The Spice Girls Dolls are celebrity dolls based on the popular girl group the Spice Girls. They were released by Galoob Toys from 1997 to 1999. With sales of over 11 million, they are the best-selling celebrity dolls of all time.
Contents
History
In October 1997, it was announced that the Spice Girls were collaborating with Galoob Toys to create a range of Spice Girls dolls. The first dolls were originally due to be released in 1998, but as the profile of the band rose, the decision was taken to rush through production in time for the festive season.
The first set of dolls by Galoob were the "Girl Power" series released in December 1997, after more than two months of negotiations with the band and its management about the product. Due to the rushed production, there was a lack of supply of the dolls and only a fraction of the expected demand could be met, leading industry experts to fear there would be a "toy rage" phenomenon. Subsequent doll series were released in 1998 and 1999.
The dolls became a huge hit during the Christmas seasons of 1997 and 1998, selling over 11 million. In 1997, the Spice girls dolls generated more than $200 million in retail sales and the success of the dolls earned toymaker Galoob $150 million in pretax cash. The dolls were the fifth best-selling toy—despite limited stock—in the UK for the 1997 Christmas season according to the British Association of Toy Retailers' annual Christmas best-seller chart. In 1998, they were the second best-selling toy of 1998 in the United States according to toy trade publication Playthings' annual industry survey.
In total, eleven different sets of dolls were released. A "Sound Stage" playset was released and extra costumes, "Spiceworld Fashions" (two sets of four fashions), were later sold as "Spice It Up 2". The most sought-after line of all the dolls is the original "Girl Power" set. This features Geri Halliwell in her iconic Union Flag dress. Dolls featuring the girls with outfits from their music videos were planned, but never released.
When Geri Halliwell departed from the group in May 1998, Galoob continued the line with all five girls. It was a year after she left when Galoob finally released the sets of dolls that only had the four remaining girls. More than likely "On Tour," "Superstar Collection," "Concert Collection," and "Spice It Up! 1" were far enough into production that Galoob decided to release the Geri doll. Galoob was subsequently bought by Hasbro. Hasbro was going to continue the line into 2000, with the "Millennium Tour Collection" set for release in October. The Hasbro website had a page saying "coming soon," but Hasbro stopped the line when the future of the Spice Girls became uncertain.
Galoob collections
Galoob Five doll collections:
Galoob/Hasbro Four doll collections:
"Concert Collection" and "Viva Forever 1" came with the Galoob Anastasia body. Due to the heavy volume, many of the "Girl Power" and "On Tour" dolls were also sold with this body.
The dolls are now collectables and can be found on eBay. Some of the dolls are rare and collectable, especially the "Girl Power" and "On Tour" sets that have joints in their arms and legs (Concert Collection bodies), and the "Spice It Up 2" set with the Spiceworld fashions. Many imitations of the dolls have been made, most notably the "Girls Power" dolls and the "Spicy Collections", in which the dolls don't even resemble the appearance of the Spice Girls.
Toymax (Yaboom) / Street Life collections
Toymax Inc/ Toymax (Yaboom) Inc. / Street Life Limited made singing and talking dolls at the same time, but they were not popular and many fans though that they did not resemble the Spice Girls.