Girls of Many Lands Kathleen review

A few weeks ago I reviewed a Dolls of All Nations Midori, and the whole time that I was typing up the review I kept thinking "This doll reminds me of another doll.  But who???"  I pondered over that for awhile but couldn't put my finger on it.  It turned out that I wasn't the only one who felt this way; Talolili, my Facebook friend and one of my followers, said that Midori reminded her of the Girls of Many Lands, which were a short-lived line of multiculutral dolls similar to Dolls of all Nations.  When I mentioned that I own a Girls of Many Lands doll Talolili suggested that I do a review on her, which I think is a splendid idea.  So without further ado, let me introduce you to Kathleen.

The Girls of Many Lands were released by Pleasant Company, the same crowd that did American Girls for some years (you may recall that my Denise is a Pleasant Company doll).  The series ran from 2002 to 2005.  I received my Kathleen in the October of 2003 (my sixteenth birthday, to be exact), meaning that she'd just been released when I got her.  According to agplaythings.com, she was retired in mid-2004, which makes me wonder how many were actually made.  Anyway, Kathleen and her dolly sisters are a little over nine inches tall and are made of high-quality plastic; I originally thought that Kathleen's head was porcelain, in fact.  They were not meant to be toys but rather nice things to be enjoyed by older girls, and this aspect may have been what contributed to the brief run.  The line had eight dolls released in two waves.  In a way they combined the Dolls of All Nations with the historical American Girls; each of them had a country and a year assigned, and each came with a book.  The first wave was released around Christmas of 2002 and included these five girls:

*Neela Sen, from India (1939)

*Isabel Campion, from Tudor-era England (1592)

*Cecile Revel, from France (1711)

*Chou Spring Pearl, from Qing Dynasty China (1857)

*Minuk, from Yup'ik Alaska (1890)

The second wave came around in fall of 2003 and added three new girls:

*Saba, from Ethiopia (1846)

*Leyla, from Turkey (1720)

*Kathleen Murphy, from Ireland (1937)

Spring Pearl and Minuk were my childhood favorites, so they may join my group one of these days.  But frankly, it's impossible to pick a bad doll out of this line; all of them are stunning.  They all came in big, nice boxes like this:

The box is six and a half inches wide, eleven inches tall, and six inches deep.  It closes with a ribbon tie and is made of shiny, heavy-duty cardboard.  It's nice enough to be used as a trunk, and I have done so in the past.  The box also holds an element of surprise; one has to open up the front of it to see which doll is in there (that was an exciting box opening for my sixteen-year-old self).  Here's what it looks like inside.

The doll fits into the compartment on the right, though it's quite roomy.  Kathleen was tied in when I first got her, and she'd need something to hold her steady if I had to put her back in there for an extended period.  The left side of the box has a place for the book that Kathleen came with.  Unfortunately, my book is in storage somewhere; I haven't cleaned my room since we moved into this house back in 2011, so God knows where that book is.  The book is a chapter book about Kathleen's life, and it's...it's pretty interesting.  I don't want to give away too much, but I can give you some basics on my girl's personality.  Kathleen is twelve years old (as are all the Girls of Many Lands).  She lives with her parents and four siblings in pre-WWII Dublin, is the eldest child of the family, and finds an escape from her impoverished state in step dancing.  With that said, let's start from the top down.

Kathleen is wigged...literally (LOL).  She's a redhead, like most of the Irish dolls I've seen, and her hair is styled up in nine very tight barrel curls.  We're not talking ringlets, like I usually see on dolls, but honest-to-God tubes of hair.  The top of her head is covered by this green beret-style hat.  

I'm not sure if the hat can be removed or not, and I'm not too keen to attempt it lest I upset the curls.  The hat has a small pin and a yellow feather on it.  According to the book, the pin bears the insignia of the dancing school that Kathleen attends.  The feather also has some significance, but I'm not going to say what.  Let's look at the face instead.

Kathleen's features are painted.  She's got orangish lips, feathered orange eyebrows and a bevy of very tiny freckles painted on her nose and cheeks.  Her eyes are two shades of green and are painted looking off to the left (her right).  There are some light shadows painted underneath each eye, but no makeup.  Her profile is relatively flat.

Here is where I once again found myself thinking "she reminds me of another doll!"  I thought the same thing when I was sixteen, but lacking both Internet access and a full knowledge of the doll world I shrugged it off and went on with my life.  But a few years ago I made an interesting discovery:  Kathleen and her Girls of Many Lands sisters were all designed by a well-known doll artist.  If you don't know who, I'll give you a hint:

That's Riley, in case y'all don't know her.  Kathleen reminds me more of Riley's friend Tulah because they both have red hair, but look at this Riley's eyes...and the lips...and the flat, broad nose.  Now look at Kathleen's features again (I tried to make her picture look similar to Riley's).

They aren't exactly the same but they ARE similar, and for good reason.  The Girls of Many Lands were manufactured by Pleasant Company, but they were designed by Helen Kish, the same person who designed Riley and Tulah.  I've always been a fan of Helen Kish's work but her prices are pretty steep, so when I found out that I already had a Kish-designed doll in my collection I was thrilled.  Plus, if I ever do get my hands on another Kish doll I'll have someone to compare her to.  I'm particularly interested in finding out if Kathleen and Riley can share clothes.

But then again, maybe that wouldn't be the smartest idea.  Kathleen's outfit is attached with snaps and Velcro, but I don't think she's meant to be undressed.  Not that that matters much; that outfit is exquisite!  Remember back at the beginning when I said that Kathleen was a dancer?  Her outfit is a reflection of that.

The dress is the kind worn at feisanna, or traditional Gaelic arts festivals.  Kathleen explains in her book that song, poetry, artistry, and dance are all parts of feisanna in her time, and the same is true today, though the dances are a lot bigger.  The dresses are also a lot fancier, with some dancers looking like they're about to appear on an episode of "Toddlers and Tiaras."  Kathleen, thank God, couldn't afford to be that showy.  Her dress is made of green wool and has a Celtic knot embroidered on the chest.

Areas like this can potentially be landmines for sewing gaffes, but my Kathleen's embroidery is rock-solid.  Her sleeves are flared and have gold satin edging.  The gold material extends up into the sleeve.

Her skirt is pleated, as is common for Irish dancing dresses.

Sewn to Kathleen's waist are these three silver medallions.  These are her dance competition medals, given to those who win the whole shebang.  In real life they are plastic, but in the story these were made of silver.

Kathleen has a fourth medal on a cord around her neck.  

She was originally holding this, but I was afraid the rubber band that held it on would break, so I somehow managed to get the cord around her neck.  Not the easiest task in the world with those stiff little curls, but I did it.

Attached to Kathleen's shoulders is the brat (pronounced "brath"), or shawl.  It too is green and is lined with yellow silk.

Celtic knots adorn the both corners of the brat.  Again, I found no flaws in the sewing.

Sewn to the shoulder straps are two more school badges.

These straps fasten onto the main dress with snaps at the shoulders and with small stitches at the hem of the skirt.  I don't know if the brat and dress are sewn together like that on real dresses, but it makes sense.  The skirt helps the brat hold its shape; if the two weren't sewn together then Kathleen would probably look like a cross between a leprechaun and Superwoman.  

The rest of Kathleen's outfit consists of a pair of black knit tights and black pleather shoes that are held on with elastic laces.

Oh yeah, she also "wears" this stand, which grips her by the legs.

The stand is made of smooth, hard plastic and is about three quarters of an inch thick.  Kathleen leans back a bit in the stand, but it's still head and shoulders above Cyanne's stand.  The only time Kathleen is in risk of falling over is if I place her on a surface that's unsteady to begin with...and that's MY fault, not hers!

In theory I suppose that Kathleen could be undressed, but I've never gone further than unsnapping the brat or occasionally removing a shoe.  Thus I can't really give you a detailed body review...but I CAN tell you what she's made of and give you a basic idea about articulation.  Kathleen's head, torso, arms, and legs are all made of a matte, porcelain-like plastic.  She has five joints:  shoulders, hips, and neck.  The arms and legs are strung but don't have a lot of movement.  Usually when I have Kathleen out and about I leave her arms down at her sides, but she can lift them all the way up.

"Huzzah!"

The legs have similar movement.  Kathleen can't sit, nor was she meant to, but she does have some lateral movement in her hips...

...and some nice back and forth movement.

Kathleen's head is a separate piece from her neck, unlike Midori and the Living Dead Dolls.  She can turn her head in both directions. 

"I see you."

"Eeek!!!  What a big cat!"

She can also tip her head in both directions, but I think that may be because of the neck joint, not because she was meant to hold her head that way.  

The hands have molded fingernails and creases on the knuckles, but the knuckles are not well-defined.

I have never removed Kathleen's shoes and tights to look at her feet, and I don't plan on doing so because the shoes are hard to get back on.  However, if you look at publicity pictures of Saba (who wears sandals) or Neela (who wears no shoes at all) then you can see that these dolls have very detailed feet, with individual toes and molded toenails.  Just like Midori.

Regarding height, Kathleen is the smallest doll I've reviewed so far, and she's one of my smallest overall.  She's shorter than both Cyanne, my La Dee Da doll, and Wendy, my Little Miss Revlon doll (both are ten inches).

Kathleen may be smaller than Wendy and Cyanne, but her proportions are more realistic.  Her head is a realistic size in relation to her body, and she doesn't have an overabundance of hair.  Little Miss Revlon dolls are supposed to be young women, but Kathleen looks far more elegant and mature than my Wendy does.  She makes Cyanne look downright comical.

Daniela is taller than Kathleen too.

"Who is this stranger an' why is she holdin' me?"

I find the size difference between Daniela and Kathleen interesting, because the two are supposed to be around the same age.  Yeah, they're from different companies, but I still think the difference is worth noting.

Since I mentioned Midori earlier, and since her review led to this one in the first place, let's see how she and Kathleen compare.

"Konichiwa, small redhead!"

At twelve inches, Midori is quite a bit taller than Kathleen, though her tall shoes add some height.  Both dolls have five joints, but the mobility differs.  Midori has no lateral movement in her limbs at all...

...but she has a better neck joint.

Midori's clothing is detailed, but the material is stiff and not hemmed in places.  Kathleen's clothes feel nicer and are hemmed where they need hemming, but they don't feel as substantial.

Notice the loose threads hanging off the bottom edge of Midori's kimono.

Midori's hands are more detailed, but Kathleen's plastic feels superior.

Both dolls have very elaborate, high-quality hair in styles that I can't recreate if something happens.  Midori's is rooted and Kathleen's is wigged, but the two are pretty even.  If I were nitpicking I might knock off a couple of points for Midori's exposed rubber bands, but that's about it.

Both dolls have painted faces, and their faces are painted in a similar manner.  They both have slight smiles and side-glancing eyes.  However, Kathleen's face has more character, and she's got a lot of details packed onto a small surface.  This picture doesn't show her freckles too well, but they're there.

Just for the say-so of it, let's compare Kathleen with Maeve, my Dolls of the World Barbie.  Here's what they look like together.

Maeve is taller than Kathleen by quite a hair, though her stand helps her somewhat.  She's more poseable, she has gorgeous amber eyes, her outfit's a great shade of green, and I absolutely love her fiery hair.  And hey, she's also got a cute little dog!

I named him "Bailey," after Baileys Irish Cream.

However, when compared to Kathleen Maeve's face is overly made up and her clothing feels cheap.  This makes sense, because she cost half of what Kathleen did back in 2004.  But really, it doesn't seem fair to compare Maeve to Kathleen.  The two dolls are in different leagues.  This surprises me a little since Maeve is supposed to be a Barbie for collectors, but the only way she tops Kathleen is in the hair color department...and maybe the eye color.  Perhaps if I had THIS Irish Barbie the playing field would've been more level (her dress is made of real linen).  For the record, Kathleen and Maeve still display nicely together...and they appear to be making friends!

Now for the fun part:  good stuff/bad stuff.

BAD

*Discontinued, first and foremost.  That makes finding these dolls harder, and some folks on eBay really jack up the prices.

*Not very poseable, especially compared to some of my other dolls.

*Hair could get messed up.

*Clothing is removable, but it's tricky and I wouldn't attempt it.

GOOD

*She's a redhead (which I love), and that hair is done up in a stunning hairstyle.  

*Face has a lot of detail packed onto a small space.  No paint flaws.

*Helen Kish designed her!!!

*Clothing is high quality and is covered in little details that tie in with Kathleen's storybook.

*She has a stand, and it works well.

*The packaging can be reused.  I can't say that about a lot of my dolls.

*Small size, meaning she can fit just about anywhere (Midori and a lot of my dolls can't).

*Made of high-quality plastic.  I go to extra measures to keep the feather in her cap intact, and I'm gentle with her joints, but she doesn't need to be handled with kid gloves.

*There's a potential for learning...for ANYONE.  Kids, teens, and adults can all learn a thing or two about Irish culture and language (the book has a small glossary of Irish words in the back).

Kathleen was a gift from my grandmother, so I have always loved her.  However, I have never taken the time to really appreciate what a nice doll she truly is.  Is she absolutely perfect?  No, but no doll is.  However, Kathleen comes a lot closer to being perfect than a lot of dolls in this world, because just about everything on the "bad" list can be excused.  So she's not poseable.  She's not supposed to be!  What if her hair is elaborate and could get messed up?  It's not supposed to be restyled or brushed!  The clothes don't come off?  Again, they're not supposed to.  The only honest-to-God bad thing that I can name about Kathleen applies to all the Girls of Many Lands:  the line is discontinued, and the dolls are getting increasingly difficult to find at a reasonable price.  But it can still be done; not everyone on eBay is a price-gouger.  If Kathleen really lit your fire, or if one of the other girls caught your eye, then my advice to you is to browse eBay, Etsy, and the secondary market, like I plan on doing this fall (the urge to find Spring Pearl has become overwhelming).  Lastly, I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Talolili for suggesting that I review Kathleen in the first place.  It was a smart idea, and I never would have considered it if not for her.  Thank you, Talolili!

And to the rest of you, watch for my reviews on Skelita and Sila!

Yours truly, 

RagingMoon1987

Dolls of All Nations Midori review

I've made it no secret that I love to go antiquing, and that passion is shared by my sister, my sister's boyfriend, and my mother.  Whenever we're in the Dexter, Missouri area and have some time to kill, we do it.  Such was the case on July 30th.  One of our cats (we have seven) jumped off the dining room table, landed wrong, and broke his foot.  This entailed a rush to Dexter, where our vet is.  While we were waiting for x-ray results we went to our favorite antique spot and browsed, I for dolls and my mother for furniture.  One of the items at the store was this Japanese doll, Midori.  WARNING:  some of these pictures were taken when my eyes were not fully healed, and may thus be a little crummy.  If they are TOO crummy, give me a holler and I'll change them.

Midori is part of Target's Dolls of all Nations series, a doll line that I have never heard of and know nothing about.  The small amount of knowledge that I do have came from eBay.  According to the site these dolls date from around 1995 and were reissued in 1996.  Not an antique by any means, but older than a lot of the dolls I own.  I've never seen these dolls at the local Target, so they are most likely discontinued and have been for some time.  The line had dolls representing Austria, China, England, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, North America, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Sweden, and Uganda.  The dolls from Kenya and South Korea are my favorites; the Korean doll is wearing a hanbok, which I love.  I also like the German doll, of whom I was unable to find a good picture, but I was miffed when I learned that she's Bavarian.  No offense to Barvarians, but why on earth must all German dolls represent Bavaria?  There are plenty of other areas of Germany that can be represented (my heritage is Thuringian, for example).  However, I will note one thing positive about the German doll:  she has brown eyes.  Most Germans are portrayed as being blonde and blue-eyed, but this line's little gal has brown eyes.
  

Back on topic, I did luck out a bit with Midori in that she came in her original box.

The box has some information on Midori's life, and it helped me identify her in the first place.  She has both her parents and one sister, lives in a four-room house in Tokyo, and loves sashimi.  The box does not give an age, but her face has a youthful appearance, much like the doll herself.  That being said, let's look at the doll.  Her features are all painted.

Let's look at her eyes first.

Her eyes are brown and are angled towards the left (her right).  The upper lids have darker paint that looks like eyeshadow, but I think this may be an attempt to make her eyes look deep-set.  Her eyebrows are brown and are painted in small, short, fine strokes.

She has a broad, flat nose and full, pinkish lips.  If you look closely, you can see some detail painted onto the lips in the form of creases.  This isn't the best picture I've taken, but you can still see it.

Midori's hair is very interesting.

The hair is rooted, something I don't often see on hard plastic dolls (usually they're wigged).  It is parted in the center and braided up into a fancy updo.  It's hard to tell in both that picture and in real life, but there are two braids incorporated into the style.  The front of the style is adorned with a large bow.

The bottoms of these braids are ringed with rubber bands.  This concerns me somewhat.  Rubber bands get brittle and crumble as they age, and if that happens with this doll the whole hairstyle will come falling down.  Some of the dolls in this series had simple, easy-to-fix hairstyles like braids or ponytails, but this is one style that I definitely can't recreate if it falls!  Plus, I'm not a tremendous fan of bare rubber bands on doll hair; I think it looks tacky.  There probably was no alternative in this case, but I still don't like it.

Regarding clothes, Midori is wearing a kimono, the traditional Japanese garb.

The Japanese are often depicted in books and cartoons as wearing kimono every day, but nowadays this isn't usually the case.  Kimono are still worn, but it's usually for special occasions like funerals, weddings, and holidays.  So it is for Midori; according to the box, she is dressed up for Hinamatsuri, or Girls' Day.  Hinamatsuri is on March 3rd, and the Japanese celebrate by decorating their houses (WITH DOLLS!!!), eating and drinking, inviting friends over, and praying for happy lives for their girls.  Shucks, I wish Americans would do that!  The Japanese always put such feeling and meaning into their holidays!

Anyways, let's take a closer look at Midori's kimono.  It's bright red with orange, white, and pale blue flowers.  In the story on Midori's box, her kimono is made of silk.  This, however, is not silk.  The fabric feels synthetic and doesn't have much drape to it, but unlike silk it's very sturdy (there's no way that silk will hold up in the grubby little mitts of a child).  We can always pretend that it's silk!

Hey, I'm noticing something:  this material is the same as the stuff used for the Swedish doll's dress.  I mean THE EXACT SAME STUFF!!!

Moving on now.  The sleeves are long and wide.

Judging from the style of these sleeves, I'm guessing that this kimono is supposed to be a furisode, the most formal kind.  I could be completely wrong, though; I am unsure if young girls are allowed to wear furisode.  If any of my readers are Japanese or experts on Japanese fashion and culture, please give me a holler on whether I'm right or wrong here.

The neck has a second layer showing.  It is the white part that you see peeping out from under the main kimono.

I assume this is supposed to represent the nagajuban, the undergarment commonly worn with kimono.  Nagajuban can be white or they can be very ornate, but white is the most common choice for formal occasions.  Midori is really going all out for this Hinamatsuri!

The obi, or sash, is blue with multicolored flowers on it.  It has a tan woven cord, or obijime, sewn to it.  The cord does not go all the way around; on a real kimono it would.

The obi fastens in back with Velcro, which surprised me.  Normally this type of doll has sewn-on clothing, but the obi appears to be removable.  Covering this Velcro is a bow...or at least, what I'd call a bow.

Obis can be tied in many different knots.  However, since Midori is a child she is probably wearing a tsuke obi, which is commonly used for children and is pre-tied in what the Japanese call a "butterfly knot."  That's what this looks like.  The edges of the bow are not hemmed, by the way.  It's a little raggy in places.

Tucked into the obijime is Midori's fan.

It is made of plastic and is sewn to the obi so it won't fall off.  Kudos to the folks who designed these dolls; they knew kids (and klutzy adult collectors) pretty well!  The stitches are a little clunky, though.

Topping off the look are these shoes, called geta.  They're made of plastic and have string ties.

Surprisingly enough Midori is not wearing tabi under these geta; as formally as she's dressed I would've expected that (tabi are formal or semi-formal socks, by the way).  In fact, I'm surprised that she's wearing geta at all, since certain types of zori are more commonly worn with formal kimono.  Oh well, can't have everything.  Besides, tabi would've made those shoes slide around even more than they already do.  The shoes don't stay on Midori's feet at all; they're held on with plastic twisty-ties.  They're pretty obvious in the above picture, but here's another image, just for laughs.

I think that looks tacky, but it's better than having her shoes fall off and get lost.  Nothing irritates me more on a doll than shoes that won't get on and stay on.  Ties like this were what kept Midori lashed to her box, by the way.  She had a tie on each wrist and one around her neck.  I don't like these because they tend to leave marks if there isn't something between the tie and the doll; this is especially true of vinyl dolls like this.  I don't see any marks on Midori yet, but I have yet to look at her body.

That brings me to...what a surprise, it brings me to her body!  Midori's obi and kimono turned were indeed removable, so I took those off...and was surprised to find that Midori has little white drawers on underneath!

I also found that the bottom edge of Midori's kimono is not stitched or hemmed in any way.

You can see the loose threads hanging off there.  I found this odd, since Midori's sleeves are hemmed nicely.

And lastly, I found THIS!!!

This gave me a tremendous LOL.  The Japanese and the Chinese aren't the best of friends, and the Japanese are very particular about who makes their kimonos.  A formal kimono would likely NEVER be made in China!  Costumes, yes, but real, formal, honest-to-God kimono, never.  The tag is inside, so Midori's dirty little secret is safe with us.  But that part still gave me a laugh.

Anyway, back to the body.

Midori is made of some type of hard plastic, rendered in a shade of tan that has a definite Oriental look to it.  Her build is definitely that of an older child, maybe ten or eleven.  Her legs and arms are long, but her torso is round and her chest undeveloped.

The body has five joints:  both shoulders, both hips, and neck.  Her neck is of similar construction to my Living Dead Dolls' necks, with the head and neck being separate from the body.  The mobility of this joint is good; Midori can turn her head left and right.

And she can tilt her head in almost any direction. 

The shoulder and hip joints are pivot joints only.  They move up and down but have no sideways movement.

Midori can be posed in a convincing walking position, but she has to be propped up against something in order to stand in a walking position.  I used the wall as a brace in the picture below.

When I was manipulating the head I noticed that the wire ties had indeed left a shiny line on Midori's neck.

Her wrists, which were also tied down with those infernal ties, were unscathed, and it was during this examination that I gained an appreciation of the detail on Midori's limbs.  Her hands are nicely sculpted, with little nails and creases on the palms and knuckles.

The fingers are all one piece; the only separate part is the thumb.  There are no gaps between the fingers whatsoever.  The same can't be said for Midori's feet.

Most of my dolls only have indentations molded onto their feet to suggest toes and nails, but Midori has ten well-defined little toes.  Each of them has a little nail and some creases on the top.  The soles are flat, most likely to help her stand.

Not that Midori needs much help standing.  She has this.

The stand is made of brown plastic and appears to be in two pieces.  The instructions that came in the box show that there was also a crossbar that held the doll up under her arms, but there was none in Midori's box.  The stand fits nicely up inside Midori's kimono, so the crossbar is not really necessary.

Having studied images of some of these dolls online, I'm lead to believe that not all dolls came with this crossbar.  For example, the Austrian doll appears to have a stand just like Midori's.  But the crossbar is clearly visible in the Russian doll's box (see the links above).  These dolls came in at least two waves (1995 and 1996), so it is possible that the stand varied from year to year.

So...would I recommend Midori to a child?  Lemme see...

BAD
*This doll is not a toy that's meant for rough play.  She's meant to be displayed and collected, though some gentle play would be perfectly alright.
*Plastic ties left shiny marks, though this probably would not bother a child.
*Hair is elaborate and could get messed up.  The rubber bands look bad and could break over time.
*Clothes are not hemmed in places.
*Not very poseable.  The head can be posed and made to look cute, but the arms and legs can't.
*Shoes won't stay on without help.
*Doll line is DISCONTINUED!!!  :-(

GOOD
*She feels sturdy.  Her body and clothes are both of high quality.  She won't break if knocked off a shelf (hey, accidents happen).
*Clothing is accurate for the most part.  The informal shoes don't jive with the rest of the outfit, but they're still models of real Japanese shoes.
*Clothing can be removed, though I don't recommend it.
*Lovely colors.  Some of the other dolls in Dolls of All Nations line are a tad muted, but Midori commands attention in that red kimono.
*She has a sweet little face, not overly made-up or vampy, and not caricatured like ethnic dolls can sometimes be.
*There's a lot of learning potential in this doll.  The information on the box reveals a little about Japanese culture and could inspire a girl to dig deeper and learn more.
*Good for pretending.  Though Midori is not cut out for the abuse that some dolls can take, she can still be an honored guest at Raggedy Ann's tea party or give the La Dee Da girls some pointers on how to design new fashions.

I have only recently learned of the Dolls of All Nations line, so the goods and bads that I listed are for Midori alone.  I'm willing to bet that most of the things listed above can apply to the others, but I'd like to see a few more in person before I give a final word on the overall line.  Midori is a fine little doll and I highly recommend her, especially for that little girl that is fascinated with foreign cultures (like I was when I was young).  I would also recommend this doll to older collectors such as myself; she's a toy, but she's a nice enough toy that she'd fit into an adult collection with relative ease.  The only honest-to-God bad thing that I can see about these dolls is the fact that they are discontinued.  Certain characters are easy to find on eBay (Midori is one of them), but the prices can get pretty steep.  If you aren't an eBay fan but you're still interested in bringing one of these dolls home, I recommend that you browse through your local antique marts, junk shops, consignment stores, and Goodwill.  I saw a second Midori during one of my more recent shopping sprees, so keep your eyes peeled.  You never know what you'll turn up.

Very truly yours,
RagingMoon1987