Heart For Hearts 14inch Doll Collection... So far...!

Hi Doll Friends!

It is such a busy time of the year! So I am a little behind in my recent idea to update my doll collection posts here since my collection has grown quite a lot over the last year. I finally found time to get the Heart For Hearts dolls posed and photographed. 

Here they all are! 

From Left to Right Back Row:

-Lauryce (Name she came with but I loved it)

-Simone 

-Surjan (Name she came)

From Left to Right Front Row:

-Lilian (Name she came with)

-Katniss

-Maurine

-?? Not named yet! Just got her!!

All but one of them have been found second hand because they are sadly retired and extremely expensive on the 2nd hand market unless you happen to find them in a thrift store like I've done with mine... I got my most recent one that I've posted about this year in May. here is the story of Katniss and my other Dell doll and one other I just found this last week at a thrift store I haven't taken the time to post about. 

For a little more information on this manner of dolls here is the Heart For Hearts Dolls Facebook page! They really are cute little dolls. I feel like they are a little bit too fragile for all but a bit older girls who are very careful with their dolls. From what I understand they plan to bring them back out on the market soon and I think that is great. The regular new price point of $40 is pretty good compared to the American Girl Wellie Wishers but they are also not as 'sturdy' as I understand those to be. These dolls also had a bit of an issue with the eyes fading color and turning purple or other odd colors. This has started to happen with my Lauryce... Still, they are really beautiful dolls and a great 'little sister' for American Girl, Our Generation and other 18inch dolls.

Here they all are in my new 'transport basket' being shuttled from where they are stored to the photo spot!

A very handy way to transport and store them if you need to... Laundry baskets!

Here they are all put back in their normal 'homes...

Better run!

Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather

Consuelo Heart For Hearts Doll Thrift Store Find!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

In my recent post about my Heart For Hearts doll collection I included my most recently found Heart For Hearts 'Consuelo' at the local Thrift Store for only 75cents!!

Here is what she looked like when I found her. Well, other than the shorts... She was wearing just the top but to me it seems almost worse than being entirely naked, just being halfway so! So I slipped on the pair of shorts to give her more dignity. As you can see, she is still wearing her price tag on her top. 

She'd been rather poorly treated!! Poor dear!

But for 75cents, I didn't care a toot! I snatched her up and brought her home immediately. 

As you can see, she was pretty dirty when I got her... She also has an ink mark above her right eyebrow and ink can be pretty hard to remove. I figured if I couldn't get it off entirely perhaps I would paint over it or something, making it a 'scar' because they happen right? 

She also had some ink on her foot... Less of a big deal because if it doesn't come off I can always turn it into a cool tattoo or something. Right?

So to clean her up I pulled out my trusty Norwex cloth and started cleaning her up... As usual, everything cleaned up with just the cloth and water other than that pesky ink stain. I've heard of a trick you can try using Oxy-lotion (think acne products) and dab it on stain and leave in the sunlight. I've never actually tried it because I've never had an ink stain on a doll in such a prominent spot before. So I'll try that... Am a bit worried it'll bleach out her skin in that spot and look just as bad or worse but again, there is always the 'scar' back up plan. 

I also washed her hair and 'hot dipped' her hair... It looked like she might've lost some of her hair due to rough treatment and brushing so it was a little on the thin side...

But she came out lovely!! Again, I need to work on the ink stains but.... Still, she's so pretty! For her name I am thinking of Sonja after a mentor I had in High School who she favors. 

Well, it's Monday morning and time to start getting the famiy moving!

Christmas is less than two weeks away! Where does the time go?

Till next time!
XXOO 

Heather

Heart For Hearts Doll Thrift Store Find... A year later...

Greetings Doll Friends!

Just a quick post here... When I posted about my Heart For Hearts Doll Collection recently I searched high and low through my old postings to see if I could find the post about finding this beautiful doll but... Nothing?

So I dug into my phone and low and behold I still had the photos...! From clear back in like April of this year. I guess I meant to post about her after I got her cleaned up and then cleaned her up and went on to other things...

I was so stoked when I found her because she was nearly complete, down to her jewelry. That is a very rare thing. 

She is the doll called Dell and I actually already had another Dell when I found her but... How to resist? I named that one Katniss and this one was eventually named Maurine after an aunt whom she favors a lot. 

Look at that price! $3.99 for a nearly new Heart For Heart's Doll! And people wonder why I can't seem to drive by a thrift store... It's so hard when there is a possible doll treasure in each one! Eh?

That's it for now!

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

Famosa Nancy

Hello Doll Friends!

As you've probably become keen to, I have a tendency, at least lately, to use whatever 'mad money' I have on dolls or things for dolls. You have probably also caught on to the fact that I 'research' on eBay, a lot. Interestingly enough, I am finding dolls that I've never heard of before. Often, I find them via eBay's oh-so-dangerous "You may like this because you bought that" feature. I am pretty sure that isn't the real name for said feature, but that is what it does. I catalogs your purchases and looks around eBay for similar items and suggests them to you. Clever eBay. Clever. 

Such was the route by which the following beauties made their way home to the Doll House. They were on auction as new dolls but totally nude. As if someone purchased them to get the outfits but didn't want or need the dolls in their collection. Can't imagine who may do such a thing? Oh wait... I sort of did that. So, honestly, it gives me encouragement to think that the dollies that I buy for just their clothing may very well find new owners who are thrilled to own them. Thrilled like I am to own these two pretty dolls. I got them both for $12! (Ok, so shipping was also $12) and I thought that was a bargain just to get to see what they were all about. 

They are called Famousa Nancy Dolls I would give you a detailed review of their history but there is a fabulous history of them and review of them here.

Please excuse the dolls in their birthday suits but I wanted to show what they looked like, body type wise. They have hard plastic legs and torso, reminding me of the dolls you'd get at the drug store back in the 1970's that were three feet tall and could 'walk'. I never had one but my cousin did and I played with her often at my cousins house, so I remember. Much like those dolls, these dolls stand amazingly well on their own!

They are similar in body size and shape to the Heart for Heart dolls but are two inches taller. Their hair is rooted and pretty soft. Their arms and face are of a softer plastic, much like baby doll skin. 

Here they are, all dressed up and hanging out in the doll room with some of the girls. You can see how they compare, size wise, to both the Heart for Hearts dolls and to the Our Generation 18" doll. 

They all posed for a group photo!

Here they are with a couple of our Disney Princess and Me dolls, they are also similar in body size and will be able to share a lot of the same sized clothes. You can see how the 'same' dresses, which I told how to make here and here. 

I think they are going to fit right in! My daughter named the lighter blonde one Taylor and I named the more golden blonde one Oksana. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time! 

Heart For Hearts 14inch Doll Goodwill Find!!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

After church yesterday I stopped by Goodwill... You know me, if I am in neighborhood I totally have to stop in and check for dolls or doll sized items! 

Who did I find but Lauryce! She is a Heart For Hearts doll. They don't make these lovely little dolls anymore sadly... So the only source now are secondary market sources. On eBay they usually go for quite a bit because they aren't produced anymore... So... All these things made her quite the thrift store score because she was only $1.99!!

She had to have belonged to an adult collector because she has most of her original "Meet Outfit"! Even her shoes, which is very rare in a second hand doll at thrift store! 

I took these photos without cleaning her up at all but honestly, she's like brand new! Her little dress still had the stitch that held it down in the box still there and so she has never been removed from this outfit!

I love her story... She is from New Orleans post-Hurricane-Katrina. This is her story:

I borrowed it from the description on a website that used to sell her.... I really like her little story because my kin on my Daddy's side are all from Alabama and so I spent a goodly amount of my childhood in the South. Louisiana is right next to Alabama and so it's customs and traditions are very similar. So, makes me a bit nostalgic. I think I am going to keep her name as it is, Lauryce is a pretty name. 

Here she is with my other HeartForHearts dolls! I love the diversity that was the hallmark of the line... They all "came from" different parts of the world. 

And all here is of them with the Corolle doll I just found and cleaned up recently... They are nearly same size but the Corolle doll is a bit smaller. 

I took the photos above by just putting one of my tri-fold display boards in the front part of the "yoga studio" I had set up... So when I was done taking photos, I took out the display board and it looked so cute having the HeartForHearts dolls standing in front of the 18inch dolls that I had to take a photo!

Or two...!

Well that's it for now doll friends! It's Monday and time to get back to the weekday grind! Hope this finds you having a fantastic day!

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather 

My Friend Mandy and Jenny meet American Girl Doll

In keeping with my recent vintage toy theme, I am going to post about my dolls from when I was a kid. I was born in 1972 and so when I was the right age for dolls (well, aren't all ages the right age, but I digress) I was lucky to get My Friend Mandy and then soon afterwards, My Friend Jenny dolls. I loved them! I played with them constantly! My mom liked them as well as I did and so I had nearly every outfit they made for them back then. Naturally, being me, I kept them. Doll friends, meet Mandy and Jenny!

Actually, in this photos it would be meet Jenny and Mandy! Jenny has brown hair and Mandy has blonde. Above, I have them standing next to an American Girl Doll (named Panda) and a Heart For Heart doll for size comparison. 

I was kind of appalled at how dirty they were when I pulled them out of storage! I'd previously let my daughter and many other kids play with them and guess I never looked too closely at them. So I washed them up, laundered their clothes and combed out their hair. The dresses they are wearing in photos are the ones they originally came in, tights shoes and all! All in pretty amazing shape considering they are all over thirty years old! Sadly, despite having owned nearly every ensemble made for the My Friend Dolls by Fisher Price in the 1970s and early 1980s, I now only own these original dresses and the clothes my Granny made me from patterns found in the boxes to the pre-made ensembles. Somewhere along the lines in my 20s, I discovered I could "get $10/outfit on eBay!" And I sold them all. Regret!!! Oh well, I kept the important bits, the ones made by Granny and the dolls themselves. Speaking of, my Granny kept the patterns and sent them all to me in my 20s as well! I may have to pull them out and try and sew some new clothes for my old friends! There was also a red haired My Friend made at time named Becky and a boy doll named Mikey who I really wanted at the time but I didn't get them. 

Here are a couple of photos to show the difference in body types between the My Friend dolls and American Girl and then Heart for Hearts.

Sorry these are sideways, I thought I'd edited them to be upright but if I don't post them now, I might not make it back! Sure you busy people understand! Ha! So I may edit photos and come back and change but just in case, here they are.

And another photo from the 'Welcome Party' the dolls threw! Mandy and Jenny are going to be permanent residents now and so you'll see them more in the future. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time! 

City Pals 14 inch Dolls By Cititoy At Sam's Club; A Little Sister To My Life As Dolls!

Doll Friends!

American Girl Doll Brand releasing Wellie Wishers a couple of years ago opened up a whole new market in relation to the 18inch dolls. I guess the world was just 'ready' for the 18inch dolls to have 'little sisters' finally? Because the Wellie's were not the first 14inch dolls on the market, Hearts For Hearts dolls, for instance, came out quite a few years ago, retired and have since come back out. Melissa and Doug brand also had a 14 inch doll before the Wellies came out too I think... So, they were out there but for whatever reason it took the Wellie Wishers to catch the imaginations of the people who'd before only collected 18inch sized dolls. So, naturally other brands have come out with their versions of 14inch dolls and I love them all for different reasons. There are the Style Girls that I've found at both Big Lots and Tuesday Morning. Then there are the Glitter Girls, by Battat, who've now had a second run with brand new face sculpts. So I guess I should've figured that it was only a matter of time till Cititoy, the makers of My Life As Doll's, would get in on the 14inch doll game. I saw a post about the City Pal's on a Facebook Doll Group of course... I won't lie, I wasn't really interested in them much but I figured it was my duty as a Doll Blogger to go check them out. Apparently the photos I saw didn't do them justice though! Because when I saw them in person.....

I thought they were so cute!!! I forced myself to pick only one... But I couldn't choose! So I finally just did an eenie-meenie-miney-mo to choose between my top favorite three. But they are ALL so cute it's hard not to want one of each of them!

Here was one of my top three... I love her and her outfit and her dog!!

This little gal was cute too...

I loved this one's freckles!!

This one reminded me of my Katniss Heart For Hearts doll. 

This was one of my top three... I love her poodle and her freckles!

And the last of my top three... I am sorry for the horrible box glare... I couldn't seem to find an angle where it wasn't bad! 

So it was almost my duty as a Doll Blogger to purchase one so I could unbox her for a proper photo! Teehee. Right?

Here they all are from a photo on the back of the box. I think it's great how they have different cities that they come from... Sorry I cut off the name/city of the gal in the green striped tshirt. I'll have to take a better one later... 

Update 12/26/18: The girl in green stripes is called New York Neena.

So who won the eenie-meenie-miney-mo? 

Sophie from San Francisco!

I adore her little rain slicker which of course she needs because she's from a rainy city!

Here is her little dog.

Sad to say, when I unboxed her, I noticed she had this weird stain/stuff on her face... It's kind of see through but can you see how it runs from her lips down her face into her ear?? Like she was drinking water and it dribbled? I wiped it off with a damp cloth but it didn't come off... So then I was stuck wondering "Do I take her back and consign her, in all likelyhood, to the rubbish bin?" I decided to sleep on it. 

I went ahead and took some photos of her since I had her out of the box already anyway...

She really is so cute even with the weird stain...

I like her sweet face sculpt and, much like the My Life As Doll dolls, her hair is plugged but plentiful and her outfit is cute and pretty well made. Given she was only $18.99 and she comes with a pet, she's fabulous!

Here is the mark on the back of her neck...

I posed her in front of the mirror I have from My Life As and it's so funny how the reflection is just a bit warped and it makes her look a bit older. Or I thought so...

But then you move the camera angle and it's normal. Plastic mirrors are just like that I guess...

Here is what her top under her rain slicker looks like... Pretty cute and would match a lot of different skirts or pants. 

So sweet!

Ultimately, I decided to take her back and exchange her... I've kept 'damaged' dolls in the past but... What can I say? I wanted her to be perfect since she's brand new. Is that wrong? I'll just hope the other one gets donated to some child somewhere who won't mind her little face stain. 

So here is the one I exchanged her for. Of course I looked closely to make sure she was fine. 

I decided to take her to one of my favorite parks since I was in town anyway... Planning this before I left the house, I brought along a my Wellie Wisher Suzi...

Here they are together. 

Aaaaaaaaand I was weak!! I couldn't help myself!! She jumped into my cart when I wasn't looking! Heeheehee... I didn't plan it, obviously, or I would've brought along some different clothes for her to change into so she wouldn't have to have her photos at the park in her swimming costume!

But she whispered to me that she didn't mind, she was just so happy to be liberated from her box!

I also brought along my most recent Glitter Girl named Anne... I took quite a lot of photos of them all together at the park. I even made a YouTube Video of them there. Here are some of the photos I took:

I have to run... Or I'll be late to church!

Have a great Sunday Doll Friends!

XXOO

Heather