Effanbee Dolls

[Falstaff13]

Does anyone up here have information on the Effanbee line of dolls produced in the early-mid 1980s of a variety of American icons, such as John Wayne (offered as both a cowboy & a cavalry officer), Mae West, Groucho Marx, etc.? Searching for info yields lots of info on Effanbee Dolls and the company's history, but it focuses mostly on their baby dolls. I remember these appearing in the Sears Wishbook in the 1980s, and I would look at them before staring intently at the pages with Masters of the Universe, GI Joe, etc. Along with the Hollywood options above, they made some dolls of US Presidents, and I know that they had Mark Twain as well as Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, & Becky Thatcher (part of a "Great Moments in Literature" selection). The dolls/figurines are made of rubber and vinyl and wear cloth clothes. They stand over a foot tall (the Mark Twain is about 16"). Does anyone know for how many years these dolls were made? Or how many different figures were produced? Thanks in advance.

[Mikey]

I remember they made Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason) dolls and they were REALLY nice.

If they weren't so expensive I would have bought a set back in the day.

[toys2cool]

don't know the history of them but I'm pretty sure the company started in the 70's ...and the dolls aren't worth much nowadays

[Werewolf]

don't know the history of them but I'm pretty sure the company started in the 70's ...and the dolls aren't worth much nowadays

A little older than that. Around 1910. But you are right that the Effanbee character dolls from the 70s and 80s are really not worth anything anymore.

[TrekStar]

I currently have both the John Wayne cowboy and cavalry dolls complete with there boxes,
the cavalry doll is a younger version of him and the face is so-so IMO.

The cowboy is an older version of him and looks pretty darn close in likeness. I got these both off eBay
a few years ago, and have them stored away safe, can't remember what I paid for them, but I'm happy
to have them.

I always wanted the Mark Twain doll and Abraham Lincoln, maybe down the road someday, I do believe
they are affordable, and depending on condition and if you have them complete with all accessories
they could be worth something, try a Wikipedia search.

[Falstaff13]

I pickd up the Mark Twain for my father (a Twain scholar) 5 or so years ago, and it was pretty cheap then. Glancing at ebay today before I wrote the original post, I noted prices vary a good bit--I think some people are assuming theirs are worth more than they really are.

I do think the Mark Twain is pretty good, with a well-done sculpt. The Groucho also looks good in the pictures I've seen. I'm just curious how expansive the list did get. As I said, I remember the Sears catalog with the old Hollywood set.

[libby 1957dog]

i got the wc fields doll back in my early ebay days along with a bunch of great wc stuff ventriloquist doll ,whiskey decanters etc ,the label say he was a one time only 1980 "recreation " of the doll effanabee sold in 1929 ,not sure if the rest of the hollywood dolls are from the same set ,but hes a great looking wc ,red face or not lol

[Falstaff13]

That is a good looking sculpt. I remember the WC Fields ventriloquist doll from catalogs as well (I had a Charlie McCarthy, his "sparring" partner).

[Earth 2 Chris]

Porcelain dolls in general REALLY took a hit sometime in the 90s, and have never rebounded. Cindy had a few of the Ashton Drake dolls at one point. You know the ones they used to advertise in Reader's Digest, etc.? Seems like the speculator market killed those too, just like baseball cards and comics.

Cindy

[libby 1957dog]

That is a good looking sculpt. I remember the WC Fields ventriloquist doll from catalogs as well (I had a Charlie McCarthy, his "sparring" partner).

yeah your right ,i got the charlie with the wc in a ebay lot ,funny thing was they were both wearing strange footwear .wc had blue babys trainers and charlie had white babies shoes ,not sure if they were supposed to lol

[Falstaff13]

My Charlie had black baby trainers, and it came straight out of the box with them. Since they were black, it's not that noticeable, but it's not what I think "he" would wear!

[libby 1957dog]

yeah i dont see charlie and william claude getting past the brown derbies no trainers door policy back in the 1940s
good job they weren't wearing baseball caps as well lol