When I was a little kid I had a Little Golden Book called
Noel, about a small red Christmas ornament who had a "happiness" (a soul, in a sense). In said book January second was called "the back-to-normal thing," in which the Christmas decorations were packed up and the tree (a REAL tree that Noel had befriended) was hauled outside and presumably burned. For my family January second usually also meant "the back-to-school thing," in which we...well, we went back to school after Christmas break! I've never been a huge advocate of January anyway, with all its wind and cold and bleakness, and since it's the back-to-normal thing today...what else but a doll review? This is Baby Needs-A-Name, from the Strawberry Shortcake line. She debuted here
last July.
As I've discussed ad nauseam, 1983 was the year everyone just HAD to have a Cabbage Patch Kid, but Strawberry Shortcake was still a big seller as well. In 1983 these baby dolls that blew scented kisses were available, and I don't know about y'all, but if I couldn't have had a Cabbage Patch Kid a Strawberry Shortcake baby doll would've done me just fine. Baby Needs-A-Name was joined by Angel Cake, Baby Apricot, Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom, and Strawberry Shortcake herself. They "blew" their kisses when one squeezed their tummies. I don't know why I picked Baby Needs-A-Name over Orange Blossom, by the way, because Orange Blossom is usually my go-to gal, and if I'd been a child in 1983 Lemon Meringue likely would've been my choice.
Now before I finally get to the review, a word about this name. Baby Needs-A-Name was like Mattel's P.J. and Ideal's Velvet's Little Sister in that it was up to the doll's owner to give her a name. Velvet's Little Sister eventually became Cinnamon, and in a similar manner Kenner later bestowed the name "
Lullaberry" on Baby Needs-A-Name. But my eye was drawn to something else.
The decal on her chest looks almost exactly like a strawberry hybrid called a pineberry. Pineberries are a fairly recent thing, being first cultivated in 2002. They're these drop-dead gorgeous white berries with red seeds, possessing the shape of a strawberry and the flavor of a pineapple. Despite first appearing for sale in 2010 pineberries are STILL not a terribly profitable crop. The fruits are little, the plants apparently don't yield much fruit, and there aren't many farmers growing the fruit in the first place. But "Pineberry" is original, so "Pineberry" shall be my doll's pet name. My doll is the one that blows kisses; another example can be seen...where else???
On Tam's blog! I don't know why, but I think these kissy dolls are extra cute. They don't smell very cute, though; Pineberry smells like cheap soap when she blows a kiss. But she's still fun to squeeze!
Now. Pineberry is thirteen inches from head to toe, putting her on a similar scale as a Bitty Baby. Similar, mind y'all; Kiara and Pineberry are different enuff that clothes sharing will probably be out of the question.
Pineberry is also on a similar scale to Cabbage Patch Preemies (Ernest John is shown) and Magic Nursery babies (Mikey is shown). Her measurements are different from theirs, though.
Just for grins, here's how Pineberry compares to her smaller friends, Orange Blossom and Lime Chiffon. It's easy to see their shared aesthetic.
To be fair, I sat the clone doll, Sorbet, with Pineberry too. They...I gotta admit, they favor! Sorbet's hair tidied up nicely, by the way.
The smaller Kenner dolls didn't have the thickest hair so my hopes are not high for Pineberry's dome, and indeed, Pineberry has some thin spots. Because her hair is the kind to hold kinks, it's also got a few cowlicks.
Pineberry's hair is baby blonde, about as pale as blonde hair can get without being white. Rose (
Baby Won't Let Go) and
Suzy Cute also have this shade, but Pineberry's is in better shape. It's not dry like Suzy's or frizzy like Rose's.
A couple of these blow-kiss dolls have pigtails, but Pineberry's is the same length all the way around...except for her bangs, of course. Her bangs are wispy and a teensy bit long, but I can brush them out of the way.
Down to the face now. These dolls' faces always reminded me of lumps of dough, with their smooth curves and plump, squidgy-looking cheeks. Seeing as Strawberry Shortcake and co. are named after baked goods, that would make sense. Here's Pineberry's face with the bangs brushed aside.
Since Pineberry is blonde, guess what color her eyes are.
Oh well, at least they're different from Kiara's and Honeymoon's, right? Plus, I don't see too many dolls with periwinkle eyes. These eyes are ovoid with BIG pupils, and to keep the pupils from being too blank there are two light clusters. The eyelashes are interesting.
Five eyelashes in two colors, a blueberry-colored iris, and very little visible sclera. They give me a bit of an anime/Licca-chan vibe.
Lower part of the face, now. Pineberry has a flat, wide nose, wide cheeks with both blush and freckles, and a cute little mouth with melon-colored lips.
Yep, the Strawberry Shortcake aesthetic is alive and well! Their little faces always have reminded me of hunks of dough, and Pineberry is no exception. I do kinda wish her vinyl was softer, though. Cheeks that thick beg to be gently pinched...or just stroked with a single finger, like I like to do to a baby's cheeks. I also love that Pineberry has freckles. Indeed, the only one of these kissing babies that DIDN'T have freckles was Orange Blossom, and that may be why I didn't go with her instead. Pineberry also has a copious amount of blush, and that I can do without because blush and freckles together makes me think of sunburn.
Let's take a quick look at this mouth, since that's where part of the gimmick lies. Hey, they're blow-kiss babies! The paint has a slight orangish hue.
I know from personal experience that it's pert near impossible to pucker one's lips and smile at the same time, but then I am not a doll.
Now this body. Pineberry has a stuffed body with vinyl limbs attached.
In this way Pineberry is similar to a Bitty Baby. She's put together in a similar way, and she doesn't have joints. However, Pineberry can't even sit on her own. She always flops onto her back. Kiara can sit on her own with some bamboozling.
Pineberry CAN sit if propped up, though. Pardon my tablet in the background; I had
the Misery Machine going. Viewer discretion is advised.
In Kiara's case her hip joints are loosely stuffed, allowing for a certain amount of floppiness and flexibility. Pineberry's flexibility is due to her soft body; she's much softer than Kiara is. The trade-off is that Pineberry's torso is a hair flimsier than Kiara's. If you're familiar with American Girls and Bitty Babies, then you know that their torsos are made of this extremely durable canvaslike fabric. Pineberry has a muslin torso that feels a little like it might be double-layered. The color is very pale pink.
Pineberry isn't falling apart at the seams like one of my Lazy Dazy dolls is, but if I ever need to get inside her there's a big seam in the back. It looks a little like the seams on the backs of some My Twinn dolls, and it's very robustly sewn.
Like a great many of my dolls, Pineberry's limbs are sewn to her body, but the stitches are not obvious like they are on
some of my other dolls.
Pineberry's limbs are three-quarter limbs and are made of vinyl with a pinkish flesh tone. I like this coloration; she doesn't look whiter than a sheet of brand-new printing paper, but she doesn't look like ham salad either. The vinyl is pretty firm; no squishiness here!
Above it's easy to see that the hand has few molded details; no knuckles and only the merest indentations for nails. The palm is a little better, with creases on Pineberry's thick little fingers. I've heard of banana fingers, but Pineberry takes it a step further, to...oh, I'll say bratwurst.
Pineberry's feet are the same way, with barely-there nails, thick, short toes, and a little definition on the sole. They are not meant for standing, unsurprisingly.
Both of the legs have a single teeny-weeny black stain on the inside calf. I don't know where they came from, unless some stupid little kid was fooling around with a ballpoint pen.
Sigh...I'm not gonna harp on that again. Y'all know my opinions on children and their toys. Granted, I don't know that that's what happened here with Pineberry, but it's what it looks like. ANYWAY, dolls with stuffed bodies almost always have a tag somewhere, and so it is with Pineberry. Her tag has Kenner's info, as well as some of American Greetings's info and the site of production. Pineberry's tag isn't faded badly like those of some of my Cabbies (Beryl June).
Then on the other side we have your usual laundering blather. After
my last attempt to spot clean a doll, I'll be reading these very carefully.
Not that I think Pineberry will be dangerous when wet like Clio Teresa is, but can't hurt to be careful, both for the doll's sake and for my own.
As for clothes, these blow-kiss babies wore outfits that made their identity as Strawberry Shortcake dolls very clear. All of them wore big hats, as the regular-sized dolls did.
Alrighty...the romper is one piece and is dominantly pink, since the dolly world always needs more pink. The sleeves have faded little stripes, and at one time they were elasticized, but the elastic has long since given out.
The waist has a ruffle that...looks like a skirt but is way too short to be one. It too has faint stripes...
...as does the no-frills collar.
Y'all have seen the little berry on the front, but here it is again. It's made of printed felt, and it's affixed to the bodice with a line of straight little stitches, rather than the glue that some companies used. This puppy is ON THERE!
The elastic on the legs has also given out; these normally would puff up like the sleeves do.
The back closes with a single strip of Velcro at the collar, and the whole garment fits tightly. I'm always afraid I'm gonna tear a seam when I pull this getup off Pineberry.
Here's where the berry is sewn in place; the stitches stick out like a sore thumb against the pink, but they're still solid as a rock.
The seams are not the prettiest to look at, and interestingly, only the pink fabric looks raggy. The striped stuff does not.
Maybe it's because the striped stuff has been cut with pinking shears. That sometimes helps prevent raveling, and it's not often seen on doll clothes.
The pink stuff is pinked too along the legholes, and sure enuff the raveling there isn't as bad.
Now, the hat. It's a big floppy thing that would cover Pineberry's whole head if I pulled it down far enuff.
Interestingly, the ruffle on this hat is white rather than striped...or if it's striped the stripes have faded too much for me to see.
The hat is topped with a bow, but the bow is a little tired. It needs a light steaming.
This little goober isn't original to Pineberry's ensemble, but she wears it anyway. She's a miniature Furrever Friend, and Pineberry uses her as a feather boa.
Pineberry also had booties at one time, but my doll only came with one and it's tucked away with some of my other doll clothes. It's made of striped fabric like the sleeves of the romper. It fits Pineberry loosely, so I can see why she lost the other one.
Pineberry's slim build means that she can't wear Bitty Baby clothes or Cabbage Patch clothes...not without the pieces being tremendously baggy, that is. Indeed, I'm not really sure what else Pineberry can wear, so I'm gonna wrap it up.
BAD
*This doll's kiss kinda stinks, literally. That may be age-related.
*Clothes might be fragile in places, especially in the back where the opening is.
*Posing isn't great.
*I couldn't find a single outfit in my admittedly short search that she can wear.
GOOD
*Soft. I like soft dolls...and soft things in general.
*Gimmick is child-friendly and still works
*The Strawberry Shortcake aesthetic is alive and well
*I don't think this doll can break easily!
*Just plain cute, LOL!
No joke, if you say "Strawberry Shortcake" to me I'll look around wildly and sat "Where??? Where???" The only exception to that rule might be those sleep-eyed dolls, and even those I don't hate. If you put the Strawberry Shortcake thing aside Pineberry is your average little baby doll, one that would fit in nicely with a collection of other baby dolls, or of eighties toys, or of Strawberry Shortcake stuff. Now, with ice in the forecast, I may take a closer look at what this doll can wear; that will greatly increase her play potential.
Cheers,
RagingMoon1987
I have a Fashionista with a prosthetic leg, but since Leide is a Fashionista, she's stiff as a board all over. The Deluxe girls don't have Made to Move bodies, but they're a lot more poseable than the Fashionistas. 
This one's got a really pretty face. I hope it's as pretty IRL.
