Our Canadian friends, Maplelea, have just released a new line of 18″ dolls in addition to their original six Canadian Girl dolls. The Maplelea Friends are a line of eight dolls meant to be just like you dolls or just dolls you love.
These dolls are available for pre-order now and will be ready to ship around October 7th. From the Maplelea website:
Your Maplelea Friend comes dressed in a cute graphic tee and a corduroy skirt, striped footless tights and silver shoes with a cut-out maple leaf detail. Like all Maplelea dolls, she is of premium quality, 46cm (18 inches) tall, with a soft, huggable body and poseable arms and legs. Her eyes open and close. She arrives in a beautiful, decorative storage box that you can use to keep all her treasures. The journal accompanying your Maplelea Friend provides 32 pages of prompts, questions and blanks to help you create her story. There are also 32 pages in the journal for you to tell your story!
Here are the eight new dolls:
I think this is a great move for Maplelea as it gives Canandian girls a bigger choice of dolls that represent their heritage and interests.
Firstie!
I want the one with very curly dark hair. And the Asian one. And the one that has brown bangless ahir and brown eyes (something AG STILL hasn’t made). I need to move to Canada… and I need a job to support my habits….
I’m Canadian and I still get AG dolls! Lol I don’t really like the maplelea dolls faces!
Cute!!
There’s a Ukranian dance outfit for Brianne… must HAVE.
Dear Char,I was woundering have you ever heard of the magic attic club dolls?They are about these girls ho all live in the same neibhorhood and they find a big trunk of costumes in an attic.when they put on the costumes and look in the mirror it takes them to a place that would match there costume.I like the dolls but it kind f sounds like capatina is simaler.
Melody, the Carpatina dolls are the same size as Magic Attic. Just Magic Dolls has a very good refrence section for Magic Attic.
cute dolls!
Melody – yes, I have heard of Magic Attic dolls and they are about the same size as Carpatina. I would like to add one of them to my collection one of these days.
I like the one with curly brown hair. Cute!
I agree Lana!
WHY hasn’t AG made a bangless light brown hair brown eyes doll? I don’t get it. More girls don’t have bangs then have bangs.
I mean Lena
Why isn’t the Sunday show case on the website
I do have bangs, but they’re really long (reach the bottom of my nose) and I usually just pin them to the side. They’ve had 70+ dolls over the years, and there have been 4 light skinned brown eyed brunettes: Samantha (bangs), 16 (bangs), 13 (bangs), and 57 (who has side bangs). I’m not counting black haired dolls here, since black is not brunette.
Don’t worry, I’ve been called ever possible nickname for “Paulina” you can imagine.
sophie- i agree
Sophie – the Sunday Showcase will be posted around 2 or so (Eastern time).
Omg the curls! Its practically me!
I like the one with bangs on the bottom row.
I wish they sold them here.
I have bangs, but I just think that they need to make a doll differently.
They do ship to the US, all except Taryn (there’s a copywrite problem with her).
I think that they SHOULD make a doll with brown hair and no bangs because I want to buy a My AG that actually looks like me. Maybe that’s why one of the reasons I want Rebecca so much is because she’s the one that appears closest to me.
Ashley, I was saying they should.
Lena actually American girl has a dark brown hair and brown eyes and bangs. They have almond shaped eyes ones and regular eyes ones. I have the regular eyes one.
Oops never mind!
But my friend has the one your talking about lena
I emailed Maplelea, in English and French, asking for an Asian doll; but the fifth and sixth dolls are the next best things.
I love the one with curly brown hair and brown eyes! I would love to get one sometime, but for now I’m sticking to AG dolls!
The dolls just don’t have attractive faces. Besides the faces, they sound like duplicates of American Girl dolls – except for the fact that AG dolls have cute and detailed faces.
Seriously, look at an American Girl and a Maplelea side by side. You tell me which is prettier, cuter, and just generally more lovable. I will be sticking with my 16 AG dolls, thank you very much.
I am not trying to put down Maplelea lovers, just stating my own opinions. I’m sorry if I offended anyone.
Mad, I think Maplelea’s are prettier & cuter. They have the sweetest faces, but don’t photograph well.
I’m deciding between Caroline and Saila for Christmas (with my mom pushing toward Leonie since I’m also quebequoise), and HEAVILY leaning toward Saila.
Mad – I don’t think it is fair to say they don’t have attractive faces. There are so many different doll lines and each one is unique. There are faces from the AG line I like and ones that are just meh. There are faces (like Saila) from Maplelea that I like and others that don’t speak to me either. I could go on and on, brand by brand. The thing is, it makes sense for Maplelea to do a Canadian line of dolls, just like My London Girl is focused on the British market and Australian Girl dolls are for the Australian market. Girls want dolls they can relate to – and the marketplace needs choices. Certain items from each collection can not be shipped to other countries and international shipping is expensive, so to say that Maplelea or any other company is copying AG isn’t necessarily fair. There are literally hundreds of fashion dolls – are they all Barbie knock offs? There are thousands of baby dolls on the market too – some I like, many I don’t and that is okay. I don’t believe that American Girl owns the 18″ play doll concept, nor should it be the only option in town.
Lena – Saila is so much prettier in person and she is truly unique.
I want the doll with brown curly hair. Her name would be Nicole
Yeah, and some 18 inch doll company’s have been around wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy longer than ag.
I’ve seen a Jenna in person, and she was a 1000x cuter than her stock photos. I think the same’s true for all the Maplelea.
I heartily agree with what you said. Besides, all my AGs look like they’re related. Variety is nice to have.
Hi guys! I’m so happy to talk to you guys again! I’m so sorry about not posting comments that much. The Internet went out. Oh and Char I agree with you very much about what you said about Maplelea dolls not being knock offs. I don’t think anyone of these AWESOME doll places are knock offs at all. They are all awesome and unique in their own way.
Yeah and Lena its true they do all look related. My Marie-Grace and Rebecca totally look like sisters. But my Mem doll (renamed Consuelo) looks nothing like them.
I want a Chinese Canadian doll who lives outside Vancouver in a city known to residents as Richmond, which looks like a piece of Hong Kong. I asked Maplelea for that doll after Saila came out. They still haven’t written back.
There’s a reason I made Hailey (Chrissa) and Mara (McK) cousins.
Pretty Irish AG, they can’t take your idea. They’d have to either A. steal it, since it’s your intellectual property, or B. credit you with the idea and pay you royalties. I doubt they’re willing to do either.
To Lena: I actually stole the idea from my mother, who drove the doll companies and toy stores up the wall when I was a baby because they wouldn’t sell Asian dolls. Plus, many of the Chinese Richmond residents feel the same way. Oh well! there’s always Alexi
Alexi and Taryn were actually created with no specific cultural background so you could make up your own. But I do kinda agree that there should be an Asian Maplelea Girl (that goes for AG historicals too. Ivy does not count).
That’s what I mean by “there’s always Alexi” I thought about making Alexi Chinese if/when I get her.
Very nice.
When my friend asked why Maplelea could not ship Taryn to the US, my dad replied, “You ship, we sue.”
There is a copyright issue that keeps Taryn’s stuff from being shipped from Maplelea to the US.
im canadian and i don’t like the maplelea dolls face i prefer ag.
Toys R Us owns the rights to a doll named Taryn in the US (the AA Journey Girl), which is why Maplelea Taryn can’t be shipped here.
That’s what Dad means by “You (meaning Maplelea) ship, we (meaning Toys R Us) sue!” Still, there is one outfit of Taryn’s collection I want.
There are several Taryn things I want. I think it might be time to visit my aunt in Canada…
@Lena Hmm, I might ship the Wild Rose outfit to my Auntie in Canada, too but AFTER I buy Leonie, Alexi, or Nicole (light skin, brown curly hair, brown eyed Maplelea friends doll)