Throwback Thrusday review: Gotz Precious Day Julia

It's been many years since beastsbelle was actively blogging, but thank goodness, she left her posts up.  Among her large family of eighteen-inch dolls were several American Girls, one or two Madame Alexander dolls, and three Gotz Little Sisters.  Tess, Hailey, and Ella Prescott were a tightly-knit family, and many of the story arcs revolved around the ups and downs of their lives.  I liked the stories, but I also loved the solemn-faced little dolls themselves, who are capable of looking happy or sad depending on the angle of the camera.  It took me awhile, but early last summer I finally decided to get one of these Little Sisters for myself...

...except that she's not a Little Sister.  She actually turned out to be a Precious Day doll, also by Gotz, but there's not a lot of difference between the Little Sisters and the early Precious Day dolls.  Little Sisters are wigged and Precious Day dolls are not, and as far as I know that's the extent of the differences.  According to a Worthpoint listing I found, the red-haired Precious Day doll is named Julia (her Little Sister equivalent is named Katie).  She dates from...2003, was it?  Not too long after that Precious Day got an overhaul and looked more like the Madame Alexander dolls that Wal-Mart carried.  Now Precious Day dolls have full cheeks and look a little bit like my Kennedy and Friends doll, Reagan.  A little, mind y'all; Reagan has a more expressive face than the Precious Day girls do.  How do I know this?  Because I also have a later Precious Day doll.  She has red hair and gray eyes and is probably another incarnation of Julia, but in honor of another certain redhead I've chosen to name her "Amelia" instead.  Keep her away from Weeping Angels.

Forgive the Halloween dress; it's currently all Amelia has.  I need to fix that.  Anyway, Amelia and Julia made their debut last summer, when the weather was hotter than hell, Mama was sick, and I was deeply unhappy, but as is often the case I'm only now getting around to reviewing them, largely because the weather was hotter than hell, and because Mama was sick, and because I was depressed.  Hmmm...Amelia doesn't look as much like Reagan as I initially thought.  They can still be friends, though.

Interestingly, Precious Day dolls are listed as being older girls, "nearly teens," as the website puts it, but Amelia doesn't look any more like a teen than I do.  Also interesting, the website mentions Julia, along with her friends Elisabeth (brunette) and Jessica (blonde), but she's not pictured anywhere.  Anywho, as I heavily insinuated above Julia is the same size as an American Girl.  Since she has a similar name to Julie Albright, Julie will be standing in for size reference...or will she???  More on that later.  To my surprise, Julia is a smidge taller.  Please ignore my late grandmother's beat-up carpet; it's seen a lot of feet over the years.

So when you're near me, darling can't you hear me, S.O.S.!

LOL, when you have a blonde and a redhead together, always make an ABBA reference.  A similar name and a similar body build are about all Julie and Julia have in common, though.  Julie has blonde hair, brown eyes, and the usual American Girl smile with visible teeth, while Julia has...well, for starters, she has red hair.  Long red hair with a slight wave, to be exact. 

She has nice feathered bangs up front that like to do their own thing, though I can get them to do my thing if I wet them down a little.

I added in the little side braid myself, because I used to do that with my own hair.

Julia has plenty of hair, but she unfortunately also has a gappy hairline...and a dusty ear.  

The rest of her scalp also has widely spaced plugs, rendering pigtails out of the question.

Okay, take that back.  Julia can wear pigtails if I throw a hat on her.  Then her dirty little secret will be hidden, kinda like it is with Z.  Amelia also has rooted hair, but her hair is designed to be worn in pigtails, so she has a tight part in back, kinda like Our Generation Sadie does.  Indeed, this hair reminds me a little of the issue Hank Hill took when Luanne started wearing her hair in braids.  Yes, I like King of the Hill...and that was the creepiest episode ever!!!  Here's a closeup of Amelia's part.

Amelia also has a tight hairline, much tighter than Julia's...

...but underneath, the rooting is the same as Julia's.  The only difference is that Amelia has an orange scalp.  I always think a colored scalp looks weird, but it's better than a pale head shining through.

Now...remember when I said that I liked Julia's feathered bangs?  Amelia's bangs are so thick that they can practically hold a spoon up, kinda like Happy Kidz Clara's bangs.

Don't believe me?  Here they are from another angle, and compared to Julia's.

Not bad bangs by any means, and they don't sag in Amelia's eyes like Priscilla's bangs used to, but they could've been a bit thinner.  Anyway, neither of these dolls wear a wig, which is surprising since I don't own too many dolls this size like that...or I didn't.  Y'all will see more with rooted hair in the weeks to come.  Regarding color, Amelia's hair is the more vibrant shade by a smidge, but Julia's hair is much softer to the touch.  Amelia's tresses have a synthetic coarse feel that I don't like.

As an aside, I had Amelia and Anna piled together last fall in preparation for other projects, and I noticed that they have different shades of red hair.

Anna's is a little brighter, but she and Amelia both have perky pigtails.  The different shades reminded me a little of the leaves that were on the trees last fall.  Last fall...yes, as rotten as last year was, it was a beautiful fall, as the trees by the high school show.  It was Halloween when I took this picture.

Granted, those trees don't look like my dolls' hair, but there were trees in the immediate area that did.  Now...NOW we can look at this face...er, these faces.  A great number of sources say that these dolls look a little like the Mona Lisa, and I have to say that's a fitting description.  Indeed, sources do call this head the "Mona Lisa" head.

Despite the slight smile, Julia's expression is sedate and pretty neutral, neutral enuff that one could project many emotions onto her.  Kinda like Sasha, in other words.  Also kinda like Kiara, my Bitty Baby.

Julia has single-stroke eyebrows and unusual eyes.  I think they're supposed to be gray, which pleases me since I don't have many dolls this size with gray eyes, but these eyes have an ever-so-slight greenish cast to them.  The eBay seller even called these eyes "gray-green."  They strongly resemble the pinwheel-style eyes of American Girls.

Let's see how they compare to Molly's eyes.  Molly still has one good eye, after all, and her eyes are gray like Julia's supposedly are.

Hmmm...Molly's healthy eye is hard to see behind her specs, but I think y'all can see the color well enuff.  Gotz goes back a long way and has ties to American Girl, so the similarities between these eyes are not surprising.  Therefore, it should probably be no surprise that these eyes close on reclining.  Julia does NOT have painted eyelashes.

Julia has full cheeks with a little blush, a broad, flat nose, and the aforementioned mouth.  Up close the mold appears to be smiling a tiny bit, but the expression is mostly neutral.

There's the teensiest bit of asymmetry in that mouth, just as we all have a little asymmetry ourselves (or a lot, in my case).  The asymmetry is in the mold itself, and what little paint there is follows the contours nicely.  The lip paint is pink, but it has soft, hazy edges that make these lips look like...well, like lips!  The shade is also more translucent than other doll lips...like Kat's COULD have been!!!  Overall I like Julia's face.  She doesn't look like she's plotting something like Kat does, although Kat IS named Kat for a reason.  We all know that cats, for all their beauty, grace, and cuteness, are secretly plotting to kill us.  Maybe Kat with a K is too.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."

Yucko, it's wet outside!  It rained all day and all night yesterday, and we're supposed to get more next week.  Now where was I?  Oh yeah...Amelia has what is termed the "Starshine" head.  While Amelia herself is a relatively young doll, and the Starshine head has a youthful appearance, that particular head mold has been around longer than I have (keep in mind that I'm thirty-five).  My particular doll has very wonky eyes, and her eyewells appear to be uneven as well.  I think that asymmetry may just be the way the mold is, just like Julia's head is.

This head reminds me of some of the older playline Madame Alexander dolls, particularly the thick-lipped My Life As and Friends Boutique dolls.  I don't own Alissa anymore, but here's a reminder of what she looked like.  She was a Alexander-era My Life As.

Typical of some siblings, Julia and Amelia don't look much alike.

However, also typical of siblings, they do have similar features.  The red hair is one thing, the simplistic eyebrows are another, and the unique eye color is another.  Amelia's irises have more detail in them, but the color is the same, further suggesting to me that these are both Julia dolls.

Hmmm...now that I think of it, there's a difference in texture in there rather than a difference in detail.  Amelia's eyes have saw blades, for lack of a better term.  Some Our Generation dolls have eyes like that (and some don't).  Since we're here on eyes, now is a good time to note that some of these dolls can develop a form of silver eye.  I don't know if this is an issue with these Precious Day dolls, but beastsbelle notes that the Little Sister dolls can develop cloudy pupils with time.  This is problematic, because unlike American Girls there's no hospital that I know of that can fix this.  Both Julia and Amelia are fine, and indeed I don't know if Precious Day dolls can develop these cloudy pupils, but beware just the same.

The mouths, now...the mouths (and indeed the whole jaw area) are where these two girls differ.  Amelia has a wider jaw and wider cheeks than Julia does, and her mouth is brighter...and happier.

There's enuff subtlety there to project a few different emotions onto Amelia (I caught her looking tired last summer, for example), but for the most part she looks content and satisfied.  I like her lip color, by the way, though not as much as Julia's.  Her mouth is a bit bright, but it at least looks like a mouth and not a blob of pink paint...or worse, like she's short on oxygen (early Our Generation dolls have that issue).  Overall I prefer Julia's unique visage to Amelia's, but they've both got pretty nice faces.  Poor Amelia does have wonky eyes, so beware of that in these dolls.

I'm just going to skim these bodies, because A, Julia and Amelia have the same body, and B, the body is all but the same as an American Girl body.  Again, here's how Julia compares to...wait a minute, that ain't Julie!

The light bulb in my doll room burned out, so when I reached in to grab Julie for this second round of pictures I came up with Gabby, and since I was on my way to work I didn't have time for a second grab.  Oh well, Gabby and Julia are constructed the same.

beastsbelle thinks that the Gotz dolls have bigger noggins than American Girl dolls, but Gabby has such big hair that I have a hard time telling.  For the most part this crew has the same measurements.  Hands are the same...

...as are feet.

The only thing Gabby doesn't have is the neck strings, and to be quite frank I can't remember if Julie has them either.  Julia does have them, tied in a nice little bow.

Amelia does not.  She has a well-concealed cable tie, like Z Yang and the My Twinns do.

Like many dolls and all humans, Julia and Amelia are of a slightly different shade.  Julia is pale and looks a little yellow in pictures, while Amelia's vinyl is pink.

'Bout par for the course for dolls of this size.  Since Julia and Amelia are so similar to the American Girls it should be no surprise that they move like the American Girls.  Julia is looser than Amelia, and both the Gotz dolls are looser than Gabby and tighter than Julie.  Indeed, when Julie and Julia were dancing to "S.O.S." earlier I almost didn't get Julie stood up.  She's been around the block a few times, kiddies!

Let's visit the clothing department now.  Amelia doesn't have her original outfit, but Julia does.  It's a deceptively simple little outfit, but it's gotten a few compliments on Failbook so I won't complain.

Break it up, as always.  The main part of the outfit is this raspberry-colored jumper dress.  Ah, I had one like this once, but it was dark purple...and corduroy.  

My jumper did have a kangaroo pocket, though it didn't zip up...or look like a fish's mouth.  But seriously, this pocket opens up and could carry some small items if need be.  The stitchwork around it looks sloppy in places, but so far it's holding fast.

In a similar manner, the hems are sturdy...

...but they're not the prettiest things on the inside.  They don't look as bad as the seams holding the pocket on, though.

Julia's dress is partially lined, with the lining covering her back, shoulders, and chest.  The skirt region is not lined.

Interestingly, the dress is tagged "Little Sisters."  Hmmm...I've read that Little Sisters were always wigged, so maybe Julia got thrown in some leftover stock?  Or maybe I'm wrong and she is a Little Sister?  Sheesh, I don't know.  Here's the tag, though, plus a few cat hairs.  Velour always attracts cat hair.

Underneath Julia wears a striped turtleneck shirt that could go nicely with jeans or a skirt.  I didn't think to photograph the interior of this, but it's held together securely and...does not have a tag!  

I also forgot to mention that both the shirt and the jumper close with Velcro.  Since Julia's body doesn't snag that's not a huge issue.  Now these socks might snag, so I recommend taking them off before removing the dress.  These are ordinary white bobby socks with pink trim.  They're a little groady with age, but y'all can't see that.

Pink...I guess these are mary-janes...either way these pink shoes complete the look.  I know I've got at least one reader who likes pink shoes.  Like Kat who came before her, Julia's shoes are the weakest part of the outfit, as they feel a little fragile.

However, these shoes are WAY better than Kat's.  There's no glue to be seen, unless it was used on these soles, and if glue was indeed used it's holding up a lot better.  The soles are flat, meaning that Julia would break her neck in exceedingly icy or wet weather.

It's probably obvious by now that Gotz dolls and American Girls can share clothes, despite the fact that these dolls are a hair taller than the AG squad.  The dress that Amelia wore is meant for American Girls, and it (obviously) fits Amelia like it was made for her.  The My Life As outfit that Reagan was wearing also fits Amelia, albeit a little tightly.

I'm willing to bet that not all My Life As pieces will fit the Gotz dolls, but it can't hurt to try 'em.  American Girl clothes and shoes are safe for the most part.  I didn't get a chance to try Our Generation clothes, since all of Sadie's stuff is buried in storage.  So I guess that concludes the auction!

BAD
*Older versions of these dolls can develop cloudy pupils, but I don't know if that's a problem with Precious Day dolls.  Best to keep on the lookout.  If you can't tell from the eBay pictures, ask for clearer pictures.
*Hair is pretty good, but the rooting isn't great.  Julia can't wear a part...not without a hat, anyway.
*I predict that with time these dolls will grow floppy like Julie and Rita Cheryl have.  That's fixable, but I thought I'd note it anyway.
*The older Precious Day dolls are out of production, so if you like the Mona Lisa-style face you'll have to hop on eBay to get it.

GOOD
*On the other hand, the current Precious Day dolls all have the Starshine head, so if you preferred Amelia over Julia you can get one of those right from Gotz.
*Unlike Kat, Rebecca, and Ana Ming, these dolls are soft and huggable.  I happen to like hugs, so I like this.
*These dolls don't look like they're wearing makeup, like Kat and Ana Ming do, and like next week's doll will.
*Can share clothes with American Girls and some My Life As ensembles. 

I can't think of much negative to say about Julia, though I think her face may have biased me some.  Unlike Sasha Morganthaler I like dolls with big smiles, but I also like dolls that look sedate like Julia and like Sasha Angela Marguerite do.  These two can't share clothes, but they do have similar expressions.  Amelia is also a cute doll, but I don't relate as well with her face, and her hair isn't as soft as Julia's.  Those are piddling little complaints, but they're enuff for me to favor Julia over Amelia.  Other collectors might prefer Amelia's face.  That bit's strictly a matter of opinion.  Overall these dolls make good friends for the American Girls, and also good alternatives if one prefers their faces, though I think pricing is about the same.  They can wear a wide range of clothes, and they are...well, I'll say average-good at posing.  Keep in mind that "Amelia" is a pet name; I'm fairly certain that she too is a Julia doll, just a more recent model than the doll I call "Julia."

Blessings,
RagingMoon1987