Are plushies considered dolls, or do they have to have plastic (or some other rigid components) somewhere in them? While Barbies are absolutely dolls, it’s kind of hard to justify Barbies being dolls and He-Man/ThunderCats action figures not being dolls. Or vice-versa, maybe they’re all action figures! I guess it comes down to how you play with them. And I suppose the difference is, Barbies are naked and you can change the clothes. Those He-Man and ThunderCats action figures have the outfits as part of the plastic — I always thought that was a flaw. I thought they should have outfits, too.

And then of course there are the classic dolls. My wife has one, we have it up on a shelf.

Plushies — referring to anime plushies typically imported from Japan — are all soft material with non-removable fabric clothing that is usually intricate. The hair is also a fabric, not individual strands. They are absolutely not action figures (though Great Eastern Entertainment makes posable ones… I’ve never seen one that’s not ugly though).