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Author Topic: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)  (Read 34931 times)

Offline Ned

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Around springtime in 1988 in Toronto, I saw a commercial a number of times for a toy line called "My One and Only". Like many commercials, I remember it almost verbatim. It was basically dolls for girls, but they were teenage or college-age guys. The commercial showed one or two girls probably, and shots of the boy dolls (maybe also shots of real guys wearing the same clothes as the dolls). A male crooner's voice sang "My one and only! You stole my heart away! Be my one and only today." A girl's voice - not a teenage girl but a little girl - said more or less the following: "At first, I didn't know. There was Colin, Graham, Mark, Max, Greg...and then it happened. Cory. Now You're my one and only." I think Cory was a guy with brown hair and a red and white varsity jacket.

I have gone all over the internet and have found almost nothing about these toys. No examples on sale, no reports about them, only two details:

-a corporate profile of Irwin Toy, the Canadian company that made this line, mentions it.

-on some website, someone was also asking about this toy line (he had acquired a doll called Matt, obviously the "Max" I remember above).

There wouldn't happen to be anyone who remembers more about this or has seen the toy somewhere? Did the series even get into retail sale? I would imagine it was limited enough (only 6 characters, one commercial, no accompanying TV show) that it may never have really even been noticed).  
« Last Edit: Sunday 19 February 2012, 10:58 am by zuse »

Offline mouse

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Lol no idea. They sound so corny!

Offline Ned

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I just did another google search for this, and was able to come up with a little more info from an article from 1999:

http://siliconinvestor.advfn.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=12259428

"To make up for lost business, Irwin tried to develop its own lines and expand into the US?with varying results. In 1988 the company introduced a line of six "My One and Only" male dolls?Marc, Rad, Matt, Cliff, Cory and Colin?for lovelorn, preteen girls. If the girls wrote letters to the dolls, the company promised it would write back and send them perfume on their birthdays. The line was an utter failure, although to this day Irwin still gets dozens of letters intended for the dolls."


Offline Blippo

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I think we should all send a love letter for the dolls to the Irwin company. It the company still around?

Offline Ned

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I think we should all send a love letter for the dolls to the Irwin company. It the company still around?

The company is still around but I think it has restructured.
http://www.irwintoy.com/

Offline zuse

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #5 on: Wednesday 16 November 2011, 06:58 am »
Check out my Vintage Littlest Pet Shop Guide!

Hey, check out Bing Rewards. I've earned several $5 Amazon gift cards using it. :)

Offline invaderhorizongreen

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #6 on: Thursday 17 November 2011, 01:49 am »
well i can say i have heard of these but that is all i know.

Offline Dollquestion

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #7 on: Wednesday 30 November 2011, 05:02 am »
im very excited to see that others have inquired about these dolls! I actually still have my Colin doll!! It's been a running joke in my family since I was a kid. I have no idea who gave it to me - but I do know that it asked you to write to guy, and he would write you back. And so, I did. I got a letter and a photo , both of which I still have in a box of keepsakes. Why did I keep this colin doll stuff? Just so I could look back at it and laugh. And trust me, I just read the letter and I almost DIED. It's weird and slightly creepy.
Anyways hope this helps u!! I can post the pics and letter if u would like. Let me know. I actually took photos of them with my iPhone tonight just to text to my brothers so they could have a good laugh. :)
I wonder where Colin is now??? ???



Offline Dollquestion

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 30 November 2011, 05:10 am »
And btw... I also got perfume on my bday! It was a small, clear rollerball.... With a terrible smell!!
The glossy photo is hilarious. My guy is holding a rubber chicken. In the letter he writes some odd things. But he does like NKOTB and purple.. So that was a plus. :) lol

Offline zuse

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #9 on: Wednesday 30 November 2011, 05:29 am »
That's awesome! Please post them! (You'll need to use something like Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, etc.)

Yeah, I see in that article they based these guys off real male models. I guess it's not any creepier than being handpicked for a boy band or something, haha.
Check out my Vintage Littlest Pet Shop Guide!

Hey, check out Bing Rewards. I've earned several $5 Amazon gift cards using it. :)

Offline Ianua

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #10 on: Sunday 04 December 2011, 12:45 pm »
You HAVE to post pictures of the doll and letter it sounds hillarious :)

Offline invaderhorizongreen

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #11 on: Sunday 04 December 2011, 10:37 pm »
I really cant imagine being the person in charge of writing the letters. I mean come on if you are a guy how do you put yourself in the position of writing as a doll and not trying to sound to creepy/pervy/ etc...  All at the same time trying to come up with something in answer to hundreds of letters .

Offline pikapal

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #12 on: Monday 05 December 2011, 07:40 am »
Maybe the letter writer has some kind of randomizer or picked things out of a hat.

Offline Dollquestion

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #13 on: Monday 19 December 2011, 05:53 pm »
It's definitely not random... "Colin" responded to everything I wrote to him - from my favourite colour, to my favourite band (NKOTB...lol).
Anyways I will be posting the pics later to Photobucket - finally created an acct. I will post the link later, so you can all have a good laugh! :) I hope the original person that started this forum has seen all of this!

Offline Dollquestion

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Re: [ID: My One and Only - Irwin Toy] Obscure toy line 1 - "My One and Only" (1988)
« Reply #14 on: Friday 23 December 2011, 03:45 pm »
Alright everyone, here are the links to the pics!

the letter and photo (hit 'previous' to see the pic!: http://s1081.photobucket.com/albums/j354/CJS1983/?action=view&current=colin_doll_letter1988.jpg&newest=1





Hope you enjoyed! lol
« Last Edit: Sunday 21 April 2013, 12:49 am by zuse »

 

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