Throwback Thursday review: Lesney Ginny

Second Ginny doll now.  I originally intended for the two posts to be back to back, but then...well, then Morrada and Priscilla happened.  When I got my first Ginny doll (Aminta) I initially thought she was too perfect to disrobe and redress.  That was problematic because I'd just bought that cute little yellow dress...y'know, the same one that Aminta ended up wearing for most of the summer anyway.  Yeah, so much for not redressing her.  As y'all will see in the coming weeks I tend to go back on my word quite often, at least when it comes to the doll hobby.  Anyway, when I bought that dress I wanted a little fixer-upper doll to wear it, and that's how this second Ginny found a home.  That, and I like her face.

Lesney took the helm for Ginny during the 1970's and gave Ginny a face lift, making her slimmer and taller, and shrinking the size of her head.  They also increased the racial diversity a bit, coming in both black and white varieties, and probably other races too!  My knowledge on Ginny is pretty lacking, but I do know that a black version was created, and boy, is she cute!  Anywho, here's how Aminta (Vogue) and Ginny compare visually with their clothes in situ.

Like Aminta, Ginny is about the same height as Penny Brite, being just a smidge shorter.

I hope that means Penny and Ginny can share clothes (hey, their names rhyme!), but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  Just for the heck of it, here's how Ginny compares to some of my other small dolls.  She's taller than Kohaku, Cherry Merry Muffin, and Lime Chiffon, but shorter than Rosa Lee and Licca-chan.

 Now, hair.  I didn't get to do as much with this hair as I'd have liked.  Like Aminta, Ginny has sleep eyes, and depending on the mechanism involved, sleep eyes can rust when they get wet.  I didn't want that to happen to Ginny, so instead of a night in THE PLASTIC BAG OF DOOM she got a hair-washing with Dawn and a cheap wash-out conditioner.  The result?  Ginny's hair is clean and smells nice, but it also looks like she spent the afternoon playing quidditch with Meygana Broomstix.  It was once nice hair, but this little gal has seen some hard time as a plaything.

Unlike Aminta and Bozena, Ginny has a full head of hair.  The roots are spaced fairly widely and have big plugs of hair.

Peeps, that's a lot of hair, especially for a little doll like this, and unfortunately copious hair and rough play do not usually mix well.  Due to the amount of hair and the rough shape that it's in I just tie it back, and even that doesn't look great.

I've heard that a steam iron on a very, VERY low setting can help hair like this, so I may give that a whirl in the future, and if all else fails I can cut the crap and get her a wig.  But for now I'm just going to suck it up and move on to the face.  These Lesney dolls are very different from the Vogue dolls in the face.

Hmm...looks like I was a little TOO careful around those eyes, as there's still some grit in there.  Time to bust out the cotton swabs, I guess; Aminta needs an eye cleaning too so I'll just do a two-for-one.  I definitely prefer the Lesney face to the Vogue face, though.  Also (fortunately), Ginny doesn't have the eye difficulties that Aminta has, with rogue paint or mold or whatever covering one iris.  Like Aminta, Ginny's eyes are blue sleep eyes with molded and painted lashes, and unique, arrow-shaped eyebrows.

I've never seen doll eyebrows like these, and I love that unusual shape!  They're a little too dark to match Ginny's hair, but they're close enough.  Ginny's eyes aren't clouded over to the extent that Aminta's are, but they do occasionally like to stick in the sockets, which isn't a huge problem.  If one of Ginny's eyes freezes up I just shake her gently and the stubborn eye works again.  The lower part of Ginny's face is less pinched and cherub-like than Aminta's, though her lips still pout and her chin still has a deep dimple.  I like the overall shape better though, and I like the shade of Ginny's lips.  They're a soft brick red shade.

Not bad at all!  I think I'd like Ginny dolls better if their faces all looked more like this.  Oh sure, I like Aminta, but I've just never cared for Vogue Ginny faces.  Ginny's older friend Jan had a much better face.  These Lesney dolls aren't half-bad, though; my girl's face isn't as pinched and cherublike as Aminta's is, and the mouth has a hint of a smile, something that could have greatly helped Aminta.

Now to the body.  Ginny has a little girl's body, but it's not toddler-shaped like Aminta's is.  Ginny has a cute little rounded belly like Aminta does, but her overall shape is longer and leaner than Aminta's.

It's also made from different materials.  Aminta is all-vinyl, while Ginny is made of vinyl and hard plastic.  Her arms and torso are the hard plastic bits, while her head and legs are vinyl.  Furthermore, the head and legs are made of different types of vinyl; the head is matte and stiff, while the legs are shiny and a little on the squishy side.  The hard plastic appears to have taken to the mold better than the softer vinyl did, as Ginny's hands are very graceful, much more so than Aminta's.

They're also molded in slightly different positions; the left hand points out a bit, and the right one curves inwards.

Ginny's legs are a little unusual.  She has delightfully shaped knees, complete with what appear to be little kneecaps...

...but her feet look more like flippers than feet.

Ginny can move in all the ways that Bozena and Aminta can, and she can even sit more gracefully.

In addition, she also has these to be seen.

Yep, clicky knees!  They don't have a tremendous range of motion, but it's a delight to see jointed knees at all, especially on a Ginny doll.  Vogue also gave Ginny knee joints, but they were external and I don't know how well they worked in the long run.  I've seen dolls from that era with cracked and broken knees, but I've also seen them with intact and fully functional knees, so buying a Ginny with jointed knees may be in the cards one day...

I have my doubts that my two Ginny dolls can share clothes, but let's look at this dress anyway.  It's part of a Lesney set that came with shoes and a hat.

Apparently this was originally some sort of light tan or yellow shade, but my dress is now a grayish-green shade.  I gave this outfit a wash in THE PICKLE JAR OF DESPAIR, so I can only guess that the color has faded over time.  It's still a decent little garment, though; the collar and the cuffs of the sleeves are made out of this nice brown velour that's very soft to the touch.  Sometimes velour can feel stiff, but not this!

Matching the velour trim are four brown buttons.  These are just your small plastic buttons that shine a little when the light hits them just so.

I originally thought that a fifth button went here...

...but having consulted online images it's clear that there was never a button here.  This outfit closes with snaps (the buttons are just for show), and the threads that hold this center snap are very conspicuous so another button or a belt would've been nice here.

The interior of this dress is so-so.  It's tagged inside the right edge, with a tag that reads the ever-popular MADE IN HONG KONG.

It's possible in the above picture to see some of the loose ends hanging out, but here's a better picture.

The hem of the skirt is nicely serged, though, so no loose ends hang out there.

To my great surprise, some of the more stubborn stains didn't come off during the dress's stay in THE PICKLE JAR OF DESPAIR.  See 'em?  Good thing Carbona Stain Devils are still being made!

And...that's all Ginny came with!  No socks or shoes or panties or anything, just that dress.

Now...Ginny is...well, she's between Aminta and Penny in size, so the forthcoming round of Dolly Dress Shuffle may be interesting.  Here's what they look like in terms of body size.

Ginny has long, slim limbs like Penny and big feet like Aminta, and her hands are larger than those of either Penny OR Aminta.  So maybe she can get into Aminta's sleeves and maybe she can't.

To my surprise Ginny is able to wear all of it, though it's a little baggy in places.  The socks are particularly baggy...

...and the shoes are too big with or without socks.

I already know for a fact that the yellow Vogue dress is too big in the bodice, but for the sake of completion I'm including it anyway.  The top snap is missing from this dress, so I might be able to improve the fit on this by adding a new snap.

Equally surprising is the knitted Blythe dress, which I often put Penny Brite in.  This fits Ginny like it was made for her, armholes and all.

Kohaku's Licca-chan dress also fits, though I had some trouble fitting those sleeves over Ginny's splayed fingers.  The waist is a little low and the bodice is roomy, but it works.

Lastly, the yellow Blythe dress from Etsy fits.  Licca-chan and Mami normally share this around.

None of Licca's shoes fit, by the way; Ginny's feet are too big for that.  That leaves a decent amount of stuff that Ginny can wear though, so I'm pleased.

Time to sum it up now!

BAD
*Hair is pitiful, though it's not the doll's fault
*One eye likes to stick, though again I think that's age related
*Can't share clothes reliably with the more traditional Ginny dolls, and none of my shoes fit her either

GOOD
*Eyes are in better condition than Aminta's
*Hair is rooted better than either Aminta's OR Bozena's
*Body is nicely constructed and has bendable knees
*I much prefer this doll's face to Aminta's, though that's strictly my opinion.
*Can share some clothes with Licca-chan and possibly Blythe

After the seventies were over Vogue reverted back to the toddler-sized Ginny dolls, thus why my yellow Vogue dress fits Aminta but not the Lesney doll.  Thus while my Lesney Ginny is not what hardcore Ginny collectors expect, she's still an important part of the doll's rather lengthy history.  In fact, those who might be put off by the original Ginny's overly cherublike face will likely prefer these Lesney dolls.  As for my own doll, Ginny is a decent little plaything...but that hair.  It'll take more than the shampoo I've given it to make it look halfway decent again.  Indeed, I'm not sure if I want to try and cut the stuff, or if I want to pull it out completely and get Ginny a wig, OR if I want to take a big risk and try to iron the hair flat.  That will be a huge risk if I do do that, since this hair is the type that can and will melt if heated too much.  The hair isn't Vogue's fault though; indeed, I've got Barbie dolls that look no better, and that's because they saw hard time as a plaything, not because they were poorly made.  In short, I like this Ginny better than the more traditional Ginny dolls, enough so that I'd recommend her to anyone who likes child dolls.  Just beware of rat's nests.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987