Little Kiddles

Produced in numerous series by Mattel from 1966 to 1971, these tiny dolls still bring big fun … and prices.

By Kris Manty

While Barbie is having an immense cultural (and marketing) moment, thanks to the live-action Barbie movie that has grossed a whopping $1.4 billion worldwide as of October, according to Box Office Mojo, there are other dolls Mattel made in the same era that were also hugely popular and deserve some attention: Liddle Kiddles.

A 1968 Peter Paniddle doll from the Storybook series.
He was the only male doll in the series and came with
a crocodile and a tiny Tinkerbell: $190. Courtesy of rl2u/eBay

Inspired by small children in neighborhoods across America, Liddle Kiddles, taken from the phrase “little kids” and ranging between one to four inches high, offered immense fun. Sporting big hair and 1960s false eyelashes, the miniature dolls came with unique accessories like animals, furniture, or vehicles or were enclosed in a locket or perfume bottle.

Liddle Kiddles’ debut at the New York Toy Fair in 1966 caused a sensation in the doll world, and numerous other companies soon created their own tiny copycats. They became the gotta-have toy for children and charm collectors today.

Produced in numerous series by Mattel from 1966 to 1971, these wee vinyl dolls remained wildly popular until the global oil crisis in 1970 cut them short. Here’s a closer look at a few of the lines popularly collected:

The Original Liddles

The first line of dolls from 1966-67 included ten characters, nine of which were available in stores, and one was a Sears exclusive. Renowned artist Martha Armstrong Hand designed three of the four head sculpts for these first Kiddles. They had soft vinyl bodies with wire armatures inside and swivel necks that made them poseable, rooted and brushable hair, and brightly painted features in different variations. They ranged in height between 2-3/4 inches tall without their shoes on to 3-1/2 inches tall wearing them. Packaged on blister-pack cards, each doll came with themed clothing and an accessory, a hairbrush or comb, and a Kiddle Komic.

Bunson Burnie, one of the first ten Liddle Kiddles from 1966.
He’s wearing his original fireman outfit and comes with a
red fire truck that has its hard-to-find ladder: $49.95. Courtesy of ksjmsell4/eBay

The first dolls lived in Liddle Kiddle Land and included Babe Biddle, who came with a sportscar; Howard “Biff” Boodle, who had a yellow wagon; firefighter Bunson Burnie, who had a miniature firetruck; baby Liddle Diddle and her crib; Greta Griddle with a table and chairs for hosting tea parties; cowgirl Calamity Jiddle who came with a rocking horse; Lola Liddle came with a sailboat; Florence Niddle had a doll carriage; and Millie Middle came with a sandbox. The Sears Exclusive was musician Beat-a-Diddle, who came with a guitar and microphone.
These Liddles, with their fun personalities and imaginative details, captivated children and became so popular that Mattel created fourteen new characters, including Sizzly Friddle with a barbecue grill, Freezy Sliddle with a blue sled, and Rolly Twiddle with a pink plastic pail, shovel, and orange wagon.

A 1968 Rah Rah Cheerleader doll from the Skediddle Kiddles line.
These dolls have a wheeled attachment that simulates walking.
When the device is attached to a doll and pushed from behind,
the legs, arms, and head move, giving the appearance of the doll
moving on its own: $75. Courtesy of birdsinhand/eBay

Lucky Locket Kiddles

The next Liddles series Mattel produced from 1967 to 1970 was the Lucky Locket Kiddles, which let kids wear their favorite doll around their neck. Two inches tall, these came in a clear plastic bubble locket with different colored frames decorated with other colored stones. All 13 dolls had names starting with L, like Laverne Locket, Lilac Locket, Lola Locket, Lorna Locket, and Louise Locket.

There were several series of dolls and lockets: Gold Lockets, 1967, and Pastel Lockets, 1968, each featured seven dolls—Lois Locket appeared in both series. The Gold Rush Lockets, 1969, had bright gold frames and six dolls: Laverne, Lorelei, Loretta, Lottie, Louise, and Luana.

In 1975, Mattel reissued six “Lucky Locket” Dolls (dropping the Kiddle name) made of harder vinyl than the originals.

Storybook Kiddles

Characters from children’s favorite nursery rhymes, fairytales, and other stories came to life in tiny doll form with Mattel’s Storybook Kiddles in 1967 and 1968. The seven dolls in the series were all three-and-one-half inches tall, had big blue eyes, and came with 24-page illustrated storybooks and accessories.

The series featured Alice Wunderliddle and the white rabbit, Cinderiddle with two outfits—a “poor girl” dress and a glamorous white poofy ballgown, Liddle Biddle Peep and her sheep, Liddle Middle Muffet and the spider, Liddle Red Riding Hiddle and the wolf, Peter Paniddle with Tinker Bell and a crocodile and Sleeping Biddle asleep in her recliner. Cinderiddle and Sleeping Biddle also had later playsets: a vinyl palace case for Cinderiddle and a vinyl castle case for Sleeping Beauty.

Kozmic Kiddles

The four dolls in the Kozmic Kiddles line from 1969 were a far-out departure from the others. They resembled little psychedelic-designed aliens with bulbous glow-in-the-dark heads, two antennae, and different colored spaceships perched on space rock stands. Around an inch tall and made of soft plastic, they were Bluey Blooper, Greenie Meenie, Purple Gurple, and Yello Fello.

Each Kozmic Kiddle sits in a small spaceship in assorted Day-Glo colors that kids could detach and fly around or roll across a smooth surface and pretend it was the terrain of an unknown planet. The spaceships also unlatched so the dolls could be taken out and played with, which resulted in many delicate antennas being accidentally broken off, much to the chagrin of collectors who prize these hard-to-find cosmic dolls.

Other Liddle Kiddles Lines

Based on the massive success of the first few series, Mattel greatly expanded the Liddle Kiddles world of fun for kids. Other Liddle Kiddles series included the animal-themed Animiddle Kiddles, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Kiddles based on the four main characters of the movie, Holiday Kiddles, wearable Jewelry Kiddles (these were the smallest ones at 7/8 to 1-1/6 inches high), Kiddles ‘N Kars, Kiddle Kolognes with their own flowery scents, Kola Kiddles that came in clear plastic soda bottles, Little Baby Kiddles, Lollipop Kiddles, Skediddle Kiddles, Storybook Sweetheart Kiddles, Tea Party Kiddles, and Zoolery Kiddles.

Mattel also offered many Kiddles-branded extras, including the Liddle Kiddle Talking House from 1968, furniture, games, lunch boxes, posters, records, vinyl cases, and more.
Although Liddle Kiddles sold immensely well and were beloved by children everywhere, they were the victims of the global oil crisis in 1970 and discontinued after the rising price of petroleum spelled bad news for vinyl and plastic products, including toys. Mattel released the last Kiddles in 1970 and stopped further production a year later.

A Liddle Kiddles three-story Playhouse with
Snap Happy furniture and dolls: $350.
Courtesy of mcdaniel12/eBay

Collecting Liddle Kiddles

These cuties are highly collectible, especially with their original packaging and accessories. Younger generations are also discovering them via social media platforms like TikTok, where the hashtag “liddlekiddles” has yielded 80,000 views to date, and some videos of collectors showing off their finds have racked up thousands of views.

If you’re feeling nostalgic for any Liddle Kiddle you may have played with as a child and would like to buy one (or more) for yourself or perhaps a grandchild, that nostalgia will cost you. A look on eBay shows some of these dolls in their original packaging have been selling recently for between $200 to $500, including dolls in the original lineup, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang set, Lucky Locket Kiddles, Kiddle Kolognes, Kozmic Kiddles, and Storybook Kiddles. Even dolls in these lines without original packaging have sold between $200-$250. But plenty of other Liddle Kiddles can be found between $25 and $100.

More information about Liddle Kiddles and a complete list of series and dolls can be found at www.dollreference.com and Fashion Doll Guide. Author and collector Paris Langford wrote a definitive price guide, Liddle Kiddles, with extensive information. Though the 1994 book is out of print and hard to find, there are some copies on Amazon and the secondary market, but this also currently carries a hefty price of between $75 to $300. Langford also has a collectors’ group on Facebook.