This fully pose-able Mannequin Doll, simply known to many a collector as "Dollikin", was marketed between the years 1956 and 1961.

  By market sales this means she was only sold through mail-order catalogues such as Montgomery Wards and Spiegel.  In the following scant years (up to 1961), she was offered in department stores such as F.W. Woolworth, and W.T. Grants.    

During this same time, other companies produced wannabe Dollikins (competitors) who were sold under the name of Miss Twist or The Mannequin Doll.  Future years, and after the introduction of Barbie , Uneeda produced another fully jointed Dollikin in the 11-1/2" size.  The 1980's brought the introduction of, "Triki Miki".  She was a TINY 6-1/2" vinyl doll with not as many joints as her larger predecessors.

There was also a 15 Dollikin produced during the same era, and we will touch on more of her history a little later. 

Dollikins brain-child created her, simply because he wanted to make the most pose-able doll in the world.  I would say he did a fantastic job, given the resources, costly mold prices, and manufacturing processes of this era (Right here in the good old US of A in Brooklyn, NY!).  The proof of her durability and construction reins forever high in the Quality arena for many a "New Milleinum" collector.  After all, this doll has withstood the test of time, since she is well past her 50^th year.  (Wish I looked as good as she still does!)

Dollikin has been enjoying a wonderful revival in the doll collecting world today.  Many baby-boomers (children born between 1944 and 1964), are on an avid hunt for this much coveted doll.  Most current collectors both owned one of these as a child, and want to recapture their magical childhood memories, or, they have found their way to the Vintage Hard Plastic dolls of this era and wish to add one to their collections.

Without argument, and with the current onslaught of so many fully pose-able dolls being offered on todays market, collectors truly want their dolls to reflect natural, human poses.  This in itself is what attracts collectors to the vintage Dollikin.  Full articulation of any doll mirrors real life, and therefore nothing is sweeter in a doll collectors hand than that POSE-ALL dolly!  Thank goodness Dollikin can provide this outlet for many of us.

Within the following pages, I will document Dollikins history, and how she came to find a special place within collectors hearts.

There were four different sized Dollikins produced from the years 1956 through the late 1980's.  The first and probably most easily acquired (these days) is the 20 Dollikin. Collectors may argue that she is 19" or 21".  For the record, she is 20" tall standing flat-footed and 21" tall in her high-heeled shoes.   Her body is all hard plastic, sporting 16 articulated joints, vinyl head, open and close inset eyes in varying colors, brush eyelashes, painted mouth, brows, and rooted hair (also in varying colors).  Articulated joints on this size include head, shoulder, bicep, elbow, wrist, waist, hip, knee, and ankle. 

The second is the 12 Dollikin who was undoubtedly in competition with Barbie when introduced.  This little gal has the full vinyl body; a vinyl rooted head, with painted eyes and only has 14 points of articulation.

The third is a 15" full-bodied hard-vinyl doll (similar to the Miss Revlon(TM) doll produced during that era) with 16 points of articulation, which was the prototype of her larger counterpart.  She has a soft vinyl head with rooted hair, painted lips, brush lashes, and open and close inset eyes.  This particular size is VERY rare, is getting harder to find, and most collectors might pay upwards of $700.00 for her.  Due to her construction and the many years she survived (or in many cases, didn't survive) childs' play, a collector should consider themselves very lucky if they might find one that is all in one piece.  This size  Dollikin was produced with metal pieces in her arms and legs, which over the years, have protruded through her vinyl limbs. This has become a an accepted bummer for many of us who have the pleasure of owning one.

The last of the four Dollikins is the 6-1/2" doll with only 9 points of articulation.  The Head, shoulder, elbow, waist, hip, and knee are her only joints.  She is strung with very thin elastic and although very tiny in size, she too can assume many human positions.

Lets start with the most popular of the four.  The original 20" Dollikin was strung with a heavy black rubber-band and a spring from her head to her torso.  Naturally, the other working joints include small "s"-shaped hooks to hold her arms and legs in place.  Her knee, elbow, and ankle joints were constructed using the pin-in method.  Simply put, this means a rod was used in each joint, so it could rotate/bend around the limb for the desired posings.