The world’s first transgender doll is being unveiled at the New York toy fair this weekend, modelled on the US teenager and LGBTQ campaigner Jazz Jennings.
Sixteen-year-old Jennings was propelled to fame as one of the youngest people ever officially documented as transgender. She has signalled her personal approval of the doll, which she thinks sends out a positive message about being transgender.
“Ever since I was little, I always loved playing with dolls,” she said in an interview with the New York Times ahead of the toy fair. “It was a great way to show my parents that I was a girl, because I could just express myself as I am. So this really resonates with me, because it was something so pivotal in my own journey.”
The doll is being made by the Tonner Doll Company, based in Kingston, New York, which specialises in making collectible fashion and specialist dolls for adults and children - including TV, comic book and movie characters such as Wonder Woman, Spider Man and Harry Potter. It boasts a plus-size doll in its range and claims to have a history of groundbreaking dolls based on “socially transformational heroes”.
“I’m a doll!” Jennings posted on her Facebook page. “Thanks Tonner for being so progressive!” In a company statement, Tonner’s chief executive, Robert Tonner, who personally sculpted the doll, said: “Jazz stands for everything I respect from a human nature point of view – she’s incredibly brave, intelligent, warm-hearted and creative.”
Tonner hopes to begin producing the dolls in a limited edition run in late spring or early summer and selling them online and via specialist toy retailers. A prototype of the plastic doll – 18 inches (45cm) high – will be unveiled at the Toy Fair in Manhattan this weekend.
Jennings was born male and came out as transgender at the age of five. She attracted national attention in a high-profile Barbara Walters interview on 20/20 when she was just six years old.
Since then, the Florida teen has made television appearances and toured the country as an advocate for transgender youth, addressing schools, universities and conferences. She has written two books: a 2014 children’s title, with Jessica Herthel, and a memoir, released last year. She is now the high-profile star of I Am Jazz, a reality show on the TLC channel, in which she has chronicled her physical and emotional struggles.
To match the outfit Jennings wears on the cover of her second book, Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen, the doll will be wearing a pink top and denim shorts. That model is expected to retail for $89.99 (£72) in the US, while another, red-carpet-ready version of the doll will probably sell for more than $100.
Jennings told the NYT she looked forward to owning one of the dolls, which will have a place of honour in her bedroom. “I was just so excited,” she said. “I think this sends a very positive message about the transgender community.”
The New York Toy Fair will also be hosting the launch of a new range of Hatchimals, which were the must-have present for Christmas 2016. The new range of 70 collectable mini-Hatchimals – called Colleggtibles and priced at a more affordable £2.99 each, compared with £59.99 for the originals – will be grouped into nine themed families, with buyers also lured by special and limited editions.
Penguin Random House Children’s UK has recently acquired world publishing rights (excluding North America) from Canadian manufacturer Spin Master to a three-year licensing programme for Hatchimals, which will lead to books, sticker activity books and collectors’ guides.
