Lammy: Average is Beautiful Kickstarter

[monitor_ep]

I found this on yahoo news and thought that maby somebody here might be want to preorder this for a daughter/wife.

https://www.lammily.com/average-is-beautiful

With child's size 3 feet and a waist so tiny she couldn't digest anything more significant than a crouton, a real-life Barbie would not be alive for long. This is why artist Nickolay Lamm created Lammily, a realistically proportioned alternative to the blonde nymph we all played with as children.

"Rather than just criticizing Barbie, I wanted to make an alternative," says Lamm. "A lot of people have said, 'It's just a doll. Who cares?' but my opinion is that if there is even a chance of it negatively influencing young girls then why not make another option?"

Lamm wanted the doll to look realistic and designed her body using CDC data on average measurements of American women--the CDC has stats on everything from height and weight to forearm length. But, "it's a stylized average," admits the 25-year-old Pittsburgh artist. "I wanted her to look like the girl next door, sweet and wholesome." This kind of sounds like replacing one female stereotype with another but, well, baby steps, people.

Lamm is currently holding a 30-day crowd-funding campaign to begin production on Lammily, which really might need to get a new name if it's going to catch on. But maybe I'm wrong--just 24 hours in, he's already surpassed his goal of $95,000, which shows that people may actually be ready for a regular-size doll. Visit lammily.com to donate.

[Werewolf]

I sincerely wish them the best of luck with their Kickstarter. More choices in the toy isle is always a good thing. But making a appealing athletic less glamorous teen doll can be tricky and you don't want to end up with another Dusty.

That being said, some people really need to let go of using Barbie as an all purpose punching bag for societal ills.

I think many people may not realize Barbie's much criticized earlier proportions from the 1960 style classic body was already phased out in the main play line in the mid 1990s. Plus, Barbie is doll with a doll's proportions and not designed to or intended to look like an anatomically correct human. Barbie's doll like proportions also serve real design issues. Because, for one thing, fabric thickness doesn't really scale. If you put a couple of layers of clothes on a doll with a short neck, the neck will disappear and make the doll look like it is buried in clothes. Removable thick plastic shoes on doll with large flat feet will look like clown shoes in that scale because plastic doesn't really scale one to one with actual shoes. Smaller feet and hands also serve the design issue of making the dolls easier for kids to dress.

Barbie's popular web series, Life in the Dream House, clearly shows Barbie and her friends aren't humans. They are dolls living in a toy world. A great deal of the humor of the show comes from this. They are made out of plastic, have doll like movements and Barbie's house is decorated with stickers. When they went on a picnic the campfire was made out of plastic flames. Kids get that these are dolls. They really do. Now, only if some adults could.

[thunderbolt]

the face looks a tad bit like the photo of the creator at the bottom.

[Hedji]

I think it's pretty cool. I ordered one for my daughter, who bears some resemblance to the doll.

[jimsmegos]

I agree with Werewolf on this one 100%. I think it's great that this toy will be available for those who want one and congrats on a very successful crowd funding campaign. BUT To the Barbie bashers; get over yourself. IMO if you or a child is so distraught over how a Barbie influences how your "supposed to look" you need some serious therapy. It'd be like saying Mr. Potato Heads needed to come with at least 5 sets of eyes to better reflect the true nature of a potato.

F-A-N-T-A-S-Y. Now that's a word that seems to have disappeared from playtime if you listen to the naysayers.

[MegoSteve]

I think if you're going to go for a realistic body, you should do a realistic face as well. That head sculpt doesn't look right.

[Werewolf]

F-A-N-T-A-S-Y. Now that's a word that seems to have disappeared from playtime if you listen to the naysayers.

I think some adults just forget what it was like to be a child. Kids like fantasy play and go on amazing adventures with their toys. Barbie could be a veterinarian one minute and then be an astronaut and have space adventures the next and then zoom off in her Corvette. Where as the more realistic Dusty was a homely looking doll with plain outfits and boring accessories. Guess which one was more popular with kids.

I think we all had that one well meaning relative that bought us a educational toys like a globe, dictionary or a calculator instead of the action figure or doll we asked for because they thought it was better for us. Like having an Chewbacca or Barbie or GI JOE Adventure Team figure would make us all violent and anti-social or something. I feel this is that same kind of over thinking. Some one wants to make a doll with a different body type? I think that's great. But don't make her boring. I think if Lammily makes it to mass market retail, the doll will not be able to compete with more exciting fantasy dolls like Monster High, Equestria Girls or Ever After High.

the face looks a tad bit like the photo of the creator at the bottom.

I didn't really notice that before. But I think you are right. I can't unsee it now.

[thunderbolt]

^^^ Yeah, Same here. I can't unsee it after I noticed it. The thing about this is it was already covered once by the Get Real Girls.

[jwyblejr]

Why blame Barbie? Do they realize how fast some girls outgrow playing with dolls?

[Werewolf]

Why blame Barbie?

Barbie is an accepted scapegoat and punching bag that they know won't fight back. When our generation became parents they pretty much left the war toys hysteria of GI JOE turning kids into mass murders behind but still stubbornly cling to the outdated blame Barbie for everything mindset.

[ODBJBG]

Barbie ruined my marriage.

[jwyblejr]

Barbie is an accepted scapegoat and punching bag that they know won't fight back. When our generation became parents they pretty much left the war toys hysteria of GI JOE turning kids into mass murders behind but still stubbornly cling to the outdated blame Barbie for everything mindset.

Yeah, I guess it's easier to blame Barbie than it is to blame Hollywood. No one blames actresses for the way they look.

[enyawd72]

I agree with Werewolf on this one 100%. I think it's great that this toy will be available for those who want one and congrats on a very successful crowd funding campaign. BUT To the Barbie bashers; get over yourself. IMO if you or a child is so distraught over how a Barbie influences how your "supposed to look" you need some serious therapy. It'd be like saying Mr. Potato Heads needed to come with at least 5 sets of eyes to better reflect the true nature of a potato.

F-A-N-T-A-S-Y. Now that's a word that seems to have disappeared from playtime if you listen to the naysayers.

What about He-Man? I don't seem to remember any of my friends turning into bulging, roided-out juicers with pea sized nuts after playing with Castle Grayskull. LOL
Yeah, the Barbie bashers need to let it go.

[jwyblejr]

Didn't you know? That's what really happened to Barry Bonds.

[samurainoir]