Rubens Barn Linné "Moss" Doll

It is back-to-school week here in Maine, so I am getting my kids ready for their first day and, of course, I am thinking about science and learning.  This doll fits right in with my current state of mind.

Rubens Barn is a brand of handmade Swedish cloth dolls that have recently made their way to the United States.  At first, I thought that the name of the brand was Ruben's Barn--meaning a guy named Ruben had a barn, and the dolls were in it.  Actually, barn means "children" in Swedish, and "Rubens" is possessive without the apostrophe, so the dolls are "Ruben's Children."  These dolls can be found at Magic Cabin, and also on Amazon.  They cost $25.

I could look at the cutes faces on the Rubens Barn website for a long time.  The larger babies are fantastic, but my favorite dolls are in the Linné collection, a new group of babies that are dressed in outfits that represent something from nature.  There's a bluebird, a bumblebee, a butterfly and even a pinecone.  I almost bought the pinecone doll, because a pinecone is Maine's state flower--even though pinecones aren't flowers.  I think we're the only state in the nation that has a seed as its state flower.

After looking closely at all of the dolls, it was Moss who I couldn't resist.  This fellow is not only lovable, but he might be the only doll ever in the history of the world that is made to look like moss:

Rubens Barn Linné doll, "Moss."

My Salon Doll

One of the neat things about writing my American Girl review back in July is that many of you had suggestions for other similarly-sized dolls that might be fun to look at.  As a relative newcomer to the 18" play doll scene, all of these tips were greatly appreciated.  I followed up on Holly's suggestion to look at My Salon Dolls, the anonymous recommendation of the Vanange line, and Char's enthusiastic endorsement of A Girl for All Time.  I didn't end up keeping the Vanange doll and A Girl for All Time Clementine hasn't arrived yet, so this review will focus on My Salon Doll, Sydni.

My Salon Dolls are designed by a small Utah-based company and manufactured in China.  The special thing about these dolls is that they have micro-rooted human hair.  The commercial on the My Salon Doll website advertises that the dolls can "tolerate any hair product that would be found in a regular salon."  The dolls are also described as being bathtub-safe.  In my experience with human hair doll wigs, the only problem with them is that they get dusty and dry.  This doll's design appears to have eliminated those problems by making it safe and easy to wash and condition the hair.  I love this idea and was very curious see what these dolls are like in person.  The dolls are listed at around $130, but were on sale for $107 when I purchased mine--and are still on sale now.  There weren't many dolls to choose from back in July, so I picked Sydni, who is the horse-lover in the group, and was also the only available doll who looked like she had reddish hair.

My Salon Doll, Sydni.

Nancy Dolls by Famosa

I am still having a bit of a hard time getting around, and so my "field research" has taken a hit.  The nice thing is, I always seem to have a stash of dolls sitting around that I purchased ages ago but haven't reviewed for one reason or another.  This week, I decided to raid that stash of forgotten dolls and I rediscovered the two Nancy dolls I bought back in 2013.  Nancy is a 16-inch plastic play doll produced by the Spanish company, Famosa.  Famosa makes a wide range of dolls and toys and has partnerships with some popular brands like Furby, Hello Kitty and My Little Pony.  Currently, Famosa might be best known in the United States for their Pinypon line of small dolls and accessories--toys I'd really like to review some day!

I first learned about Nancy dolls in 2012 from Moni, through a comment she left on an old review.  I was reminded of this doll again in 2013 when I started to explore the many different options in the 18-inch play doll market.  Nancy stands out from this crowd because she's smaller and shorter than dolls like American Girl, and also because of her price point.  Nancy dolls tend to retail for between $20 and $25--unless they are discontinued and difficult to find.

Nancy dolls come with a few different hair and eye color options (there's a lovely-looking redhead, but she's hard to find here in the States).  There are also two skin tones that I am aware of.  Most (all?) of the dolls sold in this country have a tan-looking yellowish skin tone, but there are also dark-skinned Nancy dolls available--like the gorgeous Nancy gracing the product page of the Famosa website.  Another variation in the Nancy line is that some of the dolls have articulated knees and others do not.  In this review, I will look at one of each style: the unarticulated Nancy "Pink Sports Ballerina" ($19.99, Amazon) and the articulated Nancy "Little Red Riding Hood" ($24.99, Amazon):

Famosa's "Little Red Riding Hood" Nancy.

Woof & Co. by Sunny Days Entertainment

I feel like I should call the last month or two of my life the Walmart Phase, because a lot of the things that I'm excited about lately are from Walmart.  And I don't shop at Walmart very often.  It all goes back to that tip about the LUV dolls being on sale for $7.50 (which they still are, btw).  While I was investigating that deal, I found about six other doll lines that were either on an irresistible clearance sale or were simply too appealing to ignore.  I really didn't need any fresh ideas for reviews, since I have enough dolls in my basement to last the rest of my life, but this is a good time of year to investigate some affordable dolls and toys that might be appealing to kids.  The Hey Besties that I just talked about would make wonderful holiday gifts, and I think the dolls in today's review would, too.

I hesitate to call the critters in today's review dolls, though.  That hesitation prompted me to look up the official definition of a doll, which is something you'd think I'd have done by now.  According to Merriam-Webster, a doll is "a small-scale figure of a human being used especially as a child's plaything."  So, yeah.  These aren't really dolls, because they're definitely not figures of human beings.  They're dogs:

Woof & Co. Finley, by Sunny Days Entertainment ($29.98).

AZIAM Girlz

The AZIAM Girlz are highly-articulated 12-inch play dolls that are designed around a yoga theme.  The brand name confused me at first, but it's a play on the phrase as I am...with a "z" instead of an "s."  I'm not usually a fan of gimmicky spellings like this (MGA Entertainment exhausted the novelty a long time ago with their Bratz, Bratzillaz, Moxie Girlz, Moxie Teenz, Li'l Angelz, etc).  However, in this case it works because I suspect an "s" would have caused the brand to be pronounced more like ass-ee-am instead of as I am.

I knew nothing about the AZIAM Girlz until a few weeks ago when I stumbled across them during a search of Target.com for the Glitter Girls.  I have not seen these dolls in an actual Target store, but they're listed on the website and also available at aziamgirlz.com.  Target's site had only three AZIAM Girlz available, and these were listed alongside the Zeenie Dollz (there's that "z" again...and again).  At first I assumed that the AZIAM Girlz were made by the same company as the Zeenies (they look a bit alike) but J. Stanley and I were discussing this and don't actually think the two brands have anything in common beyond a vague resemblance.

I bought two of the dolls that are available at Target: Alanna and Asana (also confusing).  Today I'll do an in-depth review of Alanna, and then take a quick look at Asana towards the end.

AZIAM Girlz Alanna, $26.99.

Beauty and the Beast Dolls by Hasbro and the Disney Store: Belle

Last year, when I was re-thinking this blog and figuring out how to keep it in my life, I made a few resolutions.  One of them was that I would never feel obligated to buy another Disney Store doll.  Why? Well, when I first started collecting these dolls (back in 2012), I was blown-away by the high-quality product that Disney could offer for under $13. Over the years, though, the dolls have suffered a lapse in quality and an increase in price…to the point where I started feeling bad every time I made a Disney Store purchase.

So why am I reviewing a Disney Store doll now?  Well, frankly, it’s because I’m a total sucker for Disney movies, and I get a little obsessed when a new one comes out. When the live-action Beauty and the Beast movie was announced, I eagerly waited for the release of the associated dolls…and then bought all of them. I can’t say that this was a wise decision, but at least I’ll get to share what I learned with all of you.  In a short series of (not necessarily sequential) posts, I'll look at both the Disney Store and Hasbro’s versions of Beauty and the Beast's main characters.  I’ll start things off today with each company’s yellow-gowned Belle doll:

Beauty and the Beast's Belle from the Disney Store, $34.95.
(Shown on a Barbie Made to Move body)