10.08.2007
Mass producing Jesus
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Glory dolls on the shelves at the Mechanicsville, Va., Wal-Mart . The store is sold out of the talking Jesus doll. Wal-Mart is selling a line of Christian toys for the first time that includes a talking Jesus, Mary, Moses, etc. Only a few hundred stores are test marketing the line. The toys are mostly in markets across the South and Midwest, and in select areas in the Northeast and California. Media General photo. |
A talking 12-inch-tall Jesus doll that belongs to the first Christian toy line sold by Wal-Mart makes sense to Christine Currie of Mechanicsville, Va.
It’s a good idea to sell the doll, Currie said, standing in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart superstore on Bell Creek Road in Mechanicsville, one of the few area stores selling the product.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it, especially me being a Christian myself,” said Currie, adding that her 13-month-old granddaughter, Zamyia, who sat cooing in a cart filled with new purchases, just may receive one of the Christian dolls, which retail for $14.95.
The Jesus doll reads three Bible verses — Mark 12:30, Mark 12:31 and John 3:16 — and tells the story of how five loaves of bread and two fish fed a huge crowd of people. The product line includes Bible-verse-reciting dolls made in the images of Mary, Moses, Noah, Esther and David. There is also a miniature Nativity scene for $22.97 and larger “poseable warrior” action figures of Samson and Goliath.
The Tales of Glory toys are manufactured in China for One2Believe and recently began arriving at 425 Wal-Mart stores. The company is a division of the Valencia, Calif.-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Co. Most of the stores receiving the collection are located in the South and the Midwest, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien.
Stores were selected based on how other religious items, such as Bibles, sold.
O’Brien said policy prevents her from discussing how the dolls are selling but that customer response has been good. “They like the availability of something different. It’s too early to speculate on how they’ll do. We’ll see as we head into the holiday season.”
The dolls are for sale on an aisle with infant- and toddler-age toys and away from the similar-sized but fashionable Barbie dolls and the pouty-lipped Bratz dolls.
“It sounds like they will be an interesting addition to Wal-Mart shelves,” said Kristin M. Swenson, assistant professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. “I’m not opposed to them as long as they don’t say things that are hateful.”
One concern that Karen-Marie Yust, an associate professor of Christian education at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, has is “their depiction of biblical characters as homogeneous figures more like white children than other racial and ethnic groups,” she said.
“The Jesus doll has very European features, unlike the Jesus of history. The action figures are similar. African, Asian and Native American children will find it harder to see themselves and their families of origin in toys that solely represent dominant white culture. If Jesus and the other biblical figures were more representative of people from their historic time and place, children would see that religious figures can be different from them and still relate to them,” Yust said.
The lack of religious diversity may bother some people, she said.
“One could only wish that toys from the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu traditions were part of the mix, as those parents would likely appreciate a major company’s support in nurturing their children in faith as well,” Yust said.
Wal-Mart customer Clarice Baker of Mechanicsville wasn’t completely sold on the idea of faith-based dolls.
“It could be good, and it could not be,” Baker said.
“A lot of people have different religions. You may not want to see something like that on the shelf,” she said.
But most customers queried in the parking lot during a recent visit endorsed the products.
“It’s a store; they have the right to sell whatever they want,” said Lawrence Carter, 22, of Mechanicsville. “It is Wal-Mart!”
Edith Sherman of Mechanicsville said it’s a refreshing, educational offering.
“All these kids see now is evil. It’s exposing them to seek something meaningful and lasting,” she said. “Maybe we’ll get a better next generation.”
The collection made Maxine McAnally chuckle.
“Is it made in China? Then it must be OK as long as it’s not toxic,” she said. “They couldn’t think of anything else to add on the shelves, so they said, ‘Let’s do Jesus for a while.’ ”
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