FAO Schwarz today announced a special online auction of four "Experiences of a Lifetime" to benefit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. One of the experiences being offered is a Barbie Experience of a Lifetime. The winner of this auction will get to work with an elite team of Barbie Doll designers to create a custom doll in a specially made, collectible package. One winner and a guest will travel to the official Barbie headquarters in El Segundo, California for an all-access pass to see where and how Barbie is made, and get to have their one-of-a-kind doll designed for them. For further details of the experience and to see the auction, visit FAO Schwarz

On Friday, Mel Odom sent a letter to collectors announcing his retirement of the Gene doll fashion line. Gene was initially produced by Ashton Drake, and in recent years has been produced by Integrity Toys. Even though Mel is retiring the Gene line, there will be several events (and new dolls) in 2010 celebrating Gene's 5th anniversary. Personally, this is sad news for me, since Gene was the first larger-format modern fashoin dolls that I collected and reported on.

I'm usually a traditionalist for the holidays--when I think holiday dolls, I think of red, green, silver and gold. So, it was a bit of a shock to me that I really like the 2009 Holiday Barbie doll. She's--pink! Pink is not a traditional holiday color, but it is the perfect color for a holiday Barbie doll that caps off Barbie's 50th anniversary year. Find out more in my review of the 2009 Holiday Barbie doll.

Charisma Brands announced today that they have acquired the Adora Doll Company, founded by David Lin and Frank Ren. Charisma, home of Marie Osmond Dolls, is already shipping 2009 Adora product to retailers and will introduce the new 2010 Adora designs at the IDEX and Toy Fair shows beginning in January 2010. Adora Doll is best knownn for their baby and toddler dolls. Adora's longtime customer service and sales administrator, Sandy Fawzi, will join the Charisma team and will continue in her role.