Out of the Box: Wellie Wishers Ashlyn

Less than 24 hours after commenting on my own (and other) blogs that I was on the fence about the new 14" doll line from American Girl I found myself back in the store picking one up (if my auto service place was in a different location this would never have happened).  It was a moment of weakness, I suppose!

The Wellie Wishers are aimed at a slightly younger target market than the standard American Girl line, and as such are smaller, fully vinyl, and lower priced. I picked up Ashlyn, who has brown  eyes and hair (with bangs/fringe) and the medium skin tone.  Other than the hair/eye/skin options, all of the dolls have the same body (I'm not sure about the face moulds - there may be three of them? I don't have a great eye for that, so if you know for sure, please correct me!).



The boxes have a similar design to those of the full size AG dolls: The top and bottom are two separate pieces that slide apart (allowing the box to be reused), with a see-through plastic window that allows you to see the doll's face.

In the box.

Inside, the doll is attached with a tie at the neck and two rubber bands at the feet, so she's easily removed (and returned if you needed to store her).

The inner layer.

Unlike the larger dolls, these ones don't include a book or activity set, but they do have one accessory (Ashlyn came with a plastic tiara, other dolls have different items), and a pamphlet promoting the line.

The front of the booklet.

Inside the booklet (this side is in English - the reverse side has
a shorter version of it in Spanish and French).

Free from the box, I was surprised by how lightweight Ashlyn is: I had expected something heavier.

Free from the box.

I think the high point of the doll is her face: she has wonderfully bright eyes, a cute facial sculpt and appealing paint (the freckles are a nice touch). The hair is soft and seems to be decent quality, although I found it to be a little static-y.

A better view of her freckles (and crown).

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Back view.

On the negative side, her jointing if fairly limited. She stands well, but her arms and legs can only swing and her head can spin but not tilt.  That's certainly not the end of the world, but her head seems to be set slightly forward, so without tilting ability she always looks slightly hunched forward.

With her hands in the air.

The Wellingtons are decent quality and seems to be of a material that will hold up well to play (and if your kid wants to match, they sell them in children's sizes as well). The outfit I was less impressed by: it's decent, but I didn't think it was significantly better than Heart for Heart's clothes, which is a little disappointing at this price point (at $60 USD, these dolls are twice the price of those).

While we're on the topic of Hearts for Hearts, the dolls are very close in both size and style (as well as construction).

Compared to Hearts for Hearts Surjan.

While the H4H line is a slightly different shape (they're slightly slimmer), the differences are minimal.

Undressed, the slight size difference is more obvious.

That size difference isn't enough to prevent clothes sharing though:

Ashlyn in Surjan's dress and Surjan in Ashlyn's t-shirt and skirt.

As for other doll lines, I'm still working on a Paola Reina Las Amigas post, so that will go up next week, but so far I haven't found too many others who would be clothing compatible.

There's a significant size difference compared to
the standard American Girl dolls.

Compared to Sasha Caleb and Volks SDC Miko - less of
a size gap than the AGs, but enough of a difference
that very few items will be able to cross over.

To recap, I think this line gets top marks for cuteness and for age appropriateness for the 5-7 set.  Where they lose points, at least for me, is the lack of differentiation between lower priced equivalent lines.  If they were priced in the $45-50 USD range, I'd say they were well worth paying full price for, but at $60 they strike me as being a bit over-priced for what they are.  Still, I really like the face and I'm not disappointed that I picked this one up - and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more owner photos over time!

A parting glance.

ETA: Photo comparisons to Corolle and Paola Reina dolls in the same size range are now posted as part of my Les Chéries review.