Throwback Thursday review: Sasha Redhead #108

It's Sasha's turn, y'all!  Here's the first picture I took of her, back in early May.

Here's how she looks right now; I've not yet dressed her for winter, as winter has been mild.

Sasha and last week's doll Nancy represent sort of a milestone in my life, as they are the last dolls I bought before this coronavirus crap got really bad.  They represent my naivete in believing the virus would blow over soon, and the little freedoms that I took for granted at the time and now dearly miss.  So owning these two has been a hair bittersweet for me.  Nancy remains ignorant to the situation, but Sasha seems to understand.

Owning Sasha has been quite a learning experience!  Doll Reader, my teenage go-to for dolly info, never ran an article on Sasha during my subscription period, so I never really learned about her, or rather them, until just here recently.  It turns out that "Sasha" is the name for the line as a whole, with the name coming from their creator, a German woman named Sasha Morganthaler.  Sasha dolls have apparently existed from 1945 onward, but they didn't really become playthings until the 1960's or so.  When they did become playthings they were popular enough to spawn at least one clone (the short-lived, unauthorized, less attractive Moni).  Sasha dolls of the 60's and 90's were German-made, while the dolls in between were mostly British, with the latter being the case for my Sasha.  Her tag, which is no longer attached to her wrist, confirms this.

I don't know what "serie" is all about, but it apparently is fairly important for Sasha dolls.  The underside of her tag has the Sasha logo, which looks a little like the RAF logo, or the Who's logo, take your pick.

The RAF and the Who are both soundly British, but Sasha's logo stays the same whether she's English-made or German-made.  Tangent aside, since my doll is English-made she dates from between 1966 to 1986, meaning that she's...well, old enough to be considered retro or maybe vintage.  She came with her box, though it was in pretty rough shape.  The eBay seller warned of this, stating that the doll stood the test of time well, but the box did not.

Fair enuff, since I don't keep my dolls NRFB anyway.  Sasha Morganthaler wanted her dolls to be played with, and that's what I plan on doing.  I did photograph the sides and top of the box before I tossed it though, because these areas were/are decorated with black and white images of other Sasha dolls of varying colors and genders.  The early Sasha lines had four characters:  Sasha (light girl), Gregor (light boy), Cora (dark girl), and Caleb (dark boy).  Thus the dolls on the lid of the box would likely be Gregor and Sasha.

The dolls on one side of the box appear to be another Gregor, three more Sashas, and Cora.

And the other side of the box has Caleb, three more Sashas, and another Gregor.

Sasha and Gregor varied wildly in appearance, having multiple eye and hair colors, while Caleb and Cora did not.  I adore Caleb, by the way; he reminds me a little of Franklin from Peanuts.  The names remained fairly consistent until Gotz took over and began naming all the dolls based on their hair and eye colors.  Since my doll is not a Gotz doll and apparently has no official name.  She's just Sasha Redhead #108 in a white dress, dating from 1979 to 1986, and not to be confused with the long cool woman in the black dress.  Note the price tag, by the way; I ended up paying twice the original asking price, which is still pretty cheap for a Sasha doll.

I saw the names "Angela" and "Marianne" attached to the red-haired Gotz Sasha dolls, but I don't think my doll is either of them since Angela has unusual blue eyes with a brown border, and Marianne has unusual green eyes with a brown border.  Plus, my doll isn't even a Gotz doll!  I owe a debt of gratitude to Debbie Behan Garrett (author of Black Doll Collecting) for helping me pin down my doll's name, by the way; I ran into Miss Debbie on a My Twinn group on Failbook and we spent an evening comparing our Sasha dolls to Gotz Angela.  Thank you, Miss Debbie, for helping me out!  That was last May, but I haven't forgotten it!  It turns out that Miss Debbie also has a pair of Sasha #108s in her collection, one of whom was a bit of a fixer-upper and made over very nicely.  Anyway, given my growing penchant for naming my dolls these elaborate Bob Geldof-style names, my intention was to name my doll "Sasha Angela Marianne" to pay tribute to Angela and Marianne.  But when I introduced her to Mama I accidentally called her "Sasha Angela Marguerite," which Mama liked better.  So "Sasha Angela Marguerite" she is.  Sasha dolls come in child, toddler, and baby sizes, with Sasha Angela Marguerite being child-sized.  She is between Camille (Wellie Wisher) and Silver Bird (American Girl) in size.

As I noted before Sasha is supposed to be seventeen inches, but my doll is a tiny bit shorter than the allegedly sixteen-inch Nancy.

Y'all may remember that I like redheads, and that was...well, it was part of the reason why I chose this Sasha over others (her reasonable price was the other, LOL).  Yes, Sasha has red hair, and she also has a LOT of hair.  A lot of nylon hair, which can be either a blessing or a curse.  Hairstyles can vary with these dolls (Wibke has Molly-style pigtails, for example), but my Sasha wears her hair down, with heavy bangs up front and loose curls at the ends.

The ribbon is my addition.  My Sasha almost always wears a ribbon, except when she's in her hat.

Her hair is soft, smooth hair with no tangles, but it does require a little maintenance to stay tidy.  In other words, typical of higher-quality nylon; a little bit finicky, but not a tangled nightmare like low-quality nylon hair is.  The root job is so-so, and since Sasha got squashed a little during shipment her bangs want to part, showing the roots there.  

Sometimes when bangs get squashed it's a chore to make them behave again, but in Sasha's case an occasional brushing with my trusty dog brush has worked wonders.  As a final little tidbit, Sasha dolls sometimes go bald as time goes by.  I think this is dominantly a problem with the brunette dolls, but just the same I'll keep an eye on my doll's hair and make sure it doesn't fall out.  Rewigging Sasha wouldn't be thunderously hard, but I don't want to do it because her current hair is too pretty!

Here's the face that Sasha fans know so well.

Sedate, placid...blank.  LOL, Sasha's neutral expression is off-putting to some, but it turns out that there's a reason for that expression.  As a child Sasha Morganthaler wasn't a huge fan of dolls that smiled constantly while she was sad or angry (I'll bet she didn't like Dewees Cochran dolls), and she worried that children who'd survived horrors of the second World War wouldn't relate to smiling dolls either.  Thus she designed her dolls with a neutral expression, one ready to take on whatever emotion the child projected onto it.  Sound familiar???  The same idea is utilized today for Waldorf dolls!  Did the creators of Waldorf dolls get the idea from Sasha?  I haven't yet found any sources saying so, but I love how Sasha and Zlata were both created with the same premise in mind.  And yet they're so different!  Sasha is hard all over and has fiber hair, while Zlata is soft and has yarn hair.

Zlata isn't the best example of the idea presented above since I sewed a big smile on her face, but Waldorf dolls often have a neutral expression like Sasha (or no face at all), kinda like these dolls.  I'll admit that I found Sasha's face boring when I first saw a picture of one, but I've since grown to like it.  There's a gentle sincerity about Sasha's expression that I find comforting, and keep in mind that I am NOT this doll's target audience!  My other dolls largely remain in a bubble of innocence, as I noted above with Nancy, but Sasha knows how insane the world is.

Nancy:  "Why so glum, chum?"

Sasha:  "My adopted country is run by idiots."

Yes it is, Sasha, and it's gonna get worse.  As an aside, Sasha's face reminds me (albeit vaguely) of the faces on some of Annette Himstedt's dolls (which I unsurprisingly covet, LOL).  Not all Himstedt dolls have neutral expressions, but the ones that do look a little like Sasha to me, with their relaxed eyes and calm mouths.  Annette Himstedt is German, so maybe she got her inspiration from Sasha...and maybe she didn't.  Again, I've found no evidence supporting or denying this, but I do see a bit of a resemblance between Sasha and an older Himstedt doll like Klarchen or Max.  Some of the later dolls, like Marthy, Tetti and Tinke, break that mold a little or a lot with their smiles. 

Now that that's out of the way, Sasha dolls can have eyes in a number of colors, but my doll's eyes are brown with thick black (black???) eyebrows.  The eyebrows are a teensy bit off-kilter, but not terribly so.

I once believed that red hair and blue eyes were a rare combo, but Tam at Planet of the Dolls set me straight on that.  It turns out that red hair and brown eyes is rarer, so I always am pleased when I find a doll with that combo, as there don't seem to be many out there like that (indeed, most of my redheaded dolls have blue or green eyes).  Some of these older dolls have hand-painted eyes, but mine were done by a machine.  Thank God, the pupils are round.

I say this because some Sasha dolls have sea urchin pupils, and sea urchin pupils tend to look like soul-sucking little holes.  Don't believe me?  Check out Muriel and my old Li'l Gumdrops.  Muriel doesn't look as bad as the Li'l Gumdrops do, but her eyes do freak me out a teensy bit.  Sasha Angela Marguerite's eyes do not.  For the record, Sasha eyes have a number of terms attached to them, usually in reference to how they're painted.  Puddle eyes, raised lids, Tampa printed eyes, quirky brows, star eyes (these are what I like to call sea urchin pupils), radiating irises (these are beautiful and rare)...it gets a hair confusing, but fellow Sasha fans are willing to help a noob like me out.  My doll has Tampa eyes, which are a little sharper than puddle eyes but not as detailed as those with radiating irises.

Brief discussion about face variations:  I mentioned raised eyelids and quirky brows above, but those are seen on babies only.  Full-sized dolls and toddlers don't have those.  Also, raised lids are actually molded onto the doll rather than painted, and they can thus be felt with a fingertip.  See how my doll's eye area is completely flat?

I'll also note that it's easy to see the pixels in this eye up close, but from a normal distance the eyes look fine.  The rest of the face is about par for the course for the Sasha dolls I've seen.  My doll has a wide nose with an unusual flat bridge, and subtle pink lips.  As with the eyes the paint job doesn't look great up close, but from a normal distance it looks fine.

Again, some of these dolls have molding variations, stuff like flat noses or flat upper lips, and the earliest dolls have hand-painted faces, but my doll doesn't have any of that.  She's as run-of-the-mill as a Sasha doll can be!  Not that she's ugly, of course!  She's just got the face that most Sasha dolls have, one that's easily recognizable and versatile.  I had assumed that as simple as these dolls' faces are that there wouldn't be so much terminology involved, but that's what I get for thinking, LOL!  I haven't even touched on all the terms yet; this group on Facebook is good for learning the terms.

Here's a brief look at Sasha's ears.  They're pretty simplistic, just like her face.

Time to disrobe Sasha now, and take a look at her body.

Remember when I spoke of Nancy having an unusual skin tone?  Sasha puts her to shame.

Sasha is supposed to have an ambiguous skin tone, which I have mixed feelings about since the dolls look like they have nuclear tans.  Anyway, Sasha is all-vinyl like a Carpatina doll, and she has five joints:  neck, shoulders, hips.  Her neck is a socket neck, like some bisque doll necks and like the necks of Living Dead Dolls.

The stringing in her hips looks like this.  It's hard to see, but there's a metal hook connecting the string to an attachment site inside Sasha's hip.

The hip joints drive me crazy, because they keep wanting to turn out like this.

I think the legs are supposed to fit like this (Sasha has almost no toes, by the way)...

...but they never stay that way.  As a result Sasha's feet always turn out.

Rather like my own feet, actually!  Y'all have no doubt run into folks that were pigeon-toed, but I happen to be duck-footed, a trait that I inherited from my father.  My parents urged me to turn my feet in when I walked, but if I did I lost my balance!  My knees also turn outwards, so the problem is likely in the hip, just like it is with Sasha.  Like me, Sasha is not particularly steady on her feet, as she tips over backwards if I don't get her legs placed just right.  So I'm not in love with Sasha's hips, though they aren't all bad.  Getting her into a seated position is a cinch, for example. 

I can't say that about all of my dolls (Wendy!  Xenia!  Nancy!).  As an added bonus, Sasha's arms are long enough to hold her up, meaning that I can seat her without having to brace her back against something.  Sasha's arms are strung like her legs are, and they're a tiny bit loose, though not frustratingly so.

Her arms are a little noodle-like in comparison to the thick arms of an American Girl doll (note that Justine-Marie now has a diagnosed shellfish allergy).

Sasha's elbows are slightly bent, and also a little asymmetrical.  One elbow points out a little, and the other points straight back.

The hands remind me a little of ice cream scoops.  They have four vaguely defined fingers and a separate thumb.

The right hand has a few shallow creases across the palm, but the left one does not.

The hands are the perfect shape and size to hold onto a fingertip.

Sasha Morganthaler may have designed these hands for that very purpose.  Little girls do like to hold the hands of their dolls, after all!  As a funny little aside, Tam once had a very pretty Italian doll named Bettina, and Bettina had/has hands just like Sasha's, with the addition of some peachy nail polish that Sasha doesn't have.  To my great amusement Tam referred to Bettina's hands as "man hands," and despite my laughter at the term I have to agree that Sasha's hands are a little masculine.  For Sasha that makes sense, as this body was used for both boy and girl dolls, but why would a doll as pretty as Bettina have hands like this???  Maybe there was some sharing or borrowing or STEALING of molds between toy companies?  I dunno.  Bettina gives me an idea for clothes sharing, by the way, as Tam's Bettina was clad in an Ideal Crissy dress.  Of course I don't know of Sasha and Bettina's bodies are carbon copies of each other, but let's just set Crissy clothes aside for the moment and focus on Sasha again.  Sasha dolls come fully dressed, and my girl is no exception.

Sasha sometimes pairs her dress with the cardigan I made late last May, and she always wears a straw hat from Starberry Chic, but I won't be reviewing those items since they didn't come with her. 

Making nice things for Sasha has proven a bit challenging since there's not a lot of patterns for her, but Sasha Doll Style and Ravelry have some nice things.  Anyway, Sasha's stock outfit consists of the dress, tights, and shoes.  Rather simple and versatile, just like Sasha herself.  Unfortunately the dress holds one of the few disappointments I had with this doll, as it is stained in a few places, presumably due to age.

The stains don't show up too badly in pictures; indeed, the dress looks pristine in most of the pictures I've taken.  The sash has also yellowed along the folds.

Nothing a spin in THE PICKLE JAR OF DESPAIR won't cure.  Water, soap, and a few ice cubes to serve as a not-so-harsh agitator.  Shake.  Leave for a day or so.  Rinse.  Repeat with clean water until all the soap is gone.  Let dry inside a soft, clean towel.  DO NOT WRING.  Voila, clean dress!  But before I do all that I've got to talk about the dress.  It's a plain white dress with frills at the armholes...

...and a wider ruffle on the skirt.

For the most part the interior of the dress looks okay, with the exception of this area near the back hem of the skirt.

The back closes with...oh yuck, Velcro!

I would've thought that a doll like this would utilize snaps, but then again snaps are not the most kid-friendly clothes fasteners (keep in mind that Sasha was supposed to be a child's companion).  But then again, tights aren't the most kid-friendly item either, and yet Sasha is wearing a pair.

The elastic is yellowed, but it did not stain Sasha's waist.  Remember that that was a problem with my Little Apple Doll.

Sasha's shoes are plain black faux-leather flats (black?  why not white?) with stiff soles. 

I've already had to glue one sole back onto the shoe.  I don't know if the glue shows or not, but I had to get 'er done.  Tacky glue to the rescue!  Despite a little staining and a shoe that needs repairs I'm thankful that Sasha is as well-dressed as she is, as extra clothes can be both hard to find and expensive.  I was able to find a few nice things on eBay and Etsy, but for the most part Sasha is stuck wearing stuff I can cobble together for her, and items that other dolls wear.  Luckily, Sasha can fit into the clothes of some other dolls.  This jumpsuit is an A Girl for All Time outfit, for example (Etsy shop is Judy's Doll Boutique).  I don't yet own an A Girl for All Time doll, so buying this outfit was a bit of a gamble.

Luckily the gamble paid off!  The back closes with two snaps, and the bottom snap is a little tight but not prohibitively so.

The shoes are also AGFAT shoes (more items from Starberry Chic), and while I had a little trouble slipping the back straps over her heels, they fit nicely.

Sasha can even stand in these shoes, a good thing since her balance is not the greatest.

Another link I found stated that Magic Attic dolls have bodies similar to Sasha, and that in turn has left me hoping that Sasha can wear Ana Ming's clothes (Carpatina and the Magic Attic dolls are similar in size).  Ana Ming is taller and has thicker arms and legs than Sasha, but it's still worth a shot.

Since Ana Ming is taller her dresses are long on Sasha (thee blue dress is almost ballgown-length on her) but they fit across the bodice and in the sleeves almost perfectly.  Even the shoes fit!  I wasn't expecting that, but they do.

I have my doubts about Crissy and Velvet clothes since the sleeves are awfully slim.  But...

Crissy's dress (left) is almost perfect, but is a little tight around the waist.  Velvet's yellow dress is a little short and uniformly tight all over, though I was able to get the snaps to snap.  I'd put Crissy clothes on Sasha in a pinch, but for the sake of Velvet's clothes I'm calling her stuff a no-go.

While I was rooting through Ana Ming's stuff I found this old outfit that was sized for BFF Barbie.  I remember trying it on both Crissy and Ana Ming and not loving it on either one, so for shizzles here's how it looks on Sasha.

Back in 2015 I called this outfit "too worldly" for Ana Ming and Crissy, and I don't think it really suits Sasha either...but it fits.  The top is a little bit big, but if I tuck it into the skirt it's no big deal.  Shame these outfits have long since been discontinued.  But yeah, there are cost-effective options out there if one looks in the right place.  Typing the query "Sasha doll clothes" into Etsy will get you some very nice but very expensive things, while looking for Carpatina or A Girl for All Time is a bit more cost-effective...if one avoids brand-name Carpatina clothes, that is!  Carpatina's items have not gotten any cheaper in the years since I bought Ana Ming, thus brand-name clothes from there are more of a splurge than a steal, even secondhand.

Now, briefly, stuff that DOESN'T work for Sasha!  Nancy's dress was too tight, as we saw last week...

...as are Wellie Wisher clothes.  This dress looked fine from the front, but it comes nowhere near closing in the back.

Despite evidence to the contrary, B.F.C. Ink outfits are not always a good fit for Sasha.  This one is tight all over, and the skirt won't close in the back.  I do have another outfit with a looser top and short shorts, but it's in storage.  When I find it again I'll try it on Sasha.

American Girl stuff is way too big.

Probably a decent tailor could take an American Girl outfit in and make it work, but I'm not a decent tailor and don't want to ruin that cute shirt.

I think that pretty well clears it.

BAD

*Nylon hair.  Not bad necessarily, but it's hard to keep this hair under control.
*Blank face might put some off (like it did initially for me).

*These hips drive me nuts!  I can't keep this poor doll's feet together!
*Dress came stained, and I had to glue one shoe back together.  Both of these problems are age-related.
*Can't share clothes with American Girls or Wellie Wishers.  In this day and age AG dolls are everything, so dolls that can't wear their clothes are a minor problem.
*Discontinued, and thus EXPENSIVE!!!

GOOD

*Smooth all over!  I didn't mention this in the body review, but Sasha is very pleasing to the touch.
*Hair is finicky, but not impossible to maintain.  It just needs a brushing here and there.
*My doll's strings are still tight, thank God.  I hate restringing dolls.
*Fully clad in a fairly kid-friendly outfit, though I'd advise some care when dealing with the tights.
*Can wear some A Girl For All Time clothes, though I haven't tried any brand-name stuff on this doll yet.  Brand-name Carpatina outfits do work, shoes and all.

Oh, I love my Sasha!  I say that about a lot of my dolls, but I really do love this one.  She was my constant companion last summer, and she still makes a lot of appearances at my workplace.  But let me push aside my love for a minute and wrap this up.  Sasha's creator intended this doll for children, but times have changed and I don't think Sasha is a suitable toy for today's gaggle of destructive little brats.  Sasha is not easily obtainable anyway, either as toys or as collectibles.  I got my girl for a steal, and she was still expensive.  Also, Sasha can't share clothes with American Girls.  I shouldn't make a big deal about that, but these days most doll clothes are made with either AG or Wellie Wishers in mind, and thus any doll who can't share with them is at a bit of a disadvantage.  Never fear though, as I was able to find some nice options for my Sasha; A Girl For All Time clothes, some Crissy items, and most Carpatina items should work.  Overall I'm not sorry I spent a Benjamin on my Sasha, and I recommend her to anyone that can find her.

Much love,
RagingMoon1987