News, reviews and photographs of Modern Fashion Dolls including Kingdom Doll, Fashion Royalty, Sybarite, Tonner Doll, Gene Marshall, Barbie and my own experiences as a doll collector.
4/08/2011
Pretty Woman ~ Not So Pretty Doll
Soon-to-be Princess of Wales, Catherine Middleton, has been poorly rendered as a doll. It is being sold in London for 35 British Pounds. Sad.
ha! Franklin Mint is selling one, naturally and for a whopping $195. Here is my question, Franklin Mint has made over 100 million dollars on their Diana line, who approves the use of someone's likeness for that to be ok? When Tonner sells dolls of movie stars, they are licensed, I wonder if great Kate or Michelle O, are licensing their image... there is a way to boost the economy.
@Erick: Great question! I am sure it's a different law or tradition covering reproducing the likeness of British Royalty. They certainly can't call it the "official" Kate Middleton doll because it isn't. I'm guessing that Franklin Mint had to donate a percentage to either Diana's estate or to some charity of the estate's choice. I was thinking about the many likenesses I've seen of President Obama in doll form. They're not licensed. Perhaps the market around political figures is a free-for-all. Terri
I just did the research, and in a legal battle since 1998, finally settled in January, with FM paying 25 Million to the Diana Fund. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/21/business/la-fi-0121-resnick-lawsuit-20110121
As a doll she is cute =) Not sure if she "impersonates" the soon to be princess very well though =) But then again, this is often a common problem in this kind of dolls (I remember the Spice Girls dolls... or the Gaga doll from the last convention workshop ^_^ and I'm sure there are tons of other examples!)
We are the creators of the Princess Catherine Doll that launched in Hamleys, London, in early April.
Thanks for the constructive feedback on our Princess Catherine Doll. Good to hear; we like to listen. Couple of points might help explain:
1/The Princess Catherine Doll is 'authentic' in the sense that she has been dressed and accessorised by seven British designers. Of the four main dolls produced, only one (us!) is actually British in terms of its design direction.
2/A donation from each doll goes to the charity Help For Heroes.
3/We have obtained written permission from Clarence House (ie, Royal household); they do not object to the production of our doll.
In short, we have tried as hard as possible to make this affordable but also have the level of integrity and attention to detail. The doll launched in Toys R Us NY and FAO Schwarz on the 29/04/11 and sold out over the weekend. Sorry that we can't please everyone but we have tried our best. Overall, the feedback has been very good but we want to build on lessons learned and move forward. Constructive feedback helps.
I do not publish readers' links or email addresses. If you wish to contact me or wish me to see something, find me on Facebook and send a FB message. In addition, Blogger is not letting me comment on comments! I'm trying to reconfigure this but I'm at a loss how to do so.
Loved your comment that this doll probably isn't the last or the worst! LOL! Thanks for the chuckle!
ReplyDeleteha! Franklin Mint is selling one, naturally and for a whopping $195. Here is my question, Franklin Mint has made over 100 million dollars on their Diana line, who approves the use of someone's likeness for that to be ok? When Tonner sells dolls of movie stars, they are licensed, I wonder if great Kate or Michelle O, are licensing their image... there is a way to boost the economy.
ReplyDelete@Erick: Great question!
ReplyDeleteI am sure it's a different law or tradition covering reproducing the likeness of British Royalty. They certainly can't call it the "official" Kate Middleton doll because it isn't. I'm guessing that Franklin Mint had to donate a percentage to either Diana's estate or to some charity of the estate's choice. I was thinking about the many likenesses I've seen of President Obama in doll form. They're not licensed. Perhaps the market around political figures is a free-for-all.
Terri
I just did the research, and in a legal battle since 1998, finally settled in January, with FM paying 25 Million to the Diana Fund. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/21/business/la-fi-0121-resnick-lawsuit-20110121
ReplyDeleteI actually like the Barbie size Kate...and I ordered her off of ebay
ReplyDeleteAs a doll she is cute =) Not sure if she "impersonates" the soon to be princess very well though =) But then again, this is often a common problem in this kind of dolls (I remember the Spice Girls dolls... or the Gaga doll from the last convention workshop ^_^ and I'm sure there are tons of other examples!)
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWe are the creators of the Princess Catherine Doll that launched in Hamleys, London, in early April.
Thanks for the constructive feedback on our Princess Catherine Doll. Good to hear; we like to listen.
Couple of points might help explain:
1/The Princess Catherine Doll is 'authentic' in the sense that she has been dressed and accessorised by seven British designers. Of the four main dolls produced, only one (us!) is actually British in terms of its design direction.
2/A donation from each doll goes to the charity Help For Heroes.
3/We have obtained written permission from Clarence House (ie, Royal household); they do not object to the production of our doll.
In short, we have tried as hard as possible to make this affordable but also have the level of integrity and attention to detail.
The doll launched in Toys R Us NY and FAO Schwarz on the 29/04/11 and sold out over the weekend.
Sorry that we can't please everyone but we have tried our best. Overall, the feedback has been very good but we want to build on lessons learned and move forward. Constructive feedback helps.
Kind regards,
Team Arklu
www.arklu.com