Toffee Dolls
Unique, distinctive dolls from Japanese artist Riri Fukuju and Huckleberry Toys.
Toffee Dolls were manufactured by Huckleberry Toys. Though they were only out for a short time, I wanted to share them here on the blog, as I find them very distinctive and thought you might, too! Previously in 2006, they had dabbled in the doll world with celebrity dolls of Gwen Stefani, AJ and Aly and the shockingly scary looking Ashley Tinsdale. Based on designs by Japanese artist Riri Fukuju, Toffee Dolls, released in 2009, were aesthetically unique with large almond eyes and cool fashions and a huge departure from what they had done previously.
Incorporated in 2006, Huckleberry Toys, as far as I can tell, is no longer open. Last I saw, they were at New York Toy Fair in 2016 with licensed blind box figures. Unfortunately, I don’t see much mention of the toy company after that.
But let’s talk about Toffee Dolls. Toffee Dolls all share these characteristics. Toffee Dolls are 12 inches tall and have 5 points of articulation (neck, arms and legs). They are a plush/mixed medium doll, because their legs are stuffed and their arms from the elbow down are vinyl, as you see below.
The articulation is a bit lacking and let this line down a bit, especially when you consider one of the reasons another popular doll line took off around then, Monster High, was because of their ability to pose.
To the casual toy buyer, Toffee Dolls looked more like art dolls than something you’d play with, whether it be photographing, posing or even gifting to a child. I’d wager that had these dolls had different, more articulated bodies or had come out a decade later, they’d have made more of an impact with buyers.
Let’s talk about the dolls! Wave one consisted of Sakura (limited to 1,000), Lily (limited to 750), Hazel (limited to 1,000), Victoria (limited to 750), Marina (limited to 750) and Pinky (limited to 500). Above is Lily, one of my favorites released in this line. Her hair is so bright!
Pinky, according to one site, was only available to customers who bought 4 dolls and sent in their certificates plus $30.00, unless you bought one of the 50 artist’s proofs of her and other Toffee Dolls available at San Diego Comic Con in 2009.
It’s hard to find concrete information on some of these dolls, unfortunately. With Pinky, for example, I’d imagine that if they didn’t go through 500 dolls by the time they phased the line out, she was probably sold outside of the four doll purchase scheme.
There was also a Halloween line, which included Pumpkin and Spell (both limited to 300) in released fall 2009. Pumpkin is a personal favorite of mine. I love her look. She’s adorable! And then were the 2009 Comic Con exclusives HR Pufinstuf’s Witchiepoo (limited to 300) and Hellboy (limited to 500) and 2010’s IDX exclusive Shelby (limited to 50). There were also images released of prototype dolls that never made it to market. This site has some great images from New York Toy Fair 2009. You can also find some prototype images here.
One thing worth noting is the presentation. Forgetting about the dolls for a moment, the box theming was great, as well. They even included backdrops!
Wave 2 was, if I remember correctly, advertised on the website for a bit, but alas, never transpired outside of promotional photos. It’s a shame, as aesthetically, these are some really fun looking dolls. They just came out at the wrong time and it was hard to tell what their audience was. The price point of $100.00 or more was too much for people outside the collector market and even collectors would have had a tough time finding them if they didn’t know they already existed, as they weren’t sold in stores. Not to mention, the doll market was making a big push towards having highly articulated dolls and these were more like art dolls with very limited articulation. The timing of Toffee Doll’s release just wasn’t in their favor.
Back around 2020, I wrote about Toffee Dolls on a different iteration of this blog and Huckleberry Toys owner Hugo Stevenson had emailed, giving me a few more details about things I had gotten wrong in my research. In that email, he had asked my address because he said he had something I might enjoy, but alas, nothing ever arrived. So, a part of me is still wondering what would have been in that box? A Toffee doll perhaps? One of the elusive prototypes from Wave 2? We’ll never know!
It may surprise you that I personally don’t have any in my collection. And I was at San Diego Comic Con in 2009, when these were launched to the world! Because of the price, I bought Witchiepoo for my mom and figured I’d buy one for myself later. Later never came, alas, as I was deep into my Monster High buying around that time. Still, it would be nice to have one of my own one day! There is a Youtuber, Nostalgic Basement, that has a series of videos on many of the Toffee dolls in this post, if you’re curious.
While the history of Toffee Dolls may have been short lived, it’s a line that is worth remembering and talking about. And because there are so few dolls in the series, it’s an achievable collection to start, assuming you can get your hands on the super rare dolls like IDX’s Shelby, the rest should be easy to get if you look hard enough. And designer Riri? While Toffee Dolls may be no more, Riri is still designing and sells some pretty cool, unique items on Etsy.
Do you have any Toffee Dolls in your collection? Share your thoughts in the comments!
You could still get one! They are still available pretty readily on eBay/mercari for really good prices. I got NIB Hazel in January for less than $100 shipped. I saw quite few for around $90-$150, depending on th character.