Baby dolls and toy dolls of all sorts are perhaps the oldest toys around - a sort of "Toy Nobility" if you will. Well, in 2006, not much has changed. From the prestigious Madame Alexander dolls, to the fun new Elmo, to the timeless Barbie doll, they are still the hottest toys on the market and will be until the end of time.
The end of time?! Okay - a little dramatic, but true! Dolls are such a fun part of growing up. A quick poll around theKIDshoppe.com office was quite revealing... Harry has a stuffed dog named Snoop (no, not THE Snoop) and carried it with him until he was quite embarassingly old. When Alicia was 7 she made her little brother play with her Dream House Barbie - she claims he loved every minute of it. Of course, the Ken doll could always be presented to the little boys... But wait, there's more! In 1984 Colin got a Cabbage Patch Kid named Merlin Ryan. Colin still has Merlin in his original box! Let's not forget Shashi, who swears that his Talking Elmo doll helped him complete his 2005 taxes.
Well, the fun part is that male or female, everybody we talked to has a find childhood memory about playing with a doll of some sort. Stuffed, plastic, or somewhere in between - dolls are a part of all of us!
Some of the hottest dolls for 2006
Every year it gets better. Unquestionably, Dora the Explorer will be one of the biggest sellers this year. Not to be out-done, the Barbie Princess series is a force to be reckoned with. With a character for every disnet movie out there (and a built in marketing machine) the barbie line-up is as strong as ever this year. We even found the 12 Dancing Princesses Sister Pack - more fun than a bag of monkeys!
Timeless and New Dolls
I'm sure you knew that Baby Alive was still alive and well? (Sorry - couldn't resist the pun!) Now, she comes with bonues accessories including a bowl, spoon, and of course, her "real" baby food.
Elmo comes on strong this year with Elmo Knows Your Name - Elmo, in Furbie fashion will remember and say your name! Our testers favored the Hokey Pokey Elmo just because he's so much fun.
Jingles says, "Have a dinner party and invite all of your dolls - you can even put a shrimp on the Barbie!"
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