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Monday, February 28, 2022

The unobtainable...at least for now

These unusual eighteen-inch dolls popped up on an American Girl group yesterday.  They've got big eyes and slightly worried expressions, and they all have wildly colorful hair.  These are called Forever Dolls and right now they're strictly Australian entities.  They all have names and personalities.  Or most of them do...Sapphire here is being retired and doesn't have a personality listed.  Underneath her hair she has earrings, and her eyelids have sparkly makeup, sort of like a customized American Girl. 

Pearl reminds me a little of a mermaid with her coloring.  Her hair is magenta and green, her eyes are green, and she also has eye makeup and earrings under her hair.  She too is apparently being retired.
Flossy is also being axed.  She's got blue and pink hair and blue eyes, plus the other amenities that Pearl and Sapphire do.  I wish she had more dark blue in her outfit, but she doesn't. 
The last retiree is Luna, another dominantly blue doll.  I love her shiny skirt!
Apparently the four dolls above are special editions with sparkly face paint, hence their highlighted lips, cheeks and eyelids, and hence their limited availability.  Amelia is NOT one of the special editions and thus is NOT on the chopping block, so she has a personality listed online.  She's got the ever-popular heart of gold, organizing charities and bake sales to help folks in need.  I love her warmer color scheme.
My favorite of these dolls is the sole little boy, Axel.  He helps out at home and has his heart set on going to the Olympics...as a skateboarder!  Is skateboarding an Olympic sport?  I guess if not it should be, since it requires a lot of physical and mental strength.  (EDIT:  yes, skateboarding was a new addition to the 2020 Summer Olympics)  Anyway, Axel is something of a mentor to the younger children at the skate park he frequents.  Sounds like he'd be a good friend for Joss Kendrick. 
Goldie likes music.  She likes to dance and be the life of the party.  Her hair is tightly curled rather than straight or wavy.  Judging from that shirtdress, I'd also guess she likes unicorns.
Willow has ADD is always busy, energetic, and motivated.  Her outfit is the most boring...or the most versatile, take your pick.
Harper is eternally happy, always singing or dancing or being upbeat.  She also loves games, listing Uno and Hide and Seek as her favorites. I like the sound of that; I love Uno!  I also love her unique hair; white isn't a color one often sees on the hair of young dolls.
Cindy is determined, super-organized, super-motivated, and good for a pep talk if needed.  She is unabashedly pink!  I bet y'all she likes puppy dogs too!
Bonnie is a responsible, somewhat-bookish old soul.  Sounds like my kind of girl.  She is honest and good with advice.  Like Goldie, her curls are tight.  I love her gray cardigan!
Judging from the wings, I was willing to bet that Celeste is the pretender of the bunch.  She certainly looks like the type who'd like to play make-believe.  But her bio says nothing about that, instead stating that Celeste likes to remind folks of how special they are.  That can be a tremendous help at times!
Bespectacled little Piper is the reader and learner of the bunch, with aspirations to be a teacher.  She is apparently extremely inquisitive, as children sometimes can be.  I love those glasses!
The appropriately-named Iris is an empath.  She is my favorite of the girl dolls for obvious reasons.  Her outfit is boring, but in this case I understand why; a bright outfit plus bright hair would be overwhelming. 
Sparkle has the dumbest name of the bunch, but in this case it's a fitting name.  Sparkle likes to craft and add sparkle to life.  Oddly, her outfit does not sparkle.
Rebel remind me of Mal, from Disney Descendants.  Again, she's got a dumb name, and it's not as fitting as Sparkle's.  Rebel is more fierce than rebellious, being brave and courageous.  She seems like she'd be the most likely to give someone a piece of her mind...so maybe "Rebel" is a good name for her after all.
McKenzie is a free spirit who loves bright colors, just like I used to be...and still can be.  She's also happy, confident, and a go-getter.
And then there's Rainbow.  Rainbow is also listed as a free spirit, being kind and loving to the end (to a fault?).
These dolls remind me of the customized American Girl lot that my Llewellyn came from.  They appear to have similar hands, making me hope that they can share clothes.  Alas, the Forever Dolls appear to be available only in Australia and New Zealand for now.  Yes, I admit that I tried to buy Axel, even though bill-paying time is just around the corner.  The company accepts PayPal, but they don't ship internationally...not yet, anyway.  I don't know how old this line is, but I believe international demand could go up.  More little girls are going for dolls with fantasy hair, so we'll see.  

The Forever Dolls were a bit polarizing for my friends in the Failbook group where I saw these.  Some folks didn't care for the big eyes or the garish hair or the serious expressions.  Obviously I quite like these, but what say y'all?  Yay or nay?  To our down under readers, have you seen these?  Discuss.

Monkeys and lollipops, 
RagingMoon1987 

20 comments:

  1. I deleted your comment at my site as quickly as I could. Sorry, I just let all my comments go through right away, because I get very little spam.

    Maybe it's just the photography, but some of those dolls I find much cuter than others. They all have the same face mold, though, right? Weird how that works. What I really don't like is the bright reddish-orange blushing at the knees. Almost looks like the girls just scraped them, which is unpleasant. I don't mind the bright hair, but I would like to have natural colors available too.

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    1. Don't be sorry, that's what I get for posting without thinking, LOL! What do I owe you for shipping?

      I'm on the fence about these dolls' knees. For the little boy red knees would make sense because he likes skateboarding, but it does seem too much on the girls. I agree too that some of these have better faces than others, though I think it may be camera trickery.

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    2. I meant to comment on the odd knees and I think I was too blinded by the eyes. LOL It does look like they scuffed their knees up. If its supposed to just be some color, they need to tone it down!

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    3. Blinded by eyes, LOL! I've got dolls with blushed knees and it doesn't look so bad, but then it's not as extreme as these kids have!

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  2. At this point, I am used to big eyes. LOL I think some of them did a better job with the eyes though. The boy doll is great, but his eyes are the worst. Its not just they are big, there is something wrong with them. Not sure if its the pupil, not enough white, etc. Otherwise I like him!

    I LOVE the doll with the rainbow hair, Iris. Her name is great, her hair is amazing. I think my favorite outfit is on Sapphire or McKenzie. Jeans are so versatile and jumpers are fun.

    I can see them being popular over here because they are so colorful.

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    1. I agree, Axel probably shouldn't have doe eyes, LOL. I really hope these do catch on, because I want one!!!!!!!

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  3. I'm not entirely fond of these, but it's a personal preference - even my three AGs that have colorful hair don't wear makeup, per se, beyond the light color I put on their lips.
    I don't love dolls that are meant to represent kids under 14 wearing heavy makeup, it just feels wrong to me.
    I've never particularly loved seeing people customize American Girl dolls as older characters - my couple of colorful haired customs are essentially child versions of my own characters, so they dress more appropriately and forego excessive makeup and such. Just a me thing.

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    1. I getcha. I'm not a huge fan of these dolls wearing makeup either. I do have several dolls that wear makeup, but none of them have eye paint. And as you pointed out, they're still little girls, keeping themselves covered for the most part and focusing on kid things. Well, except for Lark...Lark does what Lark wants.

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    2. Shows how well I was paying attention. I didn't even realize they HAD makeup on!

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    3. Well I didn't include any links or pictures of these dolls with their eyes closed, so I'm at fault for that, not you! Yep, these gals wear sparkly eyeshadow, except for Axel.

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    4. It's only the first four girls that have paint on their eyelids. It would help if I'd read things a little closer, LOL. Sapphire, Pearl, Flossy, and Luna all have handpainted faces, thus why they'll soon be retired, and thus why they're more made up than the others. Sorry I didn't notice that, LOL.

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    5. Sparkly eyeshadow might have helped Axel look less like a deer caught in the headlights. lol

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    6. I know where Lark came from, who painted her the way she is and I totally get why she looks that. Honestly, it's some people's taste and that's fine.
      If the others don't have sparkly makeup, hmm. I might be tempted. Their faces are cute and I do like the colorful hair. I also have a friend in Australia I should reach out to again.

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    7. Yeah, ask her if she's seen these!

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  4. To tell you something about me, Willow's 'boring' outfit was my favourite! Shipping from Australia would cost a fortune, making these dolls super expensive if they ever do decide to ship internationally. Maybe you can find someone in Australia who is willing to ship one to you, or do a trade.

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    1. That might work! Yeah, I had thought about how awful shipping would be, but I still can't help hoping these will develop a following here. Yeah, Willow's outfit is versatile, I'll say that! And those little coveralls are like something a kid would wear. I don't know why I called the outfit boring, since I dress my dolls like her (LOL)>

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    2. Maybe they will eventually get an American distributer.

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  5. If you still need help getting ahold of these guys, I'm an Aussie who'd be happy to help :)

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    1. When I get paid again I may take you up on that offer.

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