Out of the Box: Madame Alexander South Africa (International Friends)

Madame Alexander's South Africa

I was doing some Christmas shopping on Zulily last month, and noticed that their Madame Alexander section (which had previously consisted of the 18" play dolls), had a number of the smaller collector dolls available for half their regular retail price.  And three of those collector dolls were from the International Friends line (Madagascar, South Africa, and Brazil), so it's no surprise that one of those (South Africa) fell into my cart.  And yesterday, she arrived at my door (a bit of a surprise, as she hadn't been marked as being available for pre-Christmas delivery).

Being a fan of the older version of that series (I've posted about my 1970s India and Canada dolls a few times in the past), I've been curious to see what these modern versions would be like, but the greatly increased price made me wary since I'd heard conflicting reports about the relative quality of these newer dolls (the new dolls retail for $100 USD, while - with a few exceptions for rarity - the older dolls are generally available on the secondary market for less than $30).  But since this sale had them at half price I was happy to bring one home and see how she'd compare to the older dolls.

The first thing I noticed about this doll is that her box was

The box.

 slightly smaller than the ones from the old line - a surprise since this doll is slightly larger than those ones.  She was secured to the box with a pair of ribbons, which made her significantly easier to debox than the similarly themed playline Travel Friends line.

In the box.

Out of the box, one of the improvements over the "classic" dolls was obvious: this doll has jointed knees and elbows, which gives the doll significantly more posing potential.  I also thought her outfit was better constructed than those of the 1970s dolls and more obviously constructed to be removed, should one choose to redress the doll.

She also appears to have better quality hair, although whether that's unique to this doll (who is one of the few in the line to have short hair) or a line-wide improvement, I can't say.

New posing abilities: without knee and elbow joints, the old dolls
 can't sit and wave like these newer ones.

This doll has one of the classic Madame Alexander faces (specifically the "Wendy" head), so she has the traditional small puckered lips and small round sleep eyes.  The inset eyes are probably the standout feature of this doll for me - the specific shade of brown gives them a certain warmth, and they reflect light fairly well, which keeps her from looking a little less stern than many Madame Alexander dolls do (I've always felt that Canada and India are glaring out of the doll shelf with an expression of disappointment).

Compared to the older "India".  You can see the difference in height
and in eye detail here.

Overall, I'm pleased with both the general improvements to this line of dolls and with the charm of this specific doll - I probably wouldn't pick up another at retail, but at discounted prices, I certainly think they're worth looking at.

Height Comparisons Across Doll and Figure Lines

Earlier this morning a co-worker asked me about the relative sizes of BJDs with American Girl dolls, and at almost the same time I read Vanessa's question about the size of MA's International Travel Friends relative to playline dolls over on Black Doll Collecting.  And since a couple of weeks ago I also received a PM on Den of Angels asking about Teen Trends to MSD comparisons, I decided that I've amassed enough comparison photos to warrant it's own post.

First up is the Travel Friends/Playline line-up:

Back Row (L-R): Disney Classics (Li Sheng), Barbie (Princess of South Africa), Monster High (Clawd Wolf)
Front Row: Bratz (Cameron), International Travel Friends (Namaste), American Girl Mini (Ivy)

 The AG comparison:

 

 

L-R: Iplehouse EID model body (Chase), American Girl Cécile,
Illusion Spirit mini (ZhuQing), Monster High (Jane Boolittle)

The Teen Trends comparison:

L-R: Volks SD13 Long-leg body (Irvin), Soom ID51 (London),
Illusion Spirit Mini (ZhuQing), Teen Trends (Deondra)

And finally, a larger one:

Back Row: Angelheim Elderheim Angelo, Volks SD13 Irvin, Souldoll Vito Rouse, American Girl Cécile
Row 2: Iplehouse JID Boris, Ellowyne Wilde Lizette, Monster High Clawd, Girls of Many Lands Neela, AG mini Samantha
Row 3: Sideshow Toys Krycek, Hot Toys Wolverine, PlayArts Commander Shepard, DC Direct Tali, Figma Yukiko Amagi
Front Row: Hasbro/Marvel's Greatest Battles Captain Britain, Star Wars Black Series Mace Windu, Heroclix Pete Wisdom

Out of the Box: Namaste (Madame Alexander Travel Friends: India)

"Namaste"

Being a fan of country-representative dolls (I blame the souvenirs relatives sent me from wherever they were living when I was growing up), I'm always curious to hear about new lines of them - even when they come from a company that already has two other distinct lines of international dolls, as Madame Alexander does.

The Madame Alexander Travel Friends line appears to be the playline equivalent to their International Collection (which I have a couple of dolls from)- the dolls are the same size (7inches/18cm), and are intended to represent specific countries (currently represented are India, Kenya, Germany, China, Mexico, Ireland, France, Russia, and Italy).  I was originally tempted to pick up more than one (for a while France, Kenya and India were all in my cart), but temperance prevailed, and I only bought one - "Namaste", the Indian doll (the others are similarly named: the French doll is "Bonjour", the Kenyan is "Jambo" and so on).

The packaging is colourful, but not particularly sturdy - my doll's box was crushed in the mail, and although obviously that's less of an issue for people who pick them up in person, it didn't make for much a first impression.  Still, I can imagine that these would have quite a bit of shelf appeal since the doll is fully visible from inside the packaging.

The box has a plastic window that makes up the front,
top and part of the sides of the box.

The sides of the box are decorated with faux travel stickers, while the back has a artwork that includes the doll and a map of India with a few major cities marked (the text of which is done in a faux-Hindi style, which I'm a little on the fence about - I found myself thinking that "They could at least use faux-Tamil for Chennai!", but I realize that that's probably expecting too much).  There's a blurb about Namaste's love of cricket (which is described as "very much like American baseball"), and of course a "collect them all!" message.

The back of the box.

Considering how simple the outer box is, the doll was rather over-secure on the inside.  There were twist ties at her hands, feet and neck, and her was stitched to the card and her braid was secured with a tie.  And then all of those ties and stitches were taped over as well.  I can easily imagine the dress getting ripped when someone, thinking they'd clipped all of the ties, tried to separate the doll from the card without noticing the extra stitches.

Namaste can strike a variety of poses, but needs
support to balance in most of them.

The doll herself has 9 points of articulation (although the elbow joints look like hinges from the package, they actually only rotate and cannot bend), long rooted hair (rooted in circles, so there are gaps when it's not in a braid or ponytail) and a two-piece outfit (a dress and underskirt) plus yellow plastic sandals (which are held to her feet with elastic).

A clearer view of the jointing: the marks on her upper legs are
from the edges of the hinges from her knees - I can imagine
that they might easily poke through with play.

The outfit is colourful, but a little challenging to get on and off (it's a bit tight
at the waist).  The metallic loops at the neck and arms are an attractive touch
but would rip easily with play (I nearly snagged one on the dolls thumb myself).

Compared to one of the Madame Alexander International
Collection line India dolls.

 Despite not being as impressed by the joints as I'd expected based on the promotional photos, I think the doll is a solid playline alternative to Madame Alexander's shelf-dolls with similar themes.  And while I wish the outfit was a little sturdier, I think this doll could easily share clothing with a variety of fashion dolls, so from a play perspective that's probably not the end of the world.

Namaste in softer light.
I'll be curious to see how the lighter and darker vinyls
of other dolls in this series look in owner photos, since
I found this doll to be more natural-looking than I'd
expected based on the sales photos.

Out of the Box: Canada & India (Madame Alexander's Little Women/International Friends)

Madame Alexander's "India" and "Canada"

I'm actually not the only toy collector in my family - I have an aunt who has a fairly extensive collection of vintage and antique play-type dolls.  I've always been fascinated by her collection, but was always a little creeped out by the Madame Alexanders.  Something about the setting of the eyes always made me feel that they were watching me with great disapproval.

Canada.  She looks tough, doesn't she?

Despite feeling like they're frowning at me, I have occasionally thought that I  might enjoy adding one or two of the dolls to my own collection, but was frequently turned off by the prices (which can start fairly low, but are really all over the map).  Since I wasn't a huge fan, I didn't feel the
drive to put in the effort that would be involved in researching the prices and conditions of the dolls, and so put off picking any of them up.  Until this past June, when I came across not one, but two low-priced and reasonably cute dolls from the smaller-sized International Dolls line from the 1970s: Canada and India.

Both dolls are in quite good condition, with complete (and clean) outfits and bodies that can still stand on their own.   The India doll included her original wrist-tag and booklet (although she came in the wrong box), while the Canada doll still had her original packaging.

India.  She has a skeptical expression.

The dolls stands around 20cm (just under 8 inches) and has 5 points of articulation (hips, shoulders, and neck) and "sleeping" eyes.  The outfits are nicely detailed for dolls of this size (the India doll has a light blue sari-inspired dress with a gold metallic trim, while the Canada doll has an interestingly-patterned Acadian-style dress with a satin-type apron).

I don't know that I'll add more of these dolls to my collection (although I'll confess to being tempted by the more recent "New Zealand" and "South Africa" releases), but  I've been very pleased with this pair, even if they do look a little out of place with the rest of my collection.

Happy Canada Day!

"Canada" from the 1970s Madame Alexander International Dolls line.

I'm planning to do a more detailed post about the 1970s Madame Alexander International Dolls line, but since today is Canada Day, I thought I'd do a little preview with this girl.

A disproportionate number of "Canada" dolls from Dolls of the World lines from any company tend to be either dressed in faux-RCMP uniforms or else in borderline stereotypical Inuit traditional wear.  Shockingly, this release managed to avoid that and instead put out this  Acadian-inspired outfit, which is not something you see every day.

If you're in Canada, Happy Canada Day!  If you're from a country whose national football/soccer team is playing, good luck!  And if you're none of those things, Happy Tuesday!