Out of the Box: American Girl Mini Melody

I have to apologize for not being online very much this month. I've been doing quite a bit of travelling for family obligations and that's been eating up most of my free time. Still, I wanted to pop on to share the mini version of American Girl's newest historical doll, Melody (and thanks to Debbie Behan Garrett of Black Doll Collecting for the tip on finding her at steep discount!).

Melody, the newest American Girl character doll.

Clearance Shopping at Hancock Fabrics

I'd actually never heard of Hancock Fabrics (a US fabric and craft chain) until someone on the American Girl Collector's forum mentioned that they were going out of business - a quick search told me there was one not too far from me, so I decided to check them out.

The place was in chaos, so I actually didn't realize how reduced some of the items were - as it turns out, all of their pattern packets were selling for $1.25.  Not realizing that was the final price I only picked up a couple of things, but now I'll definitely need to go back - and if you live near one, it might be worth checking out!

Two of my purchases: patterns for outfits for AG-size dolls,
and for plush mermaid and pirate rag dolls.

The Rainy Season Blues

I've snagged a couple of new pieces lately, including a clearance articulated Barbie and a surprisingly low-priced Eaglemoss Hellblazer figurine, but the weather is not cooperating and giving me the sunshine that I'd like to have for detailed review photos.  So while we wait, how about a few photos of American Girl dolls (Cécile and Truly Me #44) on an overcast day?

Random Toy of the Day: American Girl Truly Me #44

AG Truly Me #44

One thing that I'd never realized before moving to the US is how often American Girl has sales.  This time around the value was even more impressive than the last one (where I was able to pick up Kaya and an extra outfit for 66% of the cost of the doll alone), as the deals offered included a doll from the modern "Truly Me" line, an additional outfit and two accessory sets for a similar discount.

So even though I wasn't really looking to add another AG to my collection, it was too good a deal to pass up, so I decided to order one.

Unfortunately it was raining when she arrived, so I wasn't able to take many photos, but I felt the need to share even so (I unboxed her in my home office, so I apologize for the cluttered backgrounds).

Doll Clothing Review: Yoga Chic (My Life As)

American Girl Kaya in the "My Life As" Yoga outfit.

I was wandering through Wal-Mart's toy section the other day planning to take photos of a ridiculous Barbie (the subject for a future post), when I spied the "My Life as a Yoga Instructor" doll on the opposite shelf.  I was tempted to pick up the doll just for the mini yoga mat that was included with her, but saner heads prevailed and instead I picked up one of the tie-in outfits, called "Yoga Chic".

The "My Life As" is a line of 18" play dolls that retail in the $25-$30USD range.  They're similar in size to American Girl/Our Generation/Maplelea/and other dolls of that style.  The individual outfits are generally less than $10USD, which puts them in a significantly lower price range than comparable pieces from American Girl, so I was curious to see how they would compare.

Random Toy of the Day: American Girl Mini Grace

Grace

This is a quick follow-up post to the duelling Samanthas of two weeks ago where I mentioned that I'd also picked up one of AG's modern dolls: the mini version of Grace, their 2015 Girl of the Year (a limited-run character doll that they release each year).

Mini Grace here is my first foray into AG modern dolls. I thought the full-sized doll was charming, but I'm trying to limit my full-sized AGs to one per face mold, so this one would have been a duplicate.  But not picking up the big one was no reason not to buy the mini, so when I found her on Amazon for a significant discount ($14USD versus the $24 price direct from AG), I decided to add her to the collection.

AG Showdown: Mini-Samantha vs. Mini Samantha

"She's right behind me, isn't she?"

As followers of the American Girl dolls know, their historical character doll line was revamped earlier this year, and rebranded "BeForever".  Part of that revamp involved both a new style of mini-dolls and a re-release of my personal favourite, the 1904-set Samantha, so naturally the new mini-doll was the first thing I picked up.

I'd originally wanted to get some photos of them fighting it out, but sadly they're too cute, and those fight photos all turned out looking friendly instead.  Ah well, it was a funny idea while it lasted!

Coming up after the move...

Moving day is just over a week away, so while I do have a few unboxed items to photograph, I'm going to be spending the next week putting things back into their boxes, so I think I'll wait on opening those up.

Still, before I get into the packing, I thought I'd take a quick photo of the toys that are newly arrived but being packed away immediately:

Coming soon...

It's not a huge backlog: just two Minimates sets (a Dragon Age set of four and a Marvel set of two) and two American Girl mini Dolls (Grace, the 2015 Girl of the Year and the new version of Samantha), but they'll just have to wait! ;)

Ivy's Adventures in Thailand Part II

Continuing on from yesterday's post...

Ivy rides the Skytrain in Bangkok

Holiday Time!

I'm on holiday in Thailand at the moment, so I was going to be offline for the next couple of weeks, but then I decided to bring along a doll (mini AG Ivy), so I'll be posting a few updates of her adventures instead.

Mini Ivy at Patong Beach

Mini Ivy checks out a Koh Phi Phi pool.

Out of the Box: American Girl Kaya

In the box.

I wasn't planning on picking up another American Girl doll, but last week they had such a good sale that I couldn't help myself.  The AG historical dolls were revamped last year, and this sale -which offered a doll plus an extra outfit for half the regular price of the doll on its own seemed to be aimed at clearing out old stock.

I was surprised to be able to post about this doll today.  I've made a few purchases from American Girl over the past year, and every time the packages have taken more than a week to arrive.  But not this time: for the first time, I had a shipping notice within 24 hours and a package in my hands within a few days.

But enough about the logistics, let's talk about the doll!

Random Toy of the Day: Mini AG Josefina

I didn't quite make it through all of the Minimates last week, so those posts will continue in a few days, but in the meantime I thought I'd quickly share a couple of photos of the newest addition to the doll posse: the mini version of American Girl's Josefina.

American Girl revamped their historical doll lines last year, and one of the changes was to change the style of their mini dolls from soft-bodied (like their larger counterparts) to full vinyl bodies.  Because of that, some of the in-stock older versions have been discounted, which is what tempted me to bring this end-of-line doll home.

Project Update: The Sew-Dolling/American Girl Hybrid

American Girl Josefina head on SewDolling's SewAble body

Back in April, when I reviewed SewDolling's Madison, I mentioned that while I loved many things about the doll, I wasn't a fan of the face.  At the time, I wasn't certain about whether is was the paint or the sculpt that bothered me, and mentioned the possibility of repainting her. 

Since then, I decided that it was actually the proportions of the face itself that weren't my style, and I decided to go the hybridization route and give her a new American Girl head. 

As a side note on hybridizing these two dolls, I've talked to a few people who have wanted to put one of the SewDolling legs on an AG body - unfortunately, I don't think that would work as easily as the head swap, due to the longer length of the SewDolling body's legs (in addition, while the basic construction is identical, the torso is shorter and the stance broader on the SewDolling body), so that would be a significantly larger challenge that this simple head swap.

The Josefina head

It's not difficult to find AG "head only" or TLC listings on ebay, so I knew I could find one fairly
easily, but my biggest dilemma was which head to choose - the SewDolling dolls are darker than AG's light skin, but lighter than medium skin, so there wasn't going to be a perfect match there.  Eventually I ended up choosing a Josefina head, primarily because it was the best priced non-classic mold I found (I have Samantha and didn't want a duplicate face shape). 

Once it arrived, the head actually turned out to be in better condition that the seller's description had suggested, so I was delighted to find out that the basic recovery work would be minimal.

Th Josefina head on arrival.
I cut the hair by about 33%.

Post-Haircut

Drying after a quick wash.
You might want to warn your friends and family before
setting this up - my husband shrieked when he saw this
in the bath without warning. ;)

The two heads together.  You can see the difference in facial proportions here.
Interestingly, because the vinyl SewDolling uses is harder than AG's, it reflects
more light, which makes the dolls look like a poorer colour match than
they do in real life.

The decapitation.
Aside from having a ziptie rather than a string, the method of attaching the head on
both types of doll is identical.

The AG head (left) has a longer neck and wider inner section than the
SewDolling (right) one, but the style is still the same.
This photo was taking with a flash, so the difference in light reflection
is even more obvious here.

New head/new body!

Dressed up and ready to go!

Amusingly, the reason it took me more than a month to share this project is because I'm still unsatisfied with her hairstyle.  But knowing me, that may take another year, so I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and  just put this up! 

New Arrival: American Girl Cécile

I think I've mentioned before that while I'm an admirer 18" play dolls, I'm not really a collector of them, so I was happy to own just two, my old AG Samantha and then my more recent SewDolling Madison.  But with the Samantha in storage I found that I missed having an AG around, and with rumours of the retirement of a couple of the historical dolls floating around, I decided to pick up a Cécile.

Having just been looking at my sister's old AG's a little over a week ago, I immediately noticed that this doll is much smaller (or at least less plush) than the old ones.  She also seems to have better hip mobility in that she can sit with her legs more-or-less out in front of her rather than with them splayed to the sides, which I think is a lovely feature.

In any case, I've talked about these dolls before, so I won't go into too many details expect to say that I'm quite pleased with this girl!

Cécile up close.

In modern gear.

Review: Sew-Dolling's Sew-Able Madison

In the package

The Sew-Able doll line has been around for a good decade now, but somehow reviews are still thin on the ground - I've seen maybe one or two, but that's been it.  And that's also what made me hold off on ordering one of these dolls for a solid 7 years.  So I thought I'd share a more detailed overview of this doll than I usually do, just in case someone is like me and waiting to hear more about these toys.

Sew-Dolling's dolls are 18" play dolls similar in size to the American Girl line (the company also sells outfits that fit dolls of this size).  The Sew-Able dolls come with two options: bald, or with prosthetic legs (one above-knee, one below knee), and Madison (the doll that I have) is one of the latter. 

There are boy and girl versions of the doll, with three hair/eye choices for the girls and one of the boy (the bald dolls obviously only have eye choices).  There is only one skin tone available, a pale colour similar to AG's light skin (there will be additional AG comparisons further along).

The doll's packaging is solid: cardboard with a plastic front panel.  The doll and her accessories were firmly attached to the inner layer (which has a cartoon-y hospital design) but simple enough to remove (not as simple as an AG, but less complicated than most store brand dolls).

Out of the box: doll and accessories

The included accessories include an outfit (this particular one included a dress, turtleneck top, socks and boots), crutches, a backpack and a teddy bear. 

The clothes are a little cheap-ish (you can see that the button on the left overall has come off), but the boots are of a decent quality.  The teddy is cute, well-stuffed and is actually jointed, which I thought was lovely.  And the crutches are fantastic - realistically designed, and solid quality material.  They could easily be used as an accessory with more detailed dolls and not suffer by comparison.

There are two other default outfits available for the girls - a hospital gown, and a khaki pants set - and a khaki shorts set for the boy doll.  The teddy and crutches come with all versions of the doll, while the backpack (functional, although the material is a bit thin) is replaced with a suitcase for the hospital gown version.

With her legs off

Foot blushing

The prosthetics are made of the same material as the dolls regular limbs and are held on with a belting system (which strikes me as a little old school, but does make the doll more versatile if you're looking to make a historical character out of her).  I was surprised to see that she also came with stump socks, and thought that that was a nice additional feature.  Amusingly, the feet are blushed in the same "realistic" style as the hands, which strikes me as a bit of an odd choice.

A better view of the body's construction

This doll's body construction is very similar to an American Girl doll, with a plush body and plastic limbs.  I'm less that thrilled by the seam placement running right down the middle of her chest (on AGs the seam runs down the back), but she's well-stuffed and her limbs are well-attached, so she is a well-constructed doll (although it's hard to get her to sit upright without her prostheses on).

Her head is tied on with a thick zip-tie, rather than the strings that some similar dolls have in order to allow for easier head removal/cleaning/restuffing.  On that note, I have noticed that some of her body stuffing has started to pop out around the neckline.

Another Sew-Dolling outfit

The braids struck me as a little messy, so I took them out and was fairly pleased with what I found. The doll has hair of a good thickness and looks like it would hold up to hair-play.  It's a little dryer than some doll hair, but not to an extent that worries me about breakage.


The photo on the right also shows one of Sew-Dolling's general outfits.  The dress isn't the best material, but it's cute (and better constructed than the default dress).  The necklace and bracelet are a cute touch, but a little tighter than I think they should be (and again, not great material).  The outfit also came with a clutch purse and a pair of black dress shoes.  For the price point (lower than AG outfits, slightly higher than Springfield), I thought the outfit set was a solid value.

In an AG chair, holding an AG mini

One of the main questions I hear about these dolls is how they compare to American Girl, and my general answer is that they're quite similar in terms of construction and size but a bit different stylistically.  The most noticeable difference is the face - the Sew-Able dolls have a face sculpt that's reminiscent of a porcelain doll more-so than a play doll in that they have pursed lips and a heavily blushed face.  Some of that difference could be minimized by customizing the face paint, but these dolls will always clearly look a little different.  I will say, for the people who are turned off by the face, that I've found the doll to be quite a bit cuter in person than I expected from the sales photos.

Since taking my original box opening photos, I've kept this doll on display primarily in American Girl brand clothes, which I would take to be a good indicator of compatibility.  And this week I had the opportunity to compare her to my sister's childhood AG dolls, so I've taken some comparison shots for anyone who is interested (with the caveat that these are AGs from the early '90s, and are thus a bit wider and a slightly different style than the current ones).

In an American Girl outfit.

Next to AG Kirsten

AG Kirsten on the left/S-A Madison on the right

A list of differences: The old AG body is slightly longer and more rectangular than the Sew-Able doll, and the Sew-Able doll's arms and legs are slightly skinnier.  The AG has a narrower neck, while the Sew-Able Doll has a broader stance.

In this photo, the Sew-Able doll appears to have a significantly larger head, and while it is slightly more round, most of that extra width is static in her hair (I'd just taken off the knit cap that she's wearing above).

In low light the two appear to have similarly coloured heads and bodies, but in full light the Sew-Able doll is slightly darker skinned, with more of a red-brown tone, as opposed to the American Girl doll's yellow tone.

From behind, the most obvious difference (aside from the prosthetics, of course) is that the Sew-Able doll has a large tag sticking out of her back seam.

Overall, I'd say that Sew-Dolling has done a fantastic job with these dolls, in that they're well-made and compatible with popular dolls of this same size.

It's a shame they couldn't offer more skin colour options (as the Extra Special Dolls manage to do), and the faces aren't going to be to everyone's taste, but I think they're a wonderful addition to any doll posse, whether your dolls are for play or display.

Back at the ranch...

I'm on the road for the month (currently in Toronto, having just spent a week in Vancouver), so my toy documentation project is on hold for a bit.  That said, there are some new incoming/unpacked dolls in the queue, and I have access to my mother's collection of toy storage cubes, so I may try to dig through some of that.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peak of the toys who are waiting in line:

A confession about my guilty fondness for the Bratz Boyz line, an unboxing of the Play Arts Commander Shepard, and perhaps an introduction to Ivy, the newest member of my accidental AG mini collection.

I ordered an Aiden from Withdoll back in February, and have been informed that the box arrived yesterday.  Photo source.

A review/overview of Sew-Dolling's Sew-Able line is in the works.  I've had the doll for a while now, but wanted to be able to compare her to the same-sized American Girl dolls in person before posting about her.

If today is a long weekend for you, I hope it's a good one!

Out of the Box: Samantha and Cécile (American Girl Mini Dolls)

My American Girl mini dolls are a bit of an accidental collection - I didn't intend to bring them home, and yet here they are!

Mini Samantha came first, a gift from my husband (then boyfriend).  I'd joked to him, as he was heading to NYC on business, that he should visit the AG store and buy me "stuff", thinking that he wouldn't have the time or the desire.  He surprised me by actually going in ("I had to stand in line with hoards of housewives and little girls!") and picking up this doll (he also surprised me by actually recognizing it as the mini version of my larger doll - we weren't living together at the time, so he'd only seen big Samantha once or twice at that point).

Mini Cécile

Mini Cécile arrived just this past month - I picked her up (along with the book series) as a gift for my niece who would be visiting during her school holidays.  However when the niece arrived, I discovered that she had zero interest in either dolls or history and a huge interest in wildlife, so she ended up picking out some zoo souvenirs instead.  Which means that mini Cécile is now here to stay.

As for the dolls themselves, they're very reasonable copies of their 18" counterparts.  They have the
same plush bodies with vinyl limbs and heads, and their outfits are near-identical to the full size ones - fewer details, and with somewhat messier closures on the back due to the small scale, but still decent quality overall.

Mini Samantha

Unlike the larger dolls though, the minis have almost no neck, which makes them seem a bit strangely proportioned over all.  It seems to gives them a broad shouldered appearance that seems a little out of balance with their tiny hands and delicate outfits. 

Unlike the bigger dolls, they have painted eyes (although I understand that the very first versions of the mini dolls from the 1990s had glass eyes) which gives them a somewhat less neutral gaze.  I alternate between thinking they look shocked with thinking that their expressions are just vacant.

As baby dolls for an SD16

Despite the decade's difference in production times, my two seem to be fairly similar in quality overall.  The one exception is the footware on Cécile - while Samantha's plain plastic shoes may be less impressive to look at, the unevenness of the faux-leather of Cécile's boots means that it's near-impossible to get her to stand on her own.  Still, that's a small complaint for a doll that's probably meant more for play than display.

Overall, they're cute little dolls that make a nice accessory for their larger counterparts (and other large dolls), and they're a fun little addition to the doll posse - even if they weren't a planned one!

Out of the box: Neela and Leyla (Girls of Many Lands)

As a non-American fans of the American Girl line, my sister and I were thrilled when the Girls of Many Lands line was introduced in 2002, imagining all the world-history type adventures that would be possible.  Unfortunately the line only lasted for a couple of years, with only 8 dolls released during that time, but such is life, and they were awesome while they lasted.  I snagged Neela when the last stock dolls were discounted when the line was first discontinued, and then found Leyla on ebay several years later after kicking myself for not buying her on release.

  Like the main AG historical line, each doll had a set character and history, but these ones had a single, longer novel rather than a series of illustrated books, and the girls in these stories are slightly older, presumably to appear to the slightly older target market.

The dolls themselves are half the size of the AG play dolls and were designed more for display than play as they have minimal articulation and clothes that aren't designed to be removed.  As display pieces though, they're quite lovely - nice faces (the work of Helen Kish) and nicely detailed accessories, clothing and hair.

Neela

 Neela is an Indian character whose story is set in 1939 (Random trivia:  did you know that 2002 was also the year that 23rd March 1931: Shaheed was released?  It was a good year for pop-media about the Indian struggle for independence!).  The doll has long hair in a single plait, and is dressed in an orange sari with silver embroidery.  She doesn't have shoes, but has a silver bangle on each ankle.  She also has a set of gold-coloured bangles on each wrist as well as a chain necklace and similar earrings.  She also wears a second smaller necklace with a pendant.

Neela's hair from the back

Her face is evenly painted, and has an expression that manages to be fairly neutral without being vacant.

Her hair style is simple, but has the added detail of a flower at the top of the plait.

My other doll from this series is Leyla, a Turkish character whose story is set in 1720 (if you've seen Dutch or Flemish paintings of Istanbul, they were probably be from this time period).  I'm especially fond of the setting from her book, since she ends up living in Topkapı Palace, which is one of my favourite places to wander in Istanbul.

Leyla

The doll's face is very similar to Neela (and obviously the same body), but that's where the similarities end because there's nothing simple or ordinary about her outfit.  Her first layer of clothing is simple - harem pants and a white blouse, but everything else is incredible detailed.  

Her kaftan (overcoat) is patterned and has gold trim and a lovely sash, over which is draped beaded necklaces with a jeweled pendant.  She wears gold-coloured bracelets, caries a feathered fan and even her shoes are embroidered.  Her headware is also interwoven with gold chain

Leyla's braids

Her hair is styled in braids, several of which (front and back) have pearls woven (or braided) into them.

As you may have guessed, she's a particular favourite of mine!