Throwback Thursday review: Meritus Girls on the Go

Greetings, my dear benchodes!  It's RagingMoon1987, back after another of my hiatuses.  Sometimes I go through spells like that, where I'm tired or lazy or bored with the blog, but I think I'm ready to get this next batch of posts out.  That said, Just Magic's database of eighteen-inch dolls is a good place to go for information, but it's also a dangerous place for a collector to go.  Past visits to this site have led to my purchases of Kat, of Rebecca, of Kristiana, of today's doll and of the next two dolls we'll see.  Girl on the Go is another of those brands that I knew very little about before visiting Just Magic.  So...meet my Girl on the Go, whom I've chosen to name "Madge."  She doesn't look a thing like Madge Undersee, who is described as blonde and blue-eyed, but that's where I got the name.

Just Magic states that these dolls are acceptable little alternatives to American Girl, with a few caveats.  I'll address those as I come to them but first, size.  Being an AG alternative means that Madge is roughly the same size as Jettivee (American Girl) and Amelia (Gotz).  The fact that all three are warmly dressed will give y'all an idea about how long I've procrastinated over this post.  It's WAY too hot for jackets and capes now.

Madge's build is bigger than the all-vinyl dolls, meaning that she likely won't be able to share clothes with Rebecca and Kat and Ana Ming.  She's got a body similar to Kristiana's, and an unsteady stance to match.  Being in stocking feet doesn't help.  Madge spent part of this review in her socks, for reasons that will be discussed below.

As always, hair comes first, and I know already to expect either a nightmare or something close to it.  Just Magic and Little Raven Creations both warn that these dolls have very low-quality hair, and indeed, Madge's eBay pictures showed a rat's nest (thank God for honest sellers).  This is how Madge's hair looked when she arrived last November.  She looks like she stuck her tongue in a toaster, as Chance put it in Homeward Bound.

What a shame!  I love brunette dolls, and this hair is a pretty color.  It's weird...I call this color mouse brown when I'm describing myself, but when it's on a doll I call it chestnut.

But then again, chestnut has more reddish tones in it, while Madge's hair has a lot of blonde, like I do.  I guess I'll bite the bullet and call this color mouse brown.  Just Magic insinuates that once the hair gets this far gone it's a lost cause, but I'm going to try to repair it anyway.  At least Madge has enuff hair that I can attempt it; remember what my My Way Kid's hair was like???

In that first picture Leah's wig looks thick, but in reality it was thin on top and quite dry.  I ended up having to rewig Leah, and it turned out for the best.

A new wig may be in Madge's future too, if I can't tame this mane.  There are some doll wigs that I flat-out CAN.  NOT.  TAME., but I have my hopes for Madge.  If not I'll have to cut this crap off, because Madge's hair is rooted.  The rooting is good along the hairline and the part, but meh on the rest of the head.

To give y'all an idea of what Madge's hair was like, here's the segment that was braided.  Yep, Madge has a braid in all that madness, and it's possible to see that the fibers are still soft and smooth.

The end of the braid is tipped with a tiny red bow.  I presume that Madge came with this, because bits of her original rubber band are still in place underneath the bow.  Broken, yes, but still in place.

This is crappy hair.  It was nice at one time, but it's not anymore.  Apparently this is par for the course with Meritus's Girls on the Go, as multiple parties have mentioned this line and the bad hair that came with it.  I've gotten the mayhem semi-controlled in the time that I've owned this doll, but it'll never be great hair.  And for all that...my mother says she likes Madge's hair.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, LOL.  I gotta admit that it does give her some character; she'd make an effective Hermione Grainger for Halloween.  More on that at eleven...

The face is where things get a little confusing, at least for my puny little mind.  It's really where the name of the doll line gets confusing, but faces factor in.  Little Raven Creation notes that Geoffrey and Tollytots also had dolls called Girls on the Go, but they were not the same as Meritus's dolls or each other, and the best way to tell the lines apart is by the dolls' faces.  Geoffrey Girls on the Go look a lot like Laura Ashley dolls (made by the same company), and also remind me a little of the Life of Faith dolls (a little bug-eyed, in other words).  Tollytots Girls on the Go were also called Tolly Girls, and they remind me a little of Journey Girls, Our Generation, and I'm a Girly.  As for Meritus, most of the dolls I've run into look a little like Kristiana and her Sew Able friends, though a few have painted teeth or closed smiles.  Madge has the open-mouthed head, with no teeth visible.  

For reference, here's how the face compares to Kristiana's.  The two have similar features but different coloring and different paint.  Kristiana also has some nice asymmetry that makes her look less mass-produced.

Madge's rounded eyes, softly smiling lips, and pointy chin make me think of the Marie-Grace mold.  Justine-Marie isn't the greatest example since her face has been made up, but one can see the basic shape of her face.  I think Madge's head is wider...and Justine-Marie's vinyl is yellower.

Eyes varied in color somewhat; according to Little Raven blue and dark brown were the most common eye colors, with green and light brown being more rare.  Because Meritus used the cheap kind the blue eyes looked unnaturally shiny, but as we've seen in the past brown eyes aren't immune to problems either.  Madge's eyes are dark like Julie's and Joss's, but not so dark that they look like soul-sucking holes.

Nope, not too bad!  There's a little of that cheap metallic look in there, but not a lot.  I'm not in love with the paint, though.  Madge has a dash of pink eyeshadow that thankfully is not too obvious, but her eyelashes and eyebrows are too light to match her sorry hair.  If I do rewig this doll she'll likely end up as a redhead because of those brows and lashes.  LOL, I'm as bad as Miss Emily when it comes to red-haired dolls!  Regarding the mouth, as usual I don't care for the color, but I love the shape.  

Little Raven notes that some of these dolls go overboard with the mouth paint, so I'll just take Madge's lip color and accept it.  That's right, Moon Girl, be glad that this paint isn't bubblegum like Kat's, or orange peel like Ana Ming's, OR lipstick like Kristiana's.  Madge has a cute little mouth and a cute little face, not snarky like Rebecca's or puckered like Kat's and Kristiana's.  Just sweet and innocent.

Regarding the body, Madge is built similarly to the American Girls, but not exactly the same.  As I noted above her build is slimmer than AG, similar to that of a Sew Able doll like Kristiana.

Madge looks like she has strung ball joints like the American Girls do...

...BUT SHE DOESN'T!!!  Her arms and legs only pivot, just like an Our Generation doll's limbs do.  The limbs move nicely, though.  Madge can get her arms up and keep them up...

...and she can turn her head...

...and she can sit and do front-to-back splits without much fuss.

Getting Madge to stand is a challenge for two unusual reasons.  One, she's not a very heavy doll.  Believe it or not, dolls like this need a little weight to anchor themselves in place.  Madge doesn't have a lot of stuffing in her torso, and her limbs are lightweight plastic, so it's easier for her to fall over (or blow over, as she did a couple'a times earlier in the review).  The second reason is that those hip joints have no side-to-side movement.  When a doll has hips that can go in any direction it's possible to monkey with her until she finally stands up, like I do with my American Girls.  Even Kailey and Lindsey (my two uber-loose girls) can stand if I play with them enuff.  Madge is best left propped up when in a standing position.

To top it all off, since Madge is understuffed she has terrible posture.  Few of my soft-bodied dolls have perfect posture, but Madge takes the cake.

Maybe I should've thrown her in the Boston brace instead of Amanda.  I doubt that would work though, since Madge's neck is the part that's understuffed.  No biggie, I can always clip her cable tie and stuff her a bit.  Fortunately for dolls like this a feat like adding or removing stuffing is easy.

Alrighty, so Madge isn't the most poseable doll on the planet.  Good thing her clothes look comfy!

Admittedly this is not an outfit I would've chosen, but it suits Madge.  Most of these Girls on the Go came in girly little ensembles that one could envision children wearing, but a few of them came in this Safe Sitter ensemble and had a smaller baby doll in tow.  Kinda neat!  Here's a closer look at the shirt, a simple navy blue T-shirt with the Safe Sitter logo on it.

Here's a better look at the logo; like most dolly logos, it's printed.

A perusal of eBay uncovered a backpack and a badge with the Safe Sitter logo, but again I have no idea where these items came from.  BellasDivas customizes T-shirts, as do several other Etsy sellers, but that still doesn't explain the badge (it's made of plastic and couldn't be printed like a T-shirt could).  So if any of y'all have the haziest idea where this shirt came from, let me know.  It's a nice shirt, regardless of where it came from, being made of navy blue jersey fabric.  The hems are small, but not so small that they turn inside out.

The sleeves are short, which was of minor importance when I purchased this doll in November.  They too are hemmed, with no embellishments of any sort.

The back closes with the usual Velcro.

The inside does have a tag, which has the famous phrase on it.

The pants are off-white and as a result have gotten fairly groady over the years, but spin in THE PICKLE JAR OF DESPAIR will set them right.  They also could do with a belt, as they're a bit big around the waist.

Unfortunately this is a kind of material that tends to look raggy along the seams, so there are loose ends hanging out of the cuffs, even though the cuffs are well-hemmed.  These can be trimmed away, but they make the pants look unkempt.

The right outer seam is decorated with a navy blue/white striped ribbon, and on the hip is a functioning cargo pocket.  Madge could carry some small items in there if she so chooses.  Thus why I love cargo pants in this size!

Outwardly the socks look like your typical white bobby socks, but the cuffs appear to be fleeced like sherpa socks.  These are large and have weird seams, and as a result they don't fit Madge very well.   They're nice and thick though, a bit heavy for July, but perfect for the cold weather that will eventually come.

Lastly, these shoes.  These are solid plastic with painted and molded details.  The laces are just for show; they tie, but they don't hold the shoes on.  I nearly broke all the fingernails on my right hand trying to get these off Madge's feet.

I'm just going to show a brief glimpse of the shoes, because Madge is NEVER wearing them again!!!  I mean never; I pitched them when I couldn't get them back on her feet. 

In a couple of the initial pictures I photographed Madge in her cape.  Money was tight last November, so rather than buy a whole new winter outfit or leave Madge bare-armed, I found something that covered her up a bit and accentuated her goofy hair.

I had a cape sort of like this once, and I may still have it if moths haven't gotten to it.  It was a cashmere blende with a fur-trimmed hood and was thus pretty dressy, so I only wore it to church in the wintertime. Anyway, since I bestowed a Scottish surname on Madge it made sense to get her something plaid to wear, even though this plaid is NOT Clan MacQuarrie's tartan.  Far from it (the MacQuarrie tartan is red), but it still looks nice on Madge while also covering her arms.  The material feels like it might've been cut from a lightweight blanket.

The cape toggles closed at the neck, and the neck is trimmed with white fake fur.  The toggle is fiddly to work with, but I love the fur trim.

The cape is an Etsy number, from the wonderful Bellaboo's Closet on Etsy.  I love clothes from Bellaboo's.

Regarding other clothes, since Madge is slimmer than the American Girls I'm predicting that their clothes will be loose on her.  First, Jettivee's spring ensemble, an old meet outfit called Go Anywhere.

Nuts, I left one of the boots at home!  This outfit as a whole is big on Madge, though it's not so big that the skirt is falling down.  I hate it when that happens.  I don't think this set flatters Madge's coloration as much as it does Jettivee's, though that's just my opinion.  

Now an ily 4EVER outfit.

I can't write home about the quality of these ily 4EVER outfits, but Madge looks alright.  The skirt is a little tight around her waist, but the outfit as a whole looks good and fits fine.  I'm calling ily 4EVER clothes a safe fit based solely on that getup.

Ultimately, the outfit that Madge will spend the summer in is this one.  It's sized for American Girls and came from lotsogoodies on Etsy.

The rompers has zebras on it.  If you remember my Sparkle Girls review then you remember how much I like unconventional animals on doll clothes (and people clothes).  Some of the zebras have rainbow stripes, just like the one on Fruit Stripe gum packs.  

For the record, I love Fruit Stripe gum.  Anyway, since Madge is slimmer than the American Girls this is roomy on her.  Nice and comfortable for summer, in other words.  Already it's been a hot one, though the nights have thankfully stayed mild for the most part.  For the most part

I think that's about all I have to say.

BAD
*Hair is not good.  It was likely good at one time, but it has aged poorly.

*Face paint is pretty simplistic and looks like...well, like the paint that it is.

*She has a teeny-weeny bit of eyeshine.  Not a lot, but some.

*Posing isn't great, and Madge can't stand up well.

*Those shoes were horrible!  And in the landfill they are, as far as I know.

GOOD
*My particular doll has a cute face.  Not all of these dolls do.
*Eyes don't look dead.  Brown doll eyes can run that risk.
*Paint looks cheap, but is all there with no streaks or chips.  Her lips are a nice color.
*Clothing isn't the most stylish, but with the exception of those shoes it's of good quality.  Plus, I wouldn't mind having a pair of those cargo pants in my size!
*Can wear and share clothes with other eighteen-inch dolls.  This thankfully includes shoes.
*As y'all saw on July 4th, she fits in well with other dolls her size.

I've seen Girls on the Go that still had nice hair, and when it WAS nice it was very attractive stuff.  That makes Madge's out-of-control mane that much more unfortunate.  But to be honest, even if I overlook Madge's hair she's just...okay.  Not a bad doll, but definitely not great either, and certainly not American Girl-caliber.  If you fancy a rewigging project then this little gal could be the one for you, but for an AG alternative I'd recommend sticking to the Gotz dolls and the Sew Able squad, or to the My Life As bunch, which are equally stiff but have nice hair and a big wardrobe.  Meritus's Girls on the Go can offer some new faces to an eighteen-inch doll collection, but that's about all.  Sorry, Madge!

Stay hydrated,
RagingMoon1987