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! :)
