Out of the Box: Carpatina Dolls' Veronika

Carpatina Dolls' Veronika

January already! Happy New Year!

My first post for 2015 is the last doll I received in 2014: Carpatina's "Medieval Princess Veronika".  Since Carpatina started out as a medieval/fantasy costuming company for humans, I thought that a doll that reflected that history would be a solid choice.

Carpatina's doll line consists of several 18" girl and two boy options in a variety of hair, eye and vinyl colours.  The dolls have 5 points of articulation (neck, shoulders, hips), and unlike American Girl-type dolls, have a slim vinyl torso rather than a round plush one.  As such, the dolls can't share clothing with AG-size dolls (although they can share clothes with the new Double Dutch Dolls line).  That said, Carpatina does have a separate line of doll clothing (called the "Girlfriends Collection") for AG-type dolls, and their patterns include both size options.

In addition to their costumed dolls (which Veronika is one of), they also offer basic dolls, which include a simple slip dress and generally sell for about $30USD less than the costumed dolls (which seem to range from $90-$110 USD, depending on the source).

The box front.

The back of the box.

The doll is shipped out in an attractive blue cardboard box that has the Carpatina logo on the front and both sides.  Oddly, given that the box has a front window, there were several layers of packing material in between the doll and the box, so one can't actually see the doll through the window.

The back of the box shows off both Veronika and the other 7 dolls from the line (and yes, the boy dolls in the line do look strangely Spock-like).

In the box.

The doll itself arrives wrapped in a plastic bag and is secured to the back of the box with ribbons at her neck and ankles.  She ships out dressed, but with her shoes in a separate bag.  Her hair was wrapped in a hairnet and her hands, lower legs and neck were wrapped in plastic.

The guarding against staining was probably a good choice - 24 hours after having removed her from the box (and removing the neck guard), staining had started to appear on her upper chest from colour transfer from the black portion of her dress (so far, the red hasn't caused any staining though).

Out of the box, two things stand out about this doll: the quality of her outfit and of her hair.   The dress is well-constructed and visually interesting - nice enough for display and solid enough for play, which is perfect for this type of doll.

Out of the Box

The back of the head.

Her waist-length curly black hair is soft and comes styled in an interesting partial dual braid/ribbon with bouncy curls in the back.  I don't know that it's the kind of hair that would hold up to extensive brushing, but it's lovely to look at (and feel) as-is.

The silver ribbon that's braided into her hair also matches the trim on her dress, which is a nice touch.  I did find it a little challenging to get the front of it (which sits crown-style in her promotional photos) to stay straight, but I think it would be simple enough to fix by loosening up the braids.

The dolls face is an interesting one - it's less traditionally cute than the rounded faces of American Girl dolls, but also not as traditionally doll-like as the faces of something like a Madame Alexander.  Which Veronika's face is not as angular or mature as Carpatina's boy dolls, it does seem to be straddling a stylistic line in a similar way.

Her eyes are also interesting, in that they're two-toned: blue on the outside and violet on the inner ring.  It gives her a very distinct look, and much like her face it seems to be straddling a stylistic line that most 18" doll lines don't aim for.  I'm actually not certain that I like the look, but I can't deny that it's an interesting one!

A side view.

Double Dutch Dolls
Sascha in Carpatina's
Tudor dress

The AG-sized Sari

Along with the doll, I also received two additional outfits: one in the Carpatina/slim size, and one in the broader "Girlfriends"/American Girl size.  Both outfits (the slim Tudor dress and the AG-sized sari) are solid quality pieces (in fact, I think the Tudor dress may even be better than Veronika's default outfit).

Overall, I'd say that while I'm satisfied with the doll herself, what I'm massively impressed by is the design and construction of the clothing.  I can easily see myself picking up another outfit or two in the future, and I'm planning to buy a couple of their doll clothing patterns and seeing how detailed they are.

Compared to AG