History of My Child Dolls

Introduction in 1986

The Made in Taiwan version of the dolls was sold in the US and Canada. They were produced in pale skin and dark (African American) skin and you could chose between 4 haircolors (light blonde, ashblonde, brunette, red), 4 eye colors (violet blue, aqua blue, brown, green), 3 hairstyles for girls (puppytails, ponytails and single or double topknots), 2 hairstyles for boy (curly and straight), 24 outfits for girls and 17 outfits for boys (other 12 outfits were sold separately). Taiwan dolls have a very distinct look. Mattel made the eye sockets of the dolls for a left and right eye but they only made right eyes, so the eyes woudn't fit in the head properly and they suck out a little; also, fabric tended to stretch and the dolls ended up with saggy faces over time. Canada dolls have 2 tags and US only 1, the typical serial number on these dolls ends in 6R2 but some have been found with tags ending in L. Tags are still a mistery half-solved for collectors!

1986-1987

Mattel corrected the eye problem of the early MCs by changing the face mold and moved production to China!
Mattel kept producing the same dolls for the US with a 6R2 tag with better fabric and released a new Hispanic doll with brunette hair and unique brown eyes. They introduced a peachy skin doll for Canada, Australia, Europe, UK and New Zealand. The new "International" version of the dolls came in different hairstyles than the US version. Now we could find ringlet ponies, double ribbons, v-parts and ultra long ponies in the same eye and haircolors as before! Also, these dolls have a stronger makeup than the US dolls, don't have a My Child sticker on their backs and have tag numbers ending in 6R2 and 7HR. The boys were only sold in Australia and were only made in the pale skin color (just as the US dolls) but with the stronger makeup, not heart and 7HR tag.

1988

In order to reduce production prices for the US dolls, Mattel made smaller boxes and released them with no diaper or shoes and an 8HR tag. The Hispanics dolls and the boys were not sold in 1988 in the US or anywhere else. Everywhere else the last few '87 dolls were sold in the same white closed boxes but with new fashion outfits and hair barrettes. In Australia the new '88 Ribbons and Bows dolls were released and they had new fashion outfits with hair barrettes; they came in the same