My Child Doll by Mattel

This sweetheart is one of the oldest dolls that I have in my collection, and shows my enduring love for dolls past childhood, because I must have been around a senior in high school when I acquired her. Since she is made in Taiwan and has a green heart on her rear, she dates from 1985, according to this site. I don't have her original box, but I do have a lot of her paperwork.

This paper seems to be for the shelf stocker at the store. Her box was open in front, unlikely to happen today.

This gives the proud parent the opportunity to order a locket and also shows the different features available for the dolls at this time. The idea was that the doll was supposed to look like you, being your child, but of course you could buy any doll that caught your eye. I am a brunette with hazelish eyes, so my doll looks mostly like me.

This is a brag book, where you could fill out your doll's favorite things, draw pictures of your doll and record special events with your doll. If I was a child when I got my doll, I probably would have filled out some of the pages. As it is, I can't even remember what I named her at the time.

Here she is! Since her feet are so big, she can stand on her own, despite the fact that her head is pretty large also.

Here is a closeup of her face, showing that some of soft, peach fuzz skin is loose. That seems to be something common to certain dolls. Also, I added the blue star on her sailor dress. The original star was some kind of label and either I didn't like it, or it started coming off. I bought this star at JoAnn's and sewed it on by hand. This is her original dress. Her original diaper cover needs a good soaking in Biz and new elastic.

She also came with Pampers diapers. The glue on the tab on the other side dried up, and the tab fell off. I recall seeing replacement diaper packs occasionally on eBay. Maybe someday I'll spring for one.

This are her original shoes and socks. The socks have yellowed.

The My Child dolls seem to still be rather popular in the collector's market. Dolls in the best condition are going for over a hundred dollars on eBay. The dolls have very endearing faces, the fabric skin is pleasant to touch, and at about 12 1/2 inches tall, are a nice size for a child to hug and carry around. The hair on dolls that were actively played with generally looks disheveled, but can be washed, brushed and combed into decent order, from what I have seen. I bought dolls for my daughters on eBay about nine years ago, when they expressed an interest in mine, and the hair looks acceptable, if not factory new. My poor darling seems to have been made with the lowest overall quality from this line, but even with the skin sag, she is still a wonderful doll.