The My Twinn Princess Makeovers

I have a complicated and long-term history with My Twinn dolls at this point, which isn't something I would have predicted ten years ago.  In March of 2013, I purchased and reviewed my very first My Twinns.  I had a decent opinion of the dolls back then, but a lot of that had to do with the fact that I found them on a great sale.  I didn't learn much about the history of the brand during that review, nor about the wide range in quality.  My deep dive came a few years later in 2016, when I started the My Twinn Project series.  In those posts, I chronicled my experience with fixing up old, high-quality Denver-era My Twinns, which are much nicer than the dolls I bought in 2013.

My passion for fixing up My Twinns escalated quickly after that, and the dolls started to make more frequent appearances here on the blog...and also started to fill up my house.  I became obsessed with seeking out old dolls with rare faces and skin tones, and the more beat-up they were, the better!  When I decided to take a break from reviewing dolls in 2018, I continued to work on the My Twinns, and even started a separate blog, The My Twin Project Shop, to chronicle my endeavors.  That blog kept me connected to the online doll world, and the dolls gave me a creative outlet and escape during the early, dark days of the pandemic.  It was a bit of a lifeline, frankly.

One of the hardest things about starting this blog up again has been that I no longer have much time to work on My Twinns.  Worse yet, I stopped doing Twinn makeovers before I'd even finished a princess series that was a lot of fun!  So, today I decided to share an overview of my princess project with all of you, and present the last two dolls in the group: the Cinderellas.

Future Cinderella: a Denver-era My Twinn doll with the Lenora face.

The My Twinn Project Shop

I'm in the process of launching an Etsy shop to sell some of the My Twinn dolls I'm fixing up right now or have fixed in the past.  I've also set up a temporary blog-like website to chronicle the steps I take to restore these dolls. I thought anyone who enjoyed the My Twinn makeover posts on this site might be interested!

I reviewed another brand of doll (the My Way Kids) over on the new blog, so I'll link that review here.

Here's the link to the blog: The My Twinn Project Shop

A Denver-era My Twinn Catherine doll who's in my (long) restoration queue!

Another My Twinn Interlude

I'm working on a few short reviews of play dolls that I bought a while ago, but I'm really slow these days.  My trusty old Cannon point-and-shoot camera is dying, so I'm discouraged by my pictures.  I've been using my iPhone a lot, but it's not the same--as you'll see.

Anyway, since it's taking me so long to get a review done, that slightly creepy Hairdorables picture has been at the top of the site for weeks...and I'm getting tired of it!  So, today I thought I'd quickly share another My Twinn project so that we can all look at something different until the next review comes along.

I've been enjoying the work I'm doing on My Twinn dolls, although the passion is starting to wane a bit.  I'm happiest when I'm working with a doll that's really beat up--almost a lost cause--but has some feature that captures my affection, like a gentle expression or pretty eyes:

Denver-era Denika by My Twinn.

The My Twinn Lenora Saga

I wanted to stop in and tell you the story of how the My Twinn Lenora makeover turned out, especially because so many of you were kind enough to give me your advice and support after my last update.  Thank you!  For anyone who didn't read the previous post about Lenora, I'll do a short recap.

Basically, I'm still addicted to My Twinn dolls.  In particular, I'm addicted to "project dolls," or really inexpensive, hopeless-looking Denver-era My Twinns that need a lot of work.  They keep me busy and happy.

I was fortunate enough to find a Denver Lenora on eBay (for a great price) who needed a ton of attention, including a new finger!

My well-loved Denver-era My Twinn Lenora.

Another My Twinn Update and Some Random Things

I've been making a bit of progress in clearing out my dolls.  So far, I've focused mostly on larger play dolls because they take up a lot of space.  It's really hard to figure out who to keep and who to sell, though.  They all seem to be special to me for one reason or another.

So far, the dolls in this size range who are the most difficult for me to think about selling are the My Twinns.  This is partly because I had so much fun fixing several of them up (the My Twinn Project series was one of my favorite things to write about on this blog) but also because I'm really impressed with the quality and charm of the older Denver dolls.  I love the diversity of face molds, the poseable bodies, and of course the beautiful eyes.

Today, I'll mostly be catching you up on what I've been doing with a few My Twinn dolls, but I also have two other tangentially-related things to chat about briefly.  I'll start by tying up a loose end.  Do you remember the girl I showed you at the very end of the My Twinn Project?  She's a bedraggled Denver-era Caitie doll who I re-named Phoebe:

Well-loved My Twinn Caitie doll from the Denver era.

Create Your Own American Girl

The wait is over!  My Create Your Own American Girl doll, Eliza, arrived two weeks ago (almost exactly on schedule).  I noticed recently that the wait for a similar doll now stretches into May (!) so I guess the concept is faring well in the holiday market.

I had to peek at Eliza before I started this review, and I noticed something unexpected right off the bat.  For those of you who followed along with Eliza's design process, you'll be expecting to see the "D" (Sonali) face.  Well, that's what I was expecting to see, too, but apparently I ended up picking the "B" (Josefina) face instead.  It's certainly my fault (I was going back and forth between faces a lot that day...) and it's actually a happy accident.  Once I realized that my other new American Girl, Melody Ellison, also has the Sonali face, I regretted picking that same mold for Eliza.  Now I have the face I actually wanted!

It's a really cute face, too:

Create Your Own American Girl doll, Eliza, $200.

The My Twinn Project Conclusion

Here, at long last, is the finale of the My Twinn Project!  Amidst back-to-school pandemonium, an emergency bathroom renovation and adventures with a sick parakeet, I finally found a free morning to take the My Twinn crew to a nearby state park for their final photo shoot.

My original intention was to re-publish all of the installments of this project as one big post--so you wouldn't have to click back and forth.  However, since the installments ended up being longer than I intended (big surprise), I will just link back to part one and part two for those who would like to see all of the details.  For anyone who has been following along, I'll simply supplement today's post with little reminders of what I've already done.

This project has been an incredible amount of fun. I gained a new appreciation for the My Twinn brand of dolls (at least the older ones) and learned a lot of restoration and cleaning skills along the way.  I feel like I had varied success with my results, though, and I'll talk about that in some detail today.  Are you ready?  I certainly am!  I'll jump right in with a sneak peek of my favorite (and the most dramatically improved) doll, Miss Tasha:

Restored Denver era My Twinn Tasha doll.

A My Twinn Project Update

I'm almost done with the My Twinn Project!  For anyone who is just tuning in, today's story is the follow-up to a previous post (which you can find here).  I really love projects like this--where something that has lost its shimmer becomes beautiful again.  When I was a kid, I liked to flip through my mother's magazines to find the makeover stories.  I've always been fascinated by the magical transformation of a good makeover.  Not that show Extreme Makeover, though.  I did not like that.  Anyway, I suspect it's all wrapped up in my obsession with the Cinderella rags-to-riches story.

I feel a little bad for Curvy Barbie and Lammily, though.  They're lovely dolls and I had a great time reviewing them, but I kept wanting to sneak away and work on the Twinns.  And speaking of Barbie, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who informed me about the articulated Curvy Barbie (oh, yay!) and the hidden charms of the Petite and Tall Barbies.  What wonderful news!  I will have to check those out.

There will be one more My Twinn Project post after this one--a finale where I'll reveal the completed 23" dolls (and the baby).  Today, though, I'll just be checking in with the larger girls and updating you on their progress.  I'll also show you how the eye replacements turned out on my 18" dolls.  And...maybe I'll introduce someone new.  Because, as I mentioned, I always seem to go overboard with this kind of venture.

Holly with her new wig.

The My Twinn Project

One of my new ideas for the blog is to write about the doll-related projects in my life.  I could call this series of posts "regular person attempts tricky things that you can learn from the internet!" but I'll probably just put the word "project" somewhere in the title.  I love a good project.  I've documented project-like things in the past, but I'd like to make it more of a regular occurrence.  The basic formula will be to set the scene in a relatively short post and then publish a few progress updates--interspersed between my more conventional reviews.  This way you'll get to follow along and share in the suspense as I succeed (or fail!) in my endeavors.  When the project is complete, I'll put together a cumulative post with some concluding pictures and statements.  Let's see how it goes!

The first project involves My Twinn dolls.  My Twinn went out of business in January.  I was sad to hear this news, but it didn't come as much of a surprise.  By late 2015, the quality of the 18" dolls was plummeting, there was a glut of unsold, mega-browed 18" Adopt-A-Friends, and the company had ceased production of dolls with darker skin tones.  The situation didn't look promising.  The way I see it, My Twinn dolls were made great by four critical things: a great range of customizable options (including over 40 face molds), overall high quality of construction, beautiful inset eyes, and carefully hand-painted eyebrows.  Many of these features had gone out the window by the time My Twinn closed its doors.

Like many collectors, I think the best versions of My Twinn dolls are the ones assembled in Denver, Colorado from 1995 through 2001.  These dolls have high-quality vinyl, beautiful (durable) eyes, nice wigs, a variety of faces, and (occasionally) artist-painted eyebrows.  To commemorate the end of My Twinn, I decided to add one more of these vintage gems to my collection.  The Denver dolls are all at least 15 years old by now, though, so adopting one is likely to involve a bit of restoration.  This project will document what kind of work can be required...and how I struggled through it.

My Twinn Audrey from 2001.