Pinkie Cooper and La Dee Da on Clearance

I’ve noticed during the past few weeks on my doll-hunting expeditions that Pinkie Cooper and La Dee Da are being put on clearance. Target and Toys R Us have them marked down by about 50%. These dolls are also ending up in discount stores such as T.J. Maxx and Family Dollar. Is this a sign they are being discontinued?

These markdowns come on the heels of news that the Bratz line of dolls is being discontinued for 2014 so that they can be revamped for 2015. Right before this news broke, Bratz dolls went on clearance too, and now many stores are completely sold out of Bratz.

Photo Courtesy of Spin Master

La Dee Da debuted at the New York City Toy Fair in February of 2013. They’re manufactured by Spin Master. Spin Master is perhaps best known as the creators of the Liv doll. Liv was popular with children and adult collectors because of her realistic appearance and proportions. However, sales were declining due to increased competition from other doll lines, and in the Fall of 2012, Spin Master discontinued Liv. La Dee Da was introduced as a replacement for Liv (if you go to the Liv website, there is a prominent link to the La Dee Da website). Liv was just like the girls who played with her, and maybe that was the problem. Maybe she just wasn’t interesting enough. Whereas La Dee Da was far more interesting. She and her friends attended fashion school in New York City (yes, really). Even their stylized appearance and wardrobe seemed more exciting than Liv. But only one year after making their debut, La Dee Da dolls have been relegated to the clearance aisle.

Photo courtesy of The Bridge Direct

The same holds true for Pinkie Cooper, which also debuted at the New York Toy Fair in 2013. Pinkie Cooper was created by Carter Bryant, the creator of Bratz. She and her friends Ginger and Pepper are anthropomorphized dogs who – get this – also attend fashion school in New York City. But now Pinkie and her friends are also on clearance. Pinkie is cute, but she’s also a little strange. She has long hair on either side of her head, like dog ears, but no hair on top of her head. This makes her look like she suffers from male-pattern baldness (although she looks awfully cute in a hat). But Pinkie isn’t the first hybrid dog-girl doll. In 1966 Hasbro introduced Peteena, a poodle fashion doll. Introduced, and discontinued, in the same year. It looks like Pinkie Cooper is destined for the same fate. While rumors are swirling on the Internet, I have yet to find an official online source that mentions Pinkie being discontinued. Pinkie was popular with adult collectors as a cheaper alternative to Japanese anthro BJDs, but perhaps little girls weren’t ready for, or interested in, the concept of an anthropomorphized dog doll. Or maybe making a doll attend fashion school in New York City is the kiss of death.

Last year I bought a couple of La Dee Da dolls. I thought they were really cute when I saw them in the store, but when I got them home and took them out of their boxes, I wasn’t really impressed with them. Their arms aren’t articulated. Their legs are, but the quality of production and articulation isn’t that great. And their heads are so huge that the dolls tipped over when I tried to stand them up. Here’s one of my La Dee Da dolls, Dee Loves Le Bun:

I also purchased a Pinkie Cooper doll. I bought the Pinkie Cooper Deluxe Travel Collection doll, Pinkie in London.

Photo courtesy of The Bridge Direct

As odd as I thought she was, she was also somewhat endearing. I particularly liked the Deluxe Travel Collection dolls, and I thought their boxes were adorable. I loved the brown and pink color combination and the fact that the box had a pink handle to easily carry the doll.

Photo courtesy of The Bridge Direct

I don’t know if I’ll really miss the La Dee Da girls if they are in fact going to be discontinued. Maybe they were a little too outrageous or over the top. However, I might be a little sad to see Pinkie Cooper go. As strange as the concept of a dog fashion doll is, I find her to be really sweet. I can see her appealing to very little girls because she’s not hypersexualized like some fashion doll lines arguably are. And on the upside, Peteena dolls sell for big bucks on the secondary market these days. So if you see a Pinkie Cooper doll on clearance, you might want to buy it and save it for 40 or 50 years.

Has anyone heard any concrete news about La Dee Da and Pinkie Cooper being discontinued? Please share!

Update: This Mommy and Gracie Show video confirms that Pinkie Cooper is being discontinued. They went to Toy Fair this year, and the people at The Bridge Direct booth told them that Pinkie will no longer be produced.

Update #2: La Dee Da dolls have been discontinued. Kewpie from Confessions of a Doll Collector’s Daughter emailed Spin Master, who confirmed that the dolls will no longer be produced.