Monday, February 9, 2015

Out of the Box: Branksea Festival Lottie

Branksea Festival Lottie
I've had a few people (two in person, one on a doll forum) ask me if I had a Lottie doll.  Until last week, my answer was always "Nope", since they're not a size or style that I'm normally interested in.  But then I came across a sale which happened to coincide with a visit from a friend who was travelling with her 4-year-old daughter, and I decided that this doll would be a fun toy for her little girl to play with during the visit.

The Lottie dolls (which are from a UK-based company called Arklu) resemble non-fashion/sports type fashion dolls (like the Get Real girls) in that they generally have active themes (the dolls are dressed for activities like hiking, horseback riding, martial arts and festival-going).  That resemblance stops there as they're considerably shorter in that they're only 7"/18cm tall, and they're clearly designed to be children rather than teenagers.

The particular Lottie that I picked up is the "Branksea Festival" doll (which is called "Lottieville Festival" in some markets) - like all of the dolls in the line, her box has a carry handle and a decidedly cute colour scheme.  It also includes a "What makes Lottie special?" tag, stating that the dolls were designed by academics and intentionally do not wear makeup, jewellery or high heels.

The front of the box.
The back of the box.
Unlike some toys aimed that this age market, this doll was surprisingly easy to free from the box, having an inner layer that slides out, and only four ties securing the doll to the cardboard.

The inner sleeve.
The doll has two accessories - an orange shoulder bag (which doesn't open as it's solid plastic) and a fabric headband.  She has five pieces of clothing: a long-sleeved shirt (with removable design), a fuzzy vest, corduroy shorts, striped tights and pink Wellington-style boots.

Out of the box.
The doll has five points of articulation, which isn't great in terms of pose-ability, but for a doll that's aimed at the 3-6 market is probably the best choice in terms of durability.
A view of the joints.
The Lottie dolls are clearly much shorter than the average fashion doll (although their body-type means that they can share clothes with some of them), and are slightly taller and quite a bit slimmer than the AG/Gotz/OG-type mini-dolls.

Compared to American Girl mini-Josefina and Monster High Draculaura

Interestingly, the doll that she seems to be most similar to in terms of both size and articulation is Moni, the short-lived mini Sasha knock-off dolls from the 1970s.

Compared to Uranium's Moni

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and appeal (or perhaps just cuteness) of this doll.  As a fashion doll alternative for young children, I certainly find this doll to be significantly more charming than most of the dolls that are marketed with a specific "no-heels" spin (I'd rather give a child one of these than a Lammily doll, for example).

So while she won't be staying, I'm happy to have had the chance to examine the doll up-close.  And to make her pose with random members of my toy posse, of course:

Compared to Marvel Legends Daken.
Not a comparison that anyone needed, but hey. ;)






16 comments:

  1. Well, my goodness, she couldn't be any cuter if she had kittens in her pockets! Sure you don't want to keep her for yourself?

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    1. Heh, the temptation is there, I confess! ;)

      And it's so true about the cuteness - she's pretty ridiculously adorable!

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  2. I was kind of on the fence about these little guys as well, as I wasn't quite sure I wanted to pay full price for them when I saw them at our toystore either, but they really are cute and I think this one in particular is one of the cutest ones I've seen! :)

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    1. Yeah, I'd wondered about the price:quality as well, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the doll and the outfit (although if I had one complaint, I would say that the hair could be a little more thickly rooted).

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  3. Awww, she is a cutie! But, for now at least, I will have to resist temptation and leave her on the shelf! :(

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    1. "For now" sounds like a pair of famous last words... Or maybe that's only true for me! ;)

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  4. Lottie's adorable!

    She looks like a cute little girl, not an ideological point, so the point gets made painlessly.

    Not my thing, but my mom has a Lottie, and the doll's super-cute in person, too.

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    1. Fun, which one does your mother have?

      Now that I've had the chance to play around with this one, I'm even more curious about the others. :)

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  5. Hee hee she reminds me of Woodstock and the days of flower power and peace. :)
    Hugs,
    X

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    1. Heh, she does have the headband for it, doesn't she? ;)

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  6. She is a cute doll! I don't know how I missed out hearing about these. Even her little outfit is cute.

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    1. It is, isn't it? She has the whole cute package! :)

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  7. She's rather cute actually, isn't she? I think I've seen one of these on line before but can't recall where, it's the tee shirt with the removable applique that seems familiar. I've never seen these in the shops here but wouldn't mind finding one.....

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    1. Maybe they'll turn up near you sometime! :) Of course, you might come across them when you're back in the UK before that happens.

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    2. The Toy Box Philospher did a Lottie review, and her doll also had the removable applique on the shirt. They are cute little dolls.

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    3. Thanks for pointing that out! :) I should go check that review out. She's always so thorough, that I love reading her comparisons even when it's a line I've never seen before, so it's even better when it's a doll I'm familiar with.

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