Doc Johnson American POP! Rebel Silicone Dildo Review

Doc Johnson’s American POP! Rebel is a smooth, semi-realistic, slightly-above-average-sized silicone dildo. It’s one of only two silicone dildos in Doc J’s American POP! series¹; the others are made entirely of porous (but nontoxic) TPE.²

REVISION: This item has been discontinued by reputable retailers. I recommend the Blush Ruse Big Poppa very strongly as an alternative. Here’s a quick comparison:

• Ruse Big Poppa is slightly wider: 1.8″ vs. American Pop Rebel’s 1.6″ for the first 3 to 4″ of the shaft.
• Big Poppa has a silky silicone finish vs. Rebel’s glossy-smooth one. (I love Blush’s silicone finish.)
• Big Poppa has a suction cup and balls vs. Rebel’s Vac hole. This means the former can’t have a bullet vibe insert, but it is easier to use hands-free.
• Big Poppa is slightly firmer, at about 18A shore durometer vs. Rebel’s 12A. (Lower shore = softer.)
• Big Poppa has slightly more noticeable skin texture.

Now back to Rebel… (which comes in many colors besides yellow…)

In case you’re wondering about the name “American POP!”: I think Doc Johnson’s reference to the pop art movement in these dongs’ naming and packaging isn’t the most logical connection,³ but whatever. What does matter is that body-safe silicone is at least an option, and that pink and purple aren’t the only color choices. This is, in fact, my first yellow dildo. (I’m working on completing the rainbow here, folks.)

So how much would this yellow dildo brighten my day?

Specs

First, a little background. In theory, the Rebel is 6.5″ insertable length, though I find it hard to insert the last half inch because of how much the front of the shaft flares outward.⁴ Doc Johnson gives the girth as 6″—making this sound like quite a large toy. This seems slightly misleading to me, because the Rebel is pretty average until that last inch of length. There, it suddenly expands. The coronal ridge measures in at 5″ girth (1.6″ diameter), and the upper three-quarters of the shaft is narrower than that. Here’s the Rebel with a Vixen Creations Large Realistic Bent (uniformly around 2″ diameter) and your friendly (small!) neighborhood dragon dildo:

The Rebel’s shaft leans slightly forward (yay) and then curves back outward above the base. I’ve said it “flares,” but know that without the Vac-U-Lock suction cup attachment, the Rebel isn’t especially anal safe. With the attachment in, the silicone in the lower half of the dildo is forced to expand outward, and is definitely flared. (More about the Vac-U-Lock attachment later.)

In Use

The American POP! Rebel’s silicone is very smooth: not glossy, but extremely slick when lubed up. If you’ve ever found a realistic silicone dildo to be too textured, then I would definitely recommend the Rebel. The only sensation I get is from the present-but-not-extreme coronal ridge. It slides back and forth easily, caressing as it goes. The Rebel’s forward curve adds a bit of extra pressure for G-spot or P-spot stimulation.

Though in general I prefer less-slick texture (and softer silicone), I’m pleased with the Rebel’s firmness. It’s not in any way squishy, but I find it softer than your typical realistic silicone dildo. Combine the Rebel’s slight softness, rounded ridge, and slippery silicone finish, and I found thrusting the Rebel—at any speed—was very comfortable.

But what about riding? How does that suction cup stack up?

The Vac-U-Lock Hole

The American POP! Rebel comes with Doc Johnson’s Vac-U-Lock suction cup attachment, made of TPE. (I’m not thrilled about TPE as a whole, but I can live with it if it’s not actually touching my genitals or butt.) But for the sake of my Suction Cup Dildo Guide, I had to test the Doc J. suction cup alongside the Tantus silicone suction cup (which you can sanitize by boiling, just like any platinum silicone toy without mechanical parts).

As you can see, the Vac-U-Lock attachment is thicker than the Tantus one and has three tiers. This means any Vac-U-Lock dildo’s hole is widest at the deepest part. (The silicone in the middle of the Rebel’s shaft is fairly thin because of this.)

The Tantus suction cup, in contrast, is a uniform girth with several circles that act as grips. This means that the fit inside the Rebel isn’t perfect, but it’s workable. The Rebel stays put on the Tantus suction cup attachment very well when it’s suction-cupped to a flat horizontal surface. It wiggles around a little when stuck to a vertical surface (like a shower wall). But I haven’t yet—with all the force of my grinding power—pulled the dildo off the suction cup. Still, if you are using this toy anally, I would be extra careful because the fit isn’t really, really tight.

In contrast, the Vac-U-Lock attachment fits like the shrunken OJ Simpson glove.⁵ Once you put it in, it’s in. In fact, getting the attachment out is a pain because the suction is soooo strong. In contrast, the suction cup is kinda lackluster. It works on very slick surfaces, but any surface texture means it won’t work. (This includes painted walls.)

But there are other things you can do with the hole. Most of the holey dildos in my Suction Cup Dildo Guide were meant for bullet vibrators, so naturally I had to try that out with the Rebel’s hole too. And, sadly, I have to report that the We-Vibe Tango does not work in the Vac-U-Lock hole. This is a shame, because the hole’s long length suits the Tango’s length well. But the hole is just too wide for the Tango’s tapered tip to stay securely in place.

But all was not lost: I could fit a more standard-sized bullet vibe (specifically, the Charged Vooom here, which I would recommend). The bullet vibe will be sucked in by the long Vac-U-Lock hole. Pushing the Vooom out is a bit of a trick (you have to press downward from the middle of the dildo), but it’s totally possible. Use lube in the hole to make removal easier.

After all my experimentations, I ended up liking the Rebel better as a vibrating dildo than just as a thrusting one. The vibrations make the smooth shaft and gentle coronal ridge that much more interesting. I was surprised at how well the vibrations traveled to the Rebel’s head.

But the Powder Packet… *sigh*

So my review was going pretty positively before this, but I have to comment on Doc Johnson’s unfortunate decision to include a little packet of “Platinum Premium Silicone Powder” (better known by its real-life name, corn starch) with all its silicone toys. Obviously, this type of “refresh/renewal powder” is the same thing included with Doc Johnson’s not-body-safe insertables, with the claim that putting this stuff on your porous dildo will “extend [its] lifespan.”

Now, I’ve previously been informed that using corn starch in a tight bullet hole can help with vibe removal. But that’s not what Doc Johnson is telling people to use the corn starch for. The little package reads, “Platinum Powder is specifically formulated for optimal pleasure product care. This powder will help restore and maintain all your favorite Platinum Premium Silicone products, making them feel new all over again!!!“⁶ Don’t buy into it. Boiling water, or a 10%-bleach solution, is what will keep your silicone safe, clean, and reusable for as long as you want it to be. Personally, I don’t want to take the chance of introducing any kind of sugar (because starch does break down into sugar) into my vagina.

So don’t believe the lies: the corn starch renewal powder will do nothing for your dildo. Best toss it out, in my opinion.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been looking for a bright-colored toy that isn’t covered in veins, then the Doc Johnson American POP! Rebel is a fine choice. The silicone is slightly soft, with a smoother finish that makes fast thrusting very comfortable. Due to the slickness, I actually ended up enjoying the Rebel more as a vibrating dildo (with the right bullet vibe).

And in my trials of other things to stick in the Rebel’s Vac-U-Lock hole, I found the included suction cup to be meh—not really great, but not awful either. Overall I definitely plan to use the Tantus suction cup as a replacement, even though the fit isn’t incredibly tight due to the Vac-U-Lock attachment’s larger size.

Finally, I may not be happy about the corn starch renewing powder included with the dildo, but I am glad that Doc Johnson is now making some dildos that are both body-safe and very usable.

You can find the American POP! Rebel here, though I recommend against buying toys on Amazon as a general rule. (Too much porous trash floating around, and no oversight.)

Also consider Blush’s Ruse series for quality platinum silicone dildos at a good price.

* * *

1. The other is called the Icon; it looks to be a straighter version of the Rebel, with balls.
2. Which Doc Johnson of course claims is body-safe. Sure, it’s not going to poison you, but TPE insertables can never be fully sanitized, so the longer you use them, the more potential there is for harmful bacteria/fungi to flourish on and inside them.
3. How did plain-colored dildos come to be linked to the pop art of the 1950s and ’60s? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But Doc J has clearly made the connection: the packaging and POP! logo echo Roy Lichtenstein‘s art, particularly this 1966 Newsweek cover and multiple paintings with couples kissing. The dildos aren’t really the same bright primary colors, though (no red!!!), so maybe they’re trying to take a page from Warhol too with the pink and purple. (Since there always has to be pink and purple, right?)

   Now for a long, nerdy musing: The pop art movement was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, ironic, satirical of American consumerist culture while employing its images. So what would these pop art creators think of Doc J’s American POP! toy packaging? Is it exploitative, or is it just another step in the artistic appropriation that Andy Warhol was king of? But who am I kidding, I just want a good silicone dildo. IDGAF about packaging.

4. That and, you know, my cervix.
5. I apologize for bringing this simile into the world.
6. Extra emphasis mine, for dramatic effect.