New Dolls in the Group

This morning I decided to wander down the doll aisle at the local Target store, I really should know better. I have been wanting to pick up one of their Our Generation Dolls to add to my collection, mainly because I didn't have one and I like to have a mixture of dolls from different manufacturers. When I see all one brand of doll in a group to my eye it looks a bit boring. Even with different face molds dolls from a manufacturer tend to resemble each other. You can probably look at a doll and be fairly certain what brand it is. Because of the way I use and collect my dolls (I really like them for the story telling portion of this blog-more of those on the way soon) I want my collection to look like a group of friends, in other words I want some variety in the group. I think I have a pretty good start anyway at that.

Anyway back to my trip down the doll aisle, I noticed a box that was a bit larger than the other boxes with dolls in them. This one said it was Ashley-Rose and the Jukebox Babysitters, it included the doll, a book, some accessories and a baby doll. That caught my eye, the baby was the item that stole my heart not Ashley-Rose. I debated for a few minutes then I saw the sign that told me (and all the other shoppers) that all the Our Generation items were buy one get the second for 40% off. Hummmmmm, if I was to get the doll and something else I could justify it. (It really doesn't take much to justify it when I want it) I looked at all the accessories on the display and really didn't find anything I really wanted. Then I noticed the regular doll displays, those dolls were $17.99 so if I took off the 40% it would be right around $10. There weren't a lot of dolls to pick from but after some debating and thinking I settled on Charlotte.

I think with a bit of work both of these girls have potential, I may do a bit of re-working of them but not a lot.

just got home and ready to meet the rest of the gang

When I got them home I took them out of their boxes, which was not as much of a job as some of the dolls I have removed from boxes. Just a few snips with a knife from the back of the box and a little guidance from me and they were free.

Ashley-Rose was first the book looks cute I will have to give it a quick read to see what it is all about. The doll comes with some accessories: the baby, a diaper bag, a hand puppet, a bracelet and a cute little pink box. I am not sure yet if the baby will be a baby brother of the girls or if it will be a doll. I am leaning toward a baby brother. I think it would fit into the story line of the dolls really well that way. One thing to note when removing this doll- she is wearing some plastic slip on shoes and they were secured to her feet with those little plastic things that they hang tags from clothing with, these were actually the hardest part to remove- in the end I had to get some needle-nose pliers to pull the part out of her feet. She now has tiny holes on the bottom of each foot and in the bottom of each shoe. Not sure how noticeable this will be in the long run.

Ashley-Rose in her box with all her stuff

Free at last

little pink box-closed

open

diaper bag, hand puppet, book and baby

book and baby

Next I took Charlotte out of her box, even fewer things to cut loose to remove her since it was just her and a hairbrush. She is cute too, I think her dress would have been so much cuter if they had not added the layer of tulle over the skirt, I do like the little sweater though.

Charlotte in her box

yeah!! I'm free at last

hair brush included with this doll

Now what do I think about the girls:

Well, they seem to be of average quality, not outstanding but I have seen worse too. The hair is the real downside to me. It feels really dry and is badly tangled right out of the box. I am going to try a few tricks to see if I can get it looking better, if not I will order a couple of wigs and re-wig them.

I did find the manufacturer tag on the dolls and found these are made by the Battat company. I think these might be my first dolls from this manufacturer.

They are similar in basic construction to the American Girls in that they have a cloth body with plastic limbs and head. The head seems to be held on with a zip-tie and if I ever have to remove the head I will replace that with some cord like the American Girls have. I really prefer the cord to the zip ties.

I haven't measured them yet but they are definitely slimmer than the A.G.s they seem to be about the same dimensions as my Journey Girl. I will post a blog later (hopefully next week) with the measurements of all the brands I have and do a real comparison of them.

shown with my Journey Girl and an American Girl for comparison

After they have been here for a while I will let you know how I like them.

Oh and if you are interested I have decided that they are step-sisters and have just moved into the neighborhood.