Found these on Reddit and had to give 'em a looksie. Reddit is proving to be a dangerous place for doll collectors, because I'm learning about a lot of lines that I might not have (Ghost of the Doll doesn't have an entry for these). Playmates Toys' Little Cousins were around in the early 2000's, but I don't remember ever seeing them in stores. If I had seen them I likely would've wanted one because they would've reminded me of my then-missing So Surprised Suzie doll. As far as I know Mel Birnkrant had nothing to do with Little Cousins, but the aesthetic is definitely there. The eyes, the bright clothes, the expressions, Suzie and Bailey could be legit cousins.
The resemblance between
Becca Blossom and
So Loving Laura is even more uncanny. Unlike the Baby Face dolls the Little Cousins can easily be found in-box for between twenty and fifty bucks, and since their faces vary a lot I got two of 'em. Brandey Blades is the brunette, and Bailey Beach is the blonde.
Having looked back over the Baby Face bunch, I think Bailey's analogous Baby Face doll would be
So Happy Mia or maybe
So Funny Natalie, while Brandey reminds me the most of
So Sorry Robyn. There's also
So Sorry Sarah, but Robyn has dark hair like Brandey does so they favor more. Poor Robyn, I'd like to give her a hug and tell her all is forgiven. In a similar manner, So Surprised Suzie's analogous Little Cousin would be round-eyed, blonde-haired, open-mouthed
Sara Schoolgirl.
Unfortunately there will be no clothes sharing done between Baby Face and Little Cousins, as Suzie is bigger than Brandey's whole box. Pardon the flash.
Goofing around over, I presume that the Little Cousins are actually friends that are so close they consider themselves family, or they consider their new owner their new "cousin." The back of the box seems to imply that with little postcards from the doll to the owner.
Bailey wants to know how my tan is, and my answer? Y'all got a glimpse of this in
Megan Byte's post, but for a refresher my tan is not going at all, because I don't tan. I burn like a marshmallow in a bonfire, but I don't taste anywhere near as good when I'm done. Now granted, when I was younger and played outside a lot I did get a nice peachy glow, as children will do if they play or work outside a lot. But no, my tanning days are at an end, and I don't think Bailey is the type to tan either (she's got freckles). As for Brandey...
...how's the weather? Hot and humid with the pop-up thundershowers that make the dog days exciting. Stepping outside is not necessarily pleasant with that humidity, but it's way better than the weather in
March and
early April! As for in-line skating, heck, I never learned how to skate with regular skates! Anyway, the Little Cousins come in four categories: Country Cousins, City Cousins, California Cousins, and Long-Lost Cousins. By luck of the draw I got two California Cousins. I was trying to get two Cousins that were drastically different, and...well, I succeeded in aesthetics. They've got the same eyes and they've both got freckles, but that's where the similarities end.
The inside of the box contains "pictures" for a scrapbook, as well as a postcard that...says the same dang thing as the back of the box. How's the weather, do you still inline, all that.
However, the reverse side shows a picture of Brandey, revealing that she's throwing a peace sign!
I don't think I'd have figured that out on my own, even though the peace sign is one of my favorite gestures (along with the bird).
LOL, I claim to be against the duck-lips face, but more often than not when I'm telling someone to "Peace out!" I throw the V and puff my lips like I'm still seventeen. Go figure, I'm weird, and pretty childish at times, not gonna lie. As for Bailey, there's no questioning her gestures. She's waving and standing in a show-offish sort of pose.
Pity she's not got a "hang loose" hand; these dolls have fingers big enuff for that. Anyway, since the theme of these dolls is friends and family these dolls come with "scrapbooks" and little stickers to decorate the interior and make it actually look like a scrapbook. Kinda cute, actually.
Lastly, each doll came with a bright plastic comb. I think Bailey had the yellow one and Brandey had the pink one, but I don't remember 100%.
I never use plastic brushes on doll hair, but these are still cute.
'Nuff foolin' around, let's get this show on the road. Brandey and Bailey are small dolls, about eight inches from head to toe. Kinda a unique size, but I have a few dolls that measure up to them. There's the smaller of my Sun Rubber girls, Karen...
...and my Keychain Girl, Carol Kasey.
There's also Cookin' Cathy, the Make Me Up Darling...
...and Teal Mia, my smallest Mia doll.
As I showed y'all above, Brandey and Bailey are way smaller than So Surprised Suzie.
Hair first, as I usually do. These dolls have rooted hair, and from the way it drapes I presume that it's either saran or nice nylon. Styles can vary, with my two having two variants of the classic ponytail. Bailey wears her ponytail high on the head and adorned with a brightly colored flower...
...while Brandey's ponytail is gathered in several places, like so.
Unsurprisingly these are not Brandey's original rubber bands; the originals were breaking apart while she was in the box.
Twenty-some-odd years will do that to rubber bands, but I had some extras on hand so it's all good. As to the rest of the style, both dolls have bangs, but Bailey's are better executed. They're feathered and look nice.
Brandey's are choppy and want to stick out in multiple directions, like so.
This was the best glimpse of the roots that I could get (I don't want to take these ponytails down). Looks like the rooting is average-good.
I don't know how well-suited this hair would be for an extended play session, but it serves its purpose of covering the doll's head. The fibers are soft and smooth, and there was no hair gel to attract dust. The Little Cousins come in all hair colors, by the way, with
Sophie Star having bright red hair. As far as I can tell Sophie is the only one with flaming red hair.
These dolls have highly stylized faces with tons of personality. Bailey has a ridiculously big smile with a few little teeth showing.
Believe it or not, this isn't the biggest Little Cousins smile. That title would go to the cheerleader,
Paige Pom Pom. Anyway, these dolls have big inset eyes with painted light brown eyebrows and eyelashes like so. She's also got a nice set of freckles on her nose and cheeks, fitting for a little gal who likes the sun.
The irises have a fair amount of detail, and they look a little like theyre glowing from within. I like that; Playmates dolls often have beautiful eyes (examples
here and
here). But Bailey's eyes are unfortunately a smidge wonky. Note that her left eye is drifting off to the side, while her right eye is centered. I also detect signs of discoloration in that left eye (it's more yellowed than the right). I have seen Little Cousins that have
grape juice-colored irises, so I know eye discoloration can be a problem with this line. Other Playmates dolls' eyes can also do this.
Bailey's mouth is simply painted, just bubblegum pink for the lips and tongue, and white for the teeth. Those teeth are legit molded in there, by the way, instead of being squares of paint like American Girl teeth.
It's hard to see, but Bailey also has some blushing on her cheeks.
Brandey is pouting, kinda like Terri Lee.
She looks a lot like I felt on the day I got her in the mail. Don't ask me why I like to take selfies like this, by the way. I'm both nuts and fascinated by facial expressions.
That was April 14th. I was sad, tired, hot, frustrated, and in pain. My hip misbehaved a lot that weekend, and I'd just stepped on something sharp and cut my foot so that made the overall pain scale higher. So yeah, I had my grump on, and true to Sasha Morganthaler's word I was thankful for a doll that felt like me. Maybe Brandey was upset because her hair was falling down at the time. Anyway, I was hoping for a doll that different eyes from Bailey, but that's not what I got. Brandey's eyes are centered, but otherwise they're the same color as Bailey's. She too has single-stroke eyebrows (slanted down, of course) and spiky brown eyelashes with brown rims...are these kids wearing eyeliner already??? I am seriously just now noticing that. Brandey's eyes are better aligned than Bailey's, but they're also starting to change color, especially in the left eye.
Oh yeah, y'all can probably also see Brandey's freckles. They're not as prominent as Bailey's are, but they ARE there, and as y'all know I love dolls with freckles. Lastly, the mouth...I wish the bottom lip was filled out all the way, but I love her expression.
These dolls are characters, I'll say that much! I like my dolls to be characters, but these two might be a bit off-putting for someone else, especially with Bailey's extreme smile. As for me, as usual I don't like the lip color, but then I almost never do like my dolls' lip color.
Mia's is too pale,
Deb's is bubblegum, this doll's lips are too matte, that doll's lips are too pale, blah-blah-blah. I have no complaints otherwise about Brandey and Bailey.
Things get interesting now, as I don't think these dolls were meant to be undressed! I could strip Bailey for the body review, but not Brandey; her pants are too tight.
Brandey: Good grief, show a little class!
Bailey: Whatevs, you're just jealous.
I know I am, Bailey! As hot as it's been I'd have given just about anything to go butt nekkid. Nothing but me, the fresh air, and a skim of sunblock. Thanks, Adam and Eve, for screwing the joys of nudity up for the rest of us. Anyway, Bailey is...I presume that she's a preteen, but she has a little bit of an hourglass waist and the merest suggestion of chest development. She also has a popped hip, just like
some Barbies and some of the
Flavas. Her limbs are nice and thick, and her balance is good.
Joints are kinda disappointing, except for the neck. Bailey can turn her head and tip it a little (Brandey can too).
The rest of Bailey's joints only rotate, which is a bummer because these joints are big enuff to accommodate a ball joint. But no, Bailey can only move her arms up and down like so, though she looks plenty tickled about it.
She can also move her arms all the way back, though what good that's for I don't know. I just wanted to see if she could do it.
As for sitting? Well, Bailey can just forget it! Her right leg can get into a sitting position, but her left leg only rotates around its axis. This is as close as the child can come to sitting.
Brandey is not graceful at sitting, but she at least can get the job done, especially if I let her feet dangle off the edge of the table like so.
The molding isn't much to write home about either, especially on the hands. She's got five fingers, but nothing else.
I'm gonna skip feet for a minute since these dolls have molded shoes. As I said above Brandey's clothes don't come off that I know of, but Bailey's do. She's got smaller feet, and her swimsuit bottoms have a fair amount of stretch. So here's her getup, all told.
Swimsuits are...well, I have kinda a love-hate relationship with swimsuits for doll clothes. They're simple and colorful, but at the same time they can be kinda flimsy, particularly if there's a lot of Velcro involved. That said, Bailey is wearing a two-piece number, not quite low-cut enuff to be a bikini, in hot pink and yellow Spandex-type fabric.
Hey, Spandex can be scary!
Just ask Chuckie Finster. So like I said, the swimsuit is very similar to a bikini, and the shoulder straps have little sateen ribbons decorating the straps. Hmmm, interesting choice...sateen doesn't hold up too well to water.
Some bikini tops tie in back and some are solid, but with Bailey being a doll, her back fastens with our ol' buddy Velcro. I've not had any problems with this stuff catching on the fabric, and I'm trying to keep it that way.
The bottoms are hot pink with a yellow waist, and other than the waist wanting to roll under a lot there's not much to say about these. They're just little swimsuit bottoms.
Like a great many swimsuits Bailey's set is accompanied by a sarong, in more hot colors that coordinate with the swimsuit. The print has an Aztec vibe to it.
The reverse side is a little faded, really the only way to tell if this thing is oriented correctly. The waist of this thing is serged, allowing the ends to serve as effective ties, and the rest of the sarong is hemmed nicely, but this is overall a pretty simple piece of clothing.
Brandey and Bailey are both accompanied by tote bags; Bailey's is made of vinyl and Spandex with a sarong-fabric pouch on the front. This is robustly constructed and opens to accommodate small accessories.
Lastly, these glasses. They're made of translucent pink plastic and fit easily over Bailey's head or eyes.
I think the glasses soften Bailey's intense expression a bit.
I can't remove Brandey's getup, but despite being a completely different style from Bailey's there are a lot of similarities. Brandey's top and pants are both rendered in loud neon colors, stuff that I associate with the early nineties rather than the early oughts. Theoretically I could take this outfit off as it fastens in back with Velcro, but as I said above the pants are too tight.
In another nod to the nineties, Brandey is utilizing a walkman while she skates, though I'm unsure if it's a tape player or a CD player (I suspect the latter). In this day and age she'd have an MP3 player of some stripe.
Like Bailey, Brandey carries a bag, made out of the same fabric as her clothes. This is sewn to Brandey's clothes in two places, and it does not open like Bailey's does.
Brandey's last accessory is a pair of glasses. These are the same mold as Bailey's but are orange. They don't fit well over Brandey's earphones, so I perch these on her head.
Finally, let's look at these shoes, and the reason why I couldn't maneuver Brandey's pants off. These shoes are molded on and painted on. Bailey has sandals that match her swimsuit and accessories, right down to the yellow flowers. Note that one petal on the right shoe does have a paint bobble.
Now, behold Brandey's big shoes, and her name. They're excruciatingly detailed rollerblades. The paint is a little shaky in places, but these are some pretty nifty blades.
The wheels don't roll and that's kinda a bummer, but that probably would've been hard to do with a doll like this. At least they don't throw sparks! Overall I have little to complain about with these dolls' clothes, but I sure wish they could share them! Likely other dolls with smaller shoes can share clothes back and forth, but I'm not going to risk the wellbeing of Brandey's pants just to try sharing. As for the bodies, they have a cute shape and good balance, but posing is nothing to write home about.
Good place to wrap it up!
BAD
*Faces are very characterized, and some of the expressions are extreme. I know some folks don't like that kind of thing.
*Eyes are starting to change color
*Bodies are quite stiff, and some of the poses they can strike are awkward.
*Can't share clothes with a wide range of dolls, at least that I know of. My two can't even swap clothes.
GOOD
*I love these dolls' hair, though I haven't dealt with uber-curly hair yet (some of the characters have that)
*I love their eyes too; Playmates dolls often have pretty eyes, even after they change
*Ooo, the colors! I love the colors of the outfits!
*These dolls are rather small and compact, so storage isn't a tremendous issue
*My particular pair has good balance. I like it when a doll can stand on their own.
*The overall concept is cute, though not terribly original
I'll say right now that Little Cousins are not for those who don't like highly characterized faces. I happen to like that sort of thing, but not everyone does. For the rest of y'all, keep in mind that these dolls have eyes that can discolor, stiff bodies, and some of 'em can't trade clothes. Brandey is the only one I know of like this, but then I haven't handled the other Little Cousins so I don't know how big their shoes are or how tight their pants are. They're pretty much just shelf sitters...er, standers, but then some folks like that kinda thing. I personally think these are cute, and mayyyybe in the future I might want a couple more. Y'know, just to add some more expressions or hair colors to the mix. But yeah, if you like Baby Face dolls then you might like these.
Love,
RagingMoon1987
