This is another doll brand that I've been anxious to review on the blog since it's another mainstream alternative for American Girl. The Journey Girls dolls are the 18" line sold in ToysRUs. They retail for around $32 each.
My mom was able to snag this lovely lady on eBay for a much better price, and then let me borrow her to do a review. :) So, "this blog post is brought to you by...my mom". ;)
This is Alana, the lovely Hispanic Journey Girls doll. The outfit she is wearing was her original "meet outfit", although I believe she comes in a different outfit now.
Her boots are thin leathery-like cloth with Velcro closure on the sides.
A few close-ups of her pretty face (sorry about the lighting in the first two):
One of the first things I noticed was how horribly thin her rooted hair was on the top. This seems to be a recurring problem among the less expensive 18" dolls. Thankfully, there's always rewigging! ;)
The Journey Girls have beautiful stationary eyes that do not open or close. They also have "real" lashes (not just painted on ones).
A side view of Alana's lashes.
I took several shots of Alana with some of my other dolls so you'd get an idea of her size compared to the others.
I thought I'd start by comparing her to an American Girl doll, since that is one of the most well-known brands. I also wanted to try to keep this post somewhat consistent with my earlier doll comparison posts. :)
As you can see from the picture above, the JG dolls are almost the same height as the AGs...
...but their heads are much bigger.
And here is a shot to show the difference in their bodies. (I didn't do a warning about "nude dolls" for this post because there's really not much to see...sorry if I offended anyone). :{ As you can see, the JG dolls have a much thinner body than the AGs, as well as thinner arms and legs.
One of the things that disappointed me the most about this doll was the thin, low quality material that made up the cloth portion of her body. It was extremely lightweight, and between her large head, skinny legs, and the fact that the majority of her body was vinyl, she had a very difficult time standing up by herself. I think that younger kiddos would find this incredibly frustrating (at least, if they're anything like my kids!).
Here's a closer look at the JG legs...
...and AG legs.
Side view
Back view
Here's a picture of Alana's body tag.
The markings on the back of her head read "Geoffrey, LLC" (after the copyright mark).
Here she is with my 21" Karito Kids doll.
These dolls have similar non-blinking, glass-look eyes with real lashes.
They also have similar body types, as you can see from this pic, with vinyl shoulders and chest plates (sorry...I just noticed how blurry this picture is!). :{
Here she is with Maggie, my Alexander Girlz 18" doll.
A close up of the two. In each of these pics, her head seems rather ginormous (that's my favorite new word lately...have you noticed?), ;) but I think that it's closest in size to Maggie's.
Her body structure is also very similar to the Alexander Girlz dolls, but once again, she is much thinner (and the Alexander Girlz are even thinner than the American Girl dolls).
Notice how far down her vinyl chest plate goes compared to Maggie's? I think that may be one of the issues with her standing problems. There's so much vinyl on her that the thin cloth never stands a chance to hold her up.
And finally, here she is with my BFC Ink Britt doll.
Here's a close-up. :) I didn't do an undressed pic of these two because I was lazy and because I didn't want to issue another naked doll warning. ;)
So now that you've seen the dolls together to get an idea of the JG's compatibility with other doll types, the question you must be wondering is whether or not the JGs can share clothes with the AGs, right? As a mom, I know that's one of the things I like to know (I'm not a fan of having to go out and purchase or make an entire new wardrobe for another line of dolls!).
Let me show you in pictures:
Here's Charlie, my AG doll, in Alana's clothes. They technically fit...sorta. :} She doesn't look all that comfortable in her shirt...
...and while the pants look okay in the front...
...there are...um...issues in the back (this was honestly as high as I could get the pants around her bottom...and see how the thread in the seat of the pants is already strained?).
And even though I got her shirt to close in the back, I don't think it would be the best thing for it to be this stretched out all the time.
I thought I'd try the clothes on Maggie too, since Alexander Girlz are a little bit skinnier than American Girls. I think Maggie looks slightly more comfortable than Charlie did.
The pants definitely fit better on her...
...but I still had to stretch them considerably to get them on. I don't think the pants would last long if I made a habit of this.
So then I thought I'd try Alana's clothes on a BFC Ink doll, since they're the skinniest 18" dolls I have.
Alana's meet shirt looks pretty nice, as long as you're looking for a comfy, over-sized shirt look. The black pants worked because they were stretch pants.
But when I tried Alana's khakis on, they were way too loose.
Alana also came with a pretty dress that I thought might work for the BFCs. At first glance it looks okay...
...but when you get a closer look, you realize that this "tight dress" is a bit large on a BFC Ink. It was almost falling off of her.
Meanwhile, here is Alana in some made-for-AG clothes. It looks okay at first glance, although she's wearing her shorts the way most of the teenage boys in the mall do (Dude, what is UP with that? Hasn't anyone heard of a belt? Oh, sorry...I forgot...it's considered "cool" to show the world your undies and have half of your bottom hanging out of your shorts. Ick.).
Apparently, Alana needs to invest in a belt too. I think she'd do okay in a made-for-AG dress, as long as it had a sash or ties around the waist to draw the waistline in. (I can't believe I forgot to get a pic of her in an AG dress...silly me!)
So basically, if you're looking for a doll that can share clothing with most of the other 18" play doll brands out there, the Journey Girls doll is not one for you. If you're looking for a nice, sturdy doll with great hair for your young daughter that really wants an American Girl doll, I'd refer you to a Hearts 4 Hearts Girl (they're easier to hold because they're smaller, plus they have great hair!) or perhaps an Alexander Girlz doll (icky hair but sturdy bodies and lovely faces) or a Gotz Precious Day (better hair and really cute faces).
But, if you're just looking for a doll with a pretty face and some cute outfits that you want as a display doll or a rewigging project, this just might be the doll for you.
Alana in her fancy dress.
She really is a cutie. It's a shame that she's not put together a little bit better.
Originally, I was planning on getting her dimensions, like I did for the other dolls in my second Doll Comparison post. Unfortunately, I never got around to it before I gave the doll back to my mom, and I figured it would be better to just get this post up than wait around for the chance to measure her. If any of you are interested in her actual measurements, leave me a comment below and I'll do my best to get them on here for you. :)
Do any of you have Journey Girls dolls? What do you think of them?
P.S. Sorry about the lack of music. Apparently the Mixpod.com website is having a problem right now. Hopefully they'll get it fixed soon!
P.P.S. Just 3 more days until my 2 Year Blogoversary...yay!! :D
