Throwback Thursday review: some kind of Lotus doll

This doll is NOT a Gali Girl, as her heavy eye makeup shows, but she's got the same face so I gave her a Hebrew name and I identify her as Jewish, like I do Denise.  Her name is Shifra, and she's another Ohio girl.  Madge came from Mansfield, and Shifra hailed from Piqua.  Piqua is a respectable distance from Mansfield, but is not too far from Xenia, LOL.  Anyway, here's Shifra...or rather, how she looked shortly after I got her.

Phew, too hot to be thinking of snowflake sweaters, as cute as that sweater is!

Much better!  Lotus is not the juggernaut that Mattel and Hasbro are, but the company has been around longer than I have, and Just Magic lists their dolls as respectable and affordable alternatives to American Girls.  They are responsible for the Jewish-themed Gali Girls, for Laura Ashley dolls (whom I'll be discussing next week), and for a number of other lines that Mommy's Doll Club touches on.  

Let's dive in.  As I said above, Shifra's hair needed some work when she arrived, just like Madge's did.  Unlike Madge, Shifra's hair was more responsive to water and my dog brush.  It only took forty-five minutes to brush it all out, plus a couple more minutes to find and restore the part...and then I waited the rest of the night for her hair to dry.  The picture on the left shows Shifra fresh out of her shipper, and the one on the right shows her immediately after I fixed her hair.

Of course that was November and this is July, so Shifra's hair has frizzed a bit since then, but that's nothing the squirt bottle and the dog brush can't fix.

Poor Madge, I wish it had been that easy for her, but can't have everything!  Shifra doesn't look fresh-out-of-box either, so Madge needn't feel too bad.  Regarding nitty-gritties, Shifra is an obvious blonde, and her hair is rooted.  The rooting is pretty good, good enuff that it doesn't show when I tie her hair back.  That's not the case with one of my newer dolls, but we'll cross that bridge in...oh Lordy, it'll be at least November before I get that review up!  As is the case with most of my dolls, Shifra's hair is tightly rooted close to her face...

...and further back it's more gappy.  Pigtails could happen with this doll, but it would take very careful parting.

Shifra has a side part so I've added my usual hair do-dad.  This one came with the outfit, but when she's not wearing this outfit she relies on those mini-JoJo Bows that are too small for my head.

Not bad hair overall.  Not AG-caliber, but definitely better than Madge's.  It does require some maintenence to keep it looking nice, so if you have one of these Lotus dolls keep that in mind.  As an aside, Little Raven Creations notes that she's only found one red-haired doll with this particular facial sculpt, and she was a Gali Girl.  Since Shifra is blonde she's probably NOT one of the Gali Girls...at least, not that I know of.  Miriam had red hair and Reyna was essentially Ana Ming with bangs, so Shifra is neither of them.  However, there were blonde dolls and some of them had left-handed side parts, so I can't rule out Gali Girls as Shifra's brand.

Good time to segue into the face.  Like Meritus's Girls on the Go, Lotus dolls have some variation in their paint, and in their head molds.  Some of the dolls look similar to the Journey Girls, but Shifra has this head instead.  No other doll that I have owned looks quite like this.  Shifra appears to be in awe of something, rather like my sister and I did when we were her presumed age...and younger.

<sings off-key>  It's enuff for this wide-eyed wonderer/that we got this far...I've always preferred "Circle of Life," myself.  But speaking of eyes, Shifra's eyes give me a bit of an idea about which line she may belong to, because they're fixed in place.  Two lines, Today's Girl and My London Girl, utilized this head with fixed eyes.  Shifra's eyes are bright blue, similar in shade to Famosa Nancy's and to the blue-eyed My Life As dolls.  Her eyelashes are long and a little heavy for a small child.

They've also got a little makeup, more than I would've worn when I was Shifra's age.

These eyes are fixed, so Shifra looks a little weird when she joins Madge and Katherine for a sleepover.  Please forgive Shifra's wardrobe change, LOL.

According to Little Raven Creations, Lotus's Today's Girl and My London Girl lines had fixed eyes, so that may help me figure out who this doll is and which line she belongs to.  Indeed, I found a My London Girl on Etsy who looks exactly like Shifra...and I mean EXACTLY.  Same part, same eyes, same eye makeup.  Regardless of the brand, this particular head has big, detailed lips with molded creases and a slight opening.

The lip paint doesn't covr the whole lip area, especially on the bottom lip, and as a result the lip looks a little funny.  Just a little; it's not noticeable from a normal distance...nor is the red blop of paint on Shifra's lower lip that looks like a blister.  Yee-ouchie, I get mouth blisters from time to time and they are no fun at all.  Anyway, as I was fooling around with this mouth I noticed that Shifra's teeth are legit molded in.  They're not spots of paint like an American Girl's teeth are.

Hmmm, looks like I need to bust out the canned air...and maybe the fine-grade sandpaper as well, since Shifra appears to have a ding on her chin.  I don't know how well this plastic would handle sanding, though.  It's higher quality than Madge's vinyl, but it's still not like the tough stuff that Denver-era My Twinns are made of.  Overall this is a nice character face, though some collectors might be bothered by the eternally gaping mouth.  I personally could do without the eye makeup, but it's pretty subtle.  I can see why Lotus used this face for so many doll lines.

Shifra's body is quite a bit like Madge's, but there are a few things that I'd like to point out.  First here's what it looks like; it's a little "weebly," meaning that the torso looks like one of those Weeble toys.  Miss Emily invented that term when discussing Our Generation dolls.

Like Madge, Shifra's joints only swivel, meaning that she can sit, stand, wave, and turn her head like Madge, but also that she has no sideways movement in her hips and shoulders.  She is more firmly stuffed than Madge and thus can stand more easily, but her posture isn't great.  Also, and I'm only making note of this because I think it's interesting, but look how tan Shifra is compared to Madge and to Katherine.  Madge's vinyl has a pinkish tone that's bordering on unnatural, while Katherine is very fair.

Regarding molding, Shifra's hands are shaped like an American Girl's hands but are a little smaller all over.  

Shifra's feet are a completely different mold from American Girl feet.  Her little toes are a bit more well-defined, complete with creases and nails.

Look at the soles of her feet!  They've got lines molded in!

Usually larger dolls like this have soles that are flatter than the Oklahoma panhandle, with the main exception I can name being the My Twinn squad.  A pretty average body overall; Shifra can't move her joints sideways or out, just like Madge can't, but she's stuffed a little better and is a pretty color all over.

Regarding clothes, Shifra didn't come in her original clothes, and I have no earthly idea what she originally would've worn.  She arrived wearing a sweater dress from American Girl and a pair of jeans from goodness-knows where, so I knew right off the bat that Shifra could share clothes with the AG crew.  With summer being in full swing, I've now got Shifra clad in this cute little Etsy number that is kinda Easterish.  It too is sized for American Girls.

I hate those shoes, by the way.  They're cute enuff, but they slip off Shifra's feet way too easily...but then again that's probably not the fault of the shoes.  As I said above, Shifra's hands and feet are smaller than those of an American Girl, and that's probably why these shoes are a poor fit.  The rest of the outfit is alright, though maybe a bit heavy for this time of year. 

Good thing Shifra has plenty of other things to choose from, though the next two outfits are also more for spring or fall than summer.  I'm just going to skim these, since Madge wore these last week.  On the right is the Go Anywhere outfit, and on the other right is the ily 4EVER Jasmine ensemble.

Shifra is more solidly stuffed than Madge, so she fills out her clothes better than Madge does.  The waistband of the Jasmine skirt doesn't look like it's trying to cut her in half.

Like I said last week, I'm not enamored with the quality of these ily 4EVER outfits, but Shifra looks adorable in it.  Both of these little outfits look good with Shifra's blonde hair, though i prefer the Go Anywhere getup on a brunette doll.  That's just a matter of preference.  

That's about all I want to say!

BAD
*Shifra's face is a little divisive.  Mama thinks she's pretty, but I've run into other folks who aren't fans of her slack-jawed expression.
*This hair needs a lot of maintenance.  It's better than Madge's, but it still needs a lot of brushing.
*Feet are smaller than those of American Girls, so shoes may be loose.
*Mobility is poor; Shifra's shoulders and hips only rotate.  Balance isn't great

GOOD
*I happen to love Shifra's face.  It's got a lot of personality and a lot of detail.
*The hair, as I said above, is better quality and in better shape than Madge's.
*Coloration is pretty.  I love a blonde doll with a tan tone.
*Can share clothes with American Girls and ily 4EVER.
*Cheaper alternative to American Girls, though the only place to find these now is eBay.  Gali Girls are SUPER tough to find.

Overall I think Shifra is a superior doll to Madge.  Her hair isn't perfect, but it's certainly easier to control than Madge's low-quality mop.  Her face is a character face rather than a dolly face (remember me talking about those), so she may not be everyone's cuppa tea.  But she adds some nice variety to an eightteen-inch doll collection, and she did so without me having to go to the poorhouse.  I just wish I could find more clothes that were marketed for these Lotus dolls.  I'd like to review them and report back to y'all on their quality...and about the size of the shoes.

Love,
RagingMoon1987