Throwback Thursday review: Eva in an Apple and Cacio in a Pear

Beware, Tam.  For I am about to rip your blog off again...sort of.  I think it was...yeah, it was June when Tam shared a drop-dead gorgeous little Furga doll, and other little Furga dolls have popped into her blog over the year (first post was HERE, and others followed).  As for me, I've been a casual Furga fan for a long time, ever since I saw another lady's doll in a magazine.  The little doll in question was flaxen-haired and had a slightly cross expression that drew ire from the owner's grandchildren, but the owner herself liked the doll.  Big surprise, so did I!  My doll isn't as cranky as the doll in the magazine, but she IS a Furga doll.  Specifically, she's Eva in an Apple.  She's kinda hard to see when she's in the apple.

I also purchased a friend for Eva who resides in a pear.  I don't think this pet has a name, as her label translates to "Baby in a Pear."

Don't let me eat pears.  I.  HATE.  PEARS.  LOL, as is often the case, researching these dolls proved to be a learning experience.  Furga is an old company, waaaaaaay older than I thought it would be.  I'm semi-familiar with the Alta Moda dolls that were available in the sixties; these pets were sometimes called "S-dolls" because their names all began with the letter "S."  But it turns out that Furga goes back a lot further than that, back to 1872.  They did the bisque thing for awhile, and as times and dolls changed they shifted to plastic and vinyl.  There were also some cloth and compo dolls along the way.  The lovely, hard-to-find Alta Moda dolls are probably the most well-known Furga dolls, but they are by no means the only ones.  Far from it; the bisque dolls are the oldest, Eva and her pear friend are two of the smallest, and two-foot Teresa is the biggest one that I know of.  Some of the dolls are adults and some are babies, and there's plenty of children of varying ages mixed in as well.

Now...some of y'all may remember my reviews of Cherry Fizz, Kleo Kola, and Betsy Bubblegum, millions of years ago.  All three dolls are small dolls who ride around in plastic bottles.  For some reason I love it when dolls are packaged like this, inside bottles or peanuts or what have you, so when I saw these two riding in their fruits I knew they were the perfect Furga dolls for me.  Before I pop them open I want to get a closer look at the apple.  It's made of clear plastic, just like just like the bottles that Kleo, Cherry, and Betsy live in.

The apple has a few dings and marks on it, as clear plastic items will get as they age, but it's not cracking or breaking.  On the front of the apple is this sticker, which I can't read.

Despite Uncle Man-Child's wishes, I've never learned to speak a lick of Italian, and thus I can't read much of it either.  My high school Spanish teacher knows Italian, but I don't know where she is so that's that.  Anyway, topping the apple are a plastic stem and two felt leaves, and on them are words "Furga" and "Eva nella mela."  

Does "mela" mean "apple" in Italian?  <pauses to insult Google>  Yes it does!  Hmmm...my Spanish teacher said she picked up Italian easily because it was similar to Spanish, but there's a big difference between "mela" and "manzana."  Regardless, I love the care that Furga took to make this apple a nice place for Eva to stay.  Sometimes cutesy packaging like this ends up getting pitched, but it's clear that that wasn't the intention here.  

Before I move on to the pear, Eva was sitting on a paper leaflet that shows some of the items that Furga had available at the time.  The first three panels show Cacio con la pera (the baby in the pear), a jeans outfit, and...that says "primavera" so I think it's a spring dress.  I wonder if these little outfits were meant for Eva or for the bigger dolls?

Then there's two more little outfits (a folk getup and what looks like a bridal getup), plus...Pablo nell'ananas...Pablo in a pineapple!  How adorable!  From the looks of it Pablo appears to be the same size as the baby in the pear.

The back flap shows Eva and two more little outfits with titles that I can't read (I think the first one is a raincoat).

The last panels show a Scottish-themed ensemble, a long stretch of words about "Minifurga," and yet another doll in a pineapple.  Online photos suggest that Pablita is Eva's size.

I haven't yet been able to find either Pablo or Pablita (indeed, Pablo appears to be tricky to find), but I do have the baby in the pear.  The pear doesn't have any stickers on it, but it's in better shape than the apple.

Like the apple, the pear has a plastic stem and two felt leaves with the company name and the baby's name.

Both fruits open horizontally, and it only takes a gentle tug to get the halves apart.  No cutting board or huge-a$$ knives required.  Here's Eva.

And here's the baby.  According to the leaflet this pet's name is simply "Cacio," but all the sources I've found say that translates as "cheese" in Italian.  So I've been calling her "Gia" instead.  Gia sleeps a lot, as babies will.

I found some other pictures of Eva online, and she apparently came in several variations.  There were blondes and redheads as well as brunettes, the little dresses varied in color, and so did the head molds.  My Eva is smiling broadly, but some of the others look surprised or innocent.  I didn't find as many images of smilers, so I think maaaaaaybe they might be harder to find?  I dunno.  The baby also had some variations in hair color and in clothing, though all the ones I saw online had the same face.  Both dolls are small, with Eva measuring xxxx in height and Gia measuring xxxx in height.  At the time that I was taking these pictures (last summer, wouldn't y'all know), the only dolls of comparable size I had were Newborn Thumbelina and the plastic baby, whom I've since named "Henry."

Oh yeah, there's also Marta, my Chelsea doll with scoliosis.  

For further funzies, here's how Eva and Gia compare when Gia's legs are outstretched.  There's not a big difference in size.

With that out of the way, I was not expecting much in terms of hair, but Eva's tresses are beautiful.  Hey, Eva's my first Furga doll, okay???  I wasn't expecting her hair to be this nice.

It's not every day that I get to see a lovely shade of auburn like this.  Auburn is...well, it ties with jet black as my second favorite hair color, after red.  Hmmm...does auburn count as a shade of red???  Tam, you're a redhead, what say you, m'lady?  Anyway, dolls this small don't always have thick hair, but again I was pleasantly surprised by Eva's roots.  I mean, they're not GREAT, but they're good.  Pigtails would not be flattering, but the plugs are nice and thick.

Interestingly, Eva's hairline is gappy.  That's not something that I'm used to; with most of my dolls, if ANY part of their hair is tightly rooted, it's the hairline.  Granted, Eva's hairline is not unsightly, but the plugs here are spaced wider than I'd have expected 'em to be.

On the other hand, Eva's part is nice and tight.  Indeed, there's so much hair here that I'm surprised Eva's head didn't split, like Penny Brite's did a little.

Eva has set the bar fairly high for Gia, but Gia is also a Furga doll so she may at least reach the bar.  After I extolled the virtues of black hair, guess what color Gia's hair is!

My mother's hair was black when she was young, and if she wasn't a knockout I don't know who was.  That contributed to my love of black hair.  Anyway, other than the color and the style Gia's hair is pretty much the same as Eva's.  It's very thick, but the hairline is surprisingly gappy.

Up front Gia has a full set of bangs.

Since Gia has shorter hair and wears a bonnet her hair is easier to maintain, but I do love the color and the texture of Eva's hair.  It's not as nice as Paola Reina hair, maybe, but it's good hair nonetheless.  There's even enuff length for it to be tied back if I so wish.  Overall both dolls have nice hair.  I prefer the color and overall aesthetic of Eva's hair, but I love Gia's low-maintenance style too.

Underneath her hair Eva has the smiling face that I chose over the other faces.

Furga dolls have a lot of variation in their facial expressions, as we'll see in the months ahead.  Some of them have open mouths with visible teeth, some look innocent or pensive, some look downright ticked, and some remind me a little of Sew Able Kristiana, molded dimples and all.  The Alta Moda squad can vary their expressions based on how their eyelashes hang, so there y'all have it.  Furga expressions aren't quite as varied as those of the Baby Face crew, but they're diverse enuff.  As I stated above I wanted my Eva in an Apple to be a smiler, so I handpicked this doll off eBay.  But first things first:  my favorite thing about Furga dolls (besides their varied expressions) are their vibrant eyes.  The vast majority that I've seen have sapphire blue eyes, and Eva is no exception.

Sapphire blue eyes with rooted lashes and happy, single-stroke eyebrows.  Eva's eyes are tiny, but it's possible to see the pixels in her eyes up close.  No biggie, from a normal distance they look fine.  As we'll see in the coming months, heavy eyelashes are kinda the norm for Furga dolls (some of the Alta Moda girls took it to ridiculous levels).

Under the eyes Eva has a little pug nose and delicately painted lips.

Most of the Furga dolls I've met have lips in a coral or pinkish shade, and Eva is no exception.  Her lips are closed, and are shaped in a cupid's bow manner, again like plenty of Furga dolls.  She has some light blush on her cheeks, and...that's it!  Nothing pretentious or made-up, just a natural-looking little girl doll with a little sun on her cheeks.  I love this lip color, by the way.  A lot of times I gripe about lip paint, but Eva's got nice paint.

Gia's face also has the Furga aesthetic, but she's got a bit more character.

Like Eva, Gia has the shocking blue Furga eyes, plus single-stroke eyebrows.

Jeez, I hope that's not mold.  I'm so sick of moldy doll eyes that I could scream.  But mold or no Gia has blue eyes and single-stroke eyebrows just like Eva does.  Since Gia's eyes are almost always closed it's easy to see her crazy-long eyelashes.  

Spoiler alert:  other Furga dolls have lashes even longer than this.  Lastly, Gia's little mouth is hanging open the way babies' mouths do when they babble and drool and blow bubbles.  The lower lip has a little bit of texture molded in.

I like the coloring.  Furga dolls usually have pretty lips.

Eva's head is attached to a ball joint, the kind that I often see on Barbie clones.  As a result she can look up and down...

...she can tip her head from side to side...

...and she can turn her head from side to side.

The rest of Eva's joints only pivot.  She can raise and lower her arms, but because they're angled away from her body poses look...well, actually, not so bad!  Eva looks like she's about to shout "HOORAY" about something.

Eva can also sit very well (it's the only way she can fit in her apple) and do front-to-back splits.

Dig the angle of her leg when it's pointed backward, though!  Doesn't look comfortable.

Eva's hand molds vary a bit, with the right hand having five separate fingers.  Her knuckles are dimpled and her fingernails are molded but not painted.

Eva's left hand is molded like an American Girl's, with the ring and birdie fingers fused together.  The detailing, however, is the same.

Eva's legs and feet are made of harder plastic and are...well, legs and feet!  The legs are columnar and unremarkable, while the feet have toes and toenails molded in.  The seams here are quite rough.

By contrast, Gia has your typical chubby baby body with bent arms and legs.  She can't stand on her own.

Gia's neck is ball-jointed like Eva's, but it doesn't have anywhere near the range of motion that Eva's does.  It can turn very well, but it can only tip a teeny-weeny bit.

Otherwise Gia's posing is just like Eva's.  Her joints pivot, and being a baby she can strike all the poses that Imani could, stuff like waving...

...and kicking.

Now...regarding molding Gia has some shar-pei legs going on.  Imani dodged this bullet.

Like Eva, Gia has different molds for each arm.  Her right arm is turned inwards towards her body, and her left arm has the palm facing towards the back.  

Gia's got big paws, LOL!  The backs of her hand have some dimples and nails molded in, but the palms are nothing to write home about.

From the front Gia's legs aren't quite so shar-pei-ish.  She's got cute little wrinkled knees and well-defined toes, but not as many creases.

Nothing to see on the bottoms of the feet, just the standard demarcations where the toes are.

Regarding clothes, Eva's frock is a simple little affair, made of yellow felt with a blue apple applique.  She's also got a little pair of panties underneath.

When I say the dress is simple I mean it's simple.  Nothing is hemmed, though felt doesn't really need to be hemmed, and the sleeves are simple slits cut in the fabric.

The hem is scalloped, adding a little bit of character to an otherwise simple outfit.  

The applique is more felt, and I presume that this is glued on because I see no stitching.

The only hardware on Eva's dress is this snap, which thankfully holds together very well.  Some snaps lose their "snap" as time passes.

Eva's little drawers are simple white gauzy drawers with pink hems.  The hems are secure...

...but I need to sew the crotch back up!  

Gia's getup is more elaborate, and more appropriate for a baby.

The dress is a smock-type dress, very loose-fitting, with RED POLKA DOTS all over.

The collar has a large panel of lace that wouldn't hold up under the mouth of a drooling, pukey baby.

Speaking of pukey, since this dress isn't felt it does have to be hemmed, and while the hems are done well the raw edges look...well, pukey!  See all the threads hanging off?

Granted, loose threads can be clipped, but if enuff of 'em pull out then the hem will fall out.  So I just won't pull on 'em!  I neglected to photograph this part clearly, but Gia's little cap sleeves are trimmed with more lace.  The hems around the neckline and sleeves look better, but there are ends sticking out here too.

Instead of a snap Gia's dress ties at the back of her neck with woven ribbons.

Topping it all off is a bonnet, an item that many baby dolls come with, despite the fact that few babies wear them today.  To my surprise this has no lace at all.  It's just a simple little bonnet that ties under Gia's chin.  The seams are surprisingly good here.

There ARE loose ends, but whoever was at the assembly line thought to clip the ends short.

Interestingly, Gia wears panties instead of a diaper, and these are better constructed than Eva's.  The fabric appears to be rayon, and the legs are trimmed with non-scratchy lace.

Kinda typical for a baby doll, even one that lives in a pear.  I am surprised that Eva is so simply dressed, but as we saw in the leaflet, Furga had her covered.  Gia, on the other hand, is pretty well-endowed regarding clothes, which is good because I can't get to Suzy Cute and Tiny Cheerful Tearful at the moment!  I have a sneaking suspicion that they might be able to share clothes. 

Since I have no clothes to shove on these two, time to wrap it up!  In this case I'm going to forego the good/bad section because as with my Paola Reina dolls I can't find too much bad about them.  Eva and Gia are sized like budget dolls, and if I compare them to my other Furga dolls (spoiler alert, I have four more) then it's easy to see why I think that (they're small, and small dolls are usually cheaper).  Both dolls are well-dressed, reside in cute abodes, and have thick, pretty hair and sweet faces, but...I just feel like they're not representative of the Furga brand.  Thus why I have four more, LOL.  There's such a wide array of faces and sizes that just one or two can't represent Furga properly.

That said, I do like Eva and Gia.  They're good starter dolls if one is just getting to know Furga dolls.

Love,
RagingMoon1987