Only a week in office and the concept that the First Daughters are "off-limits" has been challenged in a big way. It's one thing to market President Obama action figures and puzzles; it's another to draw on the names and likeness of his children. It seems all's fair in politics and commercialism. Or is it?

Ty Inc. (who sold an estimated $6 billion in Beanie Babies) hopes to cash in on Sasha and Malia dolls. "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia" hit store shelves this month and the Obamas are not happy. Michelle Obama has used words such as "inappropriate" and "irked" in reaction to the latest additions to Ty's 12-inch plush dolls in the company's "TyGirlz Collection."

Tania Lundeen, a spokeswoman for the company, claims no resemblance to Sasha and Malia, not even in the name choice. "They are beautiful names," she said, that's why we chose them. A day earlier an unidentified Ty spokesperson (could be Lundeen) confirmed to Crain's Chicago Business that "the dolls were created to resemble President Barack Obama's daughters." Whom do you believe? "We certainly hope that they like them," the same spokeswoman said.

Should the Obamas try to halt Ty's distribution of the dolls? Public figures are within their rights to challenge how their images are used. The Obamas might seek royalties from sales and donate them to an Obama scholarship fund or a worthy children's program.

We are intrigued by Sasha and Malia, but what about their parents' rights to keep the girls' lives as "normal" as possible by giving the press little to no access to them. The girls wore J. Crew clothing to their father's inauguration causing the J. Crew website to crash from overload shortly after the source of their outfits was made public. J. Crew is acting cautiously. "It's a huge deal," says Marshal Cohen, retail analyst for the NPD Group, of the J. Crew Inaugural exposure in a Time magazine article which goes on to say, "But the whole phenomenon puts a company like J. Crew in a tricky spot. Yes, it needs to leverage the family's affinity for the J. Crew brand. But will consumers think the company is exploiting these young girls?"

Will the demand for "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia" be that grand? The manufacture of dolls obviously named and designed to look like the First Daughters raises all sorts of ethical and privacy questions if not legal ones. On the other hand, the likely popularity of Sasha and Malia dolls could mean a positive step in race relations. Black children grew up with white dolls for the most part; now white children can have-and will want--Sasha and Malia dolls. Denise Gary Robinson, president of DollsLikeMe a company that specializes in ethnic dolls, predicts that the fascination and desire to identify with the two young ladies growing up in the White House will make these dolls a success for Ty Inc. Robinson told the Associated Press that "girls all over the world, of all colors, will be looking for these dolls."

Will you buy a "Sweet Sasha" or "Marvelous Malia" doll for your daughter? Will she want one?

I don't recall an Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton doll.