FEATURE ARTICLE—July 2001
Q&A with Matty Jankwoski
"HEY, MATTY, I'VE BEEN SEEING TATTOOED DOLLS FOR SALE. WHAT GIVES?"
Every year the nation's largest toy maker introduces about 125 new dolls. There was the usual anticipation when the release of Tattooed Butterfly Art Barbie was announced, just because it
was a new Barbie. The body art caused consumers to be concerned and with a few dozen phone calls the rumors grew. Banned Barbie was the description that stirred collectors to covet the newest decorated doll. The pretty pink box
showed Barbie's midriff with a large colorful butterfly tattoo along with a collection of additional water slide tattoo transfers of butterfly and flower designs displayed like sheets of flash. Ken also was into body art this
season with a tank top and butterfly-tattooed biceps. The message emblazoned across the front read, "Cool decorations for Barbie/Ken and you to wear!" The whole crew included Theresa, Christie, Kira and Steven in addition to
the happy decorated couple. The young girl pictured on the cover and the back had butterflies, flowers and seahorses on her face and encouraged kids to have fun decorating their dolls and themselves. The consumer's concerns
with body art halted the release of Generation Girl dolls, notably Barbie's friend Chelsie, who was slated to be tattooed and have a nose piercing. A toned-down version is still available with a small heart tattoo on her ankle
but no piercing. A few pierced dolls are still out there.
You'd think Mattel would have learned their lesson in the early '90s when Tony the Tattooed Man was pulled from store shelves because of the "Tattoo him! Tattoo
you!" message with the tattoo tool and "imagine all the fun from decorating yourself and friends" plastered all over the one-foot-square box that pictured step-by-step how to and a no-purchase-necessary contest to win 500
tattoos! The official add-too tattoo packs featured additional designs with names like Totally Gross, Skin Crawlers, Gnarly Surfin', Eat my Dust and Crazy Commando an amazing collection of flaming eyeballs, flying eight balls,
bullet holes, skulls and psycho stuff. The BOY TOY retailed for $25 and now is topping at $150 mint condition in an unopened box, selling to tattoo and doll collectors in Germany, Italy and Japan. Tony was recently included in
the Mariners' Museum exhibit, Skin Deep: The Art of the Tattoo, in Newport News, Virginia.
I remember when I just turned six and my sister got her wish for a walking doll that Christmas. Then low and behold what was
this? A boy doll? Yes, a DOLL, way before they were called action figures. For me? After the dust settled, I was up in the attic with my doll. It was dressed in denim pants and plaid flannel shirt looking too clean cut, so the
transformation began. First the sleeves came off the plaid shirt. Then the brush and paint from my model airplane kit added sideburns, then a mustache which eventually became a full beard, and, of course, a dagger tattoo on his
forearm and MOM and a heart on his biceps. My mother wasn't too pleased with my customized new doll, but what could she say? The tattoo said MOM!
Speaking of guys and dolls, and I don't mean the musical, Kachina dolls,
which Hopi Indians use to teach their children about good and evil, are used in special ceremonies. They are made by fathers, grandfathers and uncles in the likeness of Hopi and Zuni Indian Kachina dancers. Their bodies are
decorated with bold colorful designs and then hung on walls or from ceilings so they can always be seen by the children to teach them to identify the different dolls. The National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City has a very
impressive Kachina doll collection on display that belonged to John Wayne. Also, more than 30% of the attendees of the International Barbie Doll Convention were men, and a prized possession of one was an article in a HUSTLER
Magazine from 1976 entitled "Vulva of the Dolls"—something to do with Francie, Bugs Bunny and a plastic carrot!
Then there are action figures—action being the operative word here. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were looking for a few good mutants. Tattoo the cartoon character is also available as the posable plastic figure, the flesh-etched illustrated man. Heckled for being humongous, this heavy hero took his fat into his own hands and joined a secret Sumo society to defend his honor. There he was branded Tattoo.
Henceforth, he decided to engulf his entire body with tattoos to live up to his name. Now that he's done up his dermis, Tattoo takes his tonnage to the Turtle Teens to help them fight the Foot. Armed with only his massive
muscles and skin illustrations, Tattoo beats the baddies with his bare hands. To further fool the Foot, Tattoo's tattoos even come to life. And when he's not using his scary skin, this inked individual flexes his forearms and
funnels his fat to flatten the Foot. What's more, the green guys really like him, 'cause his tattoos remind them of pizza topping!
An early '90s holiday shopping guide had some helpful suggestion for what to give
a child who is "too young for a Harley, not ready for a real tattoo and not yet allowed to cross the street." It's Tattoodles, naturally, the tattooed doll from All Star Toys (with extra tattoos available). So far no one is
selling dolls to be pierced or branded, at least not in toy stores. "That was true then but today you can visit TOYTOKYO in the East Village where every character item you can't live without or had and lost can
be found again. There you will find pop culture icons CRAZY CHILDREN, six-inch tall dolls by Michael Lau, one of the hottest toy designers in Japan. The series includes nine figures, eight
children and a dog with parts that can be removed from each then recombined to create your new friend, only after you get all nine. Not an easy task since they are as rare as hens teeth even in Tokyo. Number one has pierced
ears and tribal tattoo designs on his head, arms and another across his lower back reads TATTOO.
Then there are some fun cuddly "TATTOO Bears: stuffed with attitude and branded with personality," as the tags attached to
their ears proclaim. Each bear has an embroidered tattoo on its side and a duplicate personal tattoo transfer for you to wear. The tag has the bears name, a short blurb about the significance of the tattoo design and the date
it was tattooed. They come "bear-assed," but have clothing available as well.
For the past two years, Anita Healy, wife of tattooist Jim Healy of Tattoo Body Designs of Brooklyn, has been doing her magic creating one of a kind fashion doll designs that are in most
cases complete makeovers with custom-designed clothing some with hand beading and feathers, makeup, hair and custom tattoos from simple lips on a breast to sleeves, back pieces and body suits. They sell worldwide in custom
packaging to collectors in London, Belgium, Italy and Australia as well as here in the US. The average price is $150. Her wizardry can be seen in a soon-to-be-published book by Jim Saraone for Hobby House Press titled Fashion Doll Makeovers.
Truly one of a kind.
The Tattoo Baby Doll Project conceived by visual artist Sherri Wood is a collaborative exhibition that pairs two outsider needle arts: hand embroidery with the imagery of tattoo. Wood is in cahoots
with talented female artists all over the country. She gives them old dolls with hard plastic limbs and soft cloth torsos, they sketch out original tattoo designs on the virgin fabric and then Wood takes over with her needle
and embroidery thread and transforms the dolls into the ultimate tattooed ladies whose sordid pasts and secret memories are emblazoned across their chests.
"The project originated while in residency at the Headlands
Center for the Arts, just outside of San Francisco the summer of 1998," says Wood. "While studying the history of embroidery, I was simultaneously fascinated by all of the incredible tattoos I was seeing in San Francisco. Like
embroidery, tattoo seemed to carry on a similar tradition of deeply symbolic images that worked to form community and served to define and empower those within the community in various ways. I chose to recycle and transform
used and discarded dolls as a direct vehicle for merging the two art forms. After two years of intricate hand embroidery and collaboration with 11 innovative women tattoo artists, the show is on the road premiering at Modern
Electric in Jersey City, New Jersey."
Everything old is new again. Cloth, carved wood, paper and clay figurines depicting body decoration and modification from cultures around the globe have been children's playthings
throughout recorded history. Even today, the Maori have tiny plastic replicas of ancestors with facial tattoos and clothing. In the 21st century, one-of-a-kind and sometimes millions of manufactured dolls are decorated and will
survive as proof of the transformative act of body art known as tattoo.
—Indelibly, Matty.