There have been dolls of Spiderman, Batman and Superman, but now it is the turn of the biggest superhero of all to be depicted as a talking action man — Jesus Christ.
The Jesus doll reads three Bible verses and tells the story of how five loaves of bread and two fish fed a crowd
LONDON: There have been dolls of Spiderman, Batman and Superman, but now it is the turn of the biggest superhero of all to be depicted as a talking action man — Jesus Christ.
The 30cm tall plastic figure has been given shoulder length dark hair and full moustache and beard to make him look as much like Jesus as possible. This Christ however is not shown on the cross but can be made to walk like any other doll.
Dressed in a long white robe, a brown shawl over one shoulder and sandals on his feet, the Jesus doll recites verses from the Bible.
And just in case you are not sure who the figure is, the package in which the doll is marketed has the name Jesus emblazoned with the qualification ‘God’s Son’ written below it.
The US company One2Believe which produces the Jesus dolls is ready to launch their figures from their Tales of Glory range in the UK by early next year.
The California-based group have had a lot of success since they began selling their range, which includes a talking Mary, Moses, Noah with animals and a Daniel complete with lion and den, in Wal-Mart stores since August.
This is the first time that the world’s largest retailer has sold a full line of religious toys, and they have sold in the thousands. They are praying for similar success on this side of the Atlantic.
Sandra D’Souza, a teacher and Catholic originally from Goa called the figures ‘disrespectful’ and ‘gimmicky’.
“I certainly wouldn’t buy such dolls. It is like reducing the Mother Mary or Jesus to the level of Barbie and Ken,” said D’Souza, a mother of two young boys.
Even distributors are a bit wary of the new toys being accepted in the UK. “People in the US are more open about their faith and in certain areas the sale of these toys would have been encouraged.
But the British are not as religious, and I can see people here being threatened by Jesus — it may be too Christian for them,” said Cary Grant, the owner of toy retail chain The Entertainer.
Interestingly all the religious figures are being marketed as ‘Messengers of faith’ and are priced at $19.99. The advertising blurb suggests that the ‘colourful and richly detailed figure brings the New Testament to life with a Jesus character that kids can play with and move’.
The talking Jesus recites three verses from the Bible — Mark 12:30, Mark 12:31 and John 3:16 — each lasting around 11 seconds and well as a one minute telling of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes.
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