The Vintage Dolls Of The Remco Company

Remco was a doll company which was founded by Sol Robbins in the 1940s and was short-lived after it was acquired by Azrak-Hamway International Inc. in 1964. Subsequently in 1997, the company was acquired by Jakks Pacific which overtook the operations of Remco and Child Guidance from Azrak-Hamway International. There is not much information about the company but it had made quality collectible toys which even include The Beatles and other celebrity doll characters.

Remco dolls’ size ranges from 5 inches to as tall 20 inches. Its first doll collection was the Littlechap Family which consisted of four fashion dolls that wore Hollywood style outfits and were a bit bigger in size than the Barbie. Remco also marketed the dolls through Sears catalogues.

Then they introduced the 5-inch Heidi and Jan dolls that were marketed with pocketbook made of plastic cases. The dolls also featured a voice box which says “Hi” when a button located in her tummy is pushed. The dolls also came with a set of wardrobe and accessories. It also launched a version of Heidi and Jan which had the winking and growing features. The Pocketbook series also had other characters namely Billy, Herby, Hildy, Pip, and Spunky.

Soon after, they launched an animal fashion doll line with the characters TV Jones and Pussy Meow. They came in plastic cases which looked like television sets. The animal characters also came with their own set of costumes. Other animal characters were Ellie Elephant, Hana Hippo, and Patsy Panda. The 5.5-inch finger puppets named Finger Dings were also introduced which were composed of vinyl head, torso, and arms. Since these are finger puppets, it did not come with its own legs since your two fingers will serve as its legs once you insert them in their leotard leg costume.

In 1964, the company manufactured the 5-inch tall plastic or rubber body doll with rubber heads and mohair wig for The Beatles. Each of the character has an instrument in their hands which were painted black with gold edges and highlights. This doll set is not only sought after by doll collectors but also by fanatics of The Beatles. Nonetheless, Remco also came up with other celebrity dolls such as The Dave Clark Five, Jeannie of the “I Dream of Jeannie” hit TV show, and Laurie Partridge of “The Partridge Family.”

There were also other popular toys and dolls created by Remco which includes Tippy Tumbles, Li’l Winking Herby Hippy, the crying baby doll named Sweet April, and also the singing 20-inch doll named Mimi. The Remco dolls are great to collect since their vinyl dolls were mostly created with the image of entertainment personalities.