Little Red review (with a little help from Groovy Girls Skylar)

Twenty-one years ago today I was a gawky, slightly heavyset teenager with smooth brown braids and thick glasses and only the slightest taste of the world's cruelties.  Picture Molly McIntire, aged fourteen with about fifty pounds tacked on, and you've got me at that age.  My sister was a preteen and beginning to be gawky as well, though she didn't have to wear glasses 100% of the time like I did.  The weather was beautiful that morning and everyone was in good health, but I kid you not, Daddy was concerned about a dream he'd had the night before.  He'd dreamed that he was in a large metropolitan area, surrounded by smoke, rubble, and ashes, and people were roaming the streets with carts hollering "bring out your dead," like they did during plague outbreaks.  "I don't know what to make of it!"  he mused as we munched our toast or cereal or God-knows-what...I never have been fond of breakfast.  I wasn't at the age of fourteen and I'm not now.  Anyway, I too felt a twinge of anticipation (happier anticipation, mind y'all), as I lingered in the doorway to watch the beginning of CBS's national news before heading off to school.  I liked eighth grade, and I liked the intro that the news had then, with upbeat music, a view of the New York City skyline, and the date flashed up in big letters.  I'll always be glad I lingered, because the national news changed their intro after that (I haven't yet found the intro for the actual day).  I sadly can't prove that any of this happened, but I solemnly swear that that's the way September 11th, 2001 began for me.  It was a beautiful fall day, two days after my sister's tenth birthday and less than a month before the birthday my mother and I shared (and still share, LOL).  Everyone's spirits were high as a kite...and within a matter of hours all hell broke loose in New York City and nothing was ever quite the same, even for me in my rural adolescent bubble.  Never in my life would I have suspected it.

Where am I going with this, y'all ask?  I promise I have a point.  In 2001 I was already a well-established doll collector, but I had no idea that Sarah Ferguson, better known as "Fergie" or the Duchess of York, had a charity with a little doll as a mascot (indeed, I had no idea who Sarah Ferguson was).  Chances for Children ironically sprung from the forehead of another terror attack, and the mascot was a little red-haired rag doll, fittingly named "Little Red."  The offices of Chances for Children were located in the World Trade Center, on the 101st floor of the North Tower (shudder, I hate heights).  When one rescuer was scouring Ground Zero for victims after the World Trade Center collapsed, he found one of these Little Red dolls and feared that the poppet belonged to a child.  This was quickly revealed not to be the case.  Keep in mind that these dolls were cloth, and yet this one survived the fire AND the collapse relatively unscathed (she's dirty and missing most of her hair, but she still smiles).  Chances for Children is apparently no longer active, though it was not the terror attack that did it in.  Indeed, the Duchess expanded on Little Red's world with books in the years after 9/11.  Anyway, last September I wondered if this doll would be easy to find, twenty years after the fact, and the quick answer is...no, not really.  I found exactly ONE vendor on eBay who apparently had a number of these little dolls, and I was able to buy one.  This is her when she was fresh out of her package, with her hair disheveled and her dress wrinkled from her journey to the Bootheel from New Jersey.

Little Red is Fergie's alter-ego, being everything that the Duchess apparently wishes she had been as a child.  While obscure by today's standards, she was significant enough at one time to warrant inclusion on this Raggedy Ann and Andy site.  As I noted above she's a simple little rag doll, about twelve inches from head to toe.  Her hair is red like Fergie's (and Zlata's), and it's yarn like a Cabbage Patch Kid's or Raggedy Ann's or a Groovy Girl's (or Zlata's).

Indeed, a magazine article once joked that Little Red and Raggedy Ann have the same hairdresser, though I'll note that the styles aren't exactly the same.  Raggedy Ann's hair is usually loopy all over, while Little Red's hair is straight.

There's no defined style, really.  Little Red wears her hair to the shoulder, and she has a center part with bangs (or "fringe," as the Duchess would likely say) up front.

This fringe likes to stick up, so I'll need to find a hair ribbon of the appropriate length.  When I was wagging this doll around her hair parted at a spot where it probably shouldn't part, and I saw that her hair is glued to her scalp.  Usually this is the last way that I want doll hair to be attached, but the glue isn't super-obvious or extra-gommy.

The other two ways I can think of to root yarn hair are to sew it into the head (Cabbage Patch Kids, Groovy Girls) or to wig the doll (like I clumsily did with Zlata).  Neither of these methods are perfect either; you'd never be able to tell from looking at Zlata, but her wig is one of the kludgiest craft projects I've ever done.  My Groovy Girl, Skylar, has sewn hair, but most of her head is blue and bald.

Poor Skylar, pigtails are out of the question.  They're out of the question for Little Red too, but at least her scalp is covered.  Overall Little Red has low-maintenance, kid-friendly hair.  I love the color, of course.  It's not as interesting visually as Skylar's is, nor is it as soft and smooth, but at least it covers her noggin.

I have an ulterior motive for dragging Skylar into the review, as her face reminds me a little of Little Red's...or vice versa, take your pick.

Little Red also reminds me a bit of Ivy from the Ivy + Bean series, but I can't find those rag dolls to save my life.  It's not like I need any more anyway (LOL).  Anyway, Little Red has a simple face with embroidered eyebrows and beady little black eyes that are the teensiest bit uneven.  Pardon the cat hair; Adric has been where he doesn't belong.  Typical of kittens.

LOL, beady little eyes.  My mother is deathly afraid of mice, and when she talks about them there's always a reference to their "disgusting naked tails," their "beady little eyes," or both.  Regardless, Little Red has beady little eyes, plus a sculpted nose and a stitched watermelon smile.  Depending on the color, this mouth can look rose pink, or bubblegum pink, or baby pink.  Sometimes Little Red looks like she's got teeth showing, but she doesn't.

Little Red has very light blushing on her cheeks.  It's more obvious in real life.

Under her chin Little Red has a stitch visible.  I jokingly call it a birthmark.

I learned from my days collecting Beanie Babies that an under-the-chin stitch like this helps the face hold its shape.  Nearly all of the teddy bears in the Beanie Baby family had a stitch like this, and as a result they had a sort of "pug face."  Sometimes this stitch came undone, and the teddy bear had a longer face, sort of like the first wave Teddy (this longer face was called the"old face" by collectors).  My sister's Millennium Bear looked like that, for example.  Such stitches are also visible on Waldorf dolls, though my Zlata doesn't have any that I can see.  Skylar doesn't have such a stitch.

Little Red and Skylar have similar expressions, but that's about where the similarities end.  Skylar's eyes are flush with the fabric on her face, and they're stitched rather than beaded.  Skylar has blue eyes (eye colors on these dolls varied).

Skylar's nose is flat rather than sculpted, and her mouth is stitched in black thread in an expression similar to Little Red's.

One of my other Groovy Girls (Lana Ladybug) has visible teeth, like Little Red sometimes does (sometimes LOL).  My third Groovy Girl (Bailey) has a mouth like Skylar.  Since Groovy Girls have entirely stitched features their profiles are mostly flat.  Little Red has a visible nose and indentions where dimples would be.  Little Red also looks like she's got an underbite.

Note that Skylar has simple little ears and Little Red does not.  For the record, my Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls don't have ears either.  Nor do Zlata, or Lindsay, or Azure, whom I often forget I have.  

As is often the case with dolls I review, the body gets a little interesting.  I say a little, since there's not much to say about ragdoll bodies.  Indeed, since she IS a ragdoll Little Red can't hold too many poses.

In fact, she can't even sit that well, since her noggin is so big.  Little Red is clearly a doll meant for cuddling.

Probably the most interesting thing about Red's body is that it's made of different fabric from her head.  Her head is fuzzy and her body is not, though both materials catch lint like mad.

Some ragdolls are stuffed until they feel quite firm, like Lindsay and Zlata are, but Little Red is pleasantly squishy to the touch.  She even has a few creases in her arm.  Her hands are about par for the course, with stitch lines dividing the fingers and a mitten thumb.

One of the stitches on Red's left hand has come undone.  Easy fix.

Little Red's legs are no more shapely than her arms, and since they're loosely attached they flop around like ragdoll legs should.

The legs do have a little shaping along the backs of the knees, which is more than I can say for the arms.  The shaping isn't spectacular though, and the stitches look a little crude.

Red's feet are comically big and quite round.  Her socks and shoes are separate pieces, but do not come off.  I'm a little disappointed about that, but sewn-on shoes mean they'll never get lost so that's a plus.

Sticking out of her posterior is this tag, a relic of days gone by.  Apparently FAO Schwarz was the place to go if you wanted a Little Red doll.

About par for the course for a ragdoll body.  Nothing wham-bam, but nothing terribly bad either.  Clothes now...clothes are often a mixed bag for ragdolls.  Zlata's clothes come off with ease, as do my huge Raggedy Ann and Andy's clothes, but Azure's clothes do not come off.  So I wasn't really sure what to expect with Little Red.  To my delight, her dress does come off.

It's your simple little orange gingham number with long sleeves and a few pleats at the skirt.  The material unfortunately wrinkles like mad.

I wasn't expecting Nirvana in terms of sewing since this is a mass-produced doll, but the interior of Red's dress looks okay.  The seams are obvious when the dress is turned inside out, but they're tightly done and don't have any loose ends hanging out.

The dress closes with Velcro, but since neither Red's body nor clothes snag I can overlook this.

The sleeves are long and plain, with no frippery of any sort.

The only thing breaking up the gingham is this collar, which is white.  I have trouble getting it to lie flat sometimes

Plastic-tacked to Little Red's left sleeve is her sizeable hang tag.  If I were giving this doll to a child I'd have cut the tag off, but in this case I left it on.  The front of the tag has a cute illustration of Little Red, revealing that the actual character is fancy free just like the doll is.  I love that she's swinging; swinging was my favorite way to spend recess.

Inside the tag is some information about Sarah Ferguson's charity, plus a lovely photograph of the Duchess with the doll.  As an aside, Fergie is still a redhead after all these years.  I don't know if the color comes out of a bottle or not, but that's none of my beeswax anyway.

The back of the tag has some information about a little girl that Chances for Children was able to help.  Much of the story is unfortunately obscured by FAO Schwarz's stupid advertising tag.  

The advertising bit lists a price of sixteen bucks.  Typical of FAO Schwarz, charging a high price for a simple little doll.

So we've established that Little Red can be redressed, though just what she can wear is beyond me.  Zlata's clothes proved to be too big, as did Bitty Baby clothes.  Just for funzies, I tried Luciana's new hat on Little Red.  The results are...amusing. 

I like how the flowers are the same shade as her dress, but this hat is a hair too dignified for a little girl doll.  Maybe if I can find an appropriate black dress for Little Red then I'll let her wear this again.  

And that, ladies and germs, is my 9/11 doll!  She is, like all ragdolls, a simple little thing, made special by her ties to charity and royalty (ex-royalty?).  I recommend grabbing this little gal if you see her running about in the wild, because she's all but impossible to find now.  She'll never be a priceless collectible, but she's cute and innocent in a world that is increasingly...NOT cute and innocent.

Semper fi,
RagingMoon1987

AG Spotlight: Luciana Vega

Girl of the Year, wannabe astronaut, Trekkie, Whovian.  Allons-y!

FULL NAME:  Luciana Vega

NICKNAMES:  Mostly variants of my given name, stuff like "Luci," "Astro-Luci," "Lucita," "Lulu."  My friends use "Astro-Luci" on a regular basis, and Courtney also calls me "Luce."  The Moon Girl jokingly called me "Rose Tyler" once, even though I don't look any more like Rose Tyler than I do the man in the moon.  She also calls me "Star Baby," after the Guess Who song.

BIRTHDAY:  May 15th

HOMETOWN:  Rural Virginia

HEAD MOLD:  Josefina

HAIR COLOR:  Dark brown with one purple streak, and since I'm a doll it'll never grow out!

EYE COLOR:  Brown

FAVORITE COLORS:  Purple, pink, and blue

THINGS SHE LIKES:  The sciences (astronomy and geology are my favorites), lying on my back and looking up at the night sky, sparkly clothes, comfortable shoes, some sci-fi programs (Doctor Who, The X-Files, and Star Trek are my favorites), Alice Ellison (one of Beastsbelle's dolls, a fellow Whovian), Oreos and cookies in general, pistachios, Shopkins...SHOPKINS!!!

*Side note from the Moon Girl:  I wonder whatever happened to Alice and her dolly friends and family after Beastsbelle stopped blogging?  Beastsbelle put a lot of effort into their little personalities and hovels, and now they've all vanished into the ether.

THINGS I DISLIKE:  City life (too many lights at night), having panic attacks, being far away from the people I love, dumb people, high-heeled shoes, and oh my God, I'm so glad the Thirteenth Doctor is leaving!!!  KILL THAT BROAD WITH FIRE!!!

*Side note from the Moon Girl:  Agreed, agreed, 100%.  Who had the bright idea to make Doctor Who a chick anyway???  Making the Doctor a chick is like casting a white guy to play Alex Cross!

MY TYPE OF MUSIC:  David Bowie, due to his song "Space Oddity," and to his fondness for sparkly clothes, the Guess Who, and Led Zeppelin.  Denise and I like to tease each other over which frontman is better, Roger Daltrey or Robert Plant.  The Moon Girl calls it "the Battle of the Blondes."

PET:  Goldie, a Tribble, and Velociraptor Blue, a hamster.  Y'all saw Goldie a few months back, so here's Blue.

BEST FRIENDS:  Samantha, because she has some mental problems like I do (hers are pretty serious), Amanda, because she's a reader and a thinker, and Courtney, because she's a thinker and something of a Trekkie.  I like to talk photography with Z, though I don't understand all the technical jargon, and Rita Cheryl, because she keeps things between Kyle and me on a low simmer (jeez, he's annoying).  Courtney, Rita Cheryl, Z, and I formed a sort of Star Wars fan club, and we enjoy that thoroughly.  Sometimes we even battle with lightsabers, LOL.  Z Yang compares me to Abby from Turning Red...I'm not THAT spicy, am I?

*Side note from Z:  You want to kill the Thirteenth Doctor with fire.  That's pretty spicy.

Yeah, that's a good point.  Anyway...

SOMEONE I'D RATHER AVOID:  Kyle is annoying, as I said above.  Doesn't he ever take life seriously?  The term "dumb blonde" fits him well, I think.  It fits Doremi too, though I think she's just playing dumb.  She's way too calculated with her attacks on Justin (and sometimes Rita Cheryl) to be dumb.  

Side note from the Moon Girl:  Kyle never takes life seriously???  You battle with lightsabers!  You can't take life too seriously if you do that!  Not that I'm hating, LOL.  I like lightsabers too.

Alright, alright, Kyle isn't so bad.  Where was I?  Oh yeah...

HOW I CAME HERE:  I'm another eBay find.  The Moon Girl said she figured she'd better grab me before the price gougers hit.  That can be a problem with Girls of the Year.

ABOUT ME:  It took me awhile to really open up to the Moon Girl.  For almost a year all she (or anyone) knew about me was that I want to be an astronaut when I grow up.  Alas, since I'm a doll I'll never grow up, and thanks to Lottie I won't even be the first doll in space!  Bummeroo, as Amazing Maddie would say.  But seriously, it took me a long time to adjust, because I kept having one nasty anxiety wave after another.  Meeting someone new?  Panic attack.  Going somewhere strange?  Panic attack.  It started getting out of hand, so the Moon Girl offered to get me a pet, the way she did for Samantha.  I jumped the gun and adopted a Tribble one day while she was gone, and after a lot of begging the Moon Girl let me keep her.

On the other hand, the Moon Girl got Velociraptor Blue for me.  She also named him; for some reason her family named their pet hamsters after dinosaurs, but who's judging?  Blue also likes to sit on my head, but I prefer to keep him in my hand so he doesn't crap in my hair.  Hamsters will do that.

Goldie and Velociraptor Blue have helped me relax significantly, though keeping them both properly fed is a pain at times.  Tribbles will eat anything edible that they can get their toothless little jaws on, and they're supposed to reproduce like mad if fed right...but Goldie hasn't reproduced, like AT.  ALL.  I know the last thing we need is a bunch of little puffballs everywhere, but I'm concerned that I'm not feeding Goldie the right stuff, and I don't know who to ask, since no one I know has ever had a Tribble as a pet.  Velociraptor Blue is easier; all I have to do is ask Courtney.  Blue and Parsley largely eat the same thing.

I wonder why Blue is hard and Parsley isn't?  Blue is designed like Silver Bird's rabbit, while Parsley is like Julie's rabbit.

Anyway, Goldie's presence was the first indication the Moon Girl got that I was a Trekkie.  Soon after that I outed myself as a Whovian as well; I said back in February that the Tenth Doctor was my favorite, but the Eleventh Doctor is...well, he's hyper, but I like him.  I can be hyper too, so I can relate.  As I stated above, I'd happily set the Thirteenth Doctor on fire, and I'm darn glad she'll be gone soon.  I also like Harry Potter, both the books and the movies.  I identify as a Ravenclaw, and to my delight I'm not the only one!

LOL, pardon the reused picture.  Lark's Ravenclaw shirt is in the maelstrom the Moon Girl likes to call "storage" and she's not in the mood to dig (she never is, drat it).  Anyway, when I'm not exploring, geeking out over fictional (or real) aliens, or gawking at the night sky I collect Shopkins.  I've even got two Shoppies of my own.  The Moon Girl says that when she finds her collection she's gonna give 'em to me, but for now she's stealing a picture from an old post.  This isn't all of them, she says, just her first four.

That post is an old one, she says!  Back in those days Barbie Fashionistas still had joints, and the Moon Girl was using the Shopkins as Barbie props.  Which she still can; I don't mind sharing.  So I'm a stargazer and a fan of campy sci-fi and Shopkins...oh yes, I also do yoga, which I've suggested to Samantha and Justin since they're both just this side of neurotic.  Justin is one of those limber My Twinn dolls, so he's pretty good at it...unlike Samantha and me.  No, as much as I'd love to do a convincing back-bend, I'll never be an AZIAM Girlz doll.  But then again, that may be a good thing since they're a freaky-looking bunch.  I can do a passable downward dog, though.

I think that sums me up pretty well...hey, what are you doing, Rita Cheryl?

*Side note from Rita Cheryl:  Oh Mickey, you're so fine!  You're so fine, you blow my mind...

Uh, I get the drift.  I hope you're not expecting me to try catching you, chica.

*Side note from Rita Cheryl:  The Moon Girl wants a group picture!

A group picture???

*Side note from Rita Cheryl:  Yeah!  You, me, Courtney, and Z!

*Side note from the Moon Girl:  All four of you have compared yourselves to the Turning Red crew, so get in together and SMILE PURDY!!!

Oh, very well.  

Hey, we look cute together!  Oh Court, you brought our lightsabers!  Let's duke it out!

*Side note from Courtney:  Vile Sith Lord, I'll savagely defeat you and return peace to this galaxy!  Yikes!

*Side note from Courtney:  Or I'll do a pratt fall instead.  Hey, why does everyone compare me to Priya???

*Side note from Rita Cheryl:  'Cause compared to the rest of us you're pretty chill.

*Side note from Courtney:  Bitchin'.

Heck, I wonder how I ended up being Abby...wait a minute, Z and I already discussed that.  So who gets to be Mei?

LOL, I wonder if she shape-shifts!  I know for a fact that she loves red pandas, so I guess we'll all just have to wait and see!  

Never eat pears,
Luciana Vega

AG Spotlight: Z Yang

So far I'm Casa del Luna's only contemporary.  Not a historical, not a Just Like You, not a Girl of the Year, and definitely not a custom.

FULL NAME:  Suzanne Yang

NICKNAMES:  "Suzie," used by my family, and "Z," used by everyone and their dog.  My dad also called me "Pumpkin," and I like that.

HOMETOWN:  Seattle, Washington

HEAD MOLD:  Jess

HAIR COLOR:  Black

EYE COLOR:  Brown

OTHER DISTINGUISHING FEATURES:  A beauty mark on my left cheek.  Some people hate their facial marks, but I love mine.  It sets me apart from #30 and #40.

FAVORITE COLORS:  Purple and orange

THINGS I LIKE:  Photography and filming, dolls (especially American Girl dolls, which I myself am, LOL), hiking, baseball (the Mariners are my favorite team), traditional Korean food, Dalmatians, long, leisurely scooter rides, rain, plaid clothes.  I dabble in storm chasing as well, and I enjoy that.  The Moon Girl always takes Rita Cheryl on her jaunts, and I wanna go too!!!

*Side note from the Moon Girl:  That was just the one time, and Rita Cheryl was the one I had with me!

Oh...right.  Where was I?

THINGS I DISLIKE:  Living on a fault line (it reminds me of living close to Mt. Rainier), feeling out of control, inhaling smoke, falling off Lindsey's scooter (I have to use hers because I don't have mine right now), taking blurry pictures, wearing long skirts, 

MY CHOICE OF MUSIC:  I like Hall and Oates a lot.  Their sound is so warm and smooth, especially on "I Can't Go for That."

BEST FRIENDS:  I have a Turning Red-style friendship with Luciana, Courtney, and Rita Cheryl.  Picture Rita Cheryl bursting through the school door and yelling "BESTIES, ASSEMBLE!" like Meilin Lee does in the movie.  Under normal circumstances I'd be the first one she'd point to, then Courtney, then Luciana, even though Luciana's not as crazy as Abby Park was...well, not quite.  The four of us like to geek out and act weird together.  We all like Star Wars (I'm a Jedi) and we all like to...well, just live life to our fullest.  Now all we need is a boy band to obsess over, like Mei and her buddies had.  I also like Julie, Xenia, and Silver Bird, since they were all there to meet me when I was unboxed.  I deeply appreciate Lindsey letting me use her scooter, and we've gotten thick over that.  Lastly, I trade photography tips with Amazing Maddie.  Don't tell Felicity that, LOL.

SOMEONE I'D RATHER AVOID:  I'm pretty chill, but my main three friends don't like Doremi much, so by default I avoid her.  She doesn't seem very nice anyway, so I'm probably not missing anything.

HOW I CAME HERE:  eBay again!  The Moon Girl says she forgets who was more expensive, me or Lark.  I'd prefer not to be reminded of that!

ABOUT ME:  I'm pretty much the way the book describes me.  I like dolls and photography, meaning that since my friends and I are dolls I primarily take pictures of them.  I do also like to take pictures of the sky, though I'm not great at that yet.  Luciana is giving me what pointers she can, though neither of us can effectively look at the sky.  Not that I need to look up to photograph my friends...

...or the landscape...

...or even you!  Say "puppies"!

You can't escape my private eyes!  Hmmm...that sounds a little wrong.  Maybe "Every Breath You Take" would be a better song to rip off, since it's creepy rather than suggestive...or maybe it's creepy AND suggestive.  Anyway, I would try my luck at photographing the Moon Girl's animals, but they're always on the move and are impossible to photograph...unless they're asleep.  The Moon Girl says she got this picture of Adric by pure dumb luck.  Usually Adric is rip-roaring around the house, getting in the Moon Girl's face, or climbing on us dolls, but this one time the Moon Girl caught him asleep.  Nope, I can't take credit for this one!

Moony's animals (Adric in particular) are not usually that sedate, so I guess I'll stick with photographing my friends' pets and my own dolls.  I've got Kit now, and I'll soon have Samantha.

The Moon Girl grew up knowing Kit in her cloche hat and pink cardigan, but for me the floral dress is perfect.  Kit hated pink anyway, LOL.  Kind of a shame, since she looks good in pink, but to each their own.  I'm not a huge fan of pink myself; I do wear certain shades, but I'm not big on it.  The Moon Girl tried me on Love×Shack×Fancy, but I just wasn't feeling it.  

Nah.  It's pretty, but nah.  That's more Doremi's speed, or Samantha's.  Truthfully, my main beef was the length of the skirt; one sometimes has to walk a lot when searching for the right photography location, and I can't do that if I'm tripping on a long skirt!  I totally get Felicity when she complains about the length of her skirt, LOL.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I love to play dress-up now and then, but I prefer that my skirt be...oh, mid-calf to knee.  In this cooler weather that's finally upon us, a shorter dress feels mighty nice.

Love,
Suzanne "Z" Yang