Betty Spaghetty
The bendy doll with rubbery spaghetti-strand hair you could braid, bead, and restyle forever—plus snap-off hands, feet, and shoes to swap between friends. Half doll, half fidget toy, all late-90s.
Betty Spaghetty was invented and designed by Elonne Dantzer and licensed to The Ohio Art Company—yes, the Etch A Sketch company—which released her in 1998. The premise was irresistibly tactile: long rubbery strands of spaghetti-like hair that kids could braid, bead, wrap, and restyle in ways ordinary doll hair never allowed, on a bendy body with swappable snap-on hands, feet, shoes, and outfits. She was a hit right out of the gate, a fashion doll that doubled as a styling toy.
The original run ended in 2004, as Ohio Art's toy business struggled against brutal fashion-doll competition. A 2007 relaunch with a new look fizzled within about a year. Australian toy company Moose Toys picked up the rights and revived Betty in 2016—proof that the kids who beaded that impossible hair hadn't forgotten her.
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