The Revlon Doll Who Almost Came Home

There was a revolution in the doll industry during the mid 1950's and a move from baby dolls to fashion dolls inevitably became the norm. There were so many dolls entering and competing in the marketplace, including Madam Alexander's Cissy with her sculpted bust line and her permanently arched feet to accommodate high-heeled shoes. Almost every toy company had a version of the adult fashion doll, with Ideal’s Revlon doll becoming the most successful.

The Ideal Toy Company (1907-97) acquired the Revlon license to make what was marketed at the time as “the most beautiful doll ever made”. It began production of the Miss Revlon dolls in 1956 and this continued until 1959. The Miss Revlon dolls were made in various sizes, including 15, 18, 20, 23 and 26 inch models. The dolls were marked "VT" followed by the doll's size, such as "VT18" or "VT20" (the "V" stood for vinyl, though I have no idea about the "T", unless it meant tall).

Miss Revlon dolls came with a variety of costumes, many of which had beautiful accessories, such as faux pearl necklaces and rabbit fur stoles.

There was also a Little Miss Revlon that was smaller, standing approximately 10.5 inches tall, which were made between 1958 and 1960. These were made from high-quality vinyl, with strung jointing, inset blinking sleep eyes, rooted saran hair and hand-painted facial detail. The smaller beauties were limited to 500 pieces, which makes them harder to find than the taller versions.

Then many years later, Robert Tonner, the prominent fashion designer, sculptor, doll artist and also collector of these tiny dolls, was inspired by the glamorous Little Miss Revlon from the Golden Age of Fashion to produce his own Vintage Revlon dolls. Robert modified the face sculpt, as the original Little Miss Revlon’s eyes were not perfectly symmetrical and a new version which embodied well proportioned, balanced facial features was born.

The first two of three dolls, Frosted Pink and Queen of Diamonds, arrived into stock in early May, 2011 and retailed for US$124.99. The third Vintage Revlon doll arrived at the end of May. This was followed by further dolls, including a bride.

-oOo-

This post came about because Linda's recent post reminded me of the  Robert Tonner Vintage Revlon Blushing Bride that I once considered adding to my collection. I have often wished I had, but never did.

She has the Vintage Revlon head sculpt with hand painted features, the 10.5 inch body made from fine quality vinyl in the Tyler skin tone, hard plastic blue eyes and brown rooted hair.

TONNER STOCK PHOTO

Revlon's bridal outfit is comprised of a gown, veil, floral headband, bouquet, pearl earrings and shoes. Her edition was limited to 500.

TONNER STOCK PHOTO

I also considered purchasing this Pink Parfait Outfit from the 2011 Collection, for her "going away" outfit.  The pink strapless lace dress has an attached full petticoat and her accessories include a white faux fur wrap, faux pearl earrings and necklace, with pink molded plastic shoes. This too was limited to an edition of 500.

NOTE: The Ideal Toy Company was made defunct by a merger with Mattel.