beauty, culture attitudes (now there's curvy, tall, and petite sizes), and the message being sent to impressionable brains by a doll.

But, face it  - Barbie means bucks for Mattel Corp. If she ain't pulling in the dough, she has to be put out to pasture or reinvented.

And for kids today...do they care about the tangible product or.....is there an app for that?

So - what are your thoughts on Barbie? Were you a doll (or action figure) connoisseur?  Any favorites?  And how many of you flung your toy from a catapult or had it careening in a toy car off a ramp you created?