They came in ordinary plastic bags with no labels aside from randomly placed stickers, one for warning against choking and another for something like a product code that made no sense to a common person.
Simple packaging
They came from China but the dolls exhibited African features. While the body is noticeably a copy of an older (but better) playline doll from Mattel (except for the neck peg), the face is unfamiliar. Both dolls I got have the same skin tone and face mold. The perceived difference in color is due to the different lighting conditions.
Faces and body
If you try to search for "movable joint African doll", you'll find out that there are a lot of variants. The opened-mouth variant (another copy of a Mattel doll) seemed to have a lighter skin tone than the closed-mouth variant. The former is similar to Momppy Mpoppy dolls from South Africa. An IG user commented that the doll had the same skin tone as Nikki from the earlier Barbie Fashionista line.
Closed-mouth variants
Sporty variants
Opened-mouth variants
I am not a fan of the face sculpt so one doll has become a body donor to my Asha doll, below. I'm still thinking of keeping the one with the Afro. The curls on the Afro doesn't easily become loose like some dolls from Mattel.
Before repaint
After repaint
The skin tone is different compared to most dolls I have, so I have little intention to buy again.
Left to right: Fashionista body (Nikki), I Can Be Tennis Player,
Barbie Basics (yellow swimsuit), Dynamite girl head, movable joint African doll
2 comments:
Thanks for the review! I order some dolls like this off of Wish! I am waiting for them to ship! I thought the one in the red was darker and she did looked it in the picture. So, now I know she is not. They do look like they have the grayish tone of IT dolls, so might be a good body donor for the old IT dolls like Janay that weren't articulated.
What did you think of the clothes?
They do have grayish tone. I thought of coloring the body but the color may not adhere properly to some body parts as they are made of different materials. The torso is made of hard plastic while the limbs are mildly bendable.
The cheerleader outfit and the black top are made of the same stretchy material. They are okay except that they use regular velcro that is poorly attached and might eventually damage the fabric. The skirt fabric is stiff and thick for dolls but is generally okay. It doesn't look like it will fray easily.
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