Tonner Doll Company, Inc. was a collectible

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

design and distribution company located in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with the New York metropolitan area around Manhattan by the United ...

. Founded by

Robert Tonner Robert Tonner (born July 14, 1952) is an American entrepreneur, fashion designer, sculptor, doll artist and owner of Tonner Doll Company, Inc. and the Effanbee Doll Company, Inc. Robert Tonner is best known for his fashion doll designs and the ...

in 1991, Tonner Doll designed and marketed original doll lines, as well as a number of licensed dolls for films such as '' Harry Potter'', '' Spider-Man 3'', and ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...

''. Its original products included the

Tyler Wentworth Tyler Wentworth was a 16" fashion doll created by Robert Tonner produced by the Tonner Doll Company, Inc. for adult collectors. Tyler Wentworth dolls were constructed of vinyl and hard plastic and had rooted hair or wigs. The Tonner Doll Company p ...

Kitty Collier Kitty Collier is a doll created by Robert Tonner and is marketed to mainstream doll collectors. There are two types of Kitty Collier, 18 inch ''Kitty'' with glass eyes and ''Tiny Kitty'', a 10-inch version with painted eyes. Kitty Collier was cre ...

, and Antoinette series.

History

Tonner Doll Company, Inc. was founded in 1991 by

under the name Robert Tonner Doll Designs (RTDD). Originally, the company had only three employees: Tonner, his partner Harris Safier, and a part-time seamstress. In February 1991, RTDD made its public debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York City, displaying multi-jointed porcelain

fashion doll Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adults. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, thou ...

s and jointed porcelain child dolls in limited editions. Prices ranged from $650 to $1500. In 1995, Tonner Doll gained licensing rights for the recreation of the 1950s paper doll Betsy McCall for reintroduction to the collector's market. To keep costs down, Tonner decided to produce the doll in China. Made from vinyl, the Betsy McCall-license series was one of the company's initial mainstream commercial successes. Over the following years, as RTDD's business grew, so did its staff. This growth would lead to the company being renamed the Tonner Doll Company. By 2000, Tonner Doll employed 24 people, including designers, marketers, and various sales and administrative staff. In 2017, the company released its first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

doll, modeled after the American activist Jazz Jennings. In December 2018, the Tonner Doll company officially closed.

Licensing rights

Tonner Doll had the licensing rights to design and develop dolls based on many American television, cinema, comic book, and video game franchises. Since the 1995 issue of the Betsy McCall doll, Tonner Doll had gained the merchandising rights for characters in films like 1997's ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' ( Kate Winslet) and 1999's Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

). In 2006, Tonner Doll gained licensing rights to recreate the cast of the Harry Potter series, as well as characters from ''

Memoirs of a Geisha ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and ...

''.

Tonner Doll licensed comic book heroes and villains from

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

for its DC STARS Collection. The line included 13-, 17-, and 22-inch dolls, including various versions of

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially a ...

, Batgirl, Batman, Black Canary,

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she is ...

Donna Troy Donna Troy is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the original Wonder Girl and later temporarily adopts another identity, Troia. Created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani, she first appeared in ''The B ...

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and debuted in i ...

Hawkwoman Hawkwoman is the name of several superheroines all owned by DC Comics and existing in that company's DC Universe. They are partners, and sometimes spouses or lovers, of the various versions of Hawkman, and share many features with the character Ha ...

, Huntress, Joker,

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...

, Mera, Poison Ivy,

Power Girl Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L and Karen Starr, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics, making her first appearance in ''All Star Comics'' #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the cousin of the superhero Supe ...

, Raven, Starfire,

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

( Linda Danvers), Superman,

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

(

Diana Prince Diana Prince is a fictional character appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, as the secret identity of the Amazonian superhero Wonder Woman, who bought the credentials and identity from a United States Army nurse named Diana Pri ...

), and

Zatanna Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in ''Hawkman (comic book), Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a st ...

. Over time, Tonner Doll also licensed the Twilight Saga,

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...

, '' Tomb Raider: Legend'', ''

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'', ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

'', ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, tele ...

'', ''

The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...

'', Mary Engelbreit's Ann Estelle, Fancy Nancy, Thèâtre de la Mode, Dick Tracy, ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

'', Disney Princesses,

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

, Davy Crockett, '' Pirates of the Caribbean'',

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is one of the Muppet characters known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases i ...

, Miss America, and characters from the comic strip '' For Better or for Worse'' by

Lynn Johnston Lynn Johnston (born May 28, 1947) is a Canadian cartoonist and author, best known for her newspaper comic strip '' For Better or For Worse''. She was the first woman and first Canadian to win the National Cartoonist Society's Reuben Award. Ea ...

. Additional licenses included

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

's '' Alice in Wonderland'', ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'', Disney's '' Prince of Persia'', and Disney

Princess Tiana Tiana is a fictional character in Walt Disney Pictures' 49th animated feature film ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009). Created by writers and directors Ron Clements and John Musker and animated by Mark Henn, Tiana, as an adult, is voiced by A ...

Effanbee buyout

In 2002 Tonner Doll purchased the Effanbee Doll Company, Inc. to obtain the rights to several classic characters from the company's century-long history. They gained exclusive rights to Bernard Lipfert's 1928 Patsy doll, Patsyette. Effanbee also had the rights to reproduce fashion dolls licensed by

Tribune Media Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

, like the '' Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter'' series, and the comic strip, '' Little Orphan Annie''. For the first few years after the buyout, Effanbee remained an independent subsidiary of Tonner Doll, however the two eventually became a conglomerate run under a singular management. The Effanbee doll lines were designed, produced, marketed, and distributed by Tonner Doll, while retaining the Effanbee name.

References

{{Reflist

External links

New Amazing Tonner Dolls
Doll manufacturing companies Toy companies of the United States American companies established in 1991 American companies disestablished in 2018 Toy companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in New York (state) 2018 disestablishments in New York (state) Kingston, New York Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York (state)

History

Licensing rights

Effanbee buyout

References

Further reading

External links