Saturday, October 10, 2015

Prince Stephan by Carpatina

Despite the overwhelming popularity of 18-inch play dolls, boy characters in this scale are still pretty scarce.  My Twinn will make a custom boy doll for you, but they seldom have any available for purchase in the Adopt-A-Friend section.  Paola Reina America has one boy, Unai, in their Every Girl collection, and Harmony Club has a few cute boys.  There are also some adorable young lads in the Extra Special Dolls collection--in fact Ian is one of my favorite dolls from that company.  Kidz 'n' Cats probably has the best selection of 18-inch boys dolls right now, with at least one new character released every year.  All of the Kidz boys have gorgeous faces and fun outfits that match the age level and charm of the girls.  American Girl does not offer an American Boy, but there are a lot of customization artists who are very good at transforming the girls into boys.  My Froggy Stuff has a nice (short) tutorial on how to approach this process, as does GiGi's Doll and Craft Creations.

It's been a long time since I reviewed my first Carpatina doll, Erin.  As you might recall, that review was inspired by my brother-in-law's comments about the Carpatina boy dolls...who look a lot older and more angular than their female companions.  I really like my Erin doll, but have to admit that the Carpatina boys have never tempted me.  So, when Nadine alerted me to the new boy at Carpatina, I had to immediately run and take a look at him.  When I saw the handsome, happy, young-looking Prince Stephan on the website...I had to immediately buy him:

Carpatina's Stephan ($108) and Erin ($69).
Stephan arrived in a simple cardboard box very similar to the box Erin came in--with slightly different decorations:


The front of the box has a big oval window (covered with white paper) and the back has some photographs of other Carpatina dolls:


The back of the box also has a very short description of the story behind the Carpatina Fantasy Adventure line:


Apparently, the four main girl characters (Ana Ming, Julia, Kohanna and Veronica) all have magical moonstone necklaces.  There are no details about what the moonstone necklaces can do, though.

The only book on the Carpatina website right now is called The Magic Moonstone and seems to feature Julia and Stephan.  The synopsis of this book does not give away much more about the moonstone necklaces, though:

Julia closed her hand around the moonstone. The pendant heated in her palm and through her fingers, bright purple light shone in dazzling beams. The sounds of horses trotting, wagons rolling over cobblestone roads, and the chiming clash of steel on steel echoed throughout the room. She opened her palm and stared at the moonstone, squinting from its light. The gem became like a spectral mirror, wavering like the trembling waters of a crystal pond (Carpetina.com).

My guess is that the necklaces allow time travel--hence all of the gorgeous historical costumes in the Carpatina Fantasy Adventures collection.

The best part about the back of Stephan's box is that it has photographs of the other Carpatina dolls.  In particular, it's great to have some pictures of the older boy characters for comparison.  

Here's Adam:


This Adam doll from eBay was featured in my last review...

That head is SO BIG.
And here's Carter (who still makes me think of Spock):

Carter.
It's mostly the haircut:


The back of the box also has pictures of most of the girl characters (the fancier doll with Erin's face--Rowena--is missing).

Here's Veronika:

Her coloring is a little extreme for me.
Kohanna:

Love her.
Julia:


And Ana Ming:


The basic dolls, Erin and Zoe, are also included.  Here's the whole group:


If I bought another Carpatina doll now, it would probably be Kohanna.  Her eyes look smaller than Erin's massive orbs, and she has lovely, natural face paint.

Stephan's box was easy to open, which was a very good thing considering how eager I was to see his face.  All I had to do was pull the box lid off and fold back the protective white paper.  Here he is:


He looks a lot like his promotional pictures, but his hair is poofier and not as nicely-styled in real life:


Stephan was held in his box with three foam-protected satin ribbons.  These were simple to untie--no double knots or anything.  He also had a white hairnet on his head and plastic bags around each of his boots:


He comes with the same hand tag that Erin had:


Here's Stephan with all of the extra packaging removed:

review

He stands up very well on his own and looks great in his medieval outfit.


His hair is longer than I expected it to be.  He has a thick, pageboy wig with a flipped-up curl in the back:



Here's a side view of the hair again after I brushed it:


Stephan's hair is even longer in the back than it looks in these pictures.  The curl at the end hides a lot of extra length.


I brushed the hair some more and tried to flatten and smooth it, but I couldn't get it to look any more like the website pictures than this:


If I used a little water or some styling product, I could probably do better.  I think he looks cute as he is, though, and (from what I know) the hairstyle is reasonably accurate to the time period.  I did some searching to find paintings of medieval princes, and found this public domain portrait of Arthur Tudor (1486-1502):


The pageboy hairstyle is thought to originate from medieval bowl cuts, but these tend to be associated with servants--or page boys.  I don't know.  I'm way out of my depth here, so I'll assume that the good people at Carpatina knew what they were doing with this hair.  For anyone who does not like the style, there's plenty of hair in the wig and it could probably be trimmed into a more modern style.  Re-wigging is also an option.

The bangs on this wig are hard to brush off Stephan's forehead, though, and are too short to be held up with a rubber band.  In order to get a good look at his entire face, I had to capture the bangs inside of this wool sock:

Not very elegant.
Stephan's eyes are nicely scaled to his head and have a natural shape.  They look brown from a distance, but are actually a complex mossy green color.


Stephan has applied upper eyelashes, but he also has light brown painted lashes at the outside edges of his eyes.  This looks a little funny to me.  I think it would be better if just the lower lashes were painted...and if they matched the color of the applied lashes.


The irises have a pretty mottled pattern with different shades of green and brown:


Stephan has a strong nose and a pleasant smile.  His features are fairly symmetric, and so he looks pretty much the same from both sides--although the corner of his mouth slants upwards a little more on his right side, making that side look happier:


Stephan's profile is very angular.  The bridge of his nose is raised, and his lips and chin are very well-defined:

You can see how long the hair is in this picture!
This is an uncommon profile in the doll world.  I feel like it's much more typical for dolls to have virtually nonexistent noses and chins.  Bratz dolls and my Azone Mugi are extreme examples:


Stephan also has very large ears--another uncommon doll feature:


I really like Stephan's expressive mouth.  It reminds me of a real teenager I know:


The lips are painted a pale orange-pink color that looks reasonably natural.



The other Carpatina boys come wearing everyday clothes.  Adam is wearing a dress shirt and jeans, and Carter is wearing a polo shirt with jeans.  Stephan, however, is wearing a gorgeous historical outfit.  This outfit made him even more appealing to me because I knew it would go nicely with the Guinevere dress that I reviewed with Erin.

Stephan's outfit includes blue pants, a white shirt and a brown suede doublet:


The doublet is my favorite piece.  It has scrolling embroidery down the front and on the sleeves:


The front of the doublet closes with three large metal hooks:


These stay closed well, but they're also easy to unhook:


The hooks are stitched in place with black thread that is glaringly obvious from the inside of the doublet:




The doublet is fully lined and beautifully made.


Stephan's white shirt is plain compared to the doublet, but it's also very well-made, with a ruffled collar and cuffs:


The shirt opens all of the way down the back with metal snaps:


The cuffs close with metal snaps, too.  The construction detail here is especially good:


Stephan's blue pants are tight-fitting, with no embellishments.  They're almost like tights in their appearance, but they have far more tailoring.


The pants have a lined waistband and a simple snap closure in the back:



The pants are tight-fitting all of the way through the legs, so Stephan's boots fit over them.  I like the look of the boots, but I was dismayed to see the laced closure in the back:  


Maybe I'm just not a very patient person, but I find it so tedious to deal with this kind of tiny lacing.  Opening the laces this far doesn't bother me...


...but the problem is that this is nowhere near loose enough to actually take the boots off:


In order for Stephan's heels to slide out of the boots, the laces have to be undone much further--to the point where the ends of the laces are threatening to pull right out of the boot:


By the time I got the boots off, this is what the laces looked like:

Do you see that lace about to disappear through the hole at the top?  Ah!!!
Can you imagine what a pain it would be to get a lace re-strung if it came out?  The holes are tiny and they're not reinforced with anything.

I tied the ends of the laces into knots to prevent this from happening in the future.  This was a good idea for another reason, too.  Look at how the ends of the untied lace are already unraveling:


Other than the irritating laces, the boots are great.  They're made out of chocolate brown imitation leather and have a fur band on the top.


While I was wrestling with Stephan's boot, he was laying face-down on my table.  I was sad to see that this caused two shiny spots to form on his face--one on his left cheek and one on the tip of his nose.  I guess I have to be more careful.


Under his boots, Stephan is wearing white ankle socks:


It takes a little maneuvering to get the tight pants off over Stephan's feet.  This might be a challenge for younger kids...but then again, anyone who can remove the boots can probably do anything.


Stephan is also wearing a pair of white knit boxer briefs.  I think these are great:


Stephan has an all-vinyl body with five points of articulation:


Stephan's hips have a noticeable asymmetry.  In the picture, below, you can see that the torso half of the joint dips lower on the right (Stephan's left) than it does on the opposite side:

I wonder if this is a one-time molding defect?
Stephan's body has a completely different shape than the Carpatina girl body.  Here's Stephan with Erin:


Stephan has more definition in his chest and some abdominal muscle contours (and a belly button!):


It's barely visible in the pictures, above, but Stephan also has more pronounced knee caps than Erin.

From the back, Stephan's torso has a more distinct backbone line:


Both of my Carpatina dolls are strung with elastic.  Stephan is tightly strung and so he holds poses nicely.  He can move his head in any direction, but has a harder time tilting it to the left than he does to the right.

His arms can spin all around and lift away from his body:


Stephan has a very different hand shape from Erin.  His fingers are longer, and they're all pressed together into a firm handshake type of pose:

Pleased to meet you!
Brief tangent about handshakes: I was told that the handshake actually originated in medieval times because it was a way to greet someone while also showing that you were not going to stab them.  Because you can't use your hand in a greeting while also using it to grab your sword.  Fun fact.

In contrast, Erin's fingers are separated and have a more relaxed pose:

I might stab you.
Stephan's hips are strung, but the fit of the joint is such that they pretty much only spin around as though they had peg-and-hole articulation.  The legs do move from side to side a little bit when they're positioned straight up and down.

Stephan can sit on the ground, but the angle between his legs is very (very!) wide:


Much wider than the angle of Erin's legs when she's in the same position:


Stephan can also do front-to-back splits, although the asymmetry in his hips makes this position slightly less graceful than it is with Erin:



Stephan has great detail in his toes--he even has little wrinkles at the joint that Erin does not have:

Stephan's toes.
Erin's toes.
I do not own any other 18-inch boy dolls, so there were no clothes-sharing possibilities for this review.  I'm curious to know whether or not the wonderful Kidz 'n' Cats clothing will fit Stephan, though.  The Carpatina boy clothes all look like outfits for adults, so the Kidz 'n' Cats wardrobe would be a nice way to bring out Stephan's youthful personality.

Here are a few more pictures of this handsome prince:

review




Erin wanted to put on her Guinevere dress before she posed with Stephan.  I think these two look very sweet together...


...my only issue is that Erin's eye size and shape looks so doll-like compared to Stephan's more realistic eyes.  I wonder why this company gives their female dolls such cartoon-like eyes?


Erin's eyes open and close while Stephan's do not, so perhaps that mechanism limits the possible eye shapes.

I wondered if other slim 18-inch dolls might compliment Stephan even better than Erin--particularly the ones with smaller eyes.  Here's Stephan with A Girl For All Time's Clementine:

A Girl for All Time's Clementine and Carpatina's Stephan.
The Guinevere dress is big on Clem, but she still looks very nice with Stephan.  He makes her look a bit less realistic, though.  It's all about those eyes.

A Girl for All Time's Clementine and Carpatina's Stephan.
I would love to see Stephan with the more period-appropriate Matilda!  She's next on my list.


Here's Stephan with Kidz 'n' Cats Evie (Evita):

Carpatina's Stephan and Kidz 'n' Cats Evita.
Evie has a younger face than some other Kidz 'n' Cats dolls.  I think another character (like my niece's Grace, for example) would look even better with Stephan.


My Salon Doll Sydni also has features that are similar to Stephan's (although she really doesn't fit into Erin's dress).  I think these two compliment each other really well:

My Salon Doll Sydni and Carpatina Stephan.
In reply to Rose's suggestion in the comments, here's Stephan with Maplelea Saila, too:

Carpatina Stephan and Maplelea Saila.
Saila's head is larger than Stephan's, but they're about the same height.

I wanted to keep Erin and Stephan together for this review, though, because other than the eye differences, these two are a great pair.

Both dolls have kanekalon wigs, but Erin's hair feels much silkier than Stephan's.  On the other hand, Erin's wig has a ton of shorter strands that stick out while Stephan's wig is more uniform.


I thought these two would look great in a magical forest setting, so I took off into the woods near my house to see if I could get some good pictures.  We've had another warm spell here in Maine these past few weeks, so even though the sun is getting low in the sky, it was still a balmy 70 degrees.  That's pretty magical.

At first Stephan explored some of the paths on his own... 


...and his fancy clothing certainly didn't stop him from checking out all of the little clearings.


I wish Stephan could sit down a little better--his legs have to stretch so far apart that he struggles to look natural and comfortable.  The tight pants don't help, either (that snap comes undone if Stephan even thinks about sitting...).



Stephan was also eager to scramble up every nearby tree and take in the view...


...he said he was just searching out a nice place to bring Erin, but I know he also loved the element of excitement in being up so high.


He eventually scouted out a nice clearing with large boulders lining the ground--a place where he thought Erin wouldn't worry too much about ruining her long, beautiful dress:


The two of them explored the area together, enjoying the bursts of fall color in the leaves.




Here's one last shot of noble Stephan, dreaming about dragons and moonstones and all of the adventures to come:


Bottom line? My hat is off to the Carpatina company for making such a wonderful new boy doll for their collection.  While I never would have been tempted by the adult-faced Adam and Carter, I find Stephan's happy, youthful face a nice match for my Erin doll.  I also think Stephan would make a perfect friend for other slim-bodied 18-inch dolls with more natural features--like the Kidz 'n' Cats girls, A Girl For All Time characters, or even a My Salon Doll.

Stephan's medieval outfit is wonderful.  I especially love the embroidered doublet with its elaborate metal hooks and great tailoring.  The shirt is also extremely well-made and flattering.  The pants restrict Stephan's movement a little and can be tricky to get on and off, but they also look great. The only part of the outfit that I don't like are the boots, and only because of those infernal laces.  While real laces look nice and add authenticity to the shoes, they are a pain to deal with.  I highly recommend putting small knots at the ends of Stephan's boot laces because without them, the laces could very easily pull right through their holes...and be nearly impossible to get back in place.  Even with the knots in place, the boots still gave me grief in the woods because they were constantly coming untied.  I think the boots would have looked just as good--if not better--with decorative laces or no laces at all.

Stephan's elastic-strung vinyl body is very similar to the female Carpatina body.  He has excellent balance, decent articulation and he can hold poses well.  His head articulation is especially good.  I find Stephan's leg movement the most limiting, in part because there's no knee articulation, but also because the construction of the hip joint makes it so that Stephan can only sit with his legs spread out to almost 180 degrees.  This is not a problem with my Carpatina Erin doll.

I really like Stephan's face.  It's not easy to make a smiling face that looks natural and pleasant, and I think Carpatina has done this very successfully with Stephan.  Unlike Adam and Carter, Stephan has features that are well-suited to a boy or a teenager--a look that coordinates nicely with the Carpatina girls.  Stephan also has very realistic, detailed green eyes that add to his personality.  His long applied eyelashes look great, but I'm not as fond of the painted lashes underneath.  Stephan's wig is thick and shiny and easy to maintain.  The style is appropriate for a medieval prince (maybe a little too long in back...), but it might not suit kids and collectors who want to use this doll for more modern games or displays.  The wig has enough hair on it, however, that it would be possible for a skilled person to trim it into a more contemporary style.  I am not skilled at cutting doll hair, but I enjoy Stephan's pageboy bob the way it is.

I don't think that the strange-looking Adam and Carter dolls fit into the magical, historical world of the Carpatina characters.  In contrast, the endearing Prince Stephan not only fits in, but adds a rich dimension to the Fantasy Adventures lineup.  I love that my 18-inch dolls now have a boy companion.  Not necessarily a boyfriend (although I suppose he could be) but just a good friend who happens to be a boy.  This dynamic is hard to re-enact in the 18-inch doll world, but I think it's an important one.  Sometimes when I'm buying yet another 18-inch girl doll, I find myself wondering, what new thing is this doll going to bring to my collection?  And it's often hard to find a new quality or feature that makes the newcomer special.  But when Stephan arrived, I had no such feelings.  He really does bring a surprisingly fresh perspective to the way I interact with my dolls.  Prince Stephan has filled a hole in my collection that I never even realized was there.

35 comments:

  1. In order to get a full idea of the storyline behind these dolls one has to have one of Carpatina's catalogs, and one also must pay attention to the descriptions of each product on the website. Some of the historical outfits have cute stories attached to them. The catalog explains the reasoning for the moonstones, and the reason why most of the characters are connected. Rowena, for some weird reason, has no tie-in to the storyline. Great review, as usual. I was hoping desperately that someone would review this handsome young prince!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great tip! I went back and read several of the clothing descriptions (some are better than others...), and then the moonstone necklace accessory description. It does allow them to "travel wherever they wish!" Thank you! Now I wish I got the catalog, because some of the descriptions are fun to read. For anyone else who might go to look, the "Avalon Maiden" dress description has a snippet about Julia and Stephan. It's strange about Rowena. I wonder if she'll get her own story some day? Thanks again for helping to fill in some of the blanks! :)

      Delete
    2. I love reading the descriptions for the outfits. I have the three original dolls; Isabella focused more on faries/fantasy, Julia was Middle Ages/Renaissance with an emphasis on adventure, and Emma was geared more towards actual historical characters and nobility.

      Rowena came out shortly afte the movie Brave, so I think of her more as an homage to that than an actual moonstone character.

      I have one of the Just Pretend 18-inch slim dolls customized as a historical boy to go with them, but I'm hoping to eventually get Stephan as well.

      Delete
  2. Great review, as always! I'd love to see how he looks paired with Saila- she seems to me to have a good balance between doll like and realistic, and could fit in well with Stephan!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rose, that's a good idea! Saila is also very realistic. I wonder if she'll be larger than Stephan, though....I can't picture it in my head. I will try to do this comparison later today. Thank you for the suggestion!

      Delete
    2. I added in another picture with Stephan and Saila, Rose! :)

      Delete
  3. Gosh, what were they thinking with Adam and Carter? I can't imagine that anyone would really be tempted to buy them (except as a really expensive gag gift, lol.) Stephen is cute. I think he really does look perfect with Erin and especially love the photos of them in front of the trees. He sort of reminds me of "Robin Arryn" from Game of Thrones!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adding Stephan to the collection was such a good move. It's great to have a boy in these adventures and I totally agree that Adam and Carter don't fit the bill. I totally see what you mean about the resemblance to Sweet Robin! I don't really like that character much, though, so I might try to un-see the resemblance... ;D

      Delete
    2. Haha, I know, his character is awful, lol sorry!

      Delete
  4. I kind of like how Stephan looks with the sock on his head. It makes him look more modern, like he's wearing a beanie hat. It's a pleasure to read your reviews. I think you could review a slinky and make it sound interesting. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Aileen! :D I agree about the sock. I think it was Stephan wearing that sock that actually reminded me very strongly of someone I know around here. I'd love to see this doll redressed in some more modern clothes because I suspect he could pull off that look, too. He's a cutie.

      Delete
  5. My problem with Carter and Adam is that their iris is ridiculously large - it covers like 95% of their eye and makes them look so unnatural and alien! Stephan's by contrast is smaller and of a much more realistic proportion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a really interesting observation, Esther! Wow. I never thought to trace some of the alien-like quality back to the eyes. You're absolutely right that there's practically no white in the eyes! I always figured it was just the large, adult-like head. I also agree that Stephan's eyes are just right--size, color, everything is very nice. Thank you for pointing this out!!

      Delete
  6. Thank you for posing Prince Stephen with your Clementine. I have been thinking about buying him for my Matilda. I wish his articulation were better, but he would be nice to pose standing with a girl doll just standing.

    He needs a little sword!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He totally needs a sword!! :D Carpatina actually has a really nice-looking sword set that I was tempted by. I think Stephan would be great with Matilda, but I agree that he could use better articulation. I pretty much always think that, though. ;)

      Delete
  7. Emily, did you see the new Lammily doll? I do not really like it, but I like how they are making more. Maybe you can give it a look?

    Ms A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have seen her, yes! I actually have her on pre-order so that I can take a closer look. I think she's promising, but I wonder why she's posed with her hair out to one side? Maybe the windswept look? Hm. I'm very anxious to see the real doll!

      Delete
    2. So am I! I cannot wait to see the review! I have a Makie doll that was posed online like that(hair to side), and it turned out her hair was in a ponytail! Maybe it is the same with this doll? I am looking forward to further varieties I am sure Lammily will make after this new doll. Maybe they will make a blonde to compete with Barbie?

      Ms.A

      Delete
  8. Excellent review as always! Thanks for your insight. Maybe Carpatina will hear you and add some velcro to the boots. No need to remove the lacing which is nice but adding some velcro on the inner side of each boots might play the trick.
    Thanks again,
    Arlette
    By the way your excellent review helped me make the decision to purchase my Las Reinas dolls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Thammie, that's exactly what they should do with the boots! Yes! I've seen boots with the combination of decorative laces and velcro (was it Maplelea Saila's shoes, maybe?) and they work so well! Which Las Reinas dolls did you get? They are so beautiful. I hope you like yours! :D

      Delete
  9. I'd like to see Stephan in a more modern, shorter wig, so that he would look more like a contemporary young man. Any idea if the wig is easily removable, and where I might boy-doll wigs?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd been wondering about this doll, so it's great to see an in-depth look at him!

    I'm still not 100% sold on his face, but I love the outfit they've given him (even if those boots could have been a bit more user-friendly), so that may be enough for me. And he's certainly a step above their old boy dolls!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the review!

    He might just be the most realistic playline 18" doll I've seen. I just love his face, including the very natural shape and size of his eyes. There's also no reason that he couldn't be a female doll. His face, to me, seems like a older child's face (say 8-10 years old), so it could just as easily be a girl's face, maybe with a rewigging, for people who need their girl dolls to have long hair.

    I love him so much that he might just end up my first 18" doll. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder why he is so different form the other boy dolls, though! Maybe they figured out that their older boy dolls were not working?

      Ms A

      Delete
  12. I think he's wonderful. The impish face lends itself to many imaginative options. What unnerves me a bit is that he reminds me of a relative of mine. I don't like when I see resemblances with those I know...not quite sure why, ....in any case I can see him in all sorts of outfits. A blond wig, as Oliver Twist, or Christopher Robin., the prince in the prince and the pauper. A male doll like this has been really lacking. I think he will be immensely popular. I also don't necessarily think I would feel the need to give him a female doll companion. He has enough character to take center stage..If I had my druthers the legs would have been longer. Still if I can get over the uncanniness of the family resemblance I will add him to my collection. As for their other dolls, I find Julia really appealing. Don't recall reading what the price was for him but I assume it will be comparable to the price of their other dolls,... although I agree his sculpt is superior to those of the girls in the line..As for the other males they offer...in short, shudder.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love his cute, dainty hair style. And his smile is so mischievous! :) I think that facially, he resembles your Karito kid Ling. I don't know if that's right though, since I have a bit of difficulty differentiating/categorizing traits of faces, due to likely having very mild face blindness. But I think the eyes and the mouths seem a bit similar. It'd be cool to see a side by side.

    ReplyDelete
  14. he's so handsome any of the girls would be lucky to have him as a suitor. :)

    Thank you for a fun and thorough review.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It would be nice to see a clothes-sharing attempt with, say, Our Generation, American Girl, Maplelea, etc., since these and other modern-setting doll lines have clothes that could be unisex. Your complaints about his tight pants, for instance, make me wonder if the looser jeans that an American Girl doll might have would be more effective. Did any of your other 18" dolls come wearing pants?

    ReplyDelete
  16. ...I also kept expecting to see Adam photoshopped in at horrifying and unexpected turns throughout this review.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your reviews are always a pleasure to read, Emily! This review and the comments made me very curious about the backstory of these dolls. From what I could find online, originally there were three dolls in the line - Julia (brunette), Isabella (blond) and Emma (redhead). To make the connection between these dolls and the detailed outfits from different time periods and places, the idea about a magical moonstone pendant is introduced. "The gem, along with a deep and true wish, is enough to transport the wearer to where she longs to be." To me the story is not fully developed yet and not very cohesive. One entry on Carpatina's blog, describes how Julia sees her grandmother Cordelia in the moonstone as if in a mirror.
    http://carpatina.blogspot.ca/2014/09/the-magical-moonstone.html
    Then in "Julia's Story", we learn that "aunt Cordelia willed both Julia and Isabella, Julia’s cousin, jeweled necklaces". Now Emma and Isabella dolls are retired and many other characters were introduced.
    So far I could piece together the following:
    A mystery woman Cordelia (who is Julia's great grandmother/great aunt) had a collection of magical moonstones. These moonstones allow the wearer to time travel, impersonate a historical figure (Emma as Lady Guinevere for example), communicate with Cordelia.
    Julia, Emma, Isabella, Ana Ming, Kohanna and Adam are all cousins. Adam is Ana Ming's brother and Carter's friend. Ana Ming's mother is of Chinese descent. Kohanna is Japanese.
    Veronika, Rowena and Prince Stephan are visitors from the past who also use the magical powers of the moonstones.
    Zoe and Erin are best friends and aspiring fashion designers. In the back room of a community theater, they find two moonstone necklaces in the pockets of historic garments.

    http://carpatina.blogspot.ca/search/label/Doll%20Stories?updated-max=2014-02-14T09:00:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=2&by-date=false

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great review! As a collector of boy dolls, I have a few other American Girl-scale male dolls to suggest: My Sibling/My Pal and Rowdie Boys.

    They are pretty inexpensive (My Pal/Sibling is about $48) and aren't as well known because they are primarily marketed to people with disabilities and veterans.

    But the dolls aren't sculpted any differently from able-bodied non-veteran dolls. It's more the add-ons, option parts, clothes and accessories that reflect who they're supposed to be.

    Also, Rowdie has a lot of detailed boy clothes/tuxedos/uniforms for that size... the level of detail is on par with AG, imo. Hope this helps! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On the site the person uses puzzle pieces to relate to autism, uses person first language as opposed to identity first, and generally is giving off bad signs. As an autistic person, I wouldn't want to give any money to them. I don't think they're really on the side of disabled people. They aren't in tune with the culture. I'd stay far away.

      Delete
  19. This is off the topic of the day but I have to go to the library to comment. I recently found out that there will be a Barbie with 18 points of articulation soon. I would love it if you did one of your fabulous thorough reviews on it. Thank you - Laura

    ReplyDelete
  20. Are you planning on doing a review of your SelfieSnaps Cloe? I love her pink hair and freckles, but I'd like to know more about her quality before buying.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This doll is gorgeous! His expression is so sweet and kind, and there's a lot of realism. I wish my daughter was into 18"-dolls.

    ReplyDelete