"Summer Lila" and "Summer Lucas" by Salvador Berenguer for JC Toys

Based on the focus of this blog so far, you might be surprised to learn that I got my start as a doll enthusiast by collecting baby dolls.  Actually, to be perfectly accurate, I got my start as a doll enthusiast the moment I received Madame Alexander's baby "Victoria" as a gift from my grandmother.  Victoria and I were inseparable for the better part of my youth:

My mom made us matching outfits!

As an adult, baby dolls started to appeal to me again around the time I got a yearning for real babies.  Even after I had my two boys, baby dolls served as reminders of the most precious stages and expressions of my little guys.  As my kids got older, I moved into collecting Himstedt child dolls, but that stage couldn't last too long because Himsetdts are big and expensive.  These days, for whatever reasons, I am much more interested in fashion dolls.  It might have something to do with shelf space.

Despite not acquiring a lot of new baby dolls at this point in my life, I still retain many and strong opinions about these dolls.  Recently, someone asked my opinion on what would be a good realistic baby doll for an older child.  I had a great time thinking through the options.  For this special girl, I ended up recommending Zapf Vivian or Lilian, by master sculptor Cathariena Teunissen. The process got me pondering what the best realistic baby doll choices are for each price range and age group and I thought I'd start sharing my thoughts about this topic here.

Monster High Review: Nefera De Nile and Operetta

It's hard to keep up with the Monster High releases!  I heard the news on the "Prego" doll board yesterday that Purrsephone and Meowlody are up for pre-order at Toys R Us (well, they were.  It lasted about 5 seconds), so that's pretty exciting, and also three new dolls have hit the shelves recently: Nefera de Nile, Operetta and Cupid.  I haven't seen Cupid yet, but the other two materialized at Walmart the other afternoon and I snatched them up.

I was especially interested in Nefera de Nile because she has a different body than the others.  She is the older (and taller) sister of Cleo de Nile, and so is another daughter of The Mummy.  The other new release, Operetta, is the daughter of The Phantom of the Opera.  That's a mouthful to say, but she is very interesting--particularly if you like the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

I don't think I want to take Operetta out of the box just yet (don't ask me why--that's a whole other story) but I will de-box Nefera to get a close look at that new body.  Here she is in her box:

Monster High Nefera De Nile.

The Liv Dolls' Horse "Nutmeg" vs. the Moxie Girlz Horse "Cricket"

I am a big fan of horses.  When I was younger, I had a massive collection of Breyer model horses that was the focus of my entire imaginary world.  In the early 80s, you could get these highly detailed plastic Breyer models for about $6.00 at Woolworth (in nice cardboard boxes...), but now they run in the $40 range and are typically found only at high-end toy stores (although Toys R Us does carry a play line of Breyer horses).  

When Spin Master premiered their Liv horse in 2010, I could not wait for it to hit the shelves.  I saw some small pictures online suggesting that it was a highly articulated horse which I thought was very appropriate considering the impressive articulation of the Liv dolls themselves (no, no, don't worry--I am not going to gripe about that again).  There aren't really a ton of articulated play horses on the market right now.  Our Generation has a 20" horse that looks semi-articulated and pretty handsome (available at Target).  There's still an articulated horse for the Fisher Price Loving Family.  I think that's about it.  Let me know if you have intel on any others.

I was really hoping that the Liv horse would be kind-of like "Smoke," a 1970s  Lone Ranger articulated horse I had when I was a kid.   I loved posing that horse and I don't know what happened to it.  Smoke had about 14 points of articulation and could strike some very realistic poses.  That was the coolest toy. 

Anyway, I have been meaning to write a review of "Nutmeg," the palomino Liv horse that I've had for about a year now.  While I procrastinated with that review, however, I caught wind of the new Moxie Girlz "Cricket," who is a palomino horse that is articulated and apparently walks and whinnies.  Well!  I thought it might be fun to de-box Cricket and have a nose-to-nose showdown between the steeds of two very popular play doll lines.  Here's Cricket:

Moxie Girlz horse, Cricket

Couture Swallow Sybarite by Superdoll

Artists Desmond Lingard and Charles Fegen have been making haute couture for many different doll lines since the start of their fashion design company, Superfrock, Ltd, in 1999.  In 2005, Lingard and Fegen expanded their business to include Superdoll Collectibles, a doll-making operation that introduced the world to a new line of 17" resin ball jointed fashion dolls called the Sybarites.

Sybarite is such a cool and unique name for a doll line.  The online free dictionary tells me that a sybarite is, "a person devoted to pleasure and luxury, a voluptuary."  That first part is very helpful, but a voluptuary?  I have to say, I like that word, but I have never heard it before.  Merriam Webster says that a voluptuary is a person interested in luxury and, "the gratification of sensual appetites." Alrighty then.   That sounds like a good fit for these dolls.

I have the extremely good fortune of owning two Sybarite dolls.  One of them, "Raja," I got on clearance from the now-extinct Haute Doll magazine shop.  When I bought her, Raja was not very popular and was being let go for about $450.  My other Sybarite, who you will meet here, is also a Haute Doll magazine exclusive.  She was limited to 250 (a big edition for these dolls) and retailed for $725.  That's a hefty price for a 17" doll, but some collectors are willing to pay a lot more than that for these haughty fashion divas.

The best way to buy a Sybarite is to join the Superdoll mailing list and be really fast when the new dolls get posted.  Like 5 minutes fast.  If your fingers are fast enough, you'll be one of the lucky 50 or so people who get a new doll for around $500-600.  If you blink and miss the release, you can find Sybarites on eBay most days for around $1,000.  Superdoll actually has a basic doll named Talc still on sale on the website for about $530.

Are they worth the competitive stress and the big price tag?  You tell me.  Meet "Couture Swallow:"

Sybarite Couture Swallow by Superdoll.

WARNING: Before you take the jump, please be warned that this doll is much edgier than the other dolls I have discussed, both with and without her clothing.  Although I try to keep things tasteful and artistic, the photos are likely not work-appropriate and may not be to everyone's taste.

Moxie Teenz by MGA Entertainment

MGA Entertainment is responsible for producing a lot of today's hot dolls like Bratz, Moxie Girlz, BFC Ink and Lalaloopsy.  I am feeling the pull towards purchasing a Lalaloopsy doll, and if I do I'll let you know, but for now, the only MGA dolls in the house are Moxie Teenz.  Moxie Teenz are 14" articulated play dolls with inset eyes and changeable wigs.  Sound familiar?

First things first: "MGA" stands for Micro-Games America.  I did not know that.  I guess in my head I had MGA confused with MGM, which is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is a Hollywood movie-making studio.  MGA is a toy manufacturer.  Now that we have that straight, MGA released the Moxie Teenz line in the summer of 2010.  This was after the Liv release and at the same time as the Monster High debut.  In retrospect, MGA might have chosen different timing.

In any case, I was drawn to this line mostly because I was so smitten with Liv dolls.  Moxie Teenz, with their inset eyes and changeable wigs, seemed to me like fairly blatant Liv mimics.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Back in 2010, I had not yet fallen prey to Monster High dolls, and so there was plenty of room on my shelves for a teenage big sister to the Liv crew.  Also, FYI, I live in Maine, so I am legally required to have an inherent affinity for all things Moxie.

I am going to show you those original 2010 Moxie Teenz dolls in this post, but I'll also fast forward to the present and de-box the newest Moxie Teenz "Tristen" for you so that we can see what's up with the Moxie Teenz these days.

Got her on an awesome sale!

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: light skin tone, green eyes and a blonde wig.

Harumika Fashion Design Toys by Bandai

Harumika is a line of fashion design toys that use real fabric but do not require any sewing.  Kids drape and arrange fabric swatches over a plastic dress form or a plastic mannequin and their design can be held in place by tucking the loose ends of fabric into slits on the back of the model.  That's Harumika in a nutshell, but to really give you an accurate idea of what this toy offers, I need to tell you more.

I first discovered Harumika during one of my aimless roaming missions in the Target toy department.  I think I was looking at the Moxie Teenz dolls, and Harumika was in that same aisle.  There were only a few sets on the shelves, and they weren't prominently displayed or anything, but the sparkling pink and black packages and unusual name caught my eye.  I read all of the boxes and peered inside them.  I found myself intrigued by the no-sew fashion design concept and also by all of the colorful fabrics that were included in the sets.  I bought a variety of sets for my eldest niece because she is passionate about fashion design and loves to watch Project Runway.

I can't find Harumika at my Target store anymore, but they do carry them at Toys R Us (not necessarily online, but in the stores there's a nice selection).  There's a good selection at Amazon, too, but I never trust those prices.  I have a mannequin to de-box and share with you so that you can get a better idea of what these toys are all about.  This one is "Victoria" and I think I got her for $17.99 at Target a while back: