DollsLikeMe.com Ranks Top 25 Hispanic Dolls

New York, NY (October 9, 2008) – DollsLikeMe.com has ranked the Top 25 Hispanic Dolls and made the list available for free download at their Website, www.dollslikeme.com, according to Denise Gary Robinson, company president. “With the economy in serious flux and the rising cost of everything from consumer goods to gas, parents are focusing more and more on quality, traditional toys with extended play value – and they will be shopping for them online.” She added about the need for the Guide, “It is hard to gauge quality when you are looking at a doll on a monitor. So we would like to assist in the selection process if we can.”

According to Gary Robinson, “Right after school started last year calls began trickling in about dolls for children of color. By Thanksgiving, we had received hundreds of calls and by Christmas, we had received more than 1000.” This year, we hope our series of holiday gift guides will assist parents looking for culturally relevant, quality toys with both play and self-esteem value.

The Top 25 Hispanic Dolls list ranks the dolls by a formula which rates parent response, play value, cultural and ethnic representation, and quality. The ranking is an average of the four ratings listed in order from highest to lowest.  Additional lists, including The Top 25 Asian Dolls, The Top 25 Black Dolls, and The Top 25 Multicultural Baby Gifts will be published over the next few weeks.  

The number one Hispanic doll on the list is Reina from Forever Friends Girls™. Reina, who is 18” tall, arrives with a book bag, poncho and hardcover book, The First Day of Forever, which features Reina and her friends.  According to Connecticut parent and DollsLikeMe.com customer, M. Martinez, “Reina is the first Latina doll that made me feel like I was giving my daughter a real Latina doll.” The Forever Friends Girls dolls were named as one of Dr. Toy’s “Best Children’s Products for 2008.
 

DollsLikeMe.com began with the Hispanic dolls Guide because that consumer base comprises nearly half of all sales (40%) at DollsLikeMe.com. In addition, “Several manufacturers are introducing new toys and products aimed at Latino children or are updating existing toys to reflect the face of this growing consumer base,” Gary Robinson said.

She continued, “Parents are more concerned than ever about self-esteem and the importance of girls of color learning to love and appreciate themselves.” According to self-esteem expert, Ophira Edut, writing at adiosbarbie.com, “…Dolls are where girls get early lessons about self-image and identity. When people have told me that "Barbie's just a doll," I've argued that …Girls of color can suffer from an identity distortion when they don't see images of themselves represented in popular culture and the media. There's a self-esteem issue here.”

Gary-Robinson agrees, but thinks things are changing for girls of color, "I see manufacturers really putting forth the effort to introduce complete lines of quality dolls representing girls of many cultures. Finally they are recognizing America’s growing multicultural population.” She continues, “Designers are finally redesigning facial features, hair and even clothing to more accurately reflect the cultures the dolls are supposed to represent.”

The dolls and toys mentioned on the list are available online at DollsLIkeMe.com or through the local DollsLikeMe.com representative.

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Supporting Statistics

Parents of children of color regularly scan retail shelves looking for culturally and ethnically sensitive dolls and puppets – often coming away empty-handed, according to a poll conducted by the multicultural and advertising firm UB for DollsLikeMe.com.

The 2005 survey found that 82% of African American parents, 74% of Hispanic parents, and 50% of Asian parents felt, “it is important for children of color to have dolls that look like them.”

Of those parents, an overwhelming 94% of the African American parents and 90% of the Hispanic parents agreed that the limited selection of quality dolls and puppets of color was, as one Latina parent in a large New Jersey Hispanic community put it (as she looked around at a store full of Spanish-speaking shoppers and employees), “el insultar” (insulting).

The poll was taken of 2230 parents of African American children, 470 parents of Hispanic children and 20 parents of Asian children.