Afrocentric Barbie

While watching some videos on Youtube.com, I kept coming across pictures or videos of these afrocentric Barbie-type dolls. Not only was their hair texture more afrocentric but their clothes were updated, stylish, and more urban.

Of course, these dolls piqued my interest and I went on a search to find out where these dolls could be purchased. I have a few collectible african american dolls from the Mattel Barbie line and wanted to include these fashion-forward dolls!

To my surprise, most of these dolls were not available to the public, hadn't been released, or were altered by individuals to achieve Barbie's new look!

However, when I Googled "afro Barbie" it came up with a barrage of photos and images of beautiful african american Barbie-like dolls!

I needed to find out who was creating such beautiful dolls. I found one doll company called "Tabloach Productions" which is headed by doll artist, Ms. Loanne Hizo Ostlie.

What is the name of your business and what are its origins? The name of my business is Tabloach Productions. It is derived from the combination of my family’s first names. (Tab)batha (my daughter), (loa)nne (me), and (ch)uck (my husband).

How did you become interested in the doll industry? When EBay first got introduced, I thought it would be fun to browse through the Barbie section to see if I can find my past dolls. I stumbled across an auction for a customized Barbie doll. All she had done to her was a permed hairstyle, a simple designed homemade dress and some makeup. What made me double-take at this particular auction was that it was going for $400! I thought to myself, “I can do that!” And from then on, I started customizing dolls.

I also found it interesting that they've created male and children dolls for purchase and collecting.

This doll's hair was re-styled by a mother of a bi-racial child. From what I read from her blog, she wanted to give her daughter a doll that more "resembled" her down to the hair texture. She used twisties and wrapped the hair around it, place the hair in "hot" water to set the hair and removed the twisties and back combed the hair and Voila' a doll restyled!