In late 2003, the Magic Attic Club line underwent a major re-branding by the new owners, Marian, that resulted in a reboot to become The Magic Attic Collection. Many changes were made to the line as a result of new visions by the company.
Line Name Changes[]
The company was shortened to "Magic Attic", dropping the word "Club."
The tagline was changed to be "A World of Fun, Friends, and Imagination." This downplayed the magic aspects of the line.
Doll and Outfit Changes[]
The 2003 redesigns for the newly-dubbed Magic Attic characters.
The Megan Ryder doll was given a completely new face mold with a more serious look. She and all the dolls were given rooted hair (instead of wigged) and belly button indentations. Keisha was given curly hair. Alison and Heather didn't undergo any major changes in appearance. The dolls also received new meet outfits.
Minor Character Changes[]
Most data about the first four characters--Heather Hardin, Megan Ryder, Keisha Vance, and Alison McCann--remained the same with mostly the same family members and general interests (except Megan now had her aunt, Maggie Carmody). However, there are small differences; e.g. Keisha is made more adventurous and direct, doesn't think before she speak, and does things she often shouldn't; and Alison attends figure skating classes.
Major Changes to Rose Hopkins[]
The character that underwent the most character changes was Rose Hopkins. Rose was changed to "Rosa Garcia", with her heritage changed to Hispanic instead of Cheyenne Indigenous American. According to Marie Osmond this was to appeal to a larger Hispanic audience, but resulted in removing one of the few modern-era Native characters of any line.
Rosa's interests were also changed, with Rosa more interested in being a news reporter, cooking, fashion design, and being bilingual.
The doll's appearance didn't change other than the change in meet outfit.
Removed and Added Characters[]
Chloe was removed from the line. Rumors were that Marie Osmond found Chloe too mature for the direction she wanted to take the line.
Ellie Goodwin was removed as a character. Rumors are that Ellie was removed because Marie Osmond and other producers found it personally disturbing that 10-year-old girls would be invited into a stranger's home so quickly and would visit that person's attic often without family supervision.
The new owner of the house with the magic attic is Megan's older aunt, Maggie Carmody, who is older than Megan's mother Julia by fourteen years. Aunt Maggie has a much more adventurous, outlandish personality (similar to Megan's Aunt Frances in the original series); she is also an actress, who has performed in multiple movies and currently performs as the character Miss Outlandish in a TV show called Action Expedition. She refers to the five girls as "ingenues" repeatedly. Rather than living completely alone, she lives in a three-flat house with two apartments below her own (which are owned by Mrs. Silver and the Delgado family) and thus has ownership and access to the attic. Aunt Maggie does still have the loyal dog companion, Monty, as her dog.
The Adventure Begins[]
The cover of The Adventure Begins.
The new story, The Adventure Begins, was written by author Marcia Wilkie (later a co-writer for Marie Osmond's autobiographical books) and the cover and images illustrated by Peggy Dressel.
While it appears there was supposed to be more than one book (as the introductory book is listed as "Book 1") no further books were released and so no other adventures were had.
Collection[]
The Magic Attic Collection had no individual adventures as no other books were released. Similar to the pivot away from specific adventure sets Knickerbocker Company had done before the line was bought by Marian, items were general for all characters, with no set items for any specific characters. Some were designed to be similar to adventure sets, but as no further books were released, they were never connected.
Customer Reception[]
The reboot by Marian was negatively received by most fans and purchasers. Complaints and dislikes included the higher costs for lower quality products, the major changes to Rose's character and shift from Native American to Hispanic (as she was one of the only Indigenous modern day characters in any line), the items in the collection lacking any connection to adventures which was similar to complaints from the late Knickerbocker pivot, and the inability to order through mail order catalogs or online and only via select retailers--which overall limited the reach of the brand.
Shortly after the reboot, Marian sold the line and all assets to Charisma Brands. Marian is no longer in operation.