Canadian Gift Guide

You know it’s funny, I first heard about Twilight in two ways some odd years ago. The first was a contest Indigo / Chapters was running to send a lucky pair for a lunch with Stephenie Meyer, around the release of the third book I believe. I had no clue who she was but thought it was interesting the brand would spend so much money on a contest for someone I wasn’t aware of. By the time the fourth book rolled out, I had been repeatedly told to read ‘Twilight’ and finally bit the bullet while visiting North Carolina and scoring the first book for only $8.

The thing is, although I’ve read the Twilight series, I’m not a Twihard by any stretch of the imagination. Like most YA fiction, I find Meyer’s books easy to read and page-turners, and I read the series mostly to satisfy  my curiosity. It hasn’t ever wrapped me up in its spell though – I begrudgingly borrowed the last two books after being disappointed in the first two, I’ve only seen the first two movies at the cheap seats and sick at home via my PVR one day, and I just didn’t really *GET* it.

That being said, a ton of people DO get it, and the words on publishers lips these days is no longer that they’re looking for the next Harry Potter, but the next Twilight. Mattel is one of those out there who ‘get’ it, and have released a limited edition collection of Twilight Barbie dolls. Yes, you can snap up Edward, Bella, Jacob, Victoria, and Alice for about $25 a pop from most toy retailers and make one guy or gal in your life very happy.

Part of me raises an eyebrow that the young girls who play with Barbies (12 and under) are reading the Twilight series, but by that same token perhaps they don’t and are just swept up in the mania / movies out there. A bigger part of me firmly believes that these dolls are really more geared to be collector’s items for all the Twihards out there, and given their price, it’s pretty easy to get the full collection. I canvassed two online / tangible retailers for you already, by the way. Toys R Us has the core trio of Edward, Jacob, and Bella for $24 each, but Sears has all five dolls for $26 each.

Much like Harry Potter, getting questionably nerdy but kinda cool collectibles like these dolls is okay, regardless of age range. I can’t tell you how many coworkers and friends have had Harry Potter merchandise perched on their desks, nightstands, or display shelves in a prominent place. While I’m not advocating you trot out your Edward doll at the next drinks night, typically speaking Twilight fans run in covens (ha ha) and will be able to have a mutual admiration amongst themselves for these nifty, kitschy gifts. I also have to say kudos to the Mattel folks for departing from their typical standard dolls that generally make up the ‘celebrity lookalike’ collections they release. The fact they made extra pale vampire dolls, have nifty hair for Victoria and Alice, and gave Jacob his own colouring calls for a congrats for a  job well done.