Little Girl dolls?

[elanorh]

Hi,

I've been searching online and not having much luck finding anything but American Girl as a "non-baby" doll (well, and Barbies and Bratz) unless I want a $250 type doll. I'm hoping someone here will have suggestions.

Basically I just want a nice, normal-looking little girl doll which Ina can dress and play with - something relatively sturdy which will hold up well to hair brushing and being banged around. She likes to dress and undress things right now, and has baby dolls but I think it would be nice for her to have a doll which looks more like a "big girl" like her (nearly 3). She is an active little person, this doll would not just be cuddled but would probably be dragged around and roughed up some. An 18 inch doll would be ideal because there are lots of patterns for doll clothes in that size.

I saw some dolls called "Betsy McCall" which looked passable but I don't know how nice they would be. The American Girl dolls seem just a bit Over The Top to me .... And pricey. I'm not a huge fan of Cabbage Patch dolls either for whatever reason ....

I sew, and could make a rag doll, and probably will at some point - but have a lot on my plate right now and really would like to just find and order a doll (we live in a relatively rural area, and whenever I've searched for Little Girl type dolls at toy stores when traveling and here in town too, I've only found baby dolls, Bratz, and Barbie types). I'm really NOT a fan of Barbies or Bratz and if I have my way, won't be buying any nor will there *be* any in my house. We'll see if family/friends will play by those rules.

Maybe I'm wrong about American Girl (tell me if I am) - maybe there's something out there I don't know about?? PLEASE help!

Incidentally, if you know of a nice boy doll out there, my favorite doll growing up was a cloth-bodied little boy doll with a vinyl face - I've not found any similar boy dolls when I looked either.

Thanks in advance!

[OTMomma]

I recently got a cute boy doll for a friend made by Brio- I bet if you google brio dolls you can find some, I got mine at a local toy store. That doll was a cloth doll dressed as a train engineer.

If you want a Barbie style doll- as in that general size- You should check out the Only Hearts Club dolls. They look like 12 year olds and seem much more appropirate than Barbie to me at a similar cost. They have them at Target now (or target.com).

Also you can look for dolls made by Corolle also makes some dolls that look like young girls/toddlers- more like the 12-18" dolls. I think they are bit more pricey, but quality dolls.

And if you want to make a doll- I recently made dd a doll with a kit from Joy's waldorf dolls, that came out great and was my first doll making experience.

[boheime]

We just have Waldorf dolls that I have made right now. If I were to buy an older doll, I think I would go with Groovy Girls - soft, inexpensive (about $15), age appropriate clothing (unlike Bratz), they come in a wide variety of ethnicities and in both male and female. They also ahve a lot of clothes to choose from if you are into that.

[pilesoflaundry]

AG was bought out by mattel about 2-3 years ago anyway just for reference.

Gotz dolls are really nice or Target makes a knockoff of the AG dolls much cheaper. They sell them at xmas time for sure, might have them in stores now. They are called My Generation, sometimes TJMaxx has them for $15.

[elanorh]

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

I'm still not sure what I'll get - but have far more to choose from than I thought. Which is a good thing. There are some soft-bodied dollies from Corolle which look fun and not expensive .... The Brio dolls look neat (although dh's verdict is that he thinks they look goofy) - they were hard to find though, kind of hit and miss which sites had them or had many of them. I think the ones which have attached shoes/pants are cuter ... I'd seen the Groovy girls - does anyone know how well their heads hold up? It looks to me like their heads could be "loved" right off (just looking at pictures).

The Only Hearts Club dolls are super! Not something Ina's going to be into for awhile I don't think but -- they'd be great for a couple years from now. Way better than Barbies. And if I buy them before anyone can buy a Barbie, maybe people will be more inclined to just buy Only Hearts Club dolls/accessories if they *must* buy her dolls.

I do like the Betsy McCall dolls' faces - they run about $50 for the basic doll (yikes), but really seem to have personality. I think the jointed knees might be more appropriate for an older kid though (it looks like they could pinch?) - there weren't any age restrictions on them and from what I've read they're supposed to hold up well. They're 14" dolls though (the 8" are cute but I'd think waay too small) --- so I don't know how easy it is to find 14" doll clothes patterns.

I could probably be halfway through a rag doll in the time I've spent looking at all these dolls online! But -- my to-do list is growing exponentially, the next baby is due in September (the reason the to-do list is growing ) - and when Ina was born, with her reflux and allergies, I was pretty much in survival mode for about 9 months (no sewing, reading, gardening, etc.). We're hoping for a fat happy baby this time, but expecting another refluxer etc. ....So I'll probably just keep plugging away on the sewing for Christmas presents/clothes, the baby clothes I didn't get done last time, etc. before even thinking about a rag doll (not to mention the filing/cleaning/bedroom shifting/gardening). I do want to make a raggedy-anne style doll someday, though.

What's up with Joy's Waldorf dolls? I skimmed some of the earlier messages on this board and it sounded like some people had had trouble with her site/service?

And the Gotz dolls was a great suggestion - the site I found said that they originally designed the American Girl dolls and they have a similar doll called "Precious Day" which IMO looks nicer than the American Girl dolls (even if they can't be personalized to the extent that American Girl dolls can) -- and the American Girl dolls, when I checked their website, listed 8 and up for ages whereas the Gotz ones are listed as 3 and up and washable. And I think about $30 less than the AG's.

LOTS to think about. Fortunately it's awhile 'til her bday and Christmas, so as long as I take care of this before the baby arrives, I'll be fine.

Thanks again ladies!!

[SleeplessMommy]

The Sasha doll (currently made by Gotz) is really nice. Comes in boy or girl or baby. You can get Sashe used on ebay for $100 or so. But you will love her!

Note, this is NOT the Bratz sahsa I am talking about. It is the expensive shasa!

[Wazabooz]

Originally Posted by elanorh

The American Girl dolls seem just a bit Over The Top to me .... And pricey.

I know what you mean - in the end their goal is to sell lots of expensive accessories to girls who just can't live without them... but I like the stories they come with. My daughter has "Molly" and I've been using her story of growing up during WWII to teach a bit of history. Her grandmother grew up during roughly the same time, so it's a good excuse to reminisce about her childhood.

Incidentally, my 10-yr old is very handy & creative, and she's been making her own doll clothes for some time. She can sit down with a crochet hook and yarn, and whip together a skirt or dress in no time at all! Maybe I can post a picture here... She's even sold a few to friends & people in the community. So as part of her desire to earn some money this summer, I set up a website and put a few items up for sale on eBay. Still too early to tell how successful this will be - maybe the holidays would be a better time.
Does anybody have any suggestions for marketing your kid's wonderful creations? Can't put a picture here, but if anyone's interested you can see them at toritown.com
--Wazabooz

[Attached Mama]

if you don't mind used you could look on ebay for a nice fisher price "My friend" doll. Made in the 80's - they were really great. Some on ebay are in better shape than others. There was Becky - a red head, Jenny, a brunnette, Mandie, a blonde and Mikey a boy doll with brown hair. You could wash their hair and the dolls i believe are machine washable. They have cloth bodies and plastic limbs and head. My grandma made me an entire suitcase of clothing for htem - much of it i still have. My sisters and I had hours of fun with them.

well, good luck!

[marybethorama]

I have an American Girl sized doll that was pretty inexpensive (20 dollars) I'm not sure if she's made anymore -it's an Intergrity Toys Nakia doll but I think there are other dolls in this size available.

Integrity Toys makes multicultural dolls.

[rado]

I'm a child of the 70's and I had a Mandy doll...she was my absolute favorite. I was given her for Xmas around 1978 or so...she even had cool 70's clogs and denim overalls. I totally recommend those dolls!

Originally Posted by Attached Mama

if you don't mind used you could look on ebay for a nice fisher price "My friend" doll. Made in the 80's - they were really great. Some on ebay are in better shape than others. There was Becky - a red head, Jenny, a brunnette, Mandie, a blonde and Mikey a boy doll with brown hair. You could wash their hair and the dolls i believe are machine washable. They have cloth bodies and plastic limbs and head. My grandma made me an entire suitcase of clothing for htem - much of it i still have. My sisters and I had hours of fun with them.

well, good luck!

[kimberlychapman]

I saw these in a catalogue today and remembered this thread:

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/IWC...roduct_Id=2921

[ashleyhaugh]

my center has those dolls, and i think theyre awesome... very cute, sturdy, and hold up well, all though the hair gets nasty after being wet (think babies in the water table, lol) i really like them though

[elanorh]

I should update --

We bought a Tim doll (BRIO) which arrived yesterday -- Ina loves him. I'm glad I found a nice boy doll for her to play with. She's already picked out other dolls she wants, from the pictures on the side of the box he arrived in (of course, she likes the larger Brio dolls which dh thinks look creepy). I think Tim's supposed to be of Hispanic or African American descent, which is also cool.

We also ordered a Corolle Doucette doll (Cherry) -- she picked her out (I think she's supposed to be Asian). That doll will be the "new baby" gift she gets when baby is born, or else we might wait 'til Ina's birthday a few weeks later and give it to her then.

We'll see how these two dollies go, and then decide whether we want to go with the Gotz Elisabeth doll at Christmas, or no dolls at all, or more of the Brio or Doucette dolls. It's not like Ina needs more toys anyway. !

THANKS so much for all the suggestions from everyone! I do think eventually we will buy one of the Betsy McCall dolls - just because their faces look similar to Ina's IMO. But I think we're a few years out from that.

And, I'm going to check with step-SIL to see if she'd like an Only Heart Club doll for her dd (who's a year older than Ina). J doesn't have Barbies and I think they'd rather she not have them, but she does have fun playing with them so the Only Heart dolls might be a good option for her.