Spice Girls dolls

The Spice Girls Dolls are celebrity dolls based on the popular girl-group the Spice Girls. They were released by Galoob Toys from 1997.

History

The dolls became a huge hit during the Christmas seasons of 1997 and 1998,^[1] selling over eleven million.

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:

• "Girl Power" - Autumn 1997 - ©1997 Galoob Toys, Inc.
• "On Tour" - June 1998 - ©1998 Galoob Toys, Inc. (two versions of Posh were made, the original with shoulder-length bob, and the second with new short crop)
• "Superstar Collection" - August 1998 - ©1998 Galoob Toys, Inc. (five dolls in one box)
• "Concert Collection" - Autumn 1998 - ©1998 Galoob Toys, Inc.
• "Spice It Up! 1" - January 1999 - ©1999 Galoob Toys, Inc.

Galoob/Hasbro Four doll collections:

• "On Stage" - June 1999 - ©1999 Galoob Toys, Inc. (pre-production Geri was created, but never produced and sold)
• "Spice It Up! 2" - Summer 1999 - ©1999 Galoob Toys, Inc., a subdivision of Hasbro (with Spiceworld Fashions, ©1998 Galoob Toys, Inc.)
• "Viva Forever 1" - Autumn 1999 - ©1999 Hasbro, Inc. (including the Viva Forever videotape - shown at the 1999 Toy Fair as the "Collector Series" ©1999 Galoob Toys, Inc.)
• "Viva Forever 2" - Autumn 1999 - ©1999 Hasbro, Inc. (including the Viva Forever fairy finger puppets)
• "Millennium Tour Collection" - October 2000 - ©2000 Hasbro, Inc. (unproduced)

"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.

• "My First Singing Spice Girl" Dolls - ©1998 - Street Life Limited
• "My Outfit, My Song" Fashions - ©1998 - Street Life Limited
• "My New Talking Spice Girl" Dolls - ©1999 Toymax Inc. / Street Life Limited

References

1. In pictures: Spice Girls through the years, BBC News, 28 June 2007, p. 4, retrieved 2009-08-04

External links

• SPICEbeautiful
• The Action Figure Archive: Galoob: Spice Girls.
• Rock Jem: Similar dolls