While the 10-inch dolls featured basic articulation and painted eyes, the 18-inch dolls would have varying levels of articulation and feature inset eyes. The lineup would expand in 2010 with new characters Gianna and Yuko, plus the first male character CJ. New dolls would release until 2011, when the line was seemingly discontinued – Melissa Boock would then be put in charge of overseeing MGA’s successful Moxie Girlz line.
Did you know…?
The line’s theme and characters originate from an earlier book series named Best Friends Club from publisher Parragon, with the books themselves being repackaged with BFC Ink branding in 2009. MGA designer Melissa Boock would oversee the line, designing the dolls and working alongside Parragon on doll journals as well as adapting the original books to the new brand. Many of the book characters received name changes to match with their doll counterparts – for example, Addison’s name in the original book series was Jude, and the twins were named Angel and Roxie.
Take the Best Friends Club Pledge:
As members of the Best Friends Club we solemnly swear to abide by the following set of rules. We promise to:
- Always be loyal to the club
- Never spill any secrets
- Settle any fights sensibly and calmly
- Make life in our club fun, fun, FUN!
- Never leave any club members out
- Always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
- Treat each other with respect
- Never let a boy get in the way of friendship
- Always be there for each other
- Remember BFF (Best Friends Forever)
Addison
- Full name: Addison Jackson
- BFC position: Event Planner
Addison is the club’s event organizer because she’s great at finding fun things to do. Very athletic, Addison is good at almost any sport she tries and her favorite sport is skateboarding. Addison isn’t into dressing up, cuz that’s just not her. Addison’s biggest challenge is balancing her school work and sports.
Calista
- Full name: Calista Knight
- BFC position: Treasurer
Calista is the club treasurer because she’s a real math wiz and super-smart. Calista is a really loyal friend and she’s always full of ideas and good advice for her BFFs, even if they don’t ask for it. Calista hates admitting that she’s having a hard time because she wants people to think that she can handle anything, but she knows that being honest, especially to your friends, is the most important thing of all.
Kaitlin
- Full name: Kaitlin McCarthy
- BFC position: Designer
Kaitlin is club designer and the newest member of the BFC. She is super creative and artistic and she cares a lot about the earth. Though not always the best at keeping secrets, Kaitlin loves taking on new art and design projects, and getting her friends involved with activities that help the community and the environment.
Aliesha
- Full name: Aliesha Roberts
- BFC position: Club Chairperson, of course!
Noelle’s twin Aliesha is the club chairperson and a natural leader. She’s really into acting and rock music and she loves being the center of attention. Aliesha is confident, but sometimes she has to be reminded that it’s not all about her. She is a great friend though and always lots of fun.
Noelle
- Full name: Noelle Roberts
- BFC position: Club Secretary because I’m great at organising things… most of the time!
Aliesha’s twin Noelle is club secretary because she’s very organized. Sweet and caring, Noelle is also painfully shy. She cares most about her twin sister, her friends, and animals in need. She tries to keep the peace between her friends because she hates to see them fight. Once she gets past her shyness, Noelle is really friendly and easy to like.
A select number of dolls went unreleased in both the 10 inch and 18 inch lines.
- A second wave of ‘signature’ 10 inch dolls was planned, featuring new versions of Addison, Aliesha, Calista, Kaitlin and Noelle, alongside a new character named Neve. The packaging indicates that this wave would have been released alongside the second wave of 18 inch dolls, as they both feature the phrase Favorite Things. Some individual and group stock photos as well as boxed samples exist for this line but it is unknown if these dolls ever received a proper release.
- The packaging for the 18 inch Pen Pals line featured an additional new character – Lily from South Africa – who was never released.
- The packaging for the 18 inch Summer Splashin’ line features dolls of Calista and CJ alongside the prototypes of Addison, Aliesha, Kaitlin and Noelle.
