Spin Master toys faces fraught holiday season [Video]

Max Rangel can’t help but crack a smile when he hears a sing-songy “hello” emanate from an overall-and-pink T-shirt clad doll sitting on a table covered in toys in his Toronto office.

Many people have told the CEO of Canada’s top toy company that they find the plush plaything with her overly cheery voice and predilection for peek-a-boo “annoying,” but Rangel knows better.

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“You have to look at the world through the baby’s eyes … or the toddler’s eyes,” says Rangel, head of Spin Master Corp.

If you did that, you’d know this doll — the Ms. Rachel Speak and Sing doll, modelled after U.S. preschool teacher-turned-YouTube star Rachel Griffin Accurso — is topping holiday wish lists this year.

The doll, and its related line of wooden blocks, bunny rattles and teething rings, became …