Type Doll Country United States | Inventor Ideal Toy Company Availability 1959-62; 1981–2003 | |
Company Ideal Toy Company; Ashton-Drake Galleries; Danbury Mint | ||
Patti Playpal, also spelled as Patti Play Pal, was an American line of dolls produced by the Ideal Toy Company during the late 1950s to early 1960s. The dolls head, arms, legs and torso are made from vinyl.
Contents
A main selling point of the dolls is their size. At 36 inches (91 cm) they are made and marketed as "companion dolls" to children, and thus are able to share clothing and play with its owner as if it were a real person.
Variants and similar dolls
Besides the original Patti Playpal doll, several variants were also released, including the 32 inches (81 cm) Penny, 28 inches (71 cm) Suzy, and the 38 inches (97 cm) Peter. A related line, the 38 inches (97 cm) and 42 inches (110 cm) Daddy's Girl dolls, were also released around the same time, representing a 12-year old girl. Special editions, including a Playpal modeled after child actress Shirley Temple, were also produced.
Owing to the popularity of the line, similar companion dolls and counterfeits were made and marketed by other companies under different names, such as those from Allied Eastern and numerous others.
Legacy
The line was briefly revived in the 1980s with new dolls, among them an African-American Playpal, and in the 2000s by Ashton-Drake Galleries and Danbury Mint, the latter of which released a reproduction of the Shirley Temple Playpal doll.