Showing posts with label Paola Reina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paola Reina. Show all posts

Friday, April 14, 2023

Mini Amigas by Paola Reina

The Doll-a-Day project (and also tax season...) kept me from starting a new full-length review this week, so I decided to take the opportunity to pull out the last of my photos from St. John and see if I could make a short post from those.  I took quite a few dolls with me on that trip, most of them for Lena's Spring Break series or the Mermaid reviews, but there were two more stowaways that I've been meaning to share with you.  They are both 8-inch Mini Amigas from Paola Reina, who I purchased last July when I wrote my Las Amigas update.

Mini Amigas David, by Paola Reina, $40.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Santoro London's Gorjuss Dolls by Paola Reina

This time of year is all about being with family and friends...and exchanging gifts, of course!  In the spirit of the season, I wanted to take a moment to showcase a beautiful gift that I received last summer.

It's very rare for me to get a doll as a gift.  That may sound strange since everyone knows I love dolls and all of my family and friends are supportive of that fact.  But, let's face it, it's pretty intimidating to buy a doll for somebody like me.  First of all, not even my husband would be able to guess what kind of doll I might want at any given moment.  But more obviously, I spend all of my time critiquing dolls!  I mean, I love most of them, but I also look at them with a critical eye.  And nobody wants to have their gift choice criticized, for goodness sake.  

But the friend who sent this doll to me not only knows the doll world really well, but also somehow knows what dolls I'm coveting!  So there will be no criticisms today.  Just a celebration of this wonderful friend (you know who you are), her incredible generosity, and the Gorjuss doll that she gave to me:

Gorjuss doll, "I Love You Little Rabbit."

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Revisiting Paola Reina's Las Amigas...and a knockoff

Today's review grew out of two different things that have been kicking around in my head recently.  First of all, Paola Reina added new joints to some of their Las Amigas dolls and, as you can imagine, I got really excited about this development.  As soon as I heard the news, I purchased a beautiful-looking redheaded Las Amigas doll with the new articulation.  However, I ended up being disappointed by that doll, so I did a quick review on Patreon and then sold her.  The upside is that in the process of researching that doll, I discovered about six other traditional Las Amigas girls that I love!  I bought two of those six, and they'll appear in this post. 

The second thing that happened was that my friend Arin drew my attention to a collection of Las Amigas lookalikes that are being sold on Amazon.  For some reason I'm always fascinated by knockoffs, even though I should probably be offended by them.  I was eager to see what these imposters look like up close, and so I purchased one...and then purchased another authentic Las Amigas doll who I thought would offer a good comparison.  Both of these girls will appear in this review, too.

I've written about Paola Reina dolls many times before (including a review of a Ruth Treffeisen doll who is equivalent to a Las Amigas), but I couldn't resist the chance to revisit this charming brand.  And there's even more going on in the Paola Reina world than I have time or resources to write about today.  For example, there are now 8-inch Mini Amigas that are completely adorable and will have to make an appearance here at some point in the future, and also a lot of boy characters who melt my heart.  For now, though, let's start with this standard-size Las Amigas girl, Dasha, and her gorgeously freckled face:

Las Amigas Dasha by Paola Reina, $71.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Every Girl "Maia" by Paola Reina America

You might remember that about a year ago the Spanish doll company Paola Reina expanded to include a distributor in America.  At that time, I jumped on the opportunity to review two of the new dolls--Marta, a 23.6-inch Las Reinas de Paola beauty, and Amor, a smaller 15.7-inch Soy Tu cutie.  As much fun as I had choosing and reviewing Amor and Marta, I remember wishing that there had been a group of 18-inch dolls to choose from.  I really like collecting 18-inch dolls and making comparisons between the ever-increasing number of options in this popular scale.  Also, with all of the outfits and accessories available for this size of play doll, it makes a lot of strategic sense for a company to have an 18-inch option available--especially a company like Paola Reina that is already manufacturing such an impressive range of doll sizes and styles.

Well, someone at Paola Reina must have had similar thoughts way before I did, because this year a new collection of 18-inch Every Girl dolls was added to the Paola Reina America family.  Right now, the Every Girl collection has five dolls--including a little boy named Unai.  As tempted as I was to have a boy in my 18-inch doll collection, I couldn't resist the redheaded Maia and her nautical-themed dress.  As the weather in Maine gets warmer and warmer, my thoughts turn increasingly to the ocean...and little Maia fits perfectly with this frame of mind:

Every Girl "Maia" doll by Paola Reina, $104.99 CDN (~$85 USD).

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Soy Tu "Amor" by Paola Reina

When my lovely 23.6" Las Reinas de Paola doll, Marta, arrived from Spain last March, she actually had a small traveling companion.  Making the intercontinental journey with Marta was "Amor," my favorite doll from Paola Reina's 15.7" Soy Tu play doll collection.

Many things have happened since Amor's arrival in March, including the grand opening of the Paola Reina America online store.  Now a wonderful variety of Paola Reina dolls are readily available in the United States and Canada.  The other thing that has happened--mostly in the last two weeks, is that I've gotten the first glimpse of new leaves and blooming flowers here in Maine.  After months of patient waiting, Amor is finally ready for her introduction amidst the vibrant colors of early spring:

Paola Reina "Amor" doll
Soy Tu doll "Amor" by Paola Reina, $79.99

Saturday, March 29, 2014

"Marta" from the Las Reinas de Paola collection by Paola Reina

I know many of you have been curious about which doll I had to set aside during my ridiculously busy week, and so I am thrilled to finally be able to introduce Marta, a 23.6" vinyl play doll from Paola Reina's "Las Reinas de Paola" collection.  With Marta, I feel like I am reviewing a doll from a brand new company, even though Paola Reina has been making play dolls for almost twenty years.  The reason the company feels new is that, up until this year, the Spanish-made Paola Reina dolls were not easily available in North America.  Fortunately, Paola Reina America has been established as the North American distributor for these dolls, and so we will start to see them available for sale in shops all across the continent.  The dolls will also be available directly from the Paola Reina America website soon.

I was fortunate enough to be able to do some early shopping at Paola Reina America, and my dolls were shipped to me directly from Spain.  I think this is the first official perk I have enjoyed as a doll reviewer, and I am extraordinarily grateful.  I must have spent over an hour on the website choosing which dolls to buy, and I probably changed my mind five times.  I ended up with two dolls, and I don't think I they're the ones anyone would have expected me to pick (no redheads!).  Of the two, I want to show you Marta first, because her size and coloring made a very strong impression on me from the moment she came out of her shipping box.

Las Reinas de Paola
"Marta" from the Paola Reina "Las Reinas de Paola" collection.

Friday, February 28, 2014

Ruth Treffeisen Play Doll, "Cristi Blue"

There has been a lot of excitement in the wake of the recent Toy Fair in New York City.  The American International Toy Fair is an enormous trade show held by the Toy Industry Association.  This event takes place in mid-February, and usually attracts over 30,000 attendees.  I was not one of the attendees this year, but it's a dream of mine to be a part of this toy extravaganza some day.  I am grateful to the Doll Diaries team for their wonderful reporting, and also to my friend Lily who sends me updates about specific dolls that catch her eye.

This review was inspired by the Toy Fair in a peculiar way.  I got a lovely email from the Paola Reina America doll company, sharing with me some of their pictures from Toy Fair and alerting me to the fact that their beautiful and extensive line of dolls would soon be available for purchase in the United States.  I eagerly visited their online store and drooled over many of the dolls.  I highly recommend a visit to this site--but I'll warn you that it's dangerously tempting.  While I was browsing, I noticed that the 13" Paola Reina America "Las Amigas" line strongly resembles an older doll that I bought almost a year ago.  My doll is "Cristi Blue" (also known as "Carla III") from the 2007 Ruth Treffeisen play doll collection:

Ruth Treffeisen play doll
Ruth Treffeisen play doll, "Carla III" or "Cristi Blue," 2007.