First Three Dolls

But, a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion! A few weeks ago, we found out that Color-Me-Kids were actually being shown to the trade in Mattel's pre-Toy Fair preview. That in itself, seemed like a Miracle. We didn't think they had a Chance of getting that far. And we knew that This was their First, Last and Only Chance of Surviving. Their fate was in the hands of the Buyers and the Big Accounts. But, in the "New" Fisher Price, where Everything is run on computer chips and batteries, and our product was the only one without them, we didn't hold out much hope.

We also learned that Mattel couldn't clear the name, "Color-Me KIDS", and thus, the name had been changed to "Color-Me-Cuties". Wow! We liked that name a lot Better!

Two weeks passed, and we heard the news....... "Great Response from Top Accounts". Thank You GOD! It was a MIRACLE! Fisher Price is hopefully shipping 185 thousand pieces in the fall [around mid-November]. 100 thousand to Walmart, 50m to Toys-R-Us, and 25m to "Other". IF They Sell, there will be "Full listings at Majors in Spring 2001".

I think they Will sell. They Look Great to me! I love the Hair and the Beautiful Iridescent colors, and the fact that it is easy to understand what to do with them. I notice that they have eliminated the "unique plastic accessory", that cost us a royalty reduction. I also notice that the stuffing has been put back in the legs, so they can stand up again. The dolls themselves, are once again, Exactly what we showed Fisher Price in the first place, three years ago. Or as I e-mailed Andy a few days ago:

"Hi Andy, Pat sent me the photos. They look pretty great. Boy are they simple. The idea is to color the missing areas on the clothes. No gadget just a marker and perhaps some extra clothes, and a comb. The hair is very nice! I think it has a re-color feature so the kid can do it again. Simple and easy to understand. I think it is Good!

The Beanie legs are gone! The Clever accessory is gone! And 1% of our royalty is gone! It's our original doll all over again and the Color-Me-Kids drawing just as I presented it.

I think it is easy to understand what this product is all about. There seems to be a little photo on package to show it. Any kid will think "Hey I can do that and I will make it really nice! " And if they screw it up, they can wash it out and try again.

Best, Mel"

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