The Mexican Crissy

This version of Crissy, made by the Lilí Ledy Company in México is a copy of the Crissy doll that we have all come to know and love. Is this doll an unlicensed forgery? We are not sure! I say this because of all of the wonderful information provided by Lino to all of us collectors. Thank you so much Lino, for your generous help in sorting this out!

Do I have evidence that the doll is unlicensed? Perhaps. Am I sure? No, I wasn't sure before, and I'm still not sure. Lilí Ledy is known to have done some some unlicensed knockoffs.

Here is what we do know:

As you may be aware, when a mold is created off of another item, there is a certain amount of shrinkage that occurs in the process. When the copper alloy mold is heat treated, it shrinks. “Heat treating” is a vernacular term for tempering, and is a borrowed term from the aluminum industry. Normal casting shrinkage in the metal-mold industry is 2 to 5%.

Therefore, any item that is recreated from the mold will be smaller than the original item.

This Crissy is small! She is a mere 16 ¾ inches! Her body, arms and legs were clearly cast off of an original Ideal doll. Why would she be so small if she wasn’t cast off another doll? Plus...

There are no mold markings anywhere on this doll to indicate that she was made by permission of Ideal. Ideal’s mold markings were scratched off before casting. Take a look now, at her belly button area. There is evidence here that some retooling of the mold was done to accommodate the mechanism that they created. Apparently, since her new torso shrunk, the original Ideal mech no long fits properly. Look at this area around her belly button and note the filled in area:

Look at her mech, and the differences:

Above: it's easy to see the height difference in the US Crissy and the Lilí Ledy Crissy.

Other things to consider: When Ideal licensed a doll to be created in another country, there was no doubt that permissions were given. The licensed doll will usually sport Ideal’s mold markings. This Crissy has no Ideal markings anywhere on her body, but it does seem that Lilí Ledy didn't always put the appropriate marks on the doll they were recreating. In this instance, they had been scratched off the original doll prior to casting. Even Japan’s Takara, when creating an Ideal-like doll (such as Marry Fransoir, Fashion Lady) their product reads “made under license” and Ideal’s logo is easily located on Takara's boxes. Additionally, if Lilí had Ideal's "blessing" to recreate Crissy in México, surely, Ideal would have lent them a nice set of molds to use. I'm sure that Lilí Ledy had proper licensing for many, if not most of their products (some of their most well-known and lucrative agreements were with Kenner and Mego). But on this one, I have doubts.

And my final thought is... Being a toy historian specializing in Ideal and Mattel, I’ve learned a “few things” along the way. One fact that I know, and probably you do to, is that Ideal LOVED to participate in licensing agreements. If they didn’t have their own company set up in other cities, like Toronto, Sydney or London, they were never above licensing with others (like Takara, and even Estrela -which was more a merchandising agreement than a licensing agreement). This was a big money earning opportunity for them. In their final days, they probably wished that they had done it more. It was hard for them to keep their head above water even in the seventies. Licensing, no doubt, helped keep the company going. So if Lilí had properly entered into an agreement with Ideal, then Ideal would have happily lent them the molds, as they were in the custom of doing.

So there is some evidence that maybe the doll was unlicensed. But who was going to sue them? They were in another country, making such a suit hard to see to the end.

However, based on conversations with my new friend Lino, many, though not all, of the Lilí Ledy boxes actually say "Under license of...."

Could boxes such as these be boxes that contained toys and dolls that were unathorized? This does remain to be seen. Until we find a mint in the box example and can find that "Under license of..." mark on the box, we just won't know for sure. Fascinating, yes?

My sincerest thank you goes out to Lino for helping us all see all of the possibilities! Either way, authorized or unathorized, she is a valuable addition to the archive and as one of my dearest friends put it, she is an archival necessity. So I feel honored to have her in the collection and doubly honored to have met Lino. Meeting other collectors, the give and take, the sharing of information... these are the things that make collecting so fulfilling.

Here is the doll found in my collection:

She has very auburn hair. It’s very brassy. It has a nice texture to it. I bought her from a consignor, not the original owner, on eBay.

Curiously, just as the Brazilian issued "Crecy" doll (see this page for further edification) this doll's side and nape foundation hair is glued into place. This makes styling the foundation hair difficult. Perhaps it was assumed that it would not need styling since it is "fixed" in place. However, this sweet little girl needed styling so the foundation hair was placed into its original position with a wire pick and a steamer after her shampoo.

Big improvement huh! She looks so much happier now!

Now about that beautiful Lilí Crissy that you see above.... I saved the best for last:

This doll comes to you courtesy Lino Martín Lugo Córdova, as mentioned above. The choker is original to the doll. Lino has seen it on other Crissy dolls in México.

Here is a nice close-up shot showing the construction of the original choker.

Lino and I have created this nice comparison study of the Mexican Crissy shoes and the American Crissy shoes.

Lilí Crissy shoes, above.

American Crissy shoes, above. This would also illustrate the shoe size made by Toronto, London and Sydney Ideal.

The interior molding is a bit different on the Lilí shoe. Notice that it has striations molded inside that gives Crissy's foot a place to rest. Are they smaller than the US shoe? Why, yes they are! They are slightly more than 2.5 inches as you can see, where the US shoe is about 2.75 inches. As mentioned, the US shoe is too big for Lilí Crissy and it will fall off.

These detail shots show no other marks on the shoes. No, there is no R for right, nor a L for left, though in Spanish, that would be I for "Izquierdo" (left) and D for "Derecho" (right). Lino has such fabulous information!

And there is one other little "minor" detail... none of Ideal's usual mold-marks appear on these shoes.

Below:

The Lilí Ledy catalog opened to the pages that show "Crissy" and also the gift set that one could buy.

Here is the front cover.

And here is the back cover of this small catalog.

Thank you for stopping by and learning about this Crissy doll, who might not be a “real” Crissy doll at all! Or maybe she is? When will we know for sure??

Now how about some more information about another growing hair doll from México? I am pleased to share with you "Bella Estrella Lilí" (Beautiful Star Lilí), a hair and make-up play doll from Lilí Ledy, 1980.

Here she is as she is represented in the 1980 Lilí Ledy catalog:

Scan being used courtesy of Lino Martín Lugo Córdova.

Unfortunately, the catalog does not illustrate the make-up and accessories that came with the doll.

Her hair grows,
to comb her hair the way you want, by pushing a button.
You can also put on make up to your like
with her Movie Star-make up set,
washable, non-toxic.
Translation by our friend Lino!

Lino also goes on to say:
"Note on the second line of Spanish text it says “the way you want.” The text uses feminine indefinite article in Spanish “UNA,” It means “You girl” or “You Woman.” It makes the reader experience a “sweet feeling” when reading that text in Spanish. And it also makes you part of the doll... nice $$Marketing$$, don’t you think?"

We totally agree with you, Lino!

Here she is, as she appears in the archive, next her pal Crissy. As you can see, she is the same height. She is made with the same body, arms and legs mold as the Lilí Ledy Crissy. She is marked Lilí Ledy on her neck and Hecho en México (made in México) on her back.

Here is a nice close-up shot of her face.

Her jumpsuit. This doll did not come with shoes, so these shoes are not original to the doll. She however, like Crissy dolls found all over the world (even though technically she is not part of the Crissy family), has feet that are molded to require shoes for her to stand. She is perfectly counterbalanced when wearing American Velvet doll shoes.

Lino also reports that the outfit is an authentic Lilí Ledy outfit for Bella Estrella. There were similar ones in different fabrics. He has seen white and yellow stripes in cotton, and pink and white stripes in cotton too. This jumpsuit is made in one of those fabrics that he considers the best Lilí Ledy used for all its doll line. We are very lucky to have this doll wearing this wonderful fabric!

When I purchased this doll, I had no idea who she was, nor if she was redressed or not. I cannot tell you just how privileged I feel to know Lino. His knowledge is a blessing to all doll collectors world-wide. Again, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank him for his generosity in providing to all of us collectors this valuable knowledge that we seek.

The following pictures were provided by Lino to show you what Bella Estrella looks like in her issue "Movie Star" outfit. He also mentions that the hair jewelry and the necklace in the picture below is not original to the doll but was put on her to replicate what she might have originally worn.

All text © June, 2006, by Beth-Ellen Colvin
Last update, September 24, 2006
Photography is the property of Beth-Ellen Colvin. The photos of the Crissy in orange lace, the pictures of the choker, and the photos of the Lilí Ledy Crissy shoes, as well as other pictures as noted above, are the property of Lino Martín Lugo Córdova, and are being used by permission.