Two new-ish lines that caught my eye

I apologize for the lull in original activity, y'all.  Every time I try to finish that Dawn post I think "Is this really something my friends want to read?" and then I postpone it.  The post IS happening, regardless of rather anyone reads it, but I'm just not motivated.  Now that said, I've seen two doll lines recently that caught my eye.  Y'all are probably familiar with the Ruby Red Fashion Friends, right?  I hope?  I love their faces!  This may haul off and surprise y'all, but my favorite one is the blonde one, Sara.  She's got cute pink streaks in her hair, and the message on her shirt makes me think of yet another song that I like.

Ohhhhh, Heaven let your light shine down!  LOL, anyway, the new dolls that Ruby Red has been doing are completely different from Sara and her friends.  They're the result of a collab between Ruby Red and Gorjuss.

When I saw these I thought "WHAAAA???  I thought Paola Reina was producing those."  Well...yes, they are, and so is Ruby Red.  The Ruby Red dolls have jointed elbows, and I can't quite tell from that picture, but...yes, their knees are jointed too.  You can see it.

Pocket Full Of Sunshine, pictured above, is my favorite of the three.  I like the minimalist faces of these Gorjuss dolls and figures, because they can portray a number of emotions, just like Sasha can.

The other dolls that caught my eye are, unsurprisingly, in the American Girl category.  They're the Little Sisters.  Top row is Jozette and Wesley, bottom row is Francie and Lea.  Sigh...another name repeat.

I've gotta admit that I'm concerned for the future of the Wellie Wishers.  They and the Little Sisters aren't exactly alike, but they do have some similarities.  The Little Sisters also remind me of Madame Alexander's Kindness Club, with their pastel clothes and highlighted hair.  Their faces are kinda Barbie-ish with that band of teeth showing, but one Redditor I talked to says they're way cuter in person.  Shocker of all shockers, my favorite of these is Jozette, with her blonde hair, her blue eyes, and her blue ensemble and hair streaks that make her eyes pop.  They're ALL cute in my opinion, but I do hope they aren't taking the Wellie Wishers' place.  I quite like the Wellie Wishers, but then again all good things eventually end.  Just ask the Doctor.

Jozette will definitely be joining my collection in the future, but I'm not sure about the Gorjuss dolls.  Ruby Red Fashion Friends are pricey, and if I'm gonna get one I'd like for it to be Sara or one of her friends, one with a Dianna Effner face.  Ms. Effner is not alive anymore, and I always loved her work, so having something that was designed by her would be great.  But as always, my life first.  Lily, one of my cats, has to go to the vet for an eye infection (Tommy beat her up and clipped one of her eyes), and I also have my own health woes to focus on.  Sigh...sometimes life and hobbies do not mix.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Another tie-in, more pink, plus a health update

Is it just me, or is American Girl becoming more Barbie as time goes by?  Lila Monetti had a heavy dose of pink in her collection, and current Girl of the Year Summer McKinny is girly to the hilt.  Looks like the trend is continuing into 2026.  Meet Raquel!  LOL, my buddy Barb saw my commentary on pink coming a mile away, but it's a cute little dress so I can live with it.  Heck, it's PLAID!!!  Plaid is awesome.

Raquel is the second Girl of the Year to tie in with a past character (Lila was the first).  She is Samantha Parkington's great-great-granddaughter (or is it great-great-great, I've seen both?), and she's from MISSOURI!!!  Kansas City, to be exact.  Ooo, ooo, I hope that means she likes the Chiefs!  She clearly likes pink and hair bows like Samantha does, she's learning pickleball (THAT'LL look dated in ten years, I'll bet!) and DJing, and she's biracial, being Mexican and white.  She has Joss's head and Tenney's eyes, and despite the pink I think she's cute.  Sounds like this one's gonna be fun!  I just wish there weren't so damn much PINK!!!  Almost all of the new Truly Me outfits released this year have been dominantly pink, and...yeah.  I DO NOT HATE PINK!  I just hate the belief that all little girls are obsessed with pink.  As I've said time and time again, I love green and have since I was old enuff to name the colors.  But I can overlook the pink since Raquel is bringing something new to the table...or semi-new.  As far as I know, there has never been a modern girl with any ties to a historical.  Technically, Raquel ties in with two historicals since Nellie was Samantha's adoptive...sister?  Cousin?  Samantha's aunt and uncle adopted Nellie and her sisters, so I guess Nellie and Sam were cuzzies.

I'm gonna break these opinions down into categories, since I ALWAYS have opinions.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE
*Too much pink.  Y'all knew that already.
*Raquel is a very pretty little doll, but she looks a lot like Maritza Ochoa.  Not exactly, mind y'all, as Maritza's hair is different.  But Raquel and Maritza could be sisters or cuzzies if someone wanted to play it that way.
*This is a local gripe, but there's so much more to Missouri than the cities and Branson!  Lea Clark hailed from St. Louis, and now the other city is getting represented.  I kinda wish we had a girl from the Ozarks who liked to explore caves.  Missouri IS the Cave State, after all, and caves can be stunningly beautiful.
*Treesa pointed out on Barb's post that there may be idiots who criticize Raquel for being Samantha's relative but also having a Mexican last name.  I don't have an issue with it, but y'all know fully well how dumb people can be.  Humans will get mad about anything.

WHAT I DO LIKE
*The tie-in to Samantha.  I've said in the past that I think Samantha is overrated, but in Raquel's case I think it'll help her.  Samantha is very, very loved by a boatload of AG fans, so the tie to her may boost Raquel's sales a bit.
*Her hobbies are unique.  We haven't had a pickleball fan yet, nor have we had a budding DJ.  DJing isn't the easiest thing to do.
*Is that dog a Pomeranian???  I freaking love Pomeranians!

Overall I like what I see.  I don't know yet if I'll bring Raquel home, but I like her so far.  She's not another dancer, not another blonde, not another Josefina or classic face.

In health news, I saw my doctor yesterday afternoon.  She's very understanding and very professional, and I like her a lot.  She did your routine pelvic exam and also did a mini-ultrasound, which was cool.  She held the wand in her hand and it brought up the images on her phone.  Right now the diagnosis is two large uterine fibroids; she doesn't know HOW large but she knows they're large.  I'll need a more extensive ultrasound to know more, but the doctor did say that a hysterectomy wasn't out of the question.  She also doubts that these fibroids are the cause of my lameness, and she suggested that I get tested...FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS!!!!!!!  Drat, I don't want MS!!!  I know it's not the end of the world, but I don't want it!

Breathe, Moon.  You've got one friend with a broken neck and another friend who's fighting bone cancer, so things could be a lot worse.  The young man who broke his neck is semi-quadriplegic, but he's slowly getting some motion and feeling back in his hands.  I don't know if he'll walk again, but his arms and hands are recovering.  But either way my life could be harder.  Right now my main concern is hospital bills!  If I bother with Raquel at all she'll have to wait.

Love,

RagingMoon1987