A Sasha Doll Connection

Two Sasha dolls belonging to my daughters. Gifts from their late grandmother - Sarah Jane Fisher.

The Sasha doll.
They have a massive world wide following; they are fought over on auction sites; people collect them passionately and dedicate their lives to searching for their perfect Sasha.

Sarah was very proud of her connection with the Sasha doll. She tried to inject information about her father, Bryan Fisher and his involvement in their production, into the world of Sasha enthusiasts as he is never mentioned in their history.

Sasha dolls were designed and named by Sasha Morgenthaler who lived in Switzerland, in 1963. In 1966 the production of the dolls moved to the UK, with Frido Ltd in Stockport.

In the meantime, Bryan Fisher, Sarah Jane Fisher's father, had founded a company called Trendon. The name 'Trendon' derived from a combination of Bryan's two sons' names. The company originally produced plastic injection moulded parts for the motor industry, but swiftly moved into toy production with their innovative use of plastic; plastic used in its own right rather than as a substitute for wood or metal. Bryan, together with a young graduate Patrick Rylands, produced Playplax which became extremely popular and won Design Centre status.

By the late 60's Trendon toys were being exported to the States by Stephen Miller; he and Bryan became good friends. Stephen also met Sasha Morgenthaler and they too become firm friends, and he exported her handmade dolls to New York (not Sasha dolls).

In 1969 Frido Ltd wanted to break into the designer toy outlets with the Sasha doll. They approached Brooke Bond, who had bought out Trendon as an investment, with a proposal to buy Trendon Toys. Trendon Toys had, by this time, become pioneers in the plastic toy world; producing design classics which currently feature at the Design Museum in London. There was also their innovative use and creation of plastic itself which enhanced the Sasha doll. The transfer took place and Trendon Toys moved to Stockport, including Bryan Fisher and most of the staff. 

It was unfortunate that John and Sara Dogget of Frido Ltd and Bryan did not see eye to eye in the future of the combined companies. Frido Ltd wanted to exclusively produce the Sasha Dolls, whereas Bryan wanted to continue to produce and sell other toys too. They couldn't agree, and Bryan left the company (I don't know what year). I believe this is the reason why Bryan is never mentioned in the history of the Sasha doll; he left under a cloud of bad feeling. Frido Ltd then stopped producing Sasha dolls in 1986.

Bryan went on to produce and market a life size skeleton out of cardboard and smaller animals; as home construction kits in the 80's. This skeleton was designed by his friend Rick Miller - it is still available to buy today, through Taschen.

The Human Skeleton, designed and produced by Rick Miller and  Bryan Fisher

Thank you to Gladys Whitaker for her detailed information on Bryan and the Trendon days. Gladys worked for Trendon for 4 years and went on to be a close friend to Bryan until he died in 1997.



(apologies to my brother for accidentally removing his comment in my last post - I can't get it back!)