| Halloween Dolls | |
Holiday dolls are perennial favorites--collectors love them to add seasonal spice to their collections, and even non-collectors cannot resist a holiday doll to mingle with the decorations. And there's almost no holiday that can compete with Halloween for variety and inventiveness of dolls. At Halloween, everything from baby dolls to porcelains to Barbies gets to play dress up!
Some of My Favorite Halloween Dolls: Adora Boo and Ginny
One
of my favorite all-time Halloween doll is Adora Boo by Marian, LLC.
This doll was sculpted by Marie Osmond, and it is part of her popular Adora
Belle series. These dolls are very stylized--much like a Kewpie or
Googlie--they
have great big eyes, and a definite character look to them. There are
several holiday dolls in this series, including one for Easter, one for
Christmas, and the Freedom Belle for the 4th of July. Adora Boo has a
giant witch's hat, and she wears an orange, silver and black dress, has a black
taffeta cape, black boots, orange stockings with black cats printed on them, and
she holds a cauldron in one hand and a straw broom in the other! The doll
is vinyl, limited and retails for $79.99. The latest Halloween doll in
this series is the Adora Boo Kitty, which is an Adora Belle all decked out for
Halloween as a Kitty Cat!
Another favorite is the Ginny October doll--she is from a collection of dolls dressed up to represent each month of the year. In this Ginny wears the ever-in-demand pumpkin costume, available as a dressed doll for $39.99 or available as a separate costume. The September doll from this series also has great colors for a Halloween or harvest display.
Another company that produces fun Halloween dolls is Annalee--their sweet mice and other creatures often dress for the holiday including Annalee Hobgoblins.
Barbie Goes Halloween
"They're creepy and
they're kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They're all together ooky,
The Addams Family....."The
Addams Family Barbie® and Ken® dolls may not technically be Halloween dolls, but
they are two of the hottest Halloween-themed dolls ever produced.
What could be better than the spooky Morticia Adams and her amour, Gomez for a
Halloween display? This set of dolls was released by Mattel in 2000, and
they can be found in 2004 for between $100 and $120 NRFB on the secondary market. This set
was produced as a Collector's Edition, meaning it was produced in an edition over 35,000.
Another hot Barbie Halloween collectible (well, again, not technically
Halloween, but they look great in a Halloween display!) are Barbie and Ken as
the Munsters--this set is rare and sells for between $200 and $240 on
the secondary market. Of course, Barbie has appeared in so many varieties
and guises over the years that its not hard to find dolls that are "in
costume" and perfect for a Halloween display.
Hot Halloween Dolls: Kelly and Friends, more Barbie
Another
popular set of hot Halloween dolls were first produced in 1998--these are the Kelly and Friends Halloween Party
Dolls. These dolls are ONLY available at Target stores--they are a limited
exclusive. The dolls always come dressed for a Halloween party--for instance,
the dolls in 2002 
included Jenny or Deidre
as a Pumpkin, Kelly as
an Alien, Kayla as a Ghost (pictured on page
2) and Tommy as a Cowboy.
These dolls come in unique Halloween-decorated tube packaging, in which the base of the package serves as a
stand. The 2000 dolls
retailed for $6.99 each and can be found NRFB at the secondary market from $5 to
$20, depending on the character. In 2002, the special Target Halloween
dolls were Kelly as a pumpkin (pictured)
Tommy as a scarecrow, Lorena as a Witch, and Jenny as a Genie. For 2004,
the Target Halloween dolls include a tiger, witches and a vampire (Tommy).
Target has also produced limited special Halloween Barbies (sometimes with Kelly) since 1996. These dolls are very popular with collectors of both dolls and Halloween items. Many collectors have collected these dolls hoping that they would escalate in value because of their limited nature. However, because of the ultra-liquid market created by eBay and other online auction houses, the Target Halloween sets sell on eBay, NRFB, for approximately $25 to $35, at best (great news if you want to go back and complete your collection!). Former sets have included Barbie in a sweatshirt and Kelly as a pumpkin (1997), Barbie and Ken as pirates (1998), Barbie and Kelly as Tigers (1999), and four Kelly and friend dolls in various Halloween costumes (in one box--butterfly, witch, skeleton and princess, also 1999). This year, the special Target Barbie is all decked out in a purr-fectly adorable costume--as a big, pink spotted kitty in "Purr-fectly Halloween Barbie." Another general release 2002 Halloween Barbie is the "Halloween Glow Barbie." For 2004, for general release is the lovely "Halloween Enchantress" Barbie, sold at mass merchants.
Madame Alexander and Ann Estelle
Of course, there are numerous dolls by numerous doll makers that have been made specifically to celebrate Halloween. Some of the dolls are made as scary literary characters--such as the Madame Alexander Bride of Frankenstein. More commonly, dolls appear in Halloween costumes just as the Kelly dolls do--everything from cute little girls dressed as pumpkins and witches, to baby dolls dressed as bears. For 2004, the Halloween Treats Madame Alexander has been extremely popular--a Wendy dressed for Trick or Treat along with her little bear friend!
Pictured
to the left are some of these Madame Alexander Halloween dolls. Through
the years, Madame Alexander has made many of their 8" dolls dressed in
Halloween costumes.
Another popular current toddler doll, Mary Engelbreit's Ann Estelle by Robert Tonner, has had several Halloween outfits available, including an adorable Fairy outfit, and this year a whimsical very-Engelbreit witch outfit called Trick or Treat (available as a dressed doll OR a separate outfit--see page 2 for photos).
Bitty Baby and the American Girls
If baby dolls are more to your liking, one baby doll that has been adorably outfitted for Halloween is the Bitty Baby doll from the Pleasant Company. Bitty Baby is a life-like baby doll that is available in various ethnic versions, with separate costumes available. This year, Bitty Baby has a new pumpkin outfit available (see page 2 for photo). Several years ago, a bear outfit was also available for Bitty Baby. Bitty Baby is a wonderful doll for little girls to take along, costumed for Halloween, when they are trick or treating. My daughter took around her Bitty Baby dressed as a Bear when she was just 5 years old, and I think she scored double the candy her brother did!
Many
mothers who sew their daughter's costumes also sew costumes for their daughter's
American
Girls. There are
several patterns available for costumes for American
Girls, and little girls also delight in taking their favorite American Girl
doll, in costume, trick or treating. There are also various
websites that have pre-made Halloween
costumes that will fit the American Girls for sale.
Whether you are a doll collector, a Halloween addict looking for dolls to enhance your Halloween decorations or display, or a child looking for a doll to go trick-or-treating with, there are dolls available to fill your need. Happy Halloween!
Next page > More Photos of Halloween Dolls: Ann Estelle, Bitty Baby, more Barbie and Kelly > Page 1, 2, 3
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©Denise Van Patten 2000
All Rights Reserved.
