Throwback Thursday review: Hearts for Hearts Girls Mosi

Two hundred fiftieth post, y'all!  Yeah, yeah, I know these dolls have recently been re-released, but I didn't see my particular doll in the new lineup so why not review her?  This is Mosi, my Hearts for Hearts Girl.

Hearts for Hearts Girls (made by Playmates Toys) are a gaggle of multiracial, multicultural dolls that hail from various parts of the world that have fallen on hard times.  My favorite H4H doll Lauryce hails from New Orleans, for example, and her story deals with the ongoing fallout of Hurricane Katrina.  The dolls come with a full outfit, a little storybook, some items for the doll's hair, and a charm bracelet that can be worn by whoever owns the doll.  I think there's also some sort of donation that factors into the price of the doll too, but I can't remember exactly how that works.  Anywho, Mosi has been hanging around my place for a few years now, since...well, it wasn't too long after I'd heard tell of the line's discontinuation, but I can't remember how long ago that was.  The Target I went to (there's only two within a hundred-mile radius of Malden) only had Shola and Mosi, and only a handful of those (one of Shola, two of Mosi) were actually on the shelves.  Shola had beautiful amber eyes like Lauryce, but Mosi looks a lot like a friend I once had so I chose her instead.  Mosi is a little Native American girl, and according to her book she lives in New Mexico.  The name "Mosi" apparently means "cat" in Navajo, so a name like that would insinuate Mosi was once intended to be a Navajo herself.  I say "once" because the company apparently decided to market her as "Native American" rather than one specific tribe.  Uh...okay...no.  There's a lot of difference between a Navajo like Mosi, a Nez Perce like Kaya (American Girl), and an Inuit like Saila (Maplelea Girl).  They differ in location, in genetics, in language, in artistry, in cuisine...Lordy, I could go on forever!  Not a smart move on Playmates' part, but I don't know how many people caught it or were bothered by it.  I wouldn't even have known had I not read Nethilia's guest review on Miss Emily's blog; I would've just picked up Mosi's box, looked at the location that was marked on the box, and assumed that she was either Navajo or Pueblo.  And come to think of it, wouldn't it have been neat if she HAD been Pueblo???  I've seen Navajo Indians depicted a lot in the doll world, but not Pueblo.

Lordy, that was a tangent and a half!  Let's drop the politically-correct baloney and look at this doll.  Mosi is fourteen inches tall, meaning that she's quite a bit shorter than an American Girl doll (doll shown is Samantha) and taller than a Barbie.

Mosi is the perfect height to be a younger sister to an American Girl like Samantha, and indeed some people do that...as Kaya's younger sister, Mosi Aton'my.  Yeah...don't do that.  The suffix "-aton'my" is part of Kaya's first (and only) name, not her last name.  Calling Mosi "Mosi Aton'my" would be inaccurate to both tribes.  Sigh...and I promised I wouldn't be a historical accuracy Nazi like Daddy was (LOL).  Anywho, a doll of Mosi's scale would probably make a better sibling for a Carpatina doll like Ana Ming.  Ana Ming is more realistic than Samantha is, so she makes a better friend for Mosi...at least aesthetically. 

Truthfully, Mosi looks more like Ana Ming's cousin Julia than she does Ana Ming, but that doesn't really matter unless some little kid wanted to play siblings with a Carpatina doll and a Hearts for Hearts Girl.  To do that really well I'd pair Ana Ming with Tipi, and Mosi with the aforementioned Julia.  But I'm supposed to be discussing height, not dolly doppelgangers!  Oddly, the doll closest to Mosi in height would be Mirari, my Little Apple doll.

Now THAT is a bizarre pairing!  I thought it was bizarre when I reviewed Mirari, and I still think it's bizarre!  Height is about all these two have in common...and maybe hair color.  Mosi's hair is black, wavy, and rooted, and it isn't falling out in clumps like Mirari's is!

The fibers are soft and smooth, not as nice as American Girl hair, but nice enough.  Unfortunately this hair happens to be just long enough to tangle, so I keep it tied up.

On the left side of her head Mosi wears a single blue feather...a single blue PLASTIC feather, rubber-banded to her temple.

Nethilia was hot and bothered about that because the stock images show Mosi with a real feather in her hair, and the prototype appears to have a real feather as well.  I think the plastic feather looks tacky, but I also understand why Playmates made this change, because real feathers do not tend to hold up well in the hands of children.  Believe me, I played with feathers when I was a kid, and I did some of the dangedest things with them.  I put them in my mouth, for crying out loud!  My parents just LOVED it when I did that (NOT!!!).

Yeah...enough about what a weird little kid I was.  The front of Mosi's hair is cut short in bangs.  I knew from reviews and pictures that Mosi's bangs can be too short, so I picked one that had longer bangs.  They do hang unevenly, but at least they're not too short.

Now to eyes.

Hearts for Hearts Girls have eyes that are bad to just randomly...turn purple.  It's a pretty shade of purple, but it's unnatural and it's unfortunate, especially considering the gorgeous amber eyes that Surjan, Lauryce, and Shola are supposed to have, or the teal eyes that Dell has, or...let's face it, these dolls have pretty eyes when they're not turning purple, and Mosi is no exception.  But before I beat a dead horse by discussing color and quality, let's look at the paint.  Mosi has thick multi-stroke eyebrows in a neutral position.  They're not terribly unlike My Twinn eyebrows, but not quite as nice; they've got that mass-produced look.  They do have individual hairs, though.

Mosi's eye makeup is uneven, with her right eye having darker shadow than her left eye.  She's got short, dark eyelashes painted in, and some detail in the iris, right around the pupil.  The iris gets darker as it gets closer to the pupil, just like a real eye.

Like her H4H sisters, Mosi has pretty eyes, very much like my mother's.  Maybe they're a little darker than I'd have preferred (I really love Lauryce's eyes), but they're realistic and they don't look dead like Crissy's eyes do.  Mosi's eyes are the color that Xenia's USED to be, before Xenia's eyes turned magenta and I had to change them.  Yes, I'm going to bring that issue with My Twinn eyes up again, even if it is like a live jackass kicking a dead lion.  In case y'all forgot (it's been awhile), here's what Xenia looked two weeks after I got her.

...and how she compares to Mosi now.  Kindly ignore the missing eyelashes; I'm making preparations to change those eyes.

I had Xenia less than a year before I began noticing changes in her eyes, while Mosi has been around...I think it's been four years now, and her eyes are not showing any signs of turning...not yet, at least.  Mosi cost about half of what Xenia cost, AND I got Xenia for half-price!  If she'd been full-price Mosi would've cost a fourth of the expense.  Either way I slice it, Mosi has better eyes than Xenia did, even though Hearts for Hearts Girls were far more affordable than My Twinn dolls were.  Just let that sink in.

The rest of Mosi's face has a few passing similarities to Xenia's, though her mouth isn't lopsided.  It's a shiny brick red color, and the cheeks are blushed with the same color.  Her nose has a wide bridge.

H4H Girls came in several face shapes, evidenced by differences in nose, lip, and eye shapes, but that's all I know.  I can't say if individual molds have names like American Girl and My Twinn heads do.  If you read Nethila's review it's easy to see that Shola and Mosi differ (Shola's face is shaped more like Xenia's), and Dell and Tipi are easy to differentiate as well.  Rahel and Lauryce apparently have the same head however, so some sharing is done.

Let's look quickly at Mosi's profile.

Mosi has a flattish face, not as flat as Samantha's profile, but not as pronounced as Xenia's or Ana Ming's.  Her chin is short and her cheeks are full, though not babyish.  Also notice that Mosi's ears are pierced.

She's got silver plastic eagle earrings; these come out and are two pieces.  Obviously these are best removed before a small child plays with this doll.

Mosi can share earrings around with her fellow Hearts for Hearts Girls, but I don't know who else she can share them with.  If I go the custom route with an American Girl doll I may order pierced ears just for the point of experimenting.  Nethilia warns that some American Girl earrings don't work (I think the ones she used were Saige's), but I'd like to give it a whirl anyway, just for the say-so of it.  I could also cobble together some new dangles, given that Mosi's earrings are two pieces...or I can find some earrings meant for humans that are in the right gauge.  I think I read that these are...12-gauge???  If so, then some cute posts might work.

Under her clothes Mosi looks like this.

I think I read that these kids are supposed to be...twelve years of age?  If so, Mosi fits that bill pretty well.  Her torso has the very beginnings of female characteristics, with slightly developed breasts and the suggestion of a waist.

She's not overly sexualized though.  Some little girl dolls are made to look older than they are, but not Mosi!  Being vinyl all over, she does have some molded characteristics like a little bellybutton and some clavicles.

Being a little on the small side probably meant that Playmates couldn't take a lot of liberties with molding, and as a result Mosi has simple little hands.  Her fingers are connected, and her thumb is separate.  She does have little fingernails visible though, which is more than I can say for some dolls her size.

Mosi's feet are molded in a similar way, with defined but not separated toes and little nails.

Mosi's feet are completely flat by the way, so she can stand up easily with or without shoes.

Mosi has the five joints that 99% of my dolls have:  shoulder, shoulder, hip, hip, neck, and they're all strung.

Her neck is both the best and the worst of these joints, being able to tip and pivot in all directions.

That, combined with Mosi's lifelike eyes, makes for some very realistic poses.  The problem is that this neck joint is loose, and it always has been.  When I leave Mosi alone for longer than a couple of days, she tends to stand like this.

This can be endearing at times and annoying at times, particularly when I'm trying to pose her!

Regarding posing, Mosi keeps up with her American Girl compadres pretty well, and there are certain poses that she can do better.  She can look up and down, for example.  None of my American Girls can.  Kindly ignore Samantha's wardrobe change here; it's not even September and she's already excited for Halloween.

Okay, that's a Day of the Dead dress rather than a Halloween dress.  I tend to associate the two with one another.  Anywho, Mosi can gawk at Samantha's unseasonable choice of attire, but Samantha can't gawk back unless I find some way to balance her with her hips bent.  Indeed, very few of my larger dolls can cock their heads.  Rael (23-inch My Twinn) can, due to her internally jointed body...

...as can Alissa (Madame Alexander-era My Life), who has a ball-and-socket neck...

...and Ana Ming (Carpatina), who is strung like Mosi and also has a ball-and-socket neck.

Mosi has an edge over Alissa and Ana Ming though, as she can look up without her eyes falling half-shut.  Since Alissa and Ana Ming have sleep eyes they can't tip their heads back too far without looking sleepy, like so.

The drawback to a neck like this is that Mosi always wants to look up, as I noted above.  Mosi is not without problems elsewhere, either; in addition to the head that constantly wants to tip back, she has a hard time standing up straight.  If I want Mosi to stand upright I have to bend her hips a bit so that she leans forward.  Again, this is eerily similar to the way Xenia stands.

Xenia and Mosi have a surprising amount of similarities.  I didn't see that coming!

That covers the body, so now let's move on to other things that cover the body:  clothes and shoes.  Hearts for Hearts Girls come in simple but full little outfits, and Mosi is no exception.

H4H Girls have an interesting pattern to their clothes.  If the doll is wearing jeans, shorts, leggings, or pants of any sort, then she doesn't get any undies, but if she's wearing a dress she does get undies.  Mosi is wearing a dress, but she also has a pair of leggings so no drawers for her.  Her dress is a high-waisted A-line dress with gathered elbow-length sleeves and a skirt that ends slightly above the knee.  It closes in the back with Velcro and has an elasticized waist.

The fabric itself is red with white diamonds and rhomboid lines printed on.

It's printed all the way around, like all good doll clothes are.

If it weren't for the cute little added-on embellishments, that would be where I moved on, but Mosi's dress has some extra little details that help make it special.  The collar of her dress is decorated with a gathered strip of red and white gingham fabric, the edges of which have been left raw to give it a nice rustic look.  This decoration is sewn on with turquoise thread.

This strip extends diagonally across Mosi's chest, giving the illusion of a kimono top to her dress.

A similar band of gingham trim adorns the hem of the skirt.

Ringing the waist is this slender belt, made out of turquoise satin ribbon.  It's sewn into the dress in multiple places, and it has a plastic "buckle."

Mosi's tights are calf-length and are made of stretchy cream and gray knit fabric.  They're very simple tights, but they're very versatile too.

The boots are the weakest part of Mosi's outfit.  They've got some nice details on the sides...

...and the soles...

...but they are ridiculously hard to get on and off.  The plastic is thick and stiff, and the slits in the back don't help much.

Key word:  much.  They do help some, but I wish Playmates had stuck with the faux leather goods pictured on the prototype.  Those probably wouldn't have been such a bear to deal with.

All Hearts for Hearts Girls come with bracelets of some kind.  Some have rainbow-colored bangles, some (like Nahji) have specialized bracelets that fit their character, and some have a single silver heart bracelet.  Mosi has the latter, I assume because it matches her earrings.

The plastic is flexible but not brittle, so I can bend this enough to get it off of Mosi's wrist if I need to.  I think I have it upside down, but I used to wear my bracelets upside down when I was a kid so I'm leaving Mosi's bracelet like it is for now.

Lastly, the necklace.

This actually is supposed to be a bracelet for the child, and indeed I have worn it a couple of times, but usually I just drape it around Mosi's neck and let that be that.  It consists of two plastic hearts on an adjustable cord.  The blue heart has the Hearts for Hearts logo on it, and the black heart has some sort of cutesy little message on it.

Mosi also came with a comb and a hairband, but the hairband broke and I never use the comb, so that's that.  I don't have much in my dolly wardrobe that Mosi can wear (it's all too big), so she usually just wears her stock outfit.  There is one outfit though that does fit, that being the infamous B.F.C. Ink outfit.

I discussed Mosi's ability to wear this once, but that post was an eon ago so here's Mosi in it again.

Tam tried this very same outfit (or the top, at least) on her Zelia doll and was satisfied with the results, and I have to say that I'm satisfied as well.  The shoes are too big for Mosi's feet, and the whole outfit is a bit loose, but it's nothing that anyone would notice.  If I had any gripes it would be those shorts; they need a belt.

Easy fix.  Belts are probably the easiest thing to make for a doll.  But other than the B.F.C. Ink outfit I've got very little that Mosi can wear...for now, at least.  According to Dotsydoodle, Hearts for Hearts Girls can wear WellieWishers clothes, right down to the cute little boots that the Wellies wear, so I may be hitting up that American Girl site sooner than I thought.  TwirlingTulip would look particularly striking with Mosi's dark hair and skin; I'm a sucker for a brunette in yellow.  And of course, there's always Etsy!

Oh yes, I forgot to discuss the little storybook that Mosi came with.  All of these dolls come with storybooks, but Mosi's is silly, I think.  Some of the other dolls (Shola and Nahji in particular) discuss the hardships they've faced and what they did to better themselves, but Mosi's story doesn't go into that.  It's just a fluffy story about ranch life, a wild horse that Mosi wants to make friends with, and a grandmother that refuses to leave the reservation.  Yeah...compare that to Shola, who joins a circus/school that allows her to work and learn, or Nahji, who encourages her family to get an education and raise ducks to supplement their income.  They're simple little things that any child can do to help out, and I wish Mosi's story had been more like that. 

That's about all I have to say about Mosi, so let's wrap it up.

BAD
*Parts of the paint job look mass-produced.  The lips are okay, but the eyebrows are crude and the eyeshadow is uneven.
*Earrings are perfect for choking on, so remove those if the doll is for a small child.
*Hair can tangle if not properly maintained
*Eyes can turn purple, though my doll's eyes show no sign of this yet.
*Shoes are very difficult to get off.
*Joints are not terrible, but not great either.
*Storybook that came with her is dumb.

GOOD
*Not overly sexualized or made up; Mosi is supposed to be a regular twelve-year-old and she looks the part.
*Hair is soft and smooth, and can be easily combed if it does tangle.
*Eyes are expressive and are a lovely color.  I pray that they won't turn.
*Earrings can be replaced and switched around, provided one has the correct gauge.
*Clothes are simple, but detailed and well-made.  The dress is particularly cute.
*Can share clothes and shoes with American Girl's new WellieWishers.
*Joints are not great, but not terrible either.
*Affordable, more so than other Native American playline dolls that I can name

I guess it might have been wise in the long run to get one of the reissued dolls and see if there are any differences between the old and the new...but I didn't do that and I don't WANT to do that, so I'm just going to say that these are cute dolls and go for a good cause.  I doubt most children will pay any attention to the cause (I certainly didn't when I was a tyke), so let's sum this up.  Mosi's posing is quirky (particularly in the neck area), and her hair is the type that could tangle like mad if not properly maintained.  Keep plastic combs a mile away from this chick's head, y'all!  The shoes are annoyingly hard to remove too, and the eyes have a penchant for turning colors, though not quite to the extent that later My Twinn eyes did.  Lastly...that storybook is dumb as all get out.  Nethilia mentioned that the weakest part of Mosi was that book, and I agree.  Otherwise Mosi is a cute doll, one that provides a nice, affordable alternative to more pricey Native dolls like Kaya and Saila.  She's smaller than both American Girls and Maplelea Girls, but not so small that she wouldn't be good for a game of make-believe.  She can wear and share WellieWishers clothes, always a plus, and she's got a cute face that looks more lively than those of the more expensive dolls.  I think those inset eyes may be what helps her look more alive, though they can also make her look dazed if her head is not positioned correctly.  In short, these are okay if you or your kid needs a good dolly fix, or if you want something that fits your ethnic background.  If Mosi doesn't fit that bill, she's got plenty of little friends that will, friends from places as diverse as Ethiopia, Brazil, Belarus, India, and...LAOS???  When's the last time y'all heard of a doll from Laos (Tipi is Laotian)?  That's a nice demographic, y'all!  This line is definitely worth looking into if y'all haven't done so already.

Hugs, kisses, and cookies,
RagingMoon1987