#tutti

Tutti colpevoli.

Fino a prova contraria!

In 1966 Mattel introduced a little sister to Barbie and Skipper named Tutti with a twin brother named Todd. She had only a short reign in the Barbie franchise, lasting until 1971 in the States, and 1977 in Europe before being discontinued. She was 6 ¼ inches tall and made from a soft bendable rubber material with a wire inside to make her easy to pose.

She originally released in 1966 with a base doll, four playsets (Walkin' My Dolly • Night Night, Sleep Tight • Me and My Dog • Melody in Pink) and a playset with her and Todd (Sundae Treat). There also was a dollhouse called Tutti and Todd's Playhouse which was exclusive to sears.

Then in 1967 another base doll of Tutti along with two new playsets (Cookin Cookies • Swing-A-Ling) were released. From my research, this seems to be the last US release of Tutti and there were only fashion packs that came after that. However in Europe there was a new Tutti doll that came out in 1976.

So why on earth was such a charming doll discounted so quickly? Tutti, as adorable as she was, was doomed from the very start as the way she was designed had a lot of flaws. The wires inside her body would sometimes break, causing her to lose her ability to pose or even pierce through her soft skin where the wires would then stick out. She was an unfortunate victim of the 1970s oil crisis which resulted in Mattel pulling back on product and having to cut costs.

So that's pretty much all there is to know about Barbie's forgotten little sister with a devilish grin, Tutti. She can be pretty difficult to obtain these days, as the way she was manufacturing is not too kind to aging, and expensive due to her limited releases.