Derek Riggs Gives Tyler and Gene a ”New Attitude!”

by Lisa A. Lawrence

Even as a kid, Derek Riggs loved his Barbies® but was frustrated with their straight arms and legs. He began, with somewhat disastrous results, by giving his Barbies new hair dos. By the time he was an adult, he began enhancing their makeup and designing new outfits for them. Again, his results were less than stellar!

About ten years ago, Derek was so frustrated with his Barbies’ rigid poses; he decided to create his own Barbie-sized doll that would be as pose-able as possible. Fascinated with the articulated wooden artists’ mannequins, Derek was inspired to carve a high-heeled doll that could pose like a real person.  His ultimate goal was to create a doll that could attractively cross her legs. He spent months working on a doll carved out of basswood, strung together with elastic cord, that had all its joints fully socketed. The doll turned out well and placated him for a few years until his doll hobby took a back seat to an international move, travel, work and family issues.

On a whim in 1997, Derek bought his first Gene®. Again, he found himself frustrated by this doll's’ lack of poseability. He also had trouble adjusting to her 16” scale. His doll collection remained dormant. Upon returning to the US in 2001, Derek visited an FAO Schwarz ® and was delighted to see all the changes Ashton-Drake had made to Gene, including bendable knees, a twist waist and bendable elbows. He was so smitten; he hurried home to dust off his doll collection. Around this same time, he also discovered online doll collecting!

His idea of creating a more poseable Gene had been in the back of his mind for ages. With Gene’s new factory issued flexibility, Derek saw a real chance to take her to the next level. All the work and energy he had put into creating a doll from scratch years earlier served as great practice for what would eventually become his New Attitude* procedure.

One day, without knowing exactly what he was doing, Derek bit the bullet and unceremoniously cut off a Gene’s legs! He picked up supplies at the local hardware and hobby stores and set to work creating ball joints so that the legs could rotate. He knew the most important thing was to maintain Gene’s original overall dimensions. With his very first attempt, he got Gene to do what he wanted. However, having skipped some of the finishing steps that he now does, that particular Gene, still in his collection today, doesn’t look too hot in a swimsuit! But, getting her to cross her legs was enough to make Derek realize that he wanted to perfect this process and do this to all of his favorite dolls. As a surprise benefit, Derek discovered that the modified hips allowed Gene an entire range of new poses…hence the name “New Attitude”. He also saw an opportunity to sell these dolls to help offset the expense of his newly revived interest in doll collecting. These New Attitude dolls are also a perfect compliment to all the beautiful one-of-a-kind repainted Gene/Tyler® faces, creating a truly custom doll.

Derek’s first New Attitude doll debuted in November 2001 at the Houston FAO Fan Appreciation Event. Without a website or any advertising, Derek simply posted his “New Attitude” doll pictures on Vicky’s Fashion Doll Bulletin Board. He sold his first New Attitude Gene in March of 2002; with a New Attitude Tyler® following in June. The dolls were a hit! Orders came flying in so fast that he now has a long wait list!  With the articulated Tylers & Alexes soon to hit the market, it will be interesting to see what Derek can do to make these dolls even more poseable!

Derek can be reached at fkjdr@sbcglobal.net

*Derek uses the "New Attitude" name for his highly articulated dolls.  Deb Simpson of  Deb's Boot-que, www.debsboot-ique.com, uses the name "New Attitude" for her fashion doll clothing line.  While Deb has used this name for a few years longer than Derek, both Derek and Deb have no problem with the use of the name by both of them!  That's what I call a "Good Attitude!"