Throwback Thursday review: Dolly Darlings by Hasbro

"T'was the day before Christmas.
Though it was December, 
Everyone around
Was discussing the weather." 
--semi-original poem, written by Clement Clarke Moore and me

No joke, it feels more like early April than Christmas, and part of my area has the scars to show for it.  It's been almost two weeks now, and my town received NO DAMAGE, but just the same most of the talk around Malden is still "the tornado, the tornado, the latest on the tornado."  The event has been confirmed to be two tornadoes, both rated EF4, both from the same supercell.  The first one tracked eighty miles from Monette, Arkansas to just inside the Tennessee line.  The peak intensity was at Braggadocio, Missouri, a little bitty place that got hit hard in 2006.  Six people died, including one person at Monette's nursing home and a little girl in Braggadocio.  The girl's mother (a friend of one of my friends) is still at Elvis Presley Medical Center with head trauma, and I don't think the doctors are sure how much she'll recover.  The second tornado stretched at least 163 miles from Woodland Mills, Tennessee to Breckenridge County, Kentucky.  Mayfield, Kentucky was hardest hit, with around fifty fatalities, while the communities of Dawson Springs and Bremen each lost eleven.  Eight people died at the candle factory in Mayfield, and the scuttlebutt is that the factory wouldn't let its employees leave when the bad weather approached (the factory denies this, of course).  The path length surpasses the prior second-longest path, measured in Indiana in 1974, but does not break the 219-mile record set by the Tri-State Tornado.  The death toll of seventy-six IS record-breaking, surpassing the 1953 Vicksburg, Mississippi tornado as December's deadliest tornado.  The toll also ties with Kentucky's other deadliest tornado, which hit Louisville in 1890.  Since this was a nighttime event there aren't a lot of images or videos, but Reed Timmer got some spectacular stills and footage of the Monette tornado, and according to KAIT Jeff Piotrowski was on the chase as well.  Even now, two weeks AFTER the tornado, the weather continues to be weird.  See how warm Christmas Day is gonna be???  I won't need a coat!

Geeking out over, I stumbled across these small, somewhat goofy dolls during one of my many eBay browsing sessions.  She's a Dolly Darlings doll.  I solemnly swear that I did NOT steal the idea to review these from Tam this time, but she reviewed Honey and John some years back.  I didn't steal this time, Tam!  I swear to it...though admittedly I did turn to your post for information as I often do.  Tam's pictures are always a trillion times better than mine anyway.  But that said, my doll's name is "Tea Time."

These were oft referred to as hatbox dolls rather than pocketbook dolls (Jan was a pocketbook doll).  The moniker "hatbox doll" was a good one, because the first wave's packaging resembled a hatbox!  Members of the first wave have/had molded hair and included six characters, and each character had a number of accessories.  Later dolls had rooted hair and were packaged either in a box, on a card, or in a "room."  One of them was the Flying Nun, LOL!  I don't guess the Dolly Darlings were terribly successful because they were only out for four years, and I don't think they're terribly collectible either since they can be found on eBay for pretty cheap.  Anyway, Tea Time, or simply "Darling," as I call her, is a small doll, smaller than Mattel Chelsea and way smaller than Mini Molly, whose glasses I neglected to straighten.

Now, hair.  Darling...I don't really like that name either.  Hmmm...she's a tea party-themed doll.  Black, white, oolong, and green teas all come from a plant called Camillia sinensis, so maybe "Camillia" would be a better name...or maybe just "Camilla."  Yeah, that fits her.  Anyway, Camilla is one of the later dolls and thus has rooted hair.  Rooted blonde hair, more specifically.

Had I known that there were red-haired Dolly Darlings I'd have put out more of an effort to find Honey, Tam O'Shanter, Outdoor Sporty or Boy Trap #2, since they all had red hair.  But as with the Rock Flowers I ended up with a blonde.  The hair looks good when it's lying flat...

...but boy, was I in for a surprise when I lifted the hair to look at the root job!  Camilla has hair on the crown of her head...and nowhere else!

The few roots Camilla does have are...meh.  Two rows of widely spaced plugs, though the plugs have plenty of hair.  If I hadn't looked at her hairline I'd never have known how sparse her hair actually is, because it looks good.

These dolls have goofy faces.  Or rather, the girls did.  John, the lone boy, has a big, closed smile, while the girls have these open-mouthed faces with a single tooth painted in.  CraftyDollGal calls the faces cherubic, but I'd compare those chubby cheeks and rounded lips more to a fish.  Here's Camilla's face.

Her paint is all there, which is more than I can say for John.  John had molded eyebrows, but sometimes the poor laddie didn't get any paint for them!  Camilla's eyes are aqua blue and are glancing to the side, like so.  She has light brown eyebrows that are neither molded on nor lacking paint (unlike John, LOL), and slightly darker brown lashes that don't look as harsh as Kleo Kola's did.  She also has a fair amount of grit in there, so time to trot out the toothbrush and the canned air.

The mouth needs cleaning too.  It doesn't help that I don't like these mouths anyway, as the painted tooth reminds me of some of those dumber Cabbage Patch Kid heads.  The paint job isn't terrible, though; Camilla has pink lips and spots of paint to suggest teeth and a tongue.

I know of some folks who like these mouths, but I just don't care for them.  I like my dolls smiling...or pouting, like Poppy Parker.

Camilla's body is built like a child's body, with a flat chest and only the suggestion of a waist.  She has five joints:  neck, shoulder, shoulder, hip, hip.

Camilla's neck only rotates, turning from side to side.

I reread a couple of Miss Emily's old blog posts, and both the Hi:Glamm dolls and the City Girls looked up as their heads were turned all the way around.  Just for the heckuvit I checked Camilla's rotation and she looks up too, though not as much as Hi:Glamm Pam did.

Also just for the heckuvit I took Camilla's head off to see how hard it was.  It's not thunderously hard; rebodying is a definite possibility with these dolls, though I don't know what other bodies these heads could take.  I may have to get a teeny-weeny Obitsu body and get back to y'all on that.

Camilla's shoulders only rotate.  She can look like she's marching...

...or like she's conducting an orchestra.

There's an indention around Camilla's waist, and at first glance it looks like a joint.  But...it's not.  I don't know why it's there, unless it's to keep Camilla's panties from sliding down.  More on that later.

Camilla's hips only rotate, and because they're cut at an angle the mobility sucks.  I haven't seen a sitting position this bad since I reviewed the Stilettos.  

Little Spanish dancer, do the splits!  Yeesh, I hate it when dolls have hips like that, though I should probably be glad that such a small doll has hip joints at all.  Anyway, sometimes dolls this small wear low-quality or painted on clothes, but Camilla is dressed in a full little outfit...well, sort of.  Her dress and panties are fabric and are removable.

The interior of the dress is impeccable for any dolly garment, but for something this size it's phenomenal.  There's not a loose end anywhere.

Time has sadly had its way with the bodice of this dress, as there's a tiny rip in the top and some wear around the sleeves.  I didn't show this, but y'all may be able to see that the ribbon around the waist is backed in vinyl.  I assume that was done to extend the life of the ribbon.

The skirt is a little yellowed too, but for delicate material it's held up well.  The hem of the skirt is trimmed with a nice lace edging.  There are two layers to the skirt, and they both have this edging.  I like that; sometimes the underlayer doesn't get the royal treatment like the outer layer does.

Camilla's panties are a little worse for wear, as dolly undergarments sometimes are, but it's still possible to see how well they're sewn and hemmed.  The elastic has relaxed some over the years, so these panties don't always want to stay up!

Since she is so small it's a given that Camilla would have some painted items.  Her gloves are painted on...

...as are her shoes and socks.  All of these items have some chips and scratches, as a doll this age will inevitably have.

I forgot to show this above, but the dress closes in back with one teeny-weeny little snap.  I love it when doll clothes have snaps!

Since Camilla is smaller than Chelsea and Mini Molly clothes sharing is out.  I'll have to dig my Yummi-Land doll out and see if she can share clothes and then get back to y'all on that.  But for now it's time to wrap this up.

BAD
*Hair rooting isn't great for restyling, though that's not a tremendous issue.
*I'm not in love with these dolls' faces, though that's just me.
*Paint is starting to chip, though that's age-related.
*I'm unsure about clothes sharing, but Chelsea and miniature American Girls are too big to share clothes.

GOOD
*Fairly sturdy.  I wouldn't let a small child have Camilla since her head pops off, but she feels pretty robust for such a tiny thing.
*Hair looks nice, despite the goofy root job.  It can only accommodate the style shown, but that's good enuff for Camilla.
*Jointing is pretty good for such a tiny doll.  I don't like the posing of Camilla's hips, but I do like that she's not made of wired rubber like the Liddle Kiddles are.
*A rebody is possible if the body ever gets broken...provided I can find another body to use!
*Shoes won't be getting lost!  On a doll this small that's kinda important.
*While Camilla's clothes are showing some wear, they are incredibly well-sewn.  The wear and tear is pretty minor and can be repaired or concealed.

In other words, Camilla is a decent little doll who suffers from a few symptoms of "Old Dolly Syndrome."  Her clothes need some minor repair (and maybe a washing), and her paint is a little chipped, and her face needs a washing, but she's not bad otherwise.  My main issue with Camilla is her ridiculous face, and some of y'all probably like it!  Hey, we all have our tastes!  In short, these dolls are worth having if any of y'all are dollhouse fans (and I do like dollhouses), but I advise discretion in picking out a character.  Pick one that you truly like, and don't go for the first one you see (like I did).  I will also note that some of these dolls have hats or accessories that can get lost, so keep that in mind if you're a completionist.

Merry Christmas and keep an eye on that weather!

Love, 
RagingMoon1987