Maylin's Return

Maylin by Paola Reina of Spain

Maylin was first introduced in my after-Christmas post about redressed and new dolls. In that post, there was only one picture of Maylin. I included the fact that she was a gift from a doll friend and a promise that I would take more pictures of her. Maylin returns today with those pictures.

Maylin has brown eyes with rooted upper eyelashes.

She wears a pretty (mostly) pink knit dress that has a beaded flower stitched to the bodice.

The beaded flower is better illustrated in this picture along with the drawstring pink ribbon at the waist.

Maylin's straight black rooted hair extends below the hem of her dress.

This profile photo illustrates the bow of the drawstring waist ribbon.

Here is an additional full-length photo of this 13-inch all-vinyl doll.

With her pretty pink dress, Maylin wears white socks and pink Mary-Jane-style shoes.

Photos with Cousins

Maylin has several cousins that were photographed with her. 

Zuri and Ndanaka by Sibahle, which are also Paola Reina dolls, appear to be taller than Maylin, but it's all in the hair. They are all 13 inches tall. (Zuri represents someone with albinism while Ndanaka represents someone with vitiligo.)

A closeup with her Sibahle cousins

Chadwick (named by me) is her blue-eyed, brown-skinned cousin. They are about the same height.

Chadwick is also a Paola Reina doll.

Her younger cousins, Sarabi and Omar from Vestida de Azul's Carlota Collection were happy to take pictures with Maylin.

Closeup of the young cousins and Maylin; the younguns are 11 inches tall.

Maylin took two final photos with all her cousins.

The cousins from L-R are Ndanaka, Chadwick, Serabi, Maylin, Omar, and Zuri.

Their clothing and complexions create a burst of color!

Thank you again, BA, for the Maylin Christmas gift. Her cousins thank you, too!

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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I Named Him Chadwick

This adorable boy has blue eyes, black rooted hair, and the cutest facial expression. 

Found on Amazon, this adorable 13-inch all-vinyl boy was made in Spain by Paola Reina. I had wanted a girl with this head sculpt but was not able to find one. When I was made aware of the boy, I had to have him.  In honor of the late Chadwick Boseman, I named him Chadwick.

Chadwick took several pictures alone and with family members. Those photos with captions follow:

He wears a white short-sleeved T-shirt that has the outline of a bear's face on it and a blue hoodie made of bear-face-print fabric, khaki shorts, and low-top Chuck-style (Converse) sneakers.

This side-angle photograph illustrates the blue and white striped lining of his hoodie.

The hoodie is illustrated better in this photo. The jacket is not lined with this fabric.

Without the jacket, the outline of a bear's face on his shirt is clearly visible.

Here he is with his hoodie on.

In this picture, Chadwick posed with his older cousins Ndanaka and Zuri (made by Paola Reina but sold by Sibahle).

In this final photo, Chadwick posed with his younger cousins Omar and Sarabi (made by Vestida de Azul of Spain).

Now that I know I do not own a girl the exact height as Chadwick, a Paola Reina girl is on my radar. Amazon had several other Paola Reina dolls in stock at the time Chadwick was ordered, so it won't be difficult for me to find a girl to pair with him.

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It is still unbelievable that we lost the talented and gifted Chadwick Aaron Boseman this past August. His short-lived, yet very accomplished life is proof that we all have to cherish each day we are blessed with by making the most of our time and always being the best form of ourselves.

In memoriam.

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. To contact me, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Sibahle Collection Dolls Price Reduction

Sibahle Collection:  Ndanaka, represents a girl with albinism.  Zuri represents a girl with albinism.

This multicultural doll collection (which uses Paola Reina dolls) includes dolls that represent the conditions albinism and vitiligo.  A biracial doll is also included in this collection.  These all-vinyl dolls are approximately 13-1/2 inches tall and are currently priced below $25.  The dolls from the Nobuhle collection, which are 20 inches tall are also priced below $25.  Check them out here.

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Reemah Afia by Makedaa Dolls

Reemah Afia by Makedaa Dolls

I first saw Reemah Afia almost two years ago in Facebook postings with the caption, "Would you buy this doll for your daughter?"  I salivated over her huge Afro hairstyle and thought, "I'd buy her for me!"  After discovering that her body is all vinyl and articulated, I decided I definitely needed her,  but because I already owned another doll with the same face (straight hair, different body), I hesitated until recently to add Reemah Afia to my collection.

Reemah Afia, sold by Makedaa Dolls uses a head sculpt and body made by Paola Reina of Spain.  The back of her head bears Paola Reina's name under which is the following mold identifier:  08-2-J20-VN.

The doll arrived in a purple cardboard box with cellophane front.  One side panel reads:  Makedaa awakens The Queen that lies within each of our [princess].

The Makedaa website describes the doll as follows:

"Reema Afia is an African Princess. She is caring and a great listener. She is the perfect friend who will keep all your secrets. Reema is a stunning standing doll, the tallest of the three sisters*, 23.6 inches and 2.9 pounds tastefully perfumed with vanilla."

The website uses both spellings, Reemah and Reema.

CHARACTERISTICS:
- Reemah Afia has brown stationary eyes, applied upper eyelashes, broad facial features that are ethnically correct, and, as indicated and illustrated, rooted brown hair, styled in a huge Afro.

The website further describes her characteristics as follows:

- Vinyl standing doll
- 23.6 inches and 2.9 pounds
- moving joints (5 usual places of articulation plus wrists, elbows, knees and ankles)
- exquisitely vanilla perfumed
- Dress designed by Ghanaian designer Ehon B.


Available with brown or black hair and with a caftan-style, knee-length dress in a choice of colors, I chose brown hair and the "yellow" dress.  Reemah Afia arrived from London, England within a week after I placed my order.

Because their website did not include a buy button for the brown-haired version, I contacted Makedaa Dolls to order the brown-haired doll.  I initially tried to contact the company through the contact link at the website; however, the contact form never loaded for me on that day.  Persistent, I went to Facebook and used the message link to inquire about the brown-haired doll's availability and was informed the doll was, in fact, available.  A website glitch is responsible for the absence of the buy button for this version.  To order, I had to provide my name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number after which I received a Paypal invoice.

In addition to photographing the doll with and without clothing, I photographed the top, sides, and the top-back panel of her box prior to discarding it.  (I collect dolls; not boxes).  Those photos follow:

On the top of Reemah Afia's box is the image of a huge Afro pick.

One side of the box panel bears the doll's name.  The other side of the box was illustrated previously.

The top-back of the box bears the company's name.  Note again the Afro pick inside the "o" in dolls.  A warning that the doll is not suitable for children under 3 is included on the back panel in English and in six other languages.  Only the English script was captured in the above photograph.

Hairbrush and descriptive insert

The descriptive insert reads:  My name is Reemah Afia.  I'm so excited to get to know you.  I will listen to all your secrets and I will tell you mine.  Just like yours, my hair is my crown.  It needs to be handled with care and attention.  When you will take me out of the box, you need to fluff my hair back to [his] luxurious state with the brush that is next to me.    Remember!  You are beautiful and wonderfully made.
(The top side of the plastic brush is shown next to the insert.  There are two handles on top of the brush to easily hold it between two fingers while fluffing the doll's hair.)

The inside of the insert and the bottom of the brush are shown above.

Additional Photos of the Doll 

Reemah Afia's dress has a Velcro closure.  The wide black sash, which is removable, also closes with Velcro.

Reemah Afia wears white undies which the Velcro can easily snag.  As illustrated in this photo, this all-vinyl doll is articulated at the elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles.  Unfortunately, however, her upper arms can only move forward and backward.  They cannot abduct or move away from her body.

Another close-up of her lovely face and upper torso better illustrates her elbow joints. 

When placed in the seated position, the legs remain open as illustrated here.  Sitting is not at all ladylike.

Overall, I am pleased with this doll.  More range of movement of the upper arms and upper legs would have been better.  I am not at all fond of scented dolls, but I do know that Reemah Afia's vanilla scent will fade eventually.  I plan to make sandals to cover her bare feet, but this is not an immediate concern for me.

*Visit the Makedaa Dolls website to view Reemah Afia's little sisters.


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Sharif

Sharif is a 22-inch doll by Paola Reina, a Spain-based doll company.  I love almost most everything about her, especially her luscious lips.  I have often contemplated redressing Sharif to replace her fancy sage green dress with something more casual.  The last consideration about doing this ended with a plan to only replace her shoes with a larger pair because her feet appear too small for her body.  This is the one thing I dislike about Sharif's construct.

Because she arrived during the time I was writing The Doll Blogs:  When Dolls Speak, I Listen, I included her commentary in that publication.  It reads as follows:

Saturday, March 21, 2009   Yesterday, the mail carrier left a notice on the mailbox of an attempt to deliver a package that required Debbie’s signature.  She thought it was the Obama body that she purchased to use with the extra head included with the Obama action figure purchased in February.  She was pleasantly surprised to see the huge shipping carton when she picked me up today because she knew I was in the box.  She could hardly wait to get home to tear open the box and almost went home before finishing some of her Saturday morning errands.  She decided to complete the errands first.  After removing me from my box, Debbie was a little disappointed because one of my eyelashes was about to fall off.  After she glued it back in place and combed my thick, brown, rooted hair, which became tousled during my trip, she admired my very broad facial features. 

My nose reminds her of hers, except mine is wider.  My lips, which are a little pouty are distinctly Africanoid and lusciously beautiful to Debbie.  She mistakenly was told that I am all vinyl, when in reality my body is brown cloth.  My arms are all vinyl and the vinyl in my legs extends to just above my knees.  I will probably need a saddle stand for support.  Debbie likes my dress, but thinks my feet look a little small for my 22-inch (55.88cm) height.  She loves me, nonetheless, including my vanilla-flavored scent. 

Having traveled from Spain, where I was made by Paola Reina (a doll company), to England, where I was sold by NubiDollz.com, I am happy to be in America now. 

Love, Sharif

In addition to thoughts of redressing Sharif, I have also wanted to share her provenance with the readers of this blog.  Each time I have read a comment to my posts from Thammie the Dollmaker, who owns at least one doll like Sharif, I have been reminded of the need to do this.  Consider it done!  Now I must find larger shoes for this lovely girl.

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