I had seen Kahlil at Walmart on one occasion before I purchased my doll. I visited Walmart's website where I saw him first. Since his hair is so much like Malik's, the only original Fresh Squad doll that remains in my Fresh dolls collection, I had initially decided against adding Kahlil to my collection. But I relented the second time I saw him at Walmart because he was hidden in the back of about six Fresh fashion dolls and was the only male there. The top of his box was dinged up, so I brought him home, knowing that I would immediately debox him after taking the above photograph and the next with him still boxed.
Dr. Lisa, creator and founder of Fresh Dolls and CEO of World of EPI, is featured on the back of Kahlil's box.
The description from my Excel spreadsheet is copied below.
A new member of the Fresh Squad, Kahlil is an articulated 12-inch articulated male with a medium complexion, black microbraids, dark brown painted eyes, and a black painted mustache and goatee. Dressed in a white hoodie with turquoise, purple, and yellow long sleeves with the initials FS on the front right of the hoodie in the same colors as the sleeves; turquoise knee-length pants, and white high-top sneakers. Part of the Fresh Squad male fashion dolls, Kahlil uses the same head sculpt as the original Fresh Squad. His hair is styled similarly to Malik from Wave 1.
The $12.99 price and articulation helped in my decision to purchase Kahlil.
Kahlil is seen in a close-up photo.
He's a handsome doll. I'm glad I didn't leave him behind.
Kahlil and Colin Kaepernick
Kahlil favors Colin Kaepernick to me. Do you agree?
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Rock the Bells Ebony and Anthony
Not part of my collection at this time, but just to inform readers, The World of EPI has collaborated with LL COOL J's fashion brand, Rock the Bells. Priced the same as Kahlil, Anthony and Ebony were available to order from Walmart at the time this post was published.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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I have owned Fresh Dolls Tamra since 2017. She has waited patiently to be deboxed. All the while she has been envious of her sister, Mia, who enjoyed an immediate deboxing upon arrival in 2017. Of all the Fresh Dolls I own (all of the dolls from wave 1 and the Fresh Squad guys), Mia is the only doll that has enjoyed being free. Mia has also enjoyed being redressed on several occasions.
I took this snapshot of Tamra's box after she was released because it will soon be discarded.
After deciding to participate in a Black History month redressing event with the Fresh Dolls Facebook group, I decided to debox Tamra. Initially, I was going to debox the ebony-complexioned Lynette shown here with Mia and Tamra, but Tamra was the first Fresh doll I found.
Tamra posed for this out-of-box photograph while still wearing her original clothing.
The bodice of Tamra's original dress is orange. The multicolored ethnic-print skirt has a mock wrap front. She originally wore blue strappy wedge sandals.
Tamra undressed. I stored her clothes and shoes to prepare her for her redress in a custom dress by LayleeM Doll Clothes (a link to Laylee's Etsy shop is included in the references). I had recently seen another one of Laylee's creations using the same waxed African fabric used for Tamra's dress and I commissioned her to make a dress for Tamra.
Tamra's dress was fashioned after the one shown above. My only additional request was that the dress would have a side slit and a coordinating headwrap.
Laylee captured the perfect essence of the suggested dress style.
The waxed African fabric includes an image of an African woman who carries a basket on her head and wears a dress made from the same fabric. Laylee also made a clutch for Tamra to hold.
The clutch has a flap-over closure and a looped rope handle for ease of carrying.
Tamra shows off her side slit. She wears a pair of black strappy high-heels.
The back of her headwrap and a back slit are seen here.
Close-up of the headwrap
Profile view of the headwrap
Because Tamra needed jewelry, I made bracelets and a wide choker using gold-tone braid/loc accessories.
Tamra models her new jewelry.
The braid accessories work well as bracelets.
A little improvisation was required to create Tamra's necklace using two of the braid adornments because one would not fit the size of her neck. I placed one each side of her neck with one overlapping part of the other.
Tamra says, "Black History is American History," and I say, it's 24/7, 365 and sometimes 366 days a year.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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This lovely graphic off-shoulder blouse was made by Nises Designs.
After I saw images on Facebook of dolls wearing this blouse, I inquired about how I might own one. The designer of the blouse, Denise "Nise" McKenna of Nises Designs made it happen.
Made of felt, the blouse was designed for The Black Doll Affair's 12th Annual USA Doll Giveaway* held on December 7, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia. Fresh Dolls donated by Dr. Lisa (creator of that doll line) were dressed in this blouse and knee-length skirts.
The blouse has the image of a lovely Nubian Queen on the front. I had to decide which of my dolls would wear it. It did not take long for me to choose the fashion doll that recently arrived from China as the doll to wear this lovely blouse.
My "China doll" is shown wearing this lovely black blouse.
I looked in my doll stash of clothing to find a skirt or pants to pair with the blouse but did not find anything. With nothing on hand suitable for her to wear with the blouse, I made a full-length skirt for the doll using a burnt orange square piece of felt.
The felt was wrapped around the doll's waist with the top corner of one side underneath the other. The top side was wrapped over to the side of the skirt. Thin strips of self-adhesive Velcro were placed at the waist and only along one side of the skirt as illustrated next.
Thin strips of the hook surface of the Velcro were placed along one side of the skirt. Because felt easily adheres to Velcro hooks, I did not have to use the smoother Velcro on the other side of the skirt.
With the upper side of the skirt pressed onto the Velcro on the bottom side, the skirt stays closed as illustrated here. The final step in making the skirt was to trim the bottom.
For the very final touches, I painted her original silver earrings and bracelet metallic gold and changed her lip color from bright pink to a shimmery orange by painting over the pink with the metallic gold paint.
She looks ready to celebrate Kwanzaa week.
Thank you again, Nise, for making it possible for me to own one of your lovely designs.
*Visit The Black Doll Affair's website or Facebook page to learn more about their philanthropic efforts to instill self-esteem in Black living dolls through the use of Black inanimate dolls.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Fresh Dolls Aria Deluxe Set and Froggy Fresh Deluxe Set
Aria and Froggy Fresh arrived in late December. I had preordered Aria in March of 2018 before the dolls were produced. Froggy Fresh was ordered in December and arrived within a week of that order. Both remain in their boxes for now, but I hope you will enjoy the photos I took.
Aria
Aria wears a two-piece pants set, the midriff top of which has off-shoulder sleeves.
Aria's violet lip color matches both fashions. She wears circular Fresh logo'd silvertone earrings and white wedge heels. Her short curly hair is dark brown. Her eyes are hazel.
Aria carries a white clutch.
Aria's second outfit, as described on the Fresh Dolls website includes, "a sparkling, purple cropped sweater; a duo-chrome lavender/lilac, high-waist skirt; and a white Fresh Satchel Bag and matching white heel set."
Aria and Wave 1 Lynette pose for a complexion comparison.
Complexion-wise, Aria and Lynette from Wave 1 share the same complexion. In other doll lines, Aria's complexion would be comparable to S.I.S. Chandra (from "The Love to Shop Chandra and Trichelle two-pack) and Barbie Fashionista Fancy Flowers as illustrated here in a comparison with Wave 1 Lynette.
Froggy Fresh
The Froggy Fresh Doll is fashioned after the "My Froggy Fresh Stuff" vlogger. She has multiple microbraids, wears a My Froggy Stuff-logo'd white T-shirt, denim pants, and gold-tone circular Fresh earrings.
Froggy Fresh holds her black square-rimmed glasses in her left hand. She has an extra fashion of metallic lime jacket and denim shorts.
In addition to her extra fashion, she has a laptop and a cell phone.
Froggy Fresh wears bright pink high-top sneakers.
Complexion-wise, when compared to the other Fresh Dolls, Froggy's skin tone is unique. None of the other girls in the line share her complexion.
Barbie Look Nighttime Glamour and Fresh Mia were used for complexion comparisons with Froggy. Froggy's body is slightly darker than theirs as illustrated above and in the next close-up photo.
Use their arms as a guide to note that Froggy's complexion is slightly darker than Barbie's and Mia's.
Next, view the unboxing of the My Froggy Fresh Doll by none other than the woman behind the My Froggy Stuff brand.
Like all other dolls in this line, Aria and Froggy have multiple points of articulation.
The back of the box, shown below, is the same for all Fresh Dolls in Wave 2.
Most of the dolls shown on the back of the box are from Wave 2. They are Daniel, Aria, Malik, Tamra (Wave 1), Froggy Fresh, Anthony, Mia, Lynette, Jacqueline from Wave 1 in "Red Carpet Royalty" fashion, Victoria in "Ring My Bell" Sleeve Cocktail Dress, Aleyna, and Indigo in "Lovely Lavender" jumpsuit.
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The Fresh Squad guys Anthony, Malik, and Daniel were preordered in March of this year directly from the Fresh Dolls website. My dolls arrived this past Saturday. The dolls were shipped in a packet which was not sturdy enough to protect the boxes. Some areas of the cellophane are scratched, creased, or otherwise dinged. This is not a huge issue for me, but for those who desire perfect boxes, it might be.
Box Issues
In this close-up of Anthony's face, the scratched cellophane is noticeable.
Creases are visible on Malik's box in the close-up photo taken of his extra black jacket. Box issues aside, the dolls are fabulous.
Features
As indicated on the box liner, each guy has 13 points of articulation. If he has hair (Anthony is bald), the hair is rooted -- not a molded, plastic representation of hair. Each box is personalized with the doll's name. Sold as Deluxe Sets, a laptop with working cover, cell phone, and eyeglasses are included with each. Both Malik and Daniel's jackets are attached to the box liner. Although they share the same head sculpt, their complexions differ.
Photos
Anthony is bald with a five o'clock shadow. Of the three guys, he has the deepest complexion. He wears a black knit shirt with a red jacket and black slacks. His accessories, as indicated above, include an open laptop, sunglasses, and a cell phone.
Malik has a medium complexion. He has multiple black microbraids, the top portion of which is pulled up and held with a rubber band. He has painted-on facial hair of mustache and goatee. He is dressed in a white shirt worn underneath a red and black check shirt, blue jeans, and red sneakers. Malik has an extra black Members-Only-style jacket. As shown in the next image, his laptop is closed.
Malik's electronic accessories and sunglasses are shown in this close-up photo.
Light-complected Daniel's brown hair is styled in a tapered curly fade. The fade is painted; the curls are rooted. He has a goatee. His off-white Henley, Army green pants, and brown boots coordinate well with his green camouflage jacket. Like Malik, his laptop is also closed.
The images used on the back of the Fresh Squad dolls' boxes are the same. Most of the dolls shown are from Wave 2. They are Daniel, Aria, Malik, Tamra (Wave 1), Froggy Fresh, Anthony, Mia, Lynette, Jacqueline from Wave 1 in "Red Carpet Royalty" fashion, Victoria (not yet released) in "Ring My Bell" Sleeve Cocktail Dress, Aleyna, and Indigo in "Lovely Lavender" jumpsuit.
Gesture of Thanks
Included with my Fresh Squad order was a thank you note from Dr. Lisa. Attached to the outside of the envelope was a gold-tone hair ornament. A sheet of one-sixth playscale-sized cutouts was also sent as a gesture of thanks.
Thank you note from Dr. Lisa and gold-tone hair ornament
The note reads: From my heart to your home, I hope this package brings a little bit of joy to your life. Have a Fresh and Positively Perfect day!
This printout includes several playscale-sized items to cut out and/or to cut out and fold to create an array of Fresh-Doll-themed items such as covers for a magazine and textbook, passport, posters, clock, student ID, TV, and a corkboard message board.
It's very reFreshing to have male dolls on the market with multiple points of articulation and rooted hair!
Here is the link to the Fresh Shop where there are links to several categories of shopping.
Update: I just watched Ms. Tee's Doll Room deboxing video of the Fresh Squad dolls (1/9/2019) and wanted to add it here for your viewing pleasure.
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