Sunday, August 05, 2007

RELIGIOUS DOLLS TO GO ON SALE IN U.S.


It’s amazing how toys have changed over the years and not always for the better. There have been complaints that some toys are too violent and encourage aggressive behaviour in children. A range of faith based toys is due to go on sale in the States at the middle of this month. Wallmart, one of the largest toy retailers in the U.S. will be stocking religious action figures, including Jesus, Moses, Samson and Goliath and many others. The dolls will have stiff competition from other action figures including Spiderman, which are already on the market. Also critics have said that some of the dolls particularly the Moses doll are not a good likeness to the actual biblical characters. One critic described the Moses doll as looking like a member of the Village People!

How today’s children react to the religious dolls remains to be seen. Apparently some of the dolls recite scripture when a little button on them is pressed. Clever stuff! I think to truly appreciate the dolls and what they represent, children would need to have some knowledge of the bible stories that they relate to. Unfortunately not many children either go to church or are taught about bible stories nowadays. I’m sure they would make good religious teaching aids for Sunday schools and church groups. If the dolls prove popular, they could eventually be sold here in Britain.

11 comments:

david santos said...

Naomi, I am in agreement with you. Everything if must make to educate and to help the children, congratulations and has a good weekend

Sharon Lynne said...

Biblical charactors fashioned into dolls will certainly be a controversial topic.

You make a good point. "children would need to have some knowledge of the Bible stories" to appreciate the dolls.

Interestingly, Goliath is not the best role model for kids, and some of Samson's activities were quite violent.

Very interesting report!

Sheila said...

Naomi, I vaguely remember hearing something about this, but I haven't seen the image until now. The critcs who say the dolls are not good likenesses are funny. I wasn't aware that we had photos to compare.

Rising Rainbow said...

I have to laugh at the complaint that Moses looks more like someone from the Village People. Geez, they're action figures not portraits, I think they're all funking looking.

Rosemary said...

When our children were little the Barbie dolls and GI Joe dolls were still fairly new. We went to our denomination's huge book store, looking for Biblical toys. We were all but laughed out of the place. Now, Veggie Tales is a household name. So, if they are well done, there is going to be a segment of the population who will buy these new figurative dolls. Children are very good judges of such things, though, so if they come across as poorly designed, they won't sell.

We sell lots of plush loveies that have Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Jesus Loves Me, and other Christian messages, prayers, and songs built in to them, so there is a market for the right toy.

Unknown said...

Nice piece... I will be interested to see how the figures do with Walmart. I will say that I recently saw statistics that cite far higher church attendance in America than in Europe, Great Britain, etc.-- even with the increase of liberalism.

kj

david santos said...

Naomi, tem um bom fim-de-semana.

Naomi, have a good weekend.

Diane Dehler said...

Someone recently told me they saw a clip on CNN that said that Baby Einstein DVDs delay language development. These toys might have a different effect than planned. We will have to see.

It's sad that little girl wasn't found yet. Hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying blogdom.

Naomi said...

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Yes David I think these dolls will be good to educate children about biblical characters but they will need to do some bible study too.

Yes the dolls are controversial. However they are no replacement for bible study or religious education though. Kids would need to know their bible stories to full understand what the dolls were all about. I agree Sharon there is some violence attached to Samson and Goliath. They are not particularly good role models for kids.

Sheila this is the only picture I have seen of the dolls. The critics comments were funny, espcially the one about Moses looking like a member of The Village People!

I agree Rising Rainbow if the description of Moses is anything to go by, it sounds like the dolls are quite funky!

Naomi said...

Rosemary I agree there is a market for the right toy. It will be interesting to see children's reactions to these dolls.

Hi KJ thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit here. Yes church attendance has dropped considerably in Britain with many churches being closed due to poor attendance. Maybe these dolls will have a positive effect. Only time will tell.

You too David. Have a great weekend!

Naomi said...

Hi Princess Haiku

Only time will tell whether the dolls have a positive effect. Yes it is sad Madeleine hasn't been found yet and now it's been nearly 100 days. Yes everything fine with me thanks and enjoying my blog. Hope you're ok.