The Crissy doll was introduced in 1969 by the Ideal toy company in Hollis, New York. She was an 18-inch fashion doll. Her main feature was her ability to grow her hair. She had a ponytail that you could pull to make longer, and had a knob in her back to wind her hair back to short. She came in both a caucasion version and an African American version. At first her hair reached down to her feet, but later in 1969 they changed her hair to fall just to her knees, where it remained throughout the rest of her production. Crissy was issued in an orange lace mini-dress, the African American version being issued in the same dress except it was green. Crissy is wearing what was known as a 'party dress'. Back in the 60's/early 70's, girls wore party dresses to birthday parties, etc. (not to digress too much, but in the "Jan's Wig" episode of The Brady Bunch, Jan is fitted with a party dress). Party dresses went out of style around '73. In her box came instruction sheets, a brush, and she was wrapped in tissue paper (the white doll in orange tissue, the black doll in green tissue). Her head was wrapped by means of a plastic headband to secure her bangs in place, then a plastic bag over her entire head. Her ponytail was encased in a 6 inch plastic tube, with the ends of her ponytail wrapped in tissue paper, under a small plastic baggie secured with a rubber band. Sometimes Ideal used small pieces of tape to secure the small baggie. Her ponytail is sometimes referred to as a "tail" or a "pony". Crissy's box was a tall, narrow box with a drawn profile of Crissy. It had a yarn handle, the type of yarn that girls wore in their hair in the 70's. It's interesting to note that Crissy's profile (to me, anyway) looks nothing like the actual doll except for the long hair. It pictures Crissy with blue eyes, but Crissy's eyes were not blue. Crissy's eyes had no iris, just large black pupils. Near the bottom of the box was 3 photos of Crissy with her hair extended to different lengths.

In 1970, Ideal issued another grow-hair doll. Her name was Velvet and was labeled as Crissy's 'cousin'. She was a beautiful 16-inch-tall platinum blonde. Her box was a shorter, wider box with a purple yarn handle, featuring a drawn side profile of Velvet with 3 photographs of Velvet on the bottom face of the box showing her with different hair lengths. This profile of Velvet was more accurate than Crissy's, as it does somewhat resemble Velvet. She was wrapped in purple tissue paper from the factory, and was issued in a purple velvet or cordouroy A-line dress with a white satin sash at the waist tied in a bow on one side (also a party dress). She had white silk (or sometimes cotton) panties, purple shoes and a purple hair ribbon (this purple hair ribbon is usually missing on today's secondary market). Her eyes were a beautiful shade of violet, but Velvet's eyes tend to be temperamental, and some have faded to other colors such as pink, brown, green, or hazel. There are no rarities from the factory issuing Velvet with different eye colors. If your Velvet has eye colors different than violet, it's because they've oxidized to a different shade. She was VERY well received, and is just as collectable as Crissy herself. Many times Velvet can be found with a ponytail that reaches almost to the floor (at it's shortest length, her hair falls somewhere around the middle of her back). Her signature hair-do had sideburn ringlets held in place, from the factory, by means of plastic curlers with bobby pins. Over time, if the curlers have been removed, these have usually straightened, so it's a challenge to find a Velvet with her sideburn curls still in place. It's even more of a challenge to find a Velvet factory wrapped (plastic over head and 'tail). She had wonderful coloring, and it's no surprise that some Crissy collectors favor Velvet more than Crissy (this author being one of them). In 1981, Ideal re-issued Velvet. Basically she was the exact same doll as the 1970 version, as she was made from the same mold. The ONLY difference is the fact that her foundation hair was now curly (some are more on the wavy side like the twirly beads Crissy's foundation hair. I've seen both), not the center-part pageboy style with sideburn ringlets. Ideal did both themselves AND us collectors a big dis-service by changing the style of her foundation hair, because if they hadn't changed her hair style they probably would have sold a ton of dolls back in the 80's, and she would probably sell for alot more on today's secondary market. Another odd thing about the re-issue is her hair-lengthening mechanism. She had the pull-ring system, but the ring doesn't have a tab on it to fit into the opening in her back. While you can still change the length of her hair, it can not be kept in a short style. Very strange.

In 1970, even more dolls were added to the Crissy line. All the family members came in either an 18" version, or 16", and one came in a 12" version. All the dolls were: Crissy, Velvet, Brandi, Dina, Kerry, Tressy, Cinnamon, Cricket, Tara, and Mia. Not only were there different dolls, but also Ideal issued many additional outfits for Crissy to wear (after all, she was a fashion doll, you know (o: ). Although these fashions were highly mass-produced, they were of exceptional quality. They can still be bought very inexpensively.

There's a doll that quite often gets mistaken for a Crissy family doll. Her name was Harmony and came out in the early-mid 70's. She is not a Crissy family doll, even though she was produced by Ideal. She has no growing hair. She was a 20" doll that held a guitar. When special discs were placed in a 'record player' that she was issued with, her body moved like she was playing the guitar. She's great, but she's not a Crissy family member. She was also sold as a caucasion only. No African American Harmonys were issued. 

Of all the Crissy dolls,  6 were one-race only. All the others came in both a black and white version. The 6 Crissy family members were: Cricket (she was only sold in a white version), Tara (she was only sold in an African American version. Ideal called her an AUTHENTIC black doll), Mia (caucasion), Kerry (caucasion), Brandi (caucasion), and Dina (caucasion).

It's been said that Tara is not a Crissy family doll. She was produced in 1976, 2 years after Crissy's initial production was halted. However, she was made with the Velvet body mold (not the head mold, just the body mold) and she was a grow hair doll. So it's anyone's call as to whether or not she is truly a Crissy family doll.

Crissy was introduced with sleep eyes, but 5 of the 'extended family' had fixed eyes (they didn't open and close). They were Baby Crissy, Cinnamon, Dina, Brandi, and Magic Hair Crissy.

In the early years (mostly the caucasion 1969 hair-to-knees, and caucasion 1970 dolls in the turquoise satin outfits), a small number of these dolls - not all - were issued with a hair color more on the brown side than red. Nobody's sure why this happened. If anyone out there knows please email me. I would love to find out. These dolls are usually referred to as "brownette" Crissy's. While there aren't as many out there as the classic red-haired Crissy doll, they don't seem to fetch higher prices. Also these doll's hair tend to become wooly more often than the usual red-haired Crissy dolls.

Crissy was produced from 1969 - 1974, with the remaining stock being sold through '75. She was re-issued in '77 as "Magic Hair Crissy", but was a totally different doll with no grow-hair feature. Trust me, the 'magic' was gone in '77. She was re-re-issued in '80 - 82, but Ideal used the original Velvet mold and added red hair. These 80's versions and the '77 version were not and still are not popular with collectors.

In '73 Ideal issued a baby version of Crissy. Her name, of course, was Baby Crissy. She was 24" tall with the same grow-hair feature, although instead of a belly button and knob system for adjusting the length of her hair, she had a pull ring attached to a string. This ring had a tab that fit into a grommeted hole in Crissy's back. When you wanted to shorten her hair, you would pull on the ring and insert the tab into the hole in her back. To make her hair long again, you would remove the ring from her back and gently pull on her ponytail. It was not uncommon for eager children to pull her ponytail or the string too hard, and some babies now have tears on their backs near the grommet hole. Some grommets are missing altogether. She also came in a caucasion version and an African American version, but no additional fashions were issued for her. Instead her appeal was that she could wear real baby clothes. She was an instant hit. She was introduced wearing a 2-piece outfit (the caucasian in pink, the African American in lavender, although both dolls can be found wearing either). Baby Crissy had 4 types of boxes. The first was a short, square, window-less box in which the doll was placed in a sitting position. The 2nd was a taller, window-less box, the 3rd was a 2-piece box with a window on the front. The bottom of that box was sturdy cardboard, while the top was very flimsy cardboard. These boxes are usually found in rough condition due to the poor quality of the box top. Also it is not uncommon for the window to have come unglued. The 4th was a one-piece, heavy duty box. This was the only box that was entirely wrapped in shrink wrapping. This is the box that the dolls in the pink gingham outfit were issued in. In the 2nd and 3rd types of boxes, Crissy was issued in a one-piece 'bubble romper' trimmed in gingham. Sometimes yellow, sometimes green. The 70's baby Crissy's heads were wrapped in plastic, where the early 80's dolls were not. They were issued with a hair net and a plastic headband. Her production ran from '73 to '77. She was re-issued in '80 - '82. In the late 80's / early 90's, Baby Crissy was re-re-issued but some had no grow-hair feature. Some were 18-inch drink and wet dolls. Most looked nothing like the original dolls. These late 80's / early 90's babies were not and still are not popular with collectors either.

Ideal also gave the Whitman company license to manufacture Crissy paper dolls (I don't believe Ideal issued Crissy paper dolls, but I'm not 100% sure), the company that manufactured Colorforms created a Crissy colorforms set, and there was also a Crissy board game. Crissy merchandise also included luggage with the Crissy name on them 'Miss Crissy', there was a Crissy beauty parlor set, and Ideal also issued several wigs for Crissy to wear when she was having a bad hair day (they aren't very attractive on Crissy). It's my belief that these wigs were made because it was not uncommon for little children to cut off Crissy's ponytail with scissors, thinking the ponytail would somehow grow back. I believe these wigs were for the purpose of hiding Crissy's grow-hole when her pony was cut, but that's just my theory (it's never been verified or even mentioned by anyone). Simplicity patterns were quite popular to make Crissy fashions at home. To this day I can never figure out why they never made a Crissy lunchbox. It seems everything was made into lunchboxes.... except Crissy and her friends. Go figure. There were 3 types of Carrying cases that were available. The first and most available was the tote for one doll, with a separate compartment on one side for extra fashions to be stored. These were vinyl with a quilted interior. It featured the profile of Crissy that was on the boxes of the 1969 and 1970 issue dolls. It was closed shut by means of 2 clear vinyl snaps, one on the top and one on the bottom. These snaps have had a tendency to split over the years from the case being opened and closed repeatedly, and it's somewhat of a challenge to find a tote that has both snaps intact. It had a red carrying handle. This tote fit Crissy perfectly, but was a little narrow in the main compartment for Velvet, as Velvet's arms spread out wider than Crissy's. She just doesn't fit well. I suppose you could jam her in, but I feel she deserves a little more respect than that (o: . This same style tote was issued in Canada, but didn't have the quilted interior and had a white carrying handle. The second and harder to find is a case that could hold 2 dolls. The interior of these cases was designed as 2 'dressing rooms'. The 3rd is the Crissy/Velvet steamer trunk, with fake travel stickers illustrated on the front. These cases seem to be few and far between, and don't seem as popular with collectors as the previous 2 mentioned.

Crissy enjoyed a relatively long shelf life for a doll. She was a huge success for Ideal, as well as a respectable competitor with Barbie and Dawn. Crissy was a favorite with the kids of the early 70's. Some have said that she's a baby boomer doll, but that's not true because she was produced at a time when not many baby boomers were playing with dolls. She really was the doll of the Generation X crowd (thanks to our hippie parents).

The early issues of Crissy, especially if one is found in its' original plastic wrap from the factory, command high prices on ebay. Once a black Tressy doll that was factory wrapped (plastic over head and ponytail wrapped in plastic) sold for $850, although I haven't seen a Crissy family doll sell for that high again. More recently, a seller from England listed a 1970 first issue velvet doll in the purple velvet dress (not the cordouroy dress) that was NRFB in an unusual UK-Issue box (not the usual side profile American box with the purple yarn handle). She sold for just over $450 US dollars. Having Crissy's original box, brush, and paperwork also are important for obtaining top dollar. The dolls that do not do well at auction's end seem to be the 80's re-issues of Crissy (Country Fashion Crissy, etc.)and the 80's re-issue of Velvet, as well as the 1977 Magic Hair Crissy. Early 80's baby Crissys tend to sell for high prices, because they are basically the same doll as the first issues, plus they have the benefit of being made from hard plastic, instead of 'Magic Skin' (a foam-filled vinyl that feels soft and squishy) that tends to discolor and deteriorate over time. The dolls that seem to do well are Tara (MIB or otherwise)/ the black issues of Crissy, Velvet and Tressy/ the black hair to floor Crissy/ and the Baby Crissy in pink gingham (that doll was only produced for a year or so, and was the last issue of the classic baby Crissy ever made. If you are thinking of adding one baby Crissy to your collection, I strongly advise you adding the pink gingham girl). I must admit that one baby Crissy I've NEVER seen, is the black baby Crissy in gingham in the shrink wrapped box. A well-known author/collector told me they were produced, but she's never seen one either. It might be possible that her gingham outfit would be lavender, not pink, as the white babies usually came in pink outfits and the black ones in lavender. If you can find one of those, I believe she'd be worth alot of money, but only if the box is still wrapped in shrink wrapping and is unopened. It's too easy to mix-and-match a black baby crissy and put her in that outfit and in that box and claim it to be original. Some sellers just may be unscrupulous to do so.

I believe the ultimate find would be the baby Velvet prototype. One baby Velvet WAS produced, as Ideal initially had plans to add her to the Crissy line. She was even photographed and put in a catalog, but at the last minute Ideal scrapped their plans on producing her for sale. If that ONE doll is still out there, and you happen to find her, I would strongly advise purchasing her at whatever cost is necessary. She was an adorable doll. She had lavender sleep eyes, unlike Baby Crissy whose eyes were fixed. Her limbs were foam filled, so it's possible that if she's still around they could have deteriorated (magic skin is VERY temperamental). 

I used to be an avid collector of these dolls. At one time I owned over 40, but now i only have 2: the 1982 Baby Crissy in pink gingham, and the 1982 Baby Crissy in the one-piece romper. Both of those doll's boxes are still wrapped in shrink wrapping from the factory. They've never been opened, truly NRFB. These issue dolls are definitely becoming harder and harder to find in that condition.

One piece of advice, if I may offer it, is: If you have purchased a gal with the plastic still covering the head and pony, don't remove it. If you ever go to re-sell, you'll be glad you kept the doll wrapped. Ideal is not making anymore factory wrapped Crissy dolls (actually Ideal doesn't even exist anymore), and gals in wrapped condition will only become more and more valuable - if they're still wrapped. Wrapped dolls are very expensive, and if you're prone to removing the wrappings anyway, do yourself a favor and buy an unwrapped doll instead and save a couple of hundred bucks. A decent unwrapped doll can be bought for around $50 or less (I've seen extremely mint, unwrapped dolls sell for less than $25), where as a wrapped doll can be as much as $350 or more. I like to keep the wrappings on my dolls because, while you can still see their faces clearly, the wrappings keep the doll's foundation hair neat and in place. Often a seller will use the term "not played with". If your doll's hair wrappings have been removed, is missing shoes, etc., more than likely she has been played with. Some dolls have indeed been played with VERY gently and carefully, but they are played with none-the-less, and what you should be willing to spend should reflect this.

Crissy is not only a fashion doll, she is also a mechanical doll. It would be very appropriate for one who collects mechanical toys to add the Crissy line to their collections, especially the Look-Around models. Crissy is a very hot collectible these days. Some Crissy family dolls command extremely high prices. Will Crissy be as collectible 20 years from now, when the Cabbage Patch generation reaches 40+ (as Crissy's generation is now)? Time will tell.