Baby Alive was first produced in 1973 by Kenner, the makers behind other long-lived and successful toys such as the Easy-Bake Oven and Spirograph. The original Baby Alive doll had rounded rosy cheeks and very blonde (almost white) slightly wavy hair. She was 16-inches tall and came complete with a dish, bottle with nipple, spoon, nine packs of 'non-toxic' doll food and three disposable diapers.
Quite advanced for its years, the appeal of Baby Alive has always been that it appeared very life-like, and in the early stages of its release it was quite easy to dupe onlookers into believing that the think was actual a real baby, thanks to her moving mouth (at least from a distance anyway).
The appeal of Baby Alive was, and still is that it "eats" and "poops" just like a real baby. The original Baby Alive doll came in a romper suit and hair ribbon along with a whole load of accessories so that you could look after her and tend to her every need - that mainly involved feeding her, giving her water and changing her nappy an awful lot.
It was always usual for the child playing with Baby Alive for the first time to be a little cautious. After all, when they take and their mouths move they did seem very life-like and it could be a little creepy!
To first start interacting with Baby Alive you need to press the button on her wrist as this woke her up. Unfortunately 'Batteries are not included', but luckily the makers made this very clear in all the adverts, so parents usually were given enough warning to make sure that they were bundled in with the present. If after a while she wasn't played with and was settled down to sleep then she would fall quiet and go into sleep mode.
Baby Alive was most appealing because everything about her was realistic, including her bowel movements! When you gave Baby Alive her diet of a special food mixture and water it would inevitably end up in her nappy so that you could have 'fun' changing it. Baby Alive was very particular with her diet, so it was no use shoving down real baby food, or squashed bananas unless you wanted to break her.
Care was needed when mixing the food mixture, especially in the newer models and you would have to mix up a packet of Baby Alive food with exactly 15ml of water for it to work properly. As well as the sachets of food, Baby Alive came bundled with a special dish and spoon as well as a small water bottle. After you gave her some food you needed to give her a small amount of water to 'wash it through' otherwise you'd end up with a very bunged up doll.
When you gave Baby Alive a teaspoon of the special food mixture, rather than just wash down she would 'chew' her food with a realistic mouth movement. You could also make her suck her thumb by pressing her thumb against her lower lip for a few seconds. When you ran out of special Baby Alive food and nappies it was possible to purchase the sachets and spare nappies separately.
Hasbro reintroduced Baby Alive in early 2006, and as well as being more realistic than ever she was capable of speaking and had far more advanced facial expressions and eye movements. She's gone through quite a transformation since then, though - her eyes are now a lot bigger and her face more caricature-like.
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Barbie said:
I had to take the batteries out of my Baby Alive!
Wednesday September 17, 2008, 09:32 AM
can i see the pictures
Wednesday September 23, 2009, 06:09 PM
vickie hicks said:
can we see the picture of baby alive that sucks real bottle
Wednesday September 23, 2009, 06:15 PM
I want the baby alive toy
Thursday March 25, 2010, 09:57 PM
lyka: said:
were we can buy BABY ALIVE???
CAN u said to us???
Thursday May 6, 2010, 05:39 AM
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