Dear Melissa and Doug,
Let me begin by saying what a big fan I am of your company and your products. Every Melissa and Doug item I've ever purchased has been of extremely high quality and has provided countless hours of entertainment for my child and others who have receive the toys as gifts. That said, I was a bit disappointed with the "Nina Ballerina" magnetic doll that my daughter received for Christmas this year. My issue is not with the quality but rather with the variety of accessories included--or lack thereof. I recently purchased the "Joey" magnetic doll for my nephew and realized that he has a wider variety of costume options than Nina does. Joey can take on any number of different roles, such as a knight or a police officer, whereas Nina is limited to only being a ballerina. I understand that her name should have been an indicator of the types of outfits that would be included, but I am curious as to why you did not provide as great a variety of clothes for her. Why can't she wear a doctor's coat or even a police officer's uniform like Joey does? Not only would such options give girls greater opportunities for the pretend play that the toy is meant to encourage, but it would also help to reinforce that girls are not limited in their career choices merely because of their gender. In fact, even Joey's outfit choices are a bit gender-biased. Why can't he dress as a nurse or a teacher or take on some other role traditionally occupied by women?
Most of your other toys are fairly gender-neutral, which is why the differences between the Nina and Joey dolls really stood out to me. The fact that you make any sort of "doll" that is geared toward boys is already a step in the right direction, in my opinion. I appreciate you taking my comments into account and look forward to seeing what other sorts of great-quality products your company will produce in the future.
Sincerely,
Attorney Mom
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