Doll | doll set:Our Generation: Sydney Lee Deluxe Ballet Doll Set

Meet Sydney Lee, a 18-inch play doll introduced pointedly as an "Our Generation" doll. Sydney Lee's manufacturers clearly hope the doll-buying public will prefer its doll over the American Girl line of dolls most noted for their attachments to historical time periods. Sydney Lee's makers have made their dolls very similar to American Girl's Felicity, Addie, Samantha, Kit, and Molly. Our Generation dolls are 18 inches tall and can wear the clothes of and use the accessories of American Girl dolls. Our Generation Dolls each come with a story book, like American Girl dolls, and each book proclaims messages of self-esteem, self-expression, and accomplishment for little girls to live by: I'm proud of who I am!" and "You can do more than you think!" And Sydney Lee announces to anyone who does not find her more desirable than an American Girl: "I'm a lot like you." The doll is one of six dolls in the line, each of which represents a different activity like horseback riding, going back to school, solving a mystery, figure skating, and a muscial recital. Making dolls with a message for sure, Battat, Incorporated, the company behind the Our Generation dolls, heads its promotional copy with "Our Generation . . . Celebrate Today's Girls and Tomorrow's Leaders." A suggested retail price of $32.99 (one third the cost of an American Girls doll) and distribution through Target stores nationwide (American Girl dolls are sold exclusively via catalogs or from one of six stores in the country) made Our Generation dolls competitive with the higher-priced, established brand. You might not expect it from one with the grace and poise of a ballet dancer, but Sydney Lee hopes to knock the American Girl off her pedestal. Take that, Molly!!