I'm a new collector of My Twinn Dolls and if you are like me, when you start collecting a new doll you want to know everything you can about them as that is part of what makes them special and it's always good to be knowledgeable about what is in your collection.

My Twinn was it's own independent doll brand that started in 1993 and lasted until about January 2016 before they went out of business. We will get into that later. They were originally manufactured in California by Dr. John Kurdika who was a physician and Lisa Driscol who was an account executive at a child entertainment company. The doll line was originally started in response to the comfort and feeling that children can get from a doll in a medical setting. I'm sure you have heard of this before with other things. There have been instances where children get better or have better response to illness or recovery with the aid of an animal companion or in this case a doll companion. Furthermore they realized that when the dolls looked more like themselves there was an even bigger bond.

I think it was amazing to hear that originally these dolls were completely customized to look like their owners. And I don't mean that a generic doll has brown hair and your child has brown hair so wow she looks just like you! This company actually included birthmarks, pierced ears, and eyeglasses and over 44 molds and 8 skin tones that were molded after real children's faces. That is an incredible amount of detail for a doll, and it's not surprising that the realistic features of this doll are what makes collectors so crazy about them. But it wasn't all those options all at once, they originally started with two doll molds, Cookie and Karen sculpted by Vincent De Flippo initially. My Twinn Dolls were initially designed so they could sit or lie down but required a stand to stand upright independently. They also offered an 18" standing version of the doll.

In 1995 Dr. Kurdika sold the company to the Flagship group and My Twinn production shifted from California to Colorado. The assembly of the My Twinn dolls took place in a plant in Littleton and they started with making more molds including Jessica, Rosemary, and Mallory to be able to offer more customization options. They were very excited to offer new molds and new customization and felt that the doll choices got even closer to looking like their child owners/customer. When the owner put magazine advertisement on the My Twinn dolls, the company received more than 2,000 orders on a single day. I can tell you that probably made them very excited and overwhelmed and it was time to get things going and spread the word. In 1996, My Twinn partnered with FAO Schwartz and got an advertisement in their toy catalogs and a presence in their flagship store. In 1997, the company included the My Twinn Boy at the request of many customers and introduced poseable 23-inch dolls which stood on their own.

The new owner was quite excited and offered almost ten facial characteristics like face shape, skin tone, eye, eyelash and eyebrow color, hair cut, hairstyle, the thickness of the hair, birthmark, and moles to the customer. It resulted in a doll that looked very close to the child of the customer. When the owner placed an advertisement about the My Twinn doll in the magazine, the company received more than 2000 orders on a single day.

In 1996, My Twinn partnered with Fao Schwartz, and the company advertised the dolls in their catalogs and flagship store. In the year 1997, the company included My Twinn Boy at the request of many customers. The company also introduced posable 23-inch dolls which can stand on their own. This is why you see many of the highly collectible My Twinn dolls have the year 1997 on their necks as being the best versions of the doll. The company continued with spreading popularity of their doll and it even reached Asia at the time.

The company started to make some changes including switching from white fabric to skin-tone fabric covering in poseable dolls in 1999. Their volume must have gone way out of their capacity as they started using China to do the casting of the heads as well as cheek and lip painting. They did at this time do the final insertion of eyes and repainting of the lips in Denver. In My Twinn Collecting you will often hear the term "Denver" doll along side collecting My Twinn in a doll's description. This refers to a golden age between 1997-2001 where the best versions of the My Twinn dolls were made and prior to any decline in quality. There are nice looking dolls after this time period but there are more found issues with those dolls and they come in a time period where the company was drastically trying to reduce costs and therefore cut costs on the doll quality as well.

After 2001, the My Twinn dolls had some consistency problems in face and eyebrow color. In collecting My Twinn dolls consistency in the skin color is really hard to determine and you often find putting two dolls together that are marked with the same skin tone and they look a shade lighter or a shade darker. If you've ever tried to collect different skin tones specifically, it is a challenge because often times the owner has to make a complete guess unless they have the original purchased receipt or identifying box. For this reason a lot of skin tones are mis-diagnosed as there is a large room for error.

Tragic events in September 2001 had a heavy impact on the selling of My Twinn dolls and the company had to face millions of losses in the holiday season. This was a turning point for the company as it never recovered from it. They tried cutting costs on the quality of the dolls to recover losses but that just made things worse. They also tried to outsource production entirely to China and that backfired as well.

By late 2015, the quality of the 18" dolls began to decline. Unsold 18" Adopt-A-Friends dolls with exaggerated brows flooded the market and the company faced financial losses leading to it's decision to cease production of My Twinn dolls. In January 2016 My Twinn officially went out of business.

There are quite a few fans of My Twinn, and they form a small niche of collectors who appreciate the line. Some collectors have upwards of 100 dolls collecting the different mold variations and skin colors per mold. It's been about 8 years since the company went under and the My Twinn market has been underserviced with very little in terms of supplies and restoration. To the deteriment of this collecting community other doll suppliers that had products to fit this doll have also gone out of business leaving almost no solutions for collectors.

A little about the dolls:

They have a toddler line, a 23" poseable doll, and 18" line, and a 23" non-poseable doll

The 23" poseable and non-poseable dolls wear a 13-14" wig size. The poseable dolls have a skeletal type structure inside a foam body which is then covered in cloth just above the elbows, at the base of the neck, and then just above the knees. The feet can be rotated and positioned, and the skeletal construction allows the doll to be bent and positioned almost like a BJD can (but not as much articulation). This doll can "hug" a child as the arms will bend that way and curve round, sit, and take stances. The cloth that the doll has on the body snags easily, so you will find many dolls "pilling" or snagged at the body as much of their clothing was designed with velcro closures and easily caught on the body. It is recommended that snaps, zippers, and buttons are used as much as possible in designing or making clothing for this doll. The non-poseable are a bit different in that they are a stuffed doll that is made in a sitting position. They cannot stand, or if you try to stand them it looks awkward like they are crouched over. They do not have the rotating feet or the ability to hold poses. There is crossover between the molds for a poseable and non-poseable and since they are the same proportion and same head size you can convert a non-poseable into a poseable by swapping bodies. The 23" dolls are able to wear an infant size 0 shoe and a newborn size clothing, though it's not an exact match. The My Twinn arms are much longer so much of the clothing ends up looking like a 3/4 sleeve and what is made for a newborn often doesn't look right on a My Twinn because they are "older" in appearance and not babies. Never the less there are some select clothing pieces that look appropriate and many collectors will use this for their dolls. Limited patterns are available for sewing for these dolls, but what is available shows made for 23" dolls or will say My Twinn. Actual My Twinn clothing made prior to the company closing can be found mostly on Mercari and eBay and through private sellers, though it is limited and often dated looking.

My Twinn uses a 20mm Acrylic Eye that is inserted through the front by heating the vinyl. Instructions on how to do this are listed in our My Twinn Restoration section of our Doll Forum and eyes can be purchased on our 20mm Acrylic Eyes Page.

My Twinn 18" line has a body very similar to American Girl Dolls and use a 11-12" Wig. Even though they use the same mold names, the molds don't look exactly the same from the 18" to the 23" doll. There seems to be some consistency issues in the design. The 18" line can wear most 18" clothes similar to American Girl and are readily available.

Most My Twinn dolls can be purchased through private collectors and be found on Ebay and Mercari. Since some restoration supplies have been unavailable in the last 5 years, most dolls found on these sites will need new hair or eyes but can be purchased on average for $40-$60 depending on their condition. Higher priced dolls $75-$250 are usually because of a rarer mold, a rarer skin color (Skin Tones 05-06), still in their original box, or have been artist painted or restored. Be careful of higher priced dolls listed that are just overpriced - this is largely due to many sellers not being able to tell the difference between the skin tones that are more rare or the molds that are more rare and they just pick the highest starting price.

Bbeauty Dolls is happy to support this group of collectors by offering products and services for collectors once again starting in 2024. If you need assistance in purchasing a My Twinn or are unsure of a rare mold or the correct price you can join the My Twinn dolls collecting group on Facebook or ask us.