Yuna Doll - Dream Big Friends
While getting ready for my 2015 sum up posts, I happened upon a Kickstarter that absolutely blew me away. Unlike my normal Kickstarter browsing, the project was not for a boardgame, videogame or comic... no, it was for a doll.
From the creators of the popular Uglydolls line, David Horvath and Sun Min Kim teamed up with toy designer Klim Kozinevich to create a new line of dolls. Instead of the standard Barbie's and Bratz of the world, the new Dream Big Friends line will offer socially conscious and aspirational dolls for girls.
The first of these dolls is Yuna, with fully fleshed out interests and dreams for her future. The doll itself is 10" tall and will be made with high quality manufacturing in mind. Yuna is adorable, and feels like a toy you saw in a cool animated short once that you wish they made in real life. I could go in depth about the doll, but anything I'd say is covered in much more depth with this interview with the creators done by VinylPulse.
The kickstarter at the time of this post will be coming to a close, with the ending set for January 3rd. At the time of writing this, the project has 4 days to get over half of the $175,000 needed which seems unlikely. I can imagine the $40 price tag plus shipping is quite daunting for most consumers, but I feel like the quality and message that the line represents would be worth it. As for myself, I don't have a daughter so I put in a small pledge and wrote this post to support what they are doing. It's a shame that this line might not get to see the light of day, but I am hopeful that the Dream Big Friends will proceed regardless of the kickstarter outcome.