With the release of the Princess and the Frog and the Princess Tiana and other dolls from the movie this Fall, black and other ethnic dolls have been in the news, and doll diversity has been both criticized and praised. I recommend a thoughtful look at these issues in Do Our Dolls Have To Look Like Us? in the Wall Street Journal.

Next week is Thanksgiving, which means that December is practically here, and if you are like me, you are already thinking about holiday decorating. If so, don't forget how well dolls fit in with Christmas and other holiday decorations! To help with your doll-iday inspirations, you'll want to read my Top 10 Ways To Decorate With Dolls For Christmas.

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.