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'Charlie's Angels' first screened on television in 1976. The show revolved around the exploits
of three glamorous action gals, busting crime for their mysterious boss Charlie,
who no one ever saw. He was simply a voice on the speakerphone.
The original Angels were Kate Jackson as Sabrina Lloyd, Jaclyn Smith as Kelly Garret
and Farrah Fawcet as Jill Monroe. Farrah Fawcet was the first star
to leave the show and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd playing Kris Monroe, Jill's younger
sister. Kate Jackson also left the show and was replaced by Shelly
Hack playing Tiffany Welles. Tanya Roberts replaced her soon after, playing
Julie Rogers. To my knowledge only the first four actresses were immortalised
in dolly form. |
Hasbro released the first three dolls
in 1977. In 1978 the fourth doll in the series was released and all packaging
was changed to reflect the new line up. Standing approximately 23 centimetres
(9 inches) tall, the dolls have a solid plastic torso and arms, bendable
legs and a soft vinyl head which bears a striking resemblance to each character.
The dolls lower torso is held together with a screw, which allows the
waist to twist, as well as a lateral movement. The dolls were sold in
curved plastic bubble packs on cardboard backing, featuring detailed illustrations
of each character. These dolls were distributed through Kenbrite in Australia. Mattel produced dolls of Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd in 1978 under the heading of 'TV's Star Women' but no mention of Charlie's Angels was made in association with these dolls. Mego produced dolls of Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcet around the same time, but again no connection to Charlie's Angels was made. |
In 2000, Charlie's Angels was re-made
as a feature film. Drew Barrymore plays the tough Dylan, Cameron Diaz is
the ditsy Natalie and Lucy Liu is the brainy Alex in this high kicking chic flick.
Jakks Pacific released dolls of the three characters in their G.I.R.L.
Force Signature looks doll range. The dolls are 11 ½ inches tall and closely
resemble each character. All three dolls have painted finger and toenails.
The dolls have an unusual body type. They are made from a soft
vinyl with joints at the head, neck, shoulder, elbow, thigh and knee.
The neck, collarbones and breasts are realistically defined, as are shoulder blades,
the ribcage and belly button. They have moveable waists and wrists
(that unfortunately do not hold a pose) and, as they do not have a hip joint cannot
pose in a seated position. The box indicates that the dolls are also
available in alternative fashions, but I am unsure if these are available in
Australia. |
Identification: The Hasbro dolls are as follows: Jill - long ash blonde hair styled in the 'Farrah flip', blue eyes, coral lips and blush. She is marked on the back of the head, just under the hairline '4860'. Her original outfit consists of a white knee length jumpsuit, navy boots and a green neck scarf. Sabrina - dark brown hair in a loose shaggy bob style, (it is hard to tell whether the hair has been cut), brown eyes, scarlet lips and blush. She is marked on the back of the head, just under the hairline '4861'. Her original outfit consists of a red knee length jumpsuit, navy boots and a navy neck scarf. Kelly - long wavy brown hair (again it is hard to tell whether it has been cut), light brown eyes, pink lips and blush. She is marked on the back of the head, just under the hairline '4862'. Her original outfit consists of a yellow knee length jumpsuit, navy boots and a red neck scarf. Kris - long blonde wavy hair pulled back at the sides and tied with a green tie, light brown eyes, pale coral lips and blush. She is marked on the back of the head inside the hairline '4122'. She was sold wearing a white knee length jumpsuit, navy boots and a green scarf or a green knee length jumpsuit, navy boots and navy scarf. |
All four dolls are marked '© 1977 SPELLING GOLDBERG
PRODUCTIONS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MADE IN HONG KONG' on the back and 'HASBRO
U.S. PAT. 3740894' just above the buttocks, in raised text. The Jakks Pacific dolls are as follows: Dylan has long curly red hair, brown eyes, coral lips and a blue butterfly tattoo on her abdomen. She wears black vinyl pants with red inserts, a camouflage tank top, beaded denim jacket and tan boots. She comes with a pink and orange stand and orange coathanger. Natalie has shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes and pink lips. She wears deep red slacks with gold belt, pink off the shoulder tank top, tan vinyl jacket and black high-heeled sandals. She comes with a purple and pink stand and a pink coathanger. Alex has waist length black hair pulled back at the sides, brown eyes and pink lips. She wears black slacks, a black and silver tank top, burgundy vinyl jacket and burgundy ankle boots. Her stand is red and pink and she comes with a red coathanger. They are marked on the back of the thigh '© JAKKS Pacific Inc. ® all Rights Reserved. Patent Pending Body' and on the head, under the hairline, 'TM & © 2000 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc." Accessories: Hasbro produced several outfits for the Angels.
Each one had a romantic, adventurous name, like 'Gaucho Pizzazz,' 'The
Slalom Caper,' 'Night Caper,' and 'River Race' (all pictured). Some outfits
were simply glamorous clothes, well made from lush fabrics: velvet and satin,
faux fur and feather boa. Other outfits transformed from adventure gear
to evening wear, and included great accessories such as an inflatable raft,
snow skis or scuba gear. The boxes of these outfits again had fabulous illustrations
of the character in the outfit and had the caption 'Adventure by day,
glamour by night!' The outfits were tagged © 1977 HASBRO MADE IN HONG
KONG. Restoration: The Hasbro dolls are prone to uneven fading
on the body and face and to blue spots on the legs. The lower part of the
torso is prone to cracking. The Jakks Pacific Alex doll's top may stain her torso and Natalie has a plastic strip sticky-taped to her hair. The dolls are made from a combination of soft vinyl and hard plastic that may cause the joints to stick or deteriorate in time. Reference: I don't know of any reference guide on the Hasbro
dolls. If you can help me out please contact me. Information on the Jakks Pacific dolls can be found at www.girlforcedolls.com Information about the Charlie's Angel TV show (including information about licensed products) can be found at www.charliesangels.com/episode.html |