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1980's |
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Starr Modeling Agency
by Jakks Pacific Incorporated (JPI) |
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Now Playing:
"Shining Star"
by Earth, Wind and Fire |
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Return to
"Who's That Doll?"
Home Page |
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In the mid- to late-1990's, Jakks Pacific Incorporated introduced a very successful line of 6-1/2" miniature fashion dolls named after their headliner, Starr. Starr was a blue-eyed platinum blonde beauty, and the head of the Starr Modeling Agency. There were seven dolls in the Starr line, including Starr herself, and Amber, Dawn (yes, they "borrowed" the name from Topper), Jade, Misty, Taylor and Toya.
Each doll came with her own line of fashions, but to get the fashions you generally had to buy another doll, as they were rarely sold separately. There were 14 different fashion themes, and each doll was given a different outfit in that theme: Baby Doll Dream, Beautiful Belle, Country Western, Elegant Evening, Fabulous Furs, Fun Wear, Hollywood Glamour, Island Fantasy, Midnight Jewel, Prized Pets, Shimmer 'n Shine, Time For Fun, Totally Trendy and Uptown Girl. Most of these fashions included either bright colors or lots of glitz. |
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Starr |
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Amber |
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Dawn |
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Misty |
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Jade |
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Taylor |
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Toya |
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The standard doll has rooted hair, but not rooted eyelashes. Facial features are painted on, and though the bodies resemble Topper bodies, they are a bit more articulated, and made of a harder plastic.
The legs do bend and hold a pose, the arms swivel out from the sides at the shoulders, it has a twist-n-turn waist, and the head pivots at the neck. |
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Because of their similar body styles, Starr dolls can wear vintage Topper and clone fashions, and vise-versa. Dawn can wear Starr's wardrobe.
Most of the Starr dolls have incredibly full hair. This is particularly so with the more glamourous dolls from the Hollywood Glamour or Midnight Jewel lines. And despite the company's claims, it's really not that easy to comb and style their hair. |
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In addition to the packaged Fashion line of dolls, JPI also produced several playsets and special occasion dolls. There is a Bridal Starr, a Holiday Starr, and two boxed Designer Boutique sets which included three dolls each (Starr, Taylor and Misty in one; Toya, Amber and Dawn in the other).
The playsets include Fun-n-Fitness, Bath & Vanity, Sun-n-Surf Photoshoot and Stylin' Salon. |
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A good place to view all of the Starr Modeling Agency fashions can be found here. |
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The JPI Starr dolls are marked in two places: on the back of the head and on the backs between the shoulders. The backs are marked "JPI" and under that "Made in China". The heads are marked with a letter, and under that "JPI Inc". The letter designates the headmold used for the doll. You might think all Starr dolls look the same, with their huge eyes and big hair, but in fact there are subtle differences.
The Type "A" headmold is Amber's. She has a heart-shaped face with a slightly more pointed chin, and her complexion is the palest of all the dolls. Type "B" is Toya, who is African-American, and so was given a darker skintone and a slightly broader nose. Misty's headmold is the Type "C". Her rosy complexion is distinguished by a more squared-off jawline. Type "D" is Starr herself. She has a peaches-n-cream skintone and an oval-shaped face. Dawn's headmold is Type "E", with nearly the same skintone as Starr, but the more squarish jawline of Misty. Taylor has the Type "F" headmold, and a deeper tanned complexion. Her oval face is one of the sweetest in the line. The Type "G" headmold belongs to Jade, a last addition to the Starr Modeling Agency line of dolls. Her complexion is just a bit lighter than Taylor's, and her features have a more Oriental look to them. |
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In addition to the fashions which came with each boxed doll, JPI created a history of the Starr Modeling Agency line and a short biography of each doll printed in a bifold card with the doll's publicity photo. Also included was a portfolio of photographs of that doll, similar to Topper's Modeling Agency dolls. An "Action 'n Fashion" wand was included with some sets that held the doll by one leg. The little girl then pushed and swung the wand over a smooth surface. The little rubber grip on the underside pivoted around, making the doll seem to walk and dance. |
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Jade was introduced after the original six Starr dolls, in an effort to reach girls of all nationalities. Jade's Asian features are beautiful and mysterious. So mysterious, in fact, that she seldom showed up in any of the boxed sets of dolls. She's not even listed on her own box!
Jade was released in "Beautiful Belle" (shown at right), "Elegant Evening", "Hollywood Glamour", "Midnight Jewel", "Prized Pets", "Shimmer 'n Shine" and "Uptown Girl", but usually in outfits also made for Toya. Almost no fashions were exclusively made for Jade. |
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"Holiday Starr" was issued with an additional short green and white fur-trimmed mini-coat and hat. |
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"Prized Pets" Amber came with a couple of dogs to walk. I don't have those dogs, but I had a few others. |
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