What's Hot

By Lorinda Bateman

New York's annual Toy Fair is always an exciting event for retailers and collectors. It is there that the public gets its first look at the new lines, and retailers get the first feedback on their creations.

This was especially true in 1995 when Ashton-Drake, a company that had been known mostly for baby dolls, introduced Gene™, its first fashion doll. Created by illustrator Mel Odom and sculpted by Michael Everet, Gene stands a commanding 151/2 inches tall and is made of high quality hard vinyl. With a hauntingly beautiful face, a graceful figure inspired by Vargas drawings, classic hairstyles, and an opulent wardrobe, she is the embodiment of the glamor of the 40s and 50s Hollywood stars. In a word, Gene has class.

In order to enter Gene's world you must embrace the Ashton-Drake Gene team's concept. Gene is not a doll. She is a person. She was born Katie Marshall on April 17, 1923. She adopted the name Gene from her beloved grandfather who had always encouraged her to follow her dreams. Going first to New York and then to Hollywood, she was discovered while working as an usherette at the Rialto Theater. The rest, as they say, was history as Gene Marshall enjoyed a 21-year career in films before retiring in 1962.

Each of her costumes is either one that she wore for a movie role or part of her personal wardrobe. All of her outfits are created by designers. Several were designed by high school fashion majors, as part of an experiment by Ashton-Drake. Because Gene is a movie star, she can play any role and therefore wear any costume as long as it doesn't post date her time frame. Thus we will never see Gene as a computer whiz or an astronaut.

The most amazing thing about Gene is that each change of costume and hairstyle and color transforms her into yet another goddess of the silver screen. As a blond dressed in black sequins, velvet, and fur, she becomes Lana Turner. As a brunette pin up, she resembles Merle Oberon. As a fiery redhead in a scarlet dress, she is Rita Heyworth. Dressed incognito she looks like Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps it is necessary to be a fan of 40s and 50s films, or be old enough to remember them to fully appreciate Gene's chameleon-like quality.

Mel Odom has said that Gene was created not to compete with Barbie®, but to advance the concept of all fashion dolls. Undoubtedly Gene has done just that. But, the fact is, many diehard collectors of vintage Barbies have also embraced Gene.

There are good reasons for this. For many people, Gene's hard vinyl construction and the exquisite nature of her clothing harken back to the days of the first Barbies. Initially, Gene was priced low enough at $69 with outfits at $29 that people who collect other fashion dolls felt comfortable adding her to their collections. Since then the price has climbed steadily, but is still within the reach of most collectors.

Gene has a unique relationship with her collectors. Most NRFB (never removed from box) dolls are painstakingly kept in that condition year after year with the slightest box dent lowering their value. Gene collectors not only take their dolls out of the boxes for display, they rotate outfits among their dolls to achieve different looks.

A glance at the Gene category on eBay™ shows that many dolls are being sold separate from their original outfits and vice versa. This is unheard of in doll collecting where total originality has always been the primary goal. But somehow Gene is a doll that inspires interaction, not just a look from afar as she stands in her curio cabinet.

Those with artistic talent have taken it one step farther. They are repainting Gene's features, re-rooting her hair, and designing one-of-a-kind outfits, accessories, and furniture that are absolutely magnificent. Some of these creations are being auctioned for charity by individuals or Gene fan clubs.

Gene fans on the net have many ways of showing their devotion to their favorite star. Ashton-Drake maintains a site with a Gene Forum, there are online clubs and magazines, there are Gene stories to introduce new costumes, and there is plenty of Gene chat.

For people who like to meet other collectors face to face, there are also Gene conventions on both coasts. The conventions feature costume contests, charity auctions, and a chance to meet Mel Odom and the other members of the Gene team up close and personal. Most important to many collectors is the convention exclusive souvenir Gene doll.

When Gene was introduced, Barbie was the undisputed queen and no other doll had been able to make so much as a dent in the fashion doll market. Three years and one half million dolls and costumes later, Gene is still going strong with retired dolls and costumes selling briskly on the secondary market. There is talk of creating a gentleman friend and a lady rival for her (in lieu of a best friend). Barbie has been around for nearly 40 years. Can Gene last as long? Many collectors believe that she will.

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