All Ten Hearts For Hearts Girls Dolls :D

Okay, here I go again, stubbornly doing a completely different post than the ones I advertised. :}  Don't worry...those posts are still in the works and will be appearing on the blog within the next couple of weeks. :)

As the title states, we officially have all ten of the Hearts for Hearts Girls dolls produced so far. :)  I've been meaning to do a photo shoot of all of the girls together for a while, and this week I finally got around to it. :)

Before I get into that, though, I wanted to pass along a bit of news.  The official Hearts For Hearts Girls Website has been taken down, so if you want to get more information about the Hearts for Hearts Girls, you need to go to the Playmates Toys (playmatestoys.com) website and click on "Our Brands".  Click on "Hearts For Hearts Girls" and you'll end up HERE, at the new Hearts For Hearts Girls website.

Most of the games, pictures, and information from the original website are still there.  It's been a while since I've visited the original site, so I'm not sure how much is missing.  I know they've definitely condensed a bit.  One of the things I miss the most is the "contact us" page from the original site.  I had personally contacted the "Heartmaster" several times for information and customer service, and had been pleased with their quick and personal service.

I tried using the former contact email, but it is no longer in service. :(  There is a "contact us" option for Playmates Toys with instructions for inquiries about the Hearts For Hearts Girls, so it sounds like that is our option for customer service now.  Click HERE to visit the contact page at Playmatestoys.com (you'll have to scroll down a bit to get to the email address for the Hearts For Hearts Girls).

I'm sure that many of you have been as curious as I am about future releases from this line.  So far, there has been no word.  Someone on the Hearts For Hearts Girls Facebook page asked about new dolls, and the official answer was that we won't have any information on them until the Toy Fair next month.  (Just like this time last year, I'm once again wishing I would suddenly be blessed with a large sum of money so I could attend. :}  Maybe one of these years I'll make it!!)

It would be wonderful to see this line continue and expand.  I'm a little concerned by the lack of availability that the dolls have had this past year and am hoping it will not hurt the company in the long run.  These are still, hands down, the best inexpensive play dolls out there as far as hair quality.  I love recommending them to family and friends.

Well, I suppose that's enough chatter on my part.  Let's get on with the post!!  

Here are all ten of the Hearts For Hearts Girls dolls produced so far. :)

As you can see from the above picture, none of the girls are in their original outfits.  I thought it would be fun to dress them up a bit for the photo shoot. :)  In the past, I've done several reviews of the dolls with their original outfits and accessories.  You can find all of those on my Doll and Toy Reviews page, under the "Dolls of Other Sizes" category. :)

Here's a closer look at all of the girls:

For those of you who are new to the brand, the Hearts for Hearts Girls were first released in 2011.  The initial release had six dolls:

Lilian from Belarus 

Dell from the USA (Appalachian Mountains)

Consuelo from Mexico

Rahel from Ethiopia

Nahji from India

Tipi from Laos

In 2012, two more dolls were released:

Lauryce from the USA (New Orleans)

Zelia from Brazil

And last year, in 2013, two additional dolls were introduced to the line:

Shola from Afganistan

Mosi from the USA (Native American)

Since I had the opportunity to photograph all ten of the dolls at the same time, I thought it would be fun to compare them in some different ways. :)

First, we'll compare them by hair, skin, and eye color.

Dark hair, brown eyes, dark skin

Dark hair, brown eyes, medium skin

The other five were pretty much in their own categories:

Blonde hair, blue eyes, light skin; Brown hair, blue eyes (with a touch of green, if we're going to be completely specific), ;) and light skin

Dark hair, amber eyes, medium skin; Blonde hair, amber eyes, medium skin; Auburn hair, brown eyes, light skin. 

Here they are grouped by eye color alone:

Blue-eyed girls

Amber eyes

Brown eyes

In these next few photos, I grouped them by hair color:

Black hair (Mosi's does have slight brown highlights, but it is definitely darker than the dark brown-haired dolls)

Dark brown hair

Auburn to regular brown

Blonde

Ever since the second wave of these dolls, I've been very curious to see which of them (if any) have the same face molds.  I was able to observe all of them very closely while doing the photo shoot, and I'm pretty sure I've figured out all of the identical molds.  A little disclaimer here, though.  These are all based on my observations and have not been officially confirmed by the Hearts For Hearts Girls company. ;)  If you see an error in my evaluation, feel free to leave it in the comments. :)

I decided it would be useful to take pictures of them from the front and in profile to better compare the similarities.  In some of the profile pictures, the camera decided to focus on the hair or a hair accessory instead of the profile itself, so I apologize in advance for that. :}

So here, as far as I can tell, are the dolls with matching face molds:

Zelia and Nahji

As far as I can tell, Tipi is the only one with her face mold...

...as is Lilian.  

Rahel and Lauryce appear to have the same mold.

So do Shola and Dell.

Now we come to the duo I'm 99.9% sure about. :}  I've gone back and forth on these two, but I'm pretty sure that Mosi and Consuelo are the same mold as well.  The only two things that make me doubt myself are that Mosi's nose seem ever so slightly different and her jaw structure seems a little different.  Of course, I think Consuelo's head might be tilted slightly higher in this picture. ;)

Their profiles look pretty similar, too...but are they exactly the same?  What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed this detailed look at one of our very favorite play doll lines around here. :)  My daughters and I all enjoy the Hearts For Hearts Girls.  They have beautiful faces and great-quality hair (especially compared to the other play dolls in the same price range).  Their smaller size and lighter weight make them a great choice for young doll lovers (Little Gal never has to ask me to help carry her Lilian doll, but when she takes an 18 inch doll out with her, it gets too heavy for her after a while).  

The other thing I love about the Hearts for Hearts Girls is that it gives my girls an opportunity to think about other little girls just like them living in countries far away.  The dolls can be a great conversation starter about the many children in the world who have never heard about Jesus and His love for them, or about the fact that even if we have different skin, hair or eye color, we're all the same on the inside.  And while what's on the inside is most important, I also love using dolls from different countries and cultures to show my girls that there are many different types of physical beauty.  I want my girls to be able to see the beauty in a person no matter what their skin color, hair color, or eye color.  Most importantly of all, though, I want them to learn to see past that beauty (or lack thereof) and see a person for their inner beauty...for what they are on the inside.  

As with any doll or toy out there, we have run into a few issues with ours.  One of the most prominent problems we've had is with the eyes on several of our dolls.  Oldest Gal's Consuelo has eyes that are almost completely purple now instead of brown.

Oldest Gal and I also decided that they look kind of cool, like Consuelo is a super hero with x-ray vision or something. ;)

I was noticing today that my Zelia's left eye is just starting to get a purple tinge on one side.  It's hard to capture on film, but it's there.

In the past, I'd only heard about problems with brown eyes, but Oldest Gal's Dell has started to have issues with her eyes, too.  They used to be the green-blue color, and now are turning into more of a brilliant, sapphire blue.  What's kind of cool is the way the eyes are turning, each eye is the exact opposite of the other.  It's actually kind of nifty looking. ;)  

Oldest Gal can't bear to replace her dolls, even if they have issues like this, so she will forever have a purple-eyed Consuelo and brilliant-blue-eyed Dell.  However, I do know from experience that the Hearts For Hearts Girls company is willing to replace dolls with defective eyes.  You have to send in your doll with the eye problem, and then they will send you a new one.  Even though the customer service is now through Playmates Toys instead of directly through the Hearts For Hearts Girls, I would assume the policy would be the same.

Other more minor issues have included looser limbs on the newer dolls.  The limbs aren't loose, just looser than they were with the first releases.  But hey, the American Girl company is apparently doing the same thing, so it's everywhere! ;)

I've also noticed that a couple of my newer dolls have bodies that are a bit darker in coloring than their heads and limbs.  It doesn't really bother me, but I wanted to mention that in case it would be an issue for one of my readers.  

Overall, though, the problems have been fairly minor and we've been incredibly pleased with these dolls.  I would give them a 5 out of 5 (since the eye problem is something that can be resolved) and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for an inexpensive yet good quality play doll. :)

So, now that you've seen them all, which of the ten is your favorite? ;)

My personal Hearts For Hearts Girls (the others belong to my daughters and one belongs to Mimi; we also have a few duplicates).  I really enjoy these cuties! :)

More Madame Alexander My Life Doll Goodies and a Goodwill Squee! :D

Hey guys!  I just had to come back and report after a super exciting day of dolly shopping. ;)  My girls and I had to go to Walmart today, so of course, we stopped by the toy section to see how things looked. :}

All four of us were thrilled to see a huge display in progress for the "My Life" dolls.  (To see my previous post on this new doll line, click HERE.)  There was a lot of merchandise that had not arrived yet, but there was still enough there to be excited about! :)  I brought home a sampling to share with all of you. 

Most of the items they had available today were more small individual accessories.  This adorable ballet bag was $1.97.  There was also a small purple backpack and a glittery silver purse.  I wasn't a big fan of the purse.  The glittery sequins were a little big for doll scale, and it looked inexpensive, while the other two bags just were inexpensive, if you know what I mean. ;)

A closer look at the ballet slippers on the front of the bag.

It opens on top with a zipper.

This cowgirl hat was $1.  They also had them in pink and lavender.  While it actually fit my American Girl dolls well, it looked a little off, as you can see from the pictures.  It's a little too shallow.  

It looks slightly better from the side.  It's too bad that it's not quite right, because the hat is really cute.  It's made of a nice, heavy-duty flexible plastic.

AND THERE WERE MORE AMAZING SHOES!!  Just like before, each pair cost $1.97.  All of the pairs I purchased today were made of the same thick, flexible plastic as the cowgirl hat.  

These adorable rollerblades feature wheels that really roll, and they're sturdy and have great balance.  I was actually able to roll Hailey across the floor (while still holding onto her) like she was really rollerblading. :)

I like the little decals on the side. :)

I also adored these ice skates...and I just realized that I put them on the wrong feet...I think.  It's kind of hard to tell.  Oops! :}  Oh well, Emma didn't complain. ;)  Just like the roller blades, the ice skates had great balance.  Emma could stand unassisted while wearing them. :)

Side view

Charlie reluctantly agreed to take her normal boots off long enough to model these pink ones for me.  She thought these were comfy, but still prefers her brown ones. ;)

One nice thing about all of the shoes I purchased today is this feature:  They all have a nice, big slit in the back that makes them super easy to take them on and off.  While this may not look the most accurate, as a mom who's wrestled my fair share of stubborn doll shoes, I really appreciate this feature.  One of the worst pairs of my daughters' doll shoes is a pair of pink boots that came with Oldest Gal's Alexander Girlz doll, so I'm glad to see they've changed their design.

I also picked up these super cute garden boots.  

Aren't these adorable?  I especially love the little butterflies on the sides. :)

One of the other things they had was a package that included a pair of pink glasses and lavender sunglasses for $1.97.  At that price, I had to try them out, especially since I've been wanting to replace Hailey's glasses for a while.  And they actually look pretty cute on her! :)

I tried them on Emma too.  Unfortunately, the American Girl doll faces are just narrow enough that these look a little big.  Bigger glasses are coming back in style, so maybe this won't bother everyone, but I didn't care for this look as much.

The glasses were also a bit too long on the sides.  Honestly, this didn't surprise me, as the Madame Alexander dolls have always had much bigger heads than the AGs.  I figured it was worth trying, though...especially since AG glasses cost around $9 a pair. :}  

Oh, and I should mention that I had a harder time getting these to work on Charlie, and I think it's because she has thicker hair.  I couldn't get the glasses to stay very well.

While I'm at it, I should also mention that if these glasses are stretched too far, they come apart fairly easily.  They can be fixed without too much of a headache, but this still might be frustrating for younger ones. Of course, you get what you pay for.  And at 99 cents a pair, well, I suppose it's not fair to expect too much. ;)

The sunglasses worked slightly better for Emma, at least in my opinion.  I think it's mainly because I'm getting used to seeing really big sunglasses lenses again.

Like the regular glasses, these were also a bit long.  This pair seemed to fit just slightly better, though. :) 

They worked okay on her head, although the first time I tried this was the first time they came apart on me. :}

I decided to try the regular glasses on Hailey one more time to see if I still liked them.

I couldn't get over how cute Hailey looked in them.  What do you think of her new look? 

As I said at the beginning of the post, the display was still in progress, but I saw enough to keep me checking back for more goodies.  They had all of the dolls in stock, as well as several really cute outfits.  Oh, and for all of you who were fans of "Friends Boutique" Emily last year, there are two dolls that look a lot like her in this line. :)

Since the dolls were all there, I was able to identify what each of the doll's "life" experience was supposed to be:

From left to right, they are:  "Nature Girl", "Ballerina", "Cowgirl", "School Girl", "Gymnast", another "Ballerina", another "Cowgirl", and another "Gymnast".  Nature Girl and Cowgirl #2 are the ones that look the most like Emily.  In person, my favorites (besides Gabby) were School Girl (I love the brown eyed, blondish-haired combination) and Cowgirl #2. :)

I also saw price stickers for things like "bed", "camping set", "wheelchair", and "horse with accessories", so I can't wait to see what all of those look like! :)  If the quality is as nice in some of the other categories from this line, I think there will be a lot of wonderful, less-expensive alternatives for doll-sized Christmas gifts this year. :)

And as if that didn't provide enough excitement for one day, we stopped at our local Goodwill afterwards and I found...

...a Hearts For Hearts Girls Dell for $1.99!! :D

She didn't have any clothing, but her hat was still attached to her head.  And even though her hair was a bit messy, it was still in its original ponytail and didn't look too matted.

Her price was on her leg (thankfully, it came right off!).

The only thing I was slightly concerned about was this green spot near her nose.  I was pretty sure it would come off, but you just never know.

Thankfully, her face cleaned up perfectly and her hair brushed out beautifully...and I am totally in love. ;)

This doll is so stunning.  Her stock photos don't do her justice.  And honestly, I wouldn't even judge her by how she looks in the box, with her camo hat on and her hair pulled back from her face.  I would 100% recommend this beautiful little gal.

She tried on a few things before settling on this dress.  For some reason, she really felt at home in it. ;)  (For those of you who don't know, it was made for her...just in case you didn't get my humor there.) ;)

I especially love Dell's eyes.  They're this beautiful blue green that is one of the most unique doll eye colors I've seen.  

Dell will most likely end up belonging to Oldest Gal.  This one's been on her wish list for a long time.  :)

I cannot get over how BEAUTIFUL Dell's hair is!!  And this just goes to show you what great quality hair these dolls have.  I mean, this is what it looked like after I got it at a thrift store.

I thought it would be fun to take a group shot of all of the Hearts For Hearts Girls currently under our roof.  (Yes, Lauryce is still here.  I'd better get her listed on eBay soon, or she might just stay here forever!) ;)

Back row:  Oldest Gal's Consuelo, Dell, Zelia, Nahji

Front Row:  Little Gal's Rahel, Middle Gal's Nahji, and Lauryce

All 6 of the different dolls (duplicate Nahji stepped out for this one since I was just wanting to show the different dolls). 

And although it's not quite as exciting as a Hearts For Hearts Girl, I was still happy to find this fun doll-sized princess lunch box. :)

So, that was my day!  I hope you all had a wonderful day too. :) 

I'll probably be haunting Walmart all week, waiting for new releases in the "My Life" section.  And man, after today, I might just stop by Goodwill a little more often, too. ;)

Talk to you all later!  I have some more great things to share, but I may not have a chance to post for a bit.  I'm singing in a wedding tomorrow, Sunday is church, and Monday is the first day of school! :}  It might take me a while to adjust to the new schedule (but it's totally worth it to go back to grocery shopping with only one child). ;)  Anyway, don't think I've forgotten you if my posting is sporadic for a bit here. :)