My Twinn dolls were famous for many years before they suddenly disappeared off shelves. Let’s find out what happened to My Twinn dolls.
My daughter loves to play with My Twinn dolls. She treats the doll as her baby and offers her food and water. The exciting thing about this doll is that it looks exactly like a child.
My Twinn dolls won many hearts from the year 1993 to January 2016. People were buying these Twinn dolls for nearly $100 along with one outfit, shoes, socks, a tank, and a short set. These dolls were available in either 23 or 18 inches, but both size dolls had wigged hair. People used to brush her hair with a wigged hairbrush.
But when they were pulled off the market in 2016, it left many people wondering what happened to My Twinn dolls? Unfortunately, the company stopped producing My Twinn dolls as it ran out of money.
Today, you can hardly find any My Twinn dolls on the market, and those too are in short supply. In this article, we will discuss more My Twinn Dolls and its history. So, continue reading the article for more information.
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What Happened To My Twinn Dolls?
I think My Twin dolls are the favorite of most of the kids. These dolls are designed in such a way that they look entirely like the owner. The buyer selects the doll’s skin tone along with outfits, hairstyle, and hair color and sends the image of the child so that skilled artisans will sculpt the doll to look just like the buyer’s child.
The Early Days
These dolls were manufactured in 1993 in California by John Kurdika, a physician by profession, and Lisa Driscol, who was the account executive of a Child entertainment company. The new company received more than 400 orders of dolls without advertising virtually.
My Twins dolls, Cookie and Karen, sculpted by Vincent De Flippo were quite famous by the end of the year. Those dolls could sit and lie down but need a stand to be put in an upright position independently.
These dolls were known to have Apple Valley body types. Later they were modified by changing the skin, hair, and eye color to match with the owner. The company also gave the scope of introducing birthmarks, pierced ears, and eyeglasses on those dolls.
1995-2001
In the year 1995, Dr. Kurdika sold the company to Flagship group. Consequently, My Twinn shifted from California to Colorado. The assembly of the MyTwinn doll was done in a plant in Littleton.
The new owner attended an event and noticed a lecture by Karl Quilter, who was speaking on the face shape of dolls. So, they consulted him, and he was asked to sculpt several face types and molds, which collectors call Catherine, Kelsey, Kate, Jessica, Rosemary, and Mallory.
The new owner was quite excited and offered almost ten facial characteristics like face shape, skin tone, eye, eyelash and eyebrow color, hair cut, hairstyle, the thickness of the hair, birthmark, and moles to the customer. It resulted in a doll that looked very close to the child of the customer. When the owner placed an advertisement about the My Twinn doll in the magazine, the company received more than 2000 orders on a single day.
In 1996, My Twinn partnered with Fao Schwartz, and the company advertised the dolls in their catalogs and flagship store. In the year 1997, the company included My Twinn Boy at the request of many customers. The company also introduced posable 23-inch dolls which can stand on their own.
My Twinn dolls’ popularity was spreading widely, and it even reached Asia at that time. In 1999, My Twinn switched from white fabric to skin tone fabric covering in poseable dolls.
2001 Onwards
The period up to 2001 was a golden age for My Twinn dolls. The casting of the head was done at that time in China, along with generic cheek and lips painting. But the final insertion of eyes and repainting of lips was done in Denver.
But after 2001, the My Twinn dolls had variations in face and eyebrow color. The tragic events in September 2001 had a heavy impact on the selling of My Twinn dolls. The company had to face millions of losses in the holiday season and never recovered from it, the turning point in the My Twinn doll history.
The Move To China
Finally, My Twinn company shifted the manufacturing of dolls entirely to China to recover from losses. In the year 2002, they opened a retail store in Denver.
Although Asian artists produce beautiful dolls, the issues raised with the eye, wig, vinyl, and assembly of dolls, consequently, the quality of the dolls decreased day by day. The shipping problems from China also started to cause delays.
So people could not get My Twinn dolls at the right time. So, they were disappointed, and that had a massive impact on the sale of dolls.
2016 – Shutdown
The company had to face severe loss, and finally, the owner decided to shut the production of dolls in January 2016. Today, there is no service even for the existing dolls. So fans who want to buy My Twinn dolls cannot contact the customer care about the issues with the dolls.
Answers To More Questions About My Twinn Dolls
#1. When did My Twinn go out of business?
My twin company stopped the production of dolls in January 2016. Fans were disappointed to hear this, but it did not come all of a sudden. By the end of 2015, the quality of the dolls has decreased rapidly. Even the company had a massive loss at that time. So it ceased the production of My Twinn dolls.
#2. What is My Twinn doll?
Kids love to play with dolls. But My Twinn dolls are a bit different. The sculpture of My Twinn produces dolls so that it resembles the face of the owner’s child. The dolls have several skin tones, eyeshades, hairstyles, wig color, and length, which the owner chooses when buying.
They are almost 23 inches tall and have a soft cuddly body with an armature inside to have various pose-ability. If I talk about My Twinn toddlers, they are 20 inches tall but with soft, cuddle, and durable bodies. Now the My Twinn management has stopped the production of the dolls. So you can rarely find these dolls in any antique store.
#3. How do I change my Twinn doll’s eyes?
Eye changing of My Twinn dolls is quite challenging. You need to lie the doll on a clean towel with the head facing sideways. Now take a hairdryer and focus the nozzle towards the eye, leaving an inch away from the eyes. Now leave the blow for five to 10 minutes.
When the vinyl is squishy, gently remove the eyes from the doll. Then heat the vinyl again and push the new eyes under the upper eyelid and back towards the head of My Twinn doll.
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Wrap Up
The specialty of the My Twinn dolls is that they look like the child of the owner. Kids love to have them. Unfortunately, it could not last long.
The company did wildly well till the year 2000; after that, the quality of the dolls declined year by year. The company had to face heavy losses. So, finally, it ceased the production of the dolls in 2016, which has many heartbroken fans around the World.
I hope you liked this article, and please don’t forget to share any suggestions for this article in the comment section. I would be glad to read your suggestions.