The First Lady: A Toy Story
By Ashley Southall
The White House Action DuoA plastic Barack Obama action figure can’t save the world with his six points-of-articulation alone. So next month, Jailbreak Toys is expected to release a Michelle Obama doll with just as many flex points to create a White House action duo.
The doll, scheduled for release Nov. 20, comes with three clothing options based on real dresses Mrs. Obama has worn: a purple V-neck sheath from the famous fist bump, a black-and-white floral from her appearance on “The View”, and a red-and-black frock she wore on election night. Jason Feinberg, the toy’s creator, told The Daily News that it’s no coincidence that all of the options are sleeveless.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Feinberg said the company put a Michelle doll on the backburner to give Mrs. Obama time to “form her public personality” outside of her husband’s administration.
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“She’s got a totally different sense of style than we’ve ever seen from a first lady,” Mr. Feinberg said.
The president has been a gold mine for the toy industry. The new first lady dolls join hundreds of other toys on the market, such this samurai-sword-wielding, Darth-Vader fighting figure of the president made by Gamu Toys. Jailbreak Toys says it has sold more than 200,000 of its President Obama action figures, and expects Mrs. Obama’s doll, which costs $13, to surpass those sales. Mr. Feinberg said more than 3,000 of the dolls had been sold in pre-release orders since August.
“I think it says that she’s extraordinarily popular, and people like her no matter what’s going on at the political level,” Mr. Feinberg said.
The White House hasn’t publicly commented on the dolls, or any of the toys created in the likenesses of the president or the first lady. However, attempts to create dolls based on the two Obama daughters have been met with scorn from the White House.