My disappointing annual Toys for Tots shopping trip today.

[elocs]

I go every year and spend about $100 on toys, mostly in remembrance of my toy shopping for my daughter when she was little. First I look for dolls and this is what bothers me the most. Where I live, here in La Crosse, WI, it used to be one of the whitest cities in the U.S., but not anymore. We have enough blacks in the city not to be mistaken for basketball players and we do have a sizable Hmong population. Now I would think that their little girls (or boys) might like to have a doll that looks like them but it is damn hard to find many in this city of 50,000. However the white dolls are all over the place. There are a few black dolls, but no Asian ones at all and the ones I did find were the expensive Cabbage Patch ones. Toys R Us was the best place, but the price of their toys is really not that competitive with the other stores.

Another thing I look to buy are Winnie the Pooh toys because when my daughter was little "Pooh" was her nickname so she always got those toys and so I always felt good about getting those toys for some other little kids. However, this year evidently somebody decided that Winnie the Pooh was out this year. There used to be all kinds of them, but this time there were only a few Tiggers at Toys R Us.

Oh well, I'll go back Thursday to do the actual buying. I do wish the buyers would be more open minded for cities even though they may not be a big metropolis.

[LisaM]

1. I got a black Barbie at Toys R Us yesterday for a giving tree

I was looking for black or Hispanic. I agree with you that a little girl wants a doll that looks like her. I am probably stereotyping, but I've never seen any homeless Asian people in Seattle - not that their might not be some. But that's the only reason I was not looking for one.

[elocs]

2. I think that it is small things like that which send a sublte message to minority children.

That is, to be white is what is important.

I did see black Barbies as well as the Braatz line of dolls, but then they really tend to resemble white dolls, but with a darker skin (i.e., straight hair). The Cabbage Patch dolls are nice, but that 1 doll takes about a third of my Toys for Tots budget (not that I ever stay in the budget).

[LisaM]

4. Mine came with hair extensions and some other stuff

including something that straightens and un-straightens her hair.

The white Barbies don't really look like any white women I know anyway. I actually chose Barbie (mine was for a six-year old) thinking that if they are staying in a shelter because they don't have a home, a smaller doll might be a better option.

[marybourg]

3. See here (possibly for next year):

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=black+doll&x=14&y=19

[elocs]

7. That's good, but I'd really miss the experience of pushing the cart through all the toys

and trying to decide. Toy prices are really not that good this year compared to last year from what I can see so far. I think this is the last week for the Toys for Tots so I had better get on the ball.

Maybe I'll pick up a couple at Amazon and do the rest of my shopping in person.

[LisaM]

8. I agree. I had fun shopping for a doll in a store.

The hard part was not buying one for myself. I always liked dolls.

[elocs]

9. The funny thing is that my daughter was never really one to like dolls.

From the time years ago I started doing this I always tried to look for a minority doll thinking how thrilled some little girl of color would be to find a doll that looks more like her than the other dolls.

[MineralMan]

5. There are two Hmong grocery stores in La Crosse that I know of.

Go there. They don't just sell groceries. I'm sure there will be Hmong character dolls, along with other toys and goodies.

For black dolls, try Target or K-Mart. Both offer black dolls in their toy department.

Good luck.

[elocs]

6. I didn't think of the Hmong grocery stores.

I did find some black dolls at Target and Toys R Us, but other than Cabbage Patch there were really not much in the way of little and cuddly baby dolls.