Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Toy Army Tuesdays - Ugly Dolls

DSC_0160a

Hi all, another installment of Toy Army Tuesday. I apologize for skipping last week but it was Valentines day sooo I think you didn't mind too much. This week I thought it would be fun to talk about the oddly cute and quirky Ugly Dolls.

DSC_0152a
My personal collection. (Left to right - Big Toe, OX, Ice-Bat, Babo, Brip, and Moxy.


According to the Ugly Doll website - UglyDolls.com, "'ugly' means unique and different, and celebrating who you are inside and out is the new beautiful." These best selling toys were created by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, and were first launched in January 2001. Since then Ugly Dolls have risen in popularity and were awarded Specialty Toy of the Year in 2006.

How Ugly dolls came to be is adorable. The following is and excerpt of an interview with David Horvath from CrownDozen.com - "Back in 2001, Sun-Min Kim forever changed the course of history when she sent her then long-distance boyfriend, David Horvath, a hand-sewn plush doll modeled after a little character he frequently doodled into the corners of his correspondence with her. The apron-wearing little fellow was named Wage, and he was the very first Uglydoll. Eventually, Sun-Min would bring to life even more of David's drawings, and what began as a huggable love-letter of sorts would result in a hugely successful line of plush dolls." In addition to the adorable love story, David and Sun-Min helped kick-start the designer plush movement.

DSC_0150a DSC_0144a

Initially I was drawn to their oddly cute appearance. I also loved that each doll had a unique name, story, and personality attached to it. I received my first Ugly Doll, Babo (the second Ugly Doll design ever created), senior year of high school and have been collecting them here and there ever since. Today Ugly Dolls have exploded. You can purchase plush dolls, apparel, accessories, vinyl toys, tin toys, ceramics, books, blankets, bags, tin toys, and luxury items. With such cute faces, why wouldn't you want to surround yourself with and Ugly Doll army?

I could go on and on about the different types of items designed by the Ugly Doll creators, but you can check it all out for yourself at - UglyDolls.com.

I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday. Please let me know if and which Ugly Dolls you own :]

32 comments:

  1. Do you remember Beanie Bears? When they first came out I bought 2 just because I liked the color of them. I sold them shortly after for $400. I just bought a handmade ragdoll whom I love. I may start collecting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness! I jumped onto that trend late but had hundreds, they are all just sitting in the basement wasting away. And cute! I love ragdolls, that would make a cute collection :]

      Delete
  2. haha I love the black one! Are those buck teeth? or fangs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :] Buck teeth for sure. He likes to sneak cookies haha - well according to his story at least.

      Delete
  3. Oh, I thought they were so ugly (aka Cuh-uuute!) when I first looked at them, but then reading the back story, I fell in love! What a romantic creation!
    I love the color of Brip, the name "Big Toe", but Ice Bat is my fave! :))) I love your toys and the stories of when you began collecting them, too. The origin of the toys are an even bigger helping of charm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't know about their back story until I started researching about them for the post yesterday - soooo sweet :]

      Ice Bat and Moxie are my two personal faves. I love collecting toys because a big part of it is how and when you acquire each of them.

      Delete
  4. I adore UglyDolls. I have a small black ice bat and an orange colored deer ugly that my husband and I got on our honeymoon in savannah.

    Your collection is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So cute!! It is so fun hearing how and where people acquire them.

      Thank you :]

      Delete
  5. A hugable love letter! How sweet is that! My niece has a Moxy doll. She's only 4 so I'm not sure she is aware of their back story though ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, cute. Well now you can share it with her :]

      Delete
  6. I have a big black Ice bat and a wedge head! they are my bed buddies :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :] Ox hangs out in bed with me as well. The rest sit on top a shelf because there are just too many running about haha.

      Delete
  7. These are so cute! I always see these in toy shops, but I can never convince my boyfriend to buy any for me :( Haha I already make that boy buy me enough silly toys as it is. Poor thing!
    xo Heather
    http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, aww. You are a lucky lady. I only bought 2 of these myself, the rest were kindly gifted to me over the years :]

      Delete
  8. Adorable! My favourite would have to be Moxy! ;)

    I've been wanting one of these ever since I saw one (or what I believe was one) in the movie 'Orphan'. :P

    - Felicity. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Moxy is probably my favorite - I love her color.

      I haven't seen that movie, but that is cool if it was in there. They are pretty popular now so I wouldn't be surprised.

      Delete
  9. I've always thought the Ugly dolls were quite cute. I didn't know the backstory behind them before. That is really too adorable!!

    Ian and Rena thank you for your sweet comment :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :] I am glad I could share it with you. And they are welcome, they are just too cute!!

      Delete
  10. aw, cuuute!

    and... i'm kinda really glad i finally tried making the bookmark too! it was just as hard as i'd imagined with my extremely limited talent - or lack thereof - in regard to sculpting; but i LOVED the way it turned out! eheh.

    i still have polymer clay so i;ve been looking for other projects - but tonight was a complete fail. lols.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :]

      The bookmark turned out great, really. I knew it would! Haha, good luck finding a project. I love working with that stuff. It is fun to make jewelry with.

      Delete
  11. Those are strangely adorable - and I kind of want one :)

    Annie
    The Other Side of Gray

    ReplyDelete
  12. These ugly dolls are amazing! I especially love that bat one, it's adorable! I think I need it haha :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha. That little guy is pretty cute, I love his fangs.

      Delete
  13. Yay, Toy Army Tuesday:D

    I've seen some of these in stores I think, but had never heard the story of how they came about. That makes them so much cooler even:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :] They have been popping up in so many stores lately. There back story might be my favorite part about them.

      Delete
  14. eeeeeee! my fave is the turquoise one (go figure!) ;) ha ha ha

    ReplyDelete

Newer Older Home
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...