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Madame Alexander

ASMUS Collectables

Hsing-Chi Hsu talks about the future of his remarkable

and struggling company

Learn about Hsing-Chi Hsu & Hsin-ween Hsu and their company ASMUS Collectibles with Laura Duval Bird

Talking Toys with Todd McFarlane

McFarlane Toys

Learn more about the world of Todd McFarlane and his remarkable creative staff.

For My Mattel Eyes Only - A rare private look at the 2001 Toy Odyssey you experience as the Mattel Toy company presents their latest Barbie and Toy line at The New York Toy Fair.

Mattel Showroom 1999 part 1

MEL ODOM’S 6TH Anniversary of the Gene Doll Collection at FAO schwarz 2001

Un-Cut Footage by Ira Gallen

The Mel Odom Gene Doll Line for 1999 at The Annual Toy New York Toy Fair, Javits Center

Mattel Showroom 1999 part 2

MEL ODOM’S presenting Gene at The New York Toy Fair 2000 with Laura Duval Bird

The Fans of Mel Odom and his creation of the Movie Star Doll Gene Marshall NY Toy Fair 2000

The Story of Madame Alexander

as explored by Laura Duval Bird

Beatrice Alexander, known as Madame Alexander, created the world's most successful dolls, until Barbie came along. Hers is a remarkable American rags to riches story, especially for a woman in 1923.

Madame Alexander Doll Designer Timothy J Alberts talks about his latest line of creations at the 2001 New York Toy Fair at the Javits Center with Laura Duval Bird

She honed her craft in New York, designing and sewing low-end cloth dolls. But she saw a market in a untapped higher-end collector market.

Styling herself as "Madame Alexander," which would became her iconic trade mark and the name for her dolls, Alexander went on to create dolls replicating famous personalities and characters in books, films, music, and art.

Among her notable creations were dolls replicating the Dionne quintuplets, Scarlett O'Hara, and the royal family and attendees at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.