Attack of the Clones, Part 5

Submitted by Nessa January 29th, 2011
Certifikitsch Winner

This is a clone doll I got when I was a kid.  Apparently she was sold in the UK, so I have no idea how I ended up with one.  I think her name is Betty and she was made by a company called TONG.  She is actually pretty good quality with joints and rooted eyelashes.  Her hair is kind of 1970s-Dolly Parton style and I think she should be a country singer.  Excuse her nudity, I took this picture for a doll identification group, because I didn’t know who she was.

This is a clone doll from when I was a kid.  Her weird face always kind of bothered me.  I put blush on her, that’s why her face is so pink.   She was a VERY popular clone throughout the 80s, being made in dozens of variations and sold at every store that sold Barbie, as well as drug stores and dime stores, etc.  Her name is Sandi and she was made by Totsy Toys.

Barbie was not the only doll ruthlessly copied by unsavory companies.  This doll, Miss Kitty, is a blatant rip-off of Barbie’s sister, Skipper, made by the unscrupulous company, Cragstan.  They even somehow used the exact same head and body molds, probably totally illegally.  The Miss Kitty line also copied some of Skipper’s clothes exactly.  You can tell her from a Skipper because of her freckles, and also because she is super-cheap and missing the Mattel markings.  I really love Miss Kitty dolls, she is as popular as real Skipper with collectors!  (I should also note that there are Barbie clones that used stolen molds as well, I just don’t have any of them.)

A close up of her face for you guys… she really looks like a real Skipper doll.  My mom brought me this one home from the fleas one day when I was sick.  The doll was filthy and her hair was BLACK.  But she cleaned up really well, as you can see.

This Skipper clone was sold widely in dime-stores and craft stores from the 1960s until probably the 1980s with no noticeable change.  I don’t know anything about her maker, but I have about a half dozen of them.  They were generally sold with cheap clothes or nude so that you could knit them an outfit or something.  They came in a lot of hair colors.  They are really annoying to dress because they are so cheap that their legs don’t even move.  And, despite looking like a little girl in all respects, they have high-heel feet which are nearly impossible to shoe.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed my clone collection. =)  I’m always on the lookout for more, be they clones of Barbie or any of her friends.  No doll is safe from the hands of the clone-making toy companies.

7 Responses to “Attack of the Clones, Part 5”

  1. Allee Willis

    Love the nude doll photo. I wish my knees were jointed like hers. I could’ve saved myself surgery last week.

    I absolutely love that you put blush on the second doll’s face. Her face looks totally familiar so I can believe she was a very popular clone doll in the 80s. Her hair looks a little thin tho. Maybe that’s where they saved costs. Though her clothes look a little bargain basement as well.

    I love Ms. Kitty and her paint battered blouse and blue Jeans. I also totally love that your mom bought it for you at a flea market and gave it to you filthy with dirty hair while you were sick!

    I really love the last doll. Her flip is perfect and her outfit kills me, especially that skirt.

    I think it can crown of old that you know so much about these clone dolls.

    to see Nessa’s other clone dolls go here:

    https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2011/01/27/attack-of-the-clones-part-4/

    https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2011/01/27/attack-of-the-clones-part-3-debbie-drake-doll/

    https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2011/01/26/attack-of-the-clones-part-2/

    https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2011/01/25/attack-of-the-barbie-clones-part-1/

    • Nessa

      The blushed doll does have very thin hair. It’s basically rooted in a mohawk down the middle of her scalp and nowhere else.

  2. k2dtw

    This is brilliant, and so are you!!!.. I’ll start looking…I had no idea..learned a lot, thank you. Do you go to Barbie Convention?
    What about the doll they sell at craft stores that goes into the center of “Cake Skirts”.. are they ever part of the clones?.. I’ve never really looked at them.

    http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/barbie-doll-cake/Detail.aspx
    Found this…even has a cake recipe?? …there is a huge collection of Doll Cake Pictures that have been added to the site. Some are using the real Barbie…even better..

    http://www.cakecraftshop.co.uk/shop/4/66/index.htm
    This one even has the cake skirt mold.. Check out the “Doll” picks..$$ would be fab party picks, for your doll groups, if only they would sell them by the gross for cheap…smile

    • Nessa

      I have never been to the Barbie Convention as it is usually very expensive and almost never anywhere near me (I don’t fly.) I’ll get to it someday, but I don’t know if that will be sooner or later, but you can bet I’ll wear a costume when I go!

      As for the doll cake pans, I have a funny story about that… I had been asked by the local library to help out with a Barbie doll weekend they were having. As part of this, I’d bring some vintage dolls for display and help some people identify their old dolls. I was pretty freaked out when a librarian brought out a doll cake with a valuable vintage doll from her childhood in the middle covered in pink icing! I was sooooo afraid it would stain the doll! Haha, I’m sure the look on my face was mortified… cheap dolls ONLY in the cake, please!