Lammily Photographer Photo-Intense Post

Yesterday, after the postman rang once,  I found a Lammily logo'd package and two others on my porch.  The other two were not dolls.  After waiting months on the arrival of my preordered Photographer Lammily, of course, I opened her package first.

Inside the shipper was the doll's beautifully designed box, which features a lovely painted image of the doll on front.

Images of things and places she has photographed are on both sides and back of the box.

Tucked inside the front flap, is Photographer's story, My New Old Camera.  Photos of each page are shown next.

She visits a camera shop and picks out a classic camera.  The shop owner explains that pictures will be far better than pictures taken with a cell phone camera, but it will not be as easy to use.

 She ventures out and takes several photos.

After the photos are processed, unfortunately, she is disappointed at the results, until...

...she finds one photo in the group of  the several she took that has flawless detail.

At this point, I was impressed by the packaging and Photographer's story.

Her hair, facial expression and eyes are better than expected.  I am not thrilled with the frumpy fashion and  pointed-toe pumps.

Her hair is tightly coiled and closely rooted, not loosely curled and unruly as the prototype images portrayed.  I love it!

"Look, Mom, no panties!"  Since she wears a skirt, I just knew she would have some form of coverage underneath, but no.  Like other companies, Photographer was given molded-on, flesh-colored-panties.

With the doll freed from the box, I was eager to see if she could stand unassisted.  She cannot, or at least she would not for me.  Her joints are limited to the usual five.  Her wrists and ankles are articulated.  Her elbows have two clicks of inward bending motion.  Her knees have a one-click bend. This does not allow her to move very much, but it is more movement than I thought she had initially. It also helps that her arms and legs are made of a soft vinyl. With the click bending motion of the elbows and soft vinyl arms, it is possible for arms to be held together with bands to allow her to hold her camera.

Her camera, which was attached to the box liner, had to be tied to the black satin ribbon that was already attached to her right wrist with a clear band.

The soles of her feet are a lighter shade than her caramel complexion, which I like.  Other than those made for Lammily dolls, finding shoes to fit her huge feet will be challenging.  I have none here that I could find for her to wear except maybe male action figure shoes and I did not bother trying any of those on her.

Like the soles of her feet, the palms of her hands are also a lighter shade.  This is realistic for melanin-rich people whose palms and soles are lighter than the dorsal surfaces of their hands and feet.

The next four comparison photos illustrate the major differences between Photographer Lammily and Curvy Barbie.

Photographer has broad shoulders, a long torso and short legs.  I would not describe her physique as curvy, normal, or average.  Wide with short legs is a better description.   Curvy Barbie is more shapely.

Since I cannot sew, redressing this doll in fashions other than the Lammily brand will be difficult.

As mentioned, the Lammily doll has huge feet, which measure 1-1/2 inches in length by 1/2 inch in width compared to Curvy Barbie's 1 inch x 6/8-inch foot.

Photographer and Curvy Barbie temporarily swapped clothing.  The Mixis dress that Curvy Barbie had been wearing barely closes in the back on Photographer due to her broad shoulders and wide torso.  The spandex fabric was the saving grace.  I had hoped Photographer could wear Curvy Barbie's original denim dress, but she cannot.  She can wear the ivory mesh top, but she has nothing else to wear with it and it is see-through, so, we are still at square one with nothing extra for her to wear.  The waist of Photographer's skirt is too large for Curvy Barbie, but the top, which fits better than the skirt, camouflages the skirt's loose fit on her.

Pros:

• Presentation 
• Story
• Lovely hair texture
• Facial expression
• Articulated wrists and ankles
• Slightly bendable elbows and knees
• Lighter soles of feet and palms of hands 
• Inclusion

Cons:

• Needs full articulation, at least in the arms to properly hold camera.
• Body is wide with a long torso and disproportionate. 
• Legs are short, not shapely.
• Sits with legs open wide
• Feet are huge.
• Redressing in clothing and shoes not designed for Lammily dolls will be challenging.  

I wanted this doll for its novelty of being one of the first "fuller figured dark skinned fashion dolls*. My final assessment is Lammily is not really full figured.  At best, she is an 11-1/2-inch doll with an oddly shaped body.  She is different.

In spite of the cons, I am grateful that Photographer exists as a non-Barbie alternative because different body types in all colors should be represented in doll form.

*Big Beautiful Dolls, Inc. Dasia was the first 12-inch full-figured fashion doll.

Blue text modifies the original post.

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