Thursday, January 19, 2012

A Review of Lorifina (Discontinued) by Hasbro

Lorifina is a 20" articulated plastic and vinyl fashion doll line that was made by Hasbro a few years ago and is now discontinued.  These dolls have inset acrylic eyes and long changeable wigs.  When it was first introduced, the Lorifina line was special because you could design the appearance of your doll online and then she'd be shipped to your house from the factory.  There were at least two skin tones, three eye colors and many wigs to choose from.  The dolls came in two-piece sleepwear, but you could select additional outfits from three city-themed collections: London, New York and Tokyo.

When Hasbro unveiled this line in 2009, I got caught up in the excitement for a little while.  I spent some time on the website, designing various dolls and seeing how they looked in all of the outfits.  I don't know why I never hit the checkout button.  Perhaps it was the $98 price tag, or the fact that together with all of the cool clothes and shoes I had also added to my cart, the price was discouragingly higher than $98.  I can't remember exactly.

Last year, I saw a picture of a Lorifina doll's beautiful face on Flickr and went in search of these girls on the secondary market.  Nothing.  Maybe there was one on Amazon for close to $200, but again, I can't remember the specifics.  What I do remember is seeing another picture of these dolls on Flickr just recently and feeling compelled to start the search again.  This time, I was well-rewarded.  There is a bounty of these dolls on eBay right now, and (with some patience) they can be won for around $50...often with many accessories included.  I figured this was a good time to do a review.  Here's the one I got (this combination of hair and skin color was the most common on eBay during my hunt):

Lorifina-Doll-Review
Lorifina: light skin tone, green eyes and a blonde wig.
The doll came in a nice pink cardboard logo box:


Inside my box, there were four extra wardrobe items, each in their own small pink box.  The main box has a special area for extra things off to the left hand side:



The doll is attached to a cardboard backdrop, and this whole thing just pulls out of the main box:

Empty box?  Meet recycling bin.
The insert with the doll still attached:


Here's the back of the insert--just a few rubber bands anchored on black plastic holders and one large plastic strip holding her hair (but--the hair isn't sewn onto this plastic strip.  Yay!):

Easy as pie.
She's free!


So.  Here's what I noticed right off the bat.  She is not super-flexible.  Her joints are a bit stiff and she does not have amazing articulation.  Her wrists don't bend, which is odd since her toes are articulated.  The range of motion in her joints is not great, except for maybe her neck, which has nice, natural movement.

I think her lower arms and head (and maybe her feet?) are made out of a hard, slightly bendable vinyl and the rest of her is plastic.  What's surprising is that the vinyl on her arms and feet doesn't match the plastic of her torso and legs. Look at the difference between her ankles and her feet:


And between her hand and her leg:

Frankendolly!
She also has a green stain on her forehead just above her eyebrow and a shiny/smudged tip of her nose.  Those marks had me really worried, but both were easily fixed with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  

Before I removed the stains.
The wig is held on her head in a similar way to the Liv wigs.  There's a hole on the top of her head:


...and then a peg on the wig cap that fits securely into that hole.  Notice how part of the scalp is missing so that the wig cap sits snug to the head.



The wig cap is very flexible vinyl:


The wig goes on easily and stay on well.  The hair is fantastic.  It is super-soft and shiny and has several different colors mixed in.





Here's a peek at the body's flexibility:

Painted underwear on the bottom, nothing on top.
Torso joint.
There's good side-to-side action in the hips, but no rotational movement:


She has trouble striking natural-looking sitting or lounging poses:

Here I am, uh, relaxing on the beach...
But, she can point and wiggle her toes!



There no way she's kneeling.  This is the closest she gets, and I have to hold her hand to keep her from face-planting:


Here's the range of movement in her head:

Up
Down
Side to side.
All of the dolls come in this sleeping outfit that consists of boxer shorts and a camisole top:


The clothes are very nicely done.  The stitching is neat and secure and there's a lot of detail.  Notice the lace accents at the sides of the shorts:


Very nicely finished inside.
Beautiful ribbon and lace trim!
You can find several different offerings on eBay in terms of what accessories come with the basic doll.  I am not sure what happened at the Lorifina factory, but I suspect that the extra stock was packaged up and sold out in bundles, because many of the lots on eBay are similar in what they contain, and many of them seem to be coming from Texas.  My particular auction had two extra pairs of shoes, a pair of pants, and an extra shirt:

Like the containers Mc Donald's pies used to come in!  Do they still come that way?
Groovy.
The workmanship on the pants is excellent.  Look at all of those carefully done seams and stitches!  The button at the top is a real working button, although there is no zipper below it.  Real belt loops and working pockets. too:

Silver stretch jeans!
The shoes are packaged exactly like real shoes--inside cardboard boxes with tissue paper and then cardboard inserts holding the shoes in shape:


Red high heels!
Space-age silver boots!
The shoes are also very well made.  They are plastic or vinyl (red heels) and plastic and pleather (boots).  They have great detail and nice style.  The boots look like they might be hard to get on.  Am I going to have to undo that tiny buckle?  I hope not:



These shoes make me think of Olive Oyl and Minnie Mouse for some reason.
Here she is in the second outfit.  Those pants fit like a dream.  I wish I could shimmy around in pants like that!


The boots go on and off really easily!

The camisole top is held on by one small hook in back and the stretchy fabric in the bust line.

Don't sneeze or anything...
Here she is, trying to sit in those tight jeans.  Actually, the jeans don't slow her down too much, they are pretty stretchy.  The stiffness of her pose is mostly just those joints:


Part of the problem is that I don't have a chair the right size for her, so she has to sit on the box.  That's not necessarily comfortable.  Let's see if I can get her too trick you into thinking she's relaxed.  How about this?


Maybe this?  Hmm.

Don't tell, but I am about to tumble over backwards...
She can model much better standing up, but has nowhere near the range of motion that an AvantGuard doll or an older Liv has:





Her clothes are first rate, and I wish I had more of them, but they're getting pretty scarce.  I've heard that some of the Teen Trends clothes fit, but haven't tried those yet.  I am also wondering if the BFC Ink doll clothes would fit.  Need to investigate!

The wig is so nice that I don't have any desire to change it right away, but just for the sake of research, let's see what other wigs might fit.

Original wig = awesome
Monique size 7-8 wig
Kemper size 7-8 wig
Remember that the Lorifina wig cap actually sets into the scalp of the doll.  This means that when the wig cap is off, there's part of the head missing.  This makes it very difficult for her to wear other wigs.  I could get the Monique wig to stay on long enough for pictures, but that Kemper wig kept falling off.  I think it is in the process of falling off in the last picture.  What I want to do is try taking the hair off another Lorifina wig and then use the wig cap to fill out the head so that regular wigs fit. I'll let you know if it works.

Since they're all sharing wigs, let me show you Lorifina next to two of my Dollstown girls, Seola (left) and Ariel (right):
Lorifina-Doll-Review
Seola is 18" (46cm) and Ariel is 23.6" (60cm)
The Dollstown girls out-pose Lorifina like nobody's business.  But they didn't cost $50.
Here's Lorifina next to Liv and Frankie:

Lorifina-Doll-Review

Lorifina-Doll-Review
She's big!
Lorifina has a beautiful face, I think.  She reminds me of a Disney princess.  Her expression is very neutral--she's not smiling, but she's not grumpy or spacey.  Her eyes are set very nicely and they are a good green color--not so bright that they look unnatural.  The face paint is very soft and versatile.  From what I understand, there was no variety in face sculpt, so no matter how else you customized your doll, this was the the face you got:


Lorifina-Doll-Review

Bottom line?  I think I made the right call by waiting and getting one of these dolls discounted on eBay.  It would have been fun to design my own doll and select from all of the different options that were available, but I think for the $98 price tag and with all of the time invested in designing her, I would have felt slightly disappointed by the final product.  Lorifina's articulation falls short of what I'd expect from a $100 doll.  It seems like with a bit more thought to her hip joints and some articulation in her wrists, she'd have been remarkably better.  The fact that there is a color discrepancy between her arms and feet and the rest of her body is distracting.

Lorifina's face, hair and clothes are top-notch.  Her eyes are well-set and the color is great.  Her face paint is natural and carefully done.  Her hair is silky-smooth and very realistic.  The design of the wig cap is clever and works well, although it makes the doll unable to share wigs with BJDs.  The clothes are fashionable and beautifully made.  She is a large, sturdy, impressive doll.  I actually find myself being rather fond of this doll despite her difficult photo shoot.  She's very pleasant to have around.  I'd love to have more Lorifina-brand wigs and clothes because these items really make the doll rise above her articulation shortcomings.

Summary:

Age Level
Box says 8 and up and I agree. 
Value
For $50 on eBay, this is an excellent value.
Quality
Doll is very solid and sturdy.  The placement of the eyes is great, face paint is nice and the quality of the hair is outstanding.  The clothes are very well made and have wonderful details.  Articulation of the doll is stiff and limited and not all of the plastic in the body matches.
Packaging
Great.  Very attractive and almost all of it is cardboard.
Collectable?
Probably not.  I don’t see this as a collectible, even though the line has been discontinued.
Versatility
She has a neutral face that could embrace many personalities, and a large selection of clothing and wigs.  The product is discontinued, though, so accessories are becoming hard to find.
Overall
Recommended...if you find a deal comparable to the one described here.

Lorifina-Doll-Review

26 comments:

  1. She is a pretty doll, I'd be seriously tempted if she were smaller. Her shoes are awesome. Thanks for all the photos and detailed thoughts, your reviews are the best.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi! The shoes are really fun. The nice thing about bigger dolls is that you can put more detail into the clothing! She is really big, though. I imagined displaying her near my big BJDs, but she looks bad standing next to them...I mean, I try not to stand next to those girls too much because they make me look bad! ;)

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  2. Emily, have you tried other shoes on Lorifina? Can she share with any of the other larger fashion dolls?

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    1. Hi Kathleen! I am sad to say I don't even have any other fashion dolls the size of Lorifina! I mentioned in my other comment those 22" Tonner gals, but I can't even think of any others this size--which ones are you thinking of?

      I am tempted to order these shoes:

      http://www.angelicdreamz.com/Tonner-2012-American-Models-Prim-Boots-Pre-Order-Item-March-Delivery_p_10850.html

      ..and see if they fit! :-O

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    2. I was wondering about the American Models or even Cissy and the CED dolls and their shoes. (The ones you linked to are awesome!) I know that Facets by Marcia sells all kinds of shoes to fit larger dolls.

      http://www.facetsbymarcia.com/shoes2.htm

      I am ((((this))))) close to purchasing one of the Lorifina dolls. I'm just fascinated. I have a Deanna Denton and Evangeline Ghastly who both have larger feet than the regular Tonner line things. So I was just trying to figure out what clothes and shoes I had here that she could share with. I was even wondering about Ellowyne Wilde.

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    3. How did I miss the shoe page at Facets?? That's great!

      I've had an Ellowyne in the house and those shoes would be too small. I'm sure of that. I'd love to get an Evangeline someday...
      :)

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  3. I want like that.....but have a problem....Its DISCOUNTED and i dont have any MONEY.....

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  4. What is the web site to buy it from?

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    1. They are not being made anymore, but you can find them on eBay most days for pretty good prices! I got mine on eBay for $50.

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  5. I found one at my local Goodwill for $30 in mint condition. She was an impressive find!

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  6. do the skinny jeans the shirt and the 2 shoes come in the box i just want to know i'm thinking of getting one for christmas because my birthday all ready passed just turned 14 yeah

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    1. It depends on the eBay auction. Mine came with the jeans and the two pairs of shoes, but some are just the basic doll with the camisole. Read the auction carefully to make sure you get what you want! This one looks ok to me:
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/19-Inch-new-in-box-Lorifina-doll-/261032045133?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc6b8ea4d#ht_500wt_1032

      it comes with boots instead of the shoes I got, but it has the silver pants and the extra top.

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  7. I got my two (bronze and ivory skin) from Amazon marketplace, each with a pair of red shoes, a pair of boots, and an extra top and jeans. Amazon also has a skirt and stand available - see this search:

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lorifina

    I got blue flats, a pair of black shoes and a top from this seller on ioffer:

    www.ioffer.com/search/items/lorifina

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    Replies
    1. Those are nice prices! The bronze skin girl with all of the accessories on Amazon seems like a great deal.
      Thanks for the tip! :)

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  8. Wow she's so nice! But so big too! If they ever made them smaller I'd seriously get one!

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  9. I found mine at a Antique store. There is another one there that I am going to pick up hopefully soon. I got the dark skinned with green eyes Lorifina with her original outfit, Stockings, and an extra pair of plaid shorts. For an extra 5$ I was able to buy a curly light brown wig too. She's super cute and I am happy to have her. But she looks tiny compared to my 28inch A&D ver.NO.1 ball joint doll.

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  10. Hasbro donated quite a few of these to Give Kids the World, a charity for disabled children in Kissimmee.

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  11. I'm so lucky! I work at Savers and a Lorifina came into our store. I had to wait the obligatory 48 hours to buy her and with my discount got her for $4! She was wearing a pair of black jeans with the purple shorts underneath (which meant the jeans wouldn't button till I took the shorts off) and the gray boots. No top, but I brought one along for her to wear. She has dark hair and dark eyes and is absolutely beautiful.

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  12. I got her for Christmas! Hearts 4 Hearts girls shoes fit!

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  13. Hi! I am wanting to buy one and have my eye on a couple on ebay. I guess I should state why I want one...... I make clothing and footwear for dolls. I have had a good run at making reproductions of Princess Diana clothes and shoes, but have exhausted that avenue and am expanding out in other directions (like pattern making). I am really interested in making shoes for this gal! The versatility of her convertable foot will be a great challenge, but one that I am up for. Clothes would also be really fun to design for her as she seems to have a "normal" shape body. Ihave BFC's, Teen Trends and Tonner's American Model, but they don't seem to have a following like the Lorifina dolls do. I hope I will be sucessful at getting one. Look for my designs on ebay (dollies4me) and etsy (2dragonladies). :o)

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  14. I was lucky enough to find one, came home and checked the doll. I bought her for a whole $4.00, at a swapmeet. I don't think the person who had it knew about it, I bought her so I could sew clothing for her. Now I'm really going to keep my eye out for extras for her, you never know what you can find.

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  15. She kind of reminds me of Rapunzel from Tangled , except older and without freckles ! :)
    By the way , great reviews ! I love them <3

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  16. Great review! Glad I found this when I googled...I saw a Lorifina doll at the local Goodwill last summer. After I determined she was not a BJD resin doll I was discouraged by the near-$100 price tag and passed on her. Since then I could NOT remember the name of the doll and somehow was unable to find anything on the net...until today!! Will be checking Ebay asap! ^_^

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  17. Wonderful doll. I'm from Germany and i've buy Lorifina yesterday on Ebay.
    And now i will wait and hope it's took not so Long in time.
    Your articles are absolute GREAT.
    all the best
    Linda

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  18. Love, this doll.

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  19. Where Can i found a Lorifina now?
    On ebay its over 100usd =C

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