Over the weekend we visited The Toy Shoppe (see our recap here) and of course, we did not come home empty-handed. We added another doll to our collection – a Sonja Hartmann Kidz ‘ n Cats 18″ slim body doll named Galina. The Kidz ‘n Cats dolls come in a wide variety of faces, hair color, and personalities – and there are even boys (the Doll Wardrobe have two on the way). There were some I really did not care for, but Natalie and I just loved Galina – primarily because of her toothy grin. We like happy dolls. The other one I really like is Laura, but she is not available until March.

Galina has long auburn hair that is a side part with peek-a-boo bangs. She has the most amazing eye lashes but her eyes do not open and close. She comes with a cat – we named him Franco – who has a semi-matching denim outfit with white furry collar and a sassy little beret.

This is a better picture of those amazing eyes!

Galina’s hair is very long and smooth which makes it easy to work with. Her meet outfit includes her undies & cami, t-shirt, shorts, tights, boots, a belt (not shown), headband (also not shown) and her furry jacket. Honestly, I am not overwhelmed by her clothes – they are not the quality of fabric and ease of dressing that we have become accustomed to with American Girl, Maplelea, Carpatina and other brands.

The good news is that Galina and our Carpatina Slim Body 18″ doll Erin are very similar in size! The big difference is that the Kidz ‘n Cats dolls are articulated which means they bend at the wrists, elbows and knees as well as the hips, shoulders and head like the Carpatina dolls do. The Kidz ‘n Cats feet are also bigger than the Carpatina feet. Anyhow, Erin was so happy that Galina brought her this super cute ballet set. The set was on sale for $29 and included two ballet outfits, one pair of tights, leg warmers, and two pairs of shoes. The leotard fits Erin, but it is every so slightly short in the torso on her, so she borrowed the purply wrap from the retired American Girl ice skating outfit and it looks perfect!

Erin was so happy to finally get to practice her ballet moves. It’s a good thing McKenna’s bar works well as a ballet barre, too!

Erin and Galina are great friends already and as a thank you for bringing her the new ballet clothes, Erin offered to let Galina wear her Carpatina Afternoon Stroll outfit.

Erin thinks that Galina looks MUCH better now and I have to agree. The only thing is that Galina’s feet are pretty big so she couldn’t wear the Carpatina shoes, but Chrissa’s shoes  fit just fine and match the outfit, too. Galina wanted to go for a little ride on the scooter while Erin went back to ballet class.

On her scooter ride, Galina came across Kit who was happy to welcome her to the doll room.

Galina introduced Kit to her crazy cat Franco. And off they went to introduce Franco to the rest of the pets.

So, what do you think of our new girl? I think she will fit in just fine and will have plenty of adventure with her new friends.

You can get Kidz ‘n Cats dolls in the US through stores like The Toy Shoppe, other Madame Alexander retailers and even Amazon.

I am really loving that Natalie’s swim meets have been in fun places recently and have given us the opportunity to take in some extra doll goodness along with her swim. If you remember, a few weeks ago we ended up at the American Girl store at Tysons after one of her meets and Saturday we realized that The Toy Shoppe was only 15 minutes from the pool she was at.  The Toy Shoppe is a unique store that is owned by award winning doll retailers Danny and Barrie Shapiro and their family since 1975. Their store has collectible dolls and bears for every age and price range – from less than $50 to well into the thousands of dollars. However, that is not what makes The Toy Shoppe special – it is the incredible collection of dolls they select for their customers that is what sets them apart. They don’t work with just any doll maker or artist – they are very selective.

When we arrived at The Toy Shoppe we were greeted by Kathy who welcomed us and instantly made us feel at home. She gave us the basic overview of the store and showed us the Gallery. The dolls in the gallery are so special and so expensive that I know for a fact I will never own one, but they were simply amazing to look at. Some were very life-like and others somewhat artistic and abstract, some you wanted to just scoop up and others Natalie thought were a little creepy, but that is the thing about dolls – their appeal is so individualized and there is something for everyone.

This is a Paddington Bear by R. John Wright that was made in 2000. He is 15″ tall and fully poseable. I have loved Paddington ever since I was a child and this has to be one of the most divine Paddington Bear’s I have seen yet. Most of R. John Wright’s creations are inspired by popular children’s books, illustrations and stories. They are licensed and R. John Wright goes to extreme lengths to capture every last detail in his work.

The Toy Shoppe carries quite a bit of Madame Alexander – from the play doll line up to the most collectible items. I just had to take a picture of the Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls as Natalie just got the miniature versions of these from Aunt Kay last week.

Some of the Madame Alexander Cissy dolls including A Dark Dream Cissy, Envy Cissy and Simply Irresistible Cissy – and of course, an 18″ Favorite Friends doll, too. While Natalie and I were checking out the Madame Alexander’s and the Steiff bears, we met Dana. Dana manages The Toy Shoppe Facebook page and I had left her a note the day before saying we would be down to visit. She was so much fun to talk to and so knowledgeable as well.

We continued to make our way around the store – completely overwhelmed by the diversity of dolls, bears and plush animals – as well as the incredible talent that went into making so many of the dolls. This photo shows that diversity.

Barrie, one of the stores owners, also came out to talk with us and show us around the store. This is a photo of a small piece of Barrie’s desk. Her entire office was DOLLS, DOLL, BEARS, DOLLS, and more, you guessed it, DOLLS. I’m not sure I could work in there – I’d want to play all day, but it did actually inspire me to look at my own desk and how I can rearrange things to showcase more of my own growing collection and have all those sweet little faces keeping me company all day.

Barrie introduced me to the dolls of Helen Kish. This is High Flying Raven, a 14″ ball jointed doll with 13 points of articulation. I just fell in love with this doll – especially her face, but Helen’s version of the aviator outfit on her is just adorable. High Flying Raven is $340, which is a bit out of my price range for the time being, but it is nice to know that The Toy Shoppe can do payment plans in case there is a doll you just have to add to your collection.

Barrie showed us more of the R. John Wright collection and they are truly lifelike renditions of the original – possibly even better. This is Alice in Wonderland. She is not the Disney-fied cartoony version, rather more like the original artist drawings. Every detail – down to the stripes in her socks – are created with care. Isn’t she something?

I forgot to get the name of this lifesize cutie – but she is just another example of what I mean by there is something for everyone at The Toy Shoppe.

The Toy Shoppe carries play dolls too – from the Adora 4 Ever Friends line to the jr. collector line by Sonja Hartmann called Kidz’nCats. This is Tinka from the Kidz’nCats line. They are 18″ slim body dolls very similar to the Carpatina slim body line. They have gorgeous facial features, including the longest eyelashes ever. The Carpatina slim body dolls can move their heads as well as their arms and legs, but the Kidz’nCats dolls are articulated so they can bend in many more places. We fell in love with one of Tinka’s friends – Galina – and brought her home. We will be doing a post just on Galina with some great side by sides of the other 18″ dolls, too.

You can see more photos from our visit on the DollDiaries Facebook page.

I would like to thank Barrie, Danny, Dana and especially Kathy (as she and Natalie did quite a bit of doll talk on their own) for such a warm welcome and tour of their gem of a store! I look forward to our next visit!

Each year doll industry experts, doll artists, collectors and retailers get together for the International Doll Exhibition known as IDEX and each year they also have an awards banquet to recognize the Dolls of the Year based on the industry’s input. While you won’t find many (if any) of these dolls at Target or Toys R Us, each one is unique in its own way.

The categories that I tend to look at each year are Children’s Play Doll, Collectible Fashion Doll, and Collectible Vinyl/Plastic Less than $150. The winners in these categories this year are:

Children’s Play Doll

JC TOYS 16982 8.5 in. Lil Cutesies Twins Doll in Stroller
Playtime Baby Little Princess – Adora
Laura – Sonja Hartmann
Mosi – Playmates Toys

Collectible Fashion Doll

Princess Catherine Bride Doll – Ashton-Drake Galleries
Grace Kelly Bride-Silkstone– Mattel
The Corpse Bride – Tonner
Toxica – Superfrock
Dinner with Duke & Duchess – Joan Greene

Collectible Vinyl/Plastic Doll, Less Than $150

Goddess of the Galaxy Barbie – Mattel
Oink! – Adora
Madison – Ashton-Drake Galleries
Grace – Sonja Hartmann

For a complete listing of all the winners in all categories, visit Doll Reader magazine’s website.

Paradise Galleries has a great deal going right now on their Tender Hearts doll line. Purchase any two Tender Heart Girl dolls and get an outfit FREE!  Use code: EMP1TEND (ends 2/14)

We reviewed a Tender Hearts doll – Emma – and we love that not only is she very huggable with that soft body, but she is also very poseable which makes her lots of fun to play with.

My Wilde Imagination Ellowyne doll was getting a little bored on the shelf today and decided it was time to go see if there was anything new and fun in Megan’s room.

When Ellowyne got to Megan’s room she found a few shiny new medals sitting on her dresser. This one she got for Balance Beam at a recent meet where that was also a “pink” meet – meaning it was a fundraiser for Breast Cancer charities. Ellowyne loves the applause of the crowd so she could not resist trying it on, giving a salute and hearing the American Girls in the room cheer for her.

Next Ellowyne decided to check out Megan’s jewelry and found a cute little pearly bracelet that she quickly converted into a necklace for herself. She absolutely loves this new box Megan has on her desk to keep little trinkets in. I think Ellowyne would look great in those shoes.

Ellowyne told me she was bored with that crown braid and wanted something different. I just love working with her long silky hair so I tried this fishtail braid on it. I love how the fishtail looks on Ellowyne’s blonde hair – don’t you? It is easier than it looks, too – check out Megan’s video tutorial on the Fishtail Braid – which is how I learned.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Ellowyne!

UPDATE!!! Congratulations to Gretchen & Diva Jean – they are the winners of this giveaway!!

To continue our month long Springfield Dolls giveaway extravaganza, this week we are highlighting the Springfield Collection Furniture for dolls and will be giving two winners the furniture piece of their choice from the Springfield Dolls online store.

Personally, the vanity is one of my favorite pieces in the online store, however, all the furniture in the Springfield Collection is very affordable making it the perfect addition to your other doll furniture.

WHAT WE ARE GIVING AWAY:

Two (2) lucky winners will receive the piece of furniture from the Springfield Dolls online store of their choice. They will get to choose from items that are in stock at the time.

How To Enter

• Visit the Springfield Collection website and click through to their store. There are three different ways to get to the store on the Springfield Dolls home page but the easiest one is to click on Abby and her shopping cart.
• Go to the Furniture department and take a look around. Then come back here and leave a comment telling us:
  • Your favorite furniture pieces from their collection
  • And, if you were a Springfield Dolls design team member, what piece of furniture would you add to the collection next?
• Get bonus entries by letting your friends know about our giveaway. Get one extra entry for each of the following, but come back and leave a second comment telling us where you shared it:
  • Post about it on your own blog, in a forum, tweet about it or share it with your friends on Facebook.
  • Follow us on Twitter (we are @DollDiaries) – please send us a tweet letting us know you are following us and introduce yourself, too.
  • Like us on Facebook (we are DollDiaries and Springfield Dolls) – again, feel free to leave us a note on Facebook saying hello and that you are entering the giveaway.
  • Subscribe to our YouTube channels (DollDiaries and Springfield Dolls)

Rules

• Leave your comment(s) no later than midnight February 2, 2012.
• Make sure your email address is right. We only use it to contact the winner and we will NEVER share it or publish it.
• You must be 13 or older to enter. If you are under 13, just ask your parent, grandparent, favorite aunt or uncle to enter for you!
• We will be using the “And the winner is” plugin to select two (2) winners at random.

First of all, I’d like to thank the Springfield Doll company for sponsoring such a fun giveaway in the SF Style Club Design Your Own Prize giveawy! And I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to enter, too. Samantha was one of our winners in week one and she got her prize box today. She was SOOOO happy!

Back row: Elizabeth, Lucy and Julie. Front row: Samantha and Nellie.

Samantha must have been pretty creative getting all those clothes on her model in the SF Style Club!

Week 2 of the SF Style Club giveaway is going on now. Go check it out and get your entries in. We are having some difficulty with the submissions to share@dolldiaries.com, so you can send your entries in to dolldiaries@gmail.com.

UPDATED!!! Congratulations to our winners!! Hailey for Heading to Practice and Rose with A Fun Day. Check your inboxes ladies!

Back by popular demand … the SF Style Club Create Your Own Outfit Giveaway!! Our friends at Springfield Dolls have recently launched their SFStyleClub – a fun destination for girls where you can create outfits for your dolls, change them over and over, earn points for playing, do some activities, and share your style with your friends.

For our giveaway, you are invited to submit one new outfit for your dolls per day at the SFStyleClub and share it with us. You can create as many outfits as you like at the SF Style Club because it earns you points and unlocks new outfits, but you can only send one in per day.

At the end of the giveaway we will be choosing two entries at random and the winner will get the Springfield Dolls outfit they created. Sound like fun?? In other words, YOU get to create YOUR PRIZE!

HOW DO YOU ENTER??

Step 1 - Go to the SFStyleClub website and Login. If you do not have an account there yet, it’s easy to register AND it’s FREE. Your parent will have to approve your account. Grown ups – you are welcome to enter as well!

Step 2 – Pick the doll you want to dress up then choose the tab at the top that says DRESS UP. Try on tops, pants, shoes, dresses, accessories and more until you find just the right combination – the outfit that you would love to have for one of your own 18″ dolls like Springfield Dolls, American Girl, Maplelea or similar dolls. You can even change the backgrounds.

Step 3 – Choose to SHARE your outfit. The screen you see above will show up. Fill in the blanks like so…

• Recipient Name: Char (that’s me!)
• Recipient Email Address: dolldiaries@gmail.com
• Your message: In this section put your name, your email address, and what your outfit is about. I will not be sharing your email address – just the outfit you create – but need it so I can contact you if you win.

Step 4 – Click the SHARE button and your design will get sent to me!

Step 5 - Come back and check this post as I will be posting everyones’ outfits (not your email address) in a gallery below so you can see how creative your Doll Diaries friends are! Note: It may take up to 24 hours before your design gets posted – I don’t live in the computer

Let’s RECAP!

• We are giving away an outfit of your creating from the Springfield Dolls collection.
• There will be two winners chosen at RANDOM
• You may enter one outfit per day.
• The giveaway will be open from now until midnight Eastern time on January 26, 2012.
• If you are under 13, you must have your parent’s permission to participate.
• In the event that any of the items you have selected as part of your outfit are out of stock, a substitute item will be included instead.
• By submitting your photo, you are granting DollDiaries.com permission to publish the photo along with your first name and the description you provide. We will never publish or share your email address or personal information. You are also granting us permission to use your photo on the DollDiaries Facebook page and/or YouTube channel.

Click on your friend’s entries below to view their outfits and to leave nice comments, too! Have fun with this one!! If you have submitted an entry and it is not shown below please send it again to dolldiaries@gmail.com.

My new Ellowyne from Wilde Imagination has got the most amazing hair to work with!! I decided to take a cue from Megan and give Elle a crown braid – very similar to what Megan does with her own hair on a regular basis. Ellowyne’s hair is very long – going well below her behind and is very fine and silky. I thought it would tangle easy or be hard to work with, but I was wrong – it is wonderful!

Ellowyne’s hair does very well in the crown braid. I just realized I missed one tiny strand of hair and it is in her face. UGH.

Some mornings you just need a good cup of tea or coffee to get you started. Ellowyne is drinking her coffee from one of the American Girl Bistro mugs we picked up during our last trip to the American Girl Store.

Ellowyne found the E! In this picture you can really see how long her hair is.

More photos of my Ellowyne can be found on the Doll Diaries Facebook page, too.

If you (or your Mom or Grandmother) were a little girl in the 1940′s to 1960′s there is a really good chance you had a Terri Lee doll or had a friend who had one. The 15″ play dolls had a wide range of outfits and accessories, stylable hair, and even had a magazine at one point. Original Terri Lee dolls are very hard to find nowadays, but a new generation of girls can now have their own Terri Lee thanks to family members who have started producing this American classic again.

The team at Terri Lee sent us a doll to review and we will be doing a giveaway for a Terri Lee doll next month.

The Terri Lee dolls come in a sturdy trunk-like box complete with a handle. This is perfect for keeping all the doll’s belongings together. We received “Swing into Spring” which is one of four primary outfits that the dolls come dressed in. In the Terri Lee collection there are three basic dolls – light skin with blonde hair, medium skin with brown hair, and dark skin with brown hair. They are all just so cute.

Here is our Terri Lee out of her box. She is definitely modeled after a toddler and is supposed to look like one, too. She has super chubby little cheeks, her lips are somewhat pouty and her knees are not entirely straight.

Look at those huge brown eyes!! How could you not just love her! The Swing into Spring outfit she comes dressed in is a pink baby doll style dress that velcros up the back and has a poofy slip underneath. She is wearing white ankle socks, white patent Mary Janes and a pink hat. Very vintage styling but the material and color will appeal to little girls of today.

Since Terri Lee dolls are styled to look like toddlers and are meant as play dolls (although I bet they are popular with adult doll collectors too), I was curious to see how she looks compared to American Girl’s Bitty Baby who is also a 15″ doll. Bitty doesn’t stand well on her own so she is a little slouched.  The dolls are about the same size although Terri Lee is a little skinnier. The Terri Lee doll does not have the soft body like Bitty Baby.

Here is Terri Lee next to the American Girl Bitty Twin who is a little more grown up than Bitty with her stylable hair. I am pretty sure Terri Lee could wear Bitty’s clothes but not necessarily the other way around.

Terri Lee comes packaged with her hair in a net so that it doesn’t get messed up in transit. When I took the hair net out, I was amazed at how pretty her curls are! Her hair is very soft and I think it will be easy to style, too. I will have to try a new style later but Natalie made me promise I wouldn’t mess up her doll’s hair while she was at school, so I have to keep my word!

The Terri Lee dolls are available on the Terri Lee website for $39.99. They are themed after the seasons with names like “Summer by the Sea,” “Ready for Recess,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Swing Into Spring.” In addition to the doll shop, the Terri Lee website is full of doll history and there are some cute online activities that girls of all ages will enjoy including dress up, a matching game and online color-by-number. We have teamed up with Terri Lee to share the color-by-number pages as printables for you, too. Check back later today and I will have them posted.