More Black Dolls on Film Updated

As a followup to my original post, A Chronology of Black dolls on Film, the following additions are noted in screen captured images and descriptive text.

Polly

Polly and her doll take a bus trip to her Aunt Polly's home.

The 1989 made-for-TV musical film, Polly, featuring Keshia Knight Pulliam and starring Phylicia Rashad, set in 1955, is about an orphaned girl who is taken in by her wealthy aunt, for whom she was named. Polly brings her favorite cloth doll with her to her new home. The doll is seen only in the beginning scenes of the movie. Additional photos are screen captured below.

In Polly's new bedroom, Polly's doll is nestled inside Polly's travel bag.

Proud of her new bedroom, Polly sings to her doll.

Polly snuggles with her doll in bed and sings to her.

The Inkwell

Drew (Larenz Tate) is seen holding his handmade doll during a discussion with his parents (played by Joe Morton and Suzzane Douglas).

Handmade doll used in The Inkwell

The Inkwell, 1994.  "Set in the summer of 1976, the film follows the adventures of Drew Tate (Larenz Tate), a shy 16-year-old from upstate New York, when he and his family spend two weeks with affluent relatives on Martha's Vineyard. Eventually, all the incidents happening there lead to a life-changing event for Drew as well as his parents.” (Edited Youtube description by vade Alexi).  Drew has a handmade doll named Yago that is his constant companion until his family takes their two-week trip to Martha’s Vineyard when Drew is forced to leave Yago at home.  A couple of online references indicate Drew’s doll’s name is Lago. I viewed the opening scene of the movie where Drew is talking to the doll and I clearly heard him say “Yago.” 

Inkwell Historical Fact:  “Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, part of Massachusetts’ Cape Cod Islands, is one of several historic African American summer resort communities along the Atlantic seaboard founded in the 1890s. The “Inkwell” or Town Beach in Oak Bluffs is the name of the popular beach frequented by African Americans beginning in the late nineteenth century. The strand was pejoratively called “The Inkwell” by nearby whites in reference to the skin color of the beachgoers.  It is the most famous of beaches across the U.S. to transform this odious nickname into an emblem of pride.” [BlackPast.Org]

A Saintly Switch

Siblings in A Saintly Switch are in the process of conjuring up a spell on their parents using the male and female dolls shown above in the front center of the photo.

Close-up of the dolls used in A Saintly Switch

A Saintly Switch, 1999, “is an American made-for-TV comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and produced in 1999 by Walt Disney Entertainment, first exhibited on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney. The plot revolves around an aging NFL quarterback and his stay-at-home wife switching bodies.” [Wikipedia]  After their two children tire of their parents’ bickering, the older child uses a potion and dolls to cause the parents' body switch.  The dolls used are Olmec’s Melenik and their original Imani.

Funny Valentines

Funny Valentines, 1999.  “Upon discovering her husband's infidelity, Joyce (Alfre Woodard) abruptly decides to move her daughters (Megalyn Echikunwoke, Kajuana Shuford) from New York to her hometown deep in the heart of the American South. Reuniting with her cousin Dearie (Loretta Devine) and her ailing aunt Ethel (CCH Pounder), Joyce and her long-lost relatives confront demons from their past, notably the year Joyce left for the big city. In repairing her relationship with her family, Joyce learns about herself” and a well-kept family secret [Google].   

Dearie B. and Gail play with two fashion dolls in Funny Valentines.  They are seen in close-up photos next.

In Funny Valentines, Loretta Devine’s character, Dearie B. plays dolls on a front porch swing with her cousin’s daughter, Gail.  The dolls could be Olmec’s Imani or Integrity Toys’ Janay, which were both popular non-Mattel fashion dolls in 1999.

Girlfriends

Toni receives a portrait doll gift from her boyfriend, Todd...

...and she looks genuinely happy with Little Toni.

Girlfriends, Season 3, 2002-2003.  In episode 11, “Santa vs. Monica” of this situation comedy, Todd gives Toni a portrait doll for Christmas.  Little Toni, the doll, has a weird effect on Toni that Todd is able to help her overcome at the end of the episode.

Clearly, a fashion doll, Toni's doll appears to use Mattel's 1990s Teresa head sculpt.  Watch the episode at the link below.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Titus is seen in a screen capture of an Instagram compilation of images posted by Instagramer, StaceyMcIrby on May 25, 2017.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 2017 (a Netflix series).  Thank you April for letting me know “on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Titus Andromedon collects dolls, including The Prettie Girls fashion dolls.” Titus is shown with the dolls above in a screen capture of an Instagram compilation of images posted by StaceyMcIrby on May 25, 2017.  See the full post at the link below.  According to Stacey’s post, the Prettie Girls dolls were on the Season 3 opening of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  McBride Irby is the designer of the Prettie Girls dolls.   

Sunjai Williams Doll

The Sunjai doll is seen in an Internet-captured photo.

Not a doll on TV but the Sunjai doll is a portrait doll of a former dancer on the Lifetime TV reality show, Bring It! Designed by Stacey McBride Irby, this 12-inch, articulated doll was promoted as the first in the IamU Uniquely Beautiful doll collection that was available to purchase in a limited edition on Amazon.

Life-Size 2

Tyra Banks gave a sneak peek of Life-Size 2 with this photo posted on Instagram on October 4, 2018. The doll Tyra holds appears to be a one-of-a-kind portrait doll of the movie's star, who also executive produced the movie.

"Life-Size 2 is a 2018 American fantasy-comedy television film directed by Steven Tsuchida and starring Tyra Banks and Francia Raisa. It is the sequel to Life-Size starring Banks and Lindsay Lohan, which originally premiered in 2000 on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney." Wikipedia.  Life-size 2 will premiere on the Freeform channel in December 2018.

Holly Robinson Peete on Meet the Peetes

With a background of dolls, Holly Robinson Peete is seen in a Meet the Peetes episode.

Instagrammer Ohmydollin informed me that Holly Robinson Peete is a celebrity doll collector.  Because I watch her current Hallmark reality show, Meet the Peetes, I made it point to scope out the background for dolls in upcoming shows.  In the episode that aired Monday, April 15th, "It Runs in the Family," Holly is in her bedroom with her mother packing clothing in preparation for a trip to Vancouver to film a new movie series, Morning Show Mysteries.  As she packs, a shelf of dolls can be seen in the background.  The only doll I readily recognize is the Misty Copeland Barbie.  The doll dressed in white to the left of the Misty Copeland Barbie might be another Barbie.

There appear to be cloth and baby dolls on the shelf below the Barbies as illustrated in this blurry photo taken with the DVR recording of Meet the Peetes on pause.  These are possibly dolls from Holly's childhood.  Other dolls from her childhood are featured in this Huffington Post article, "Celebrity Collector: Holly Robinson Peete."

Genius: Aretha

In Episode 1, "Respect" (and in other flashback scenes of other episodes) of National Geographic's Genius: Aretha, which first aired on March 21, 2021, Little Re (Aretha as a 12-year-old child) is often seen clutching the Black ragdoll illustrated in the above photograph. Mark Ruffin founder of Black Dolls Matter, created the doll. Additional photographs from this episode are published in the blog post, Genius Aretha's Doll. Read and see more here.

Mahalia

Cornhusk dolls in the Lifetime movie, Mahalia

In the opening scene of the Lifetime movie, Mahalia, these dolls were young Mahalia Jackson’s dolls. She used them in the first scene as an audience as she sang. Later, during her second marriage, the dolls appear once again.

Mary J. Blige My Life

Two girls playing with dolls circa 1970s

In a random circa 1970s photo taken during a paused scene of the documentary, Mary J. Blige's My Life, two girls play with dolls. The girl on the left holds Ideal Toy Corporation's Me So Glad, Belly Button Baby ©1970.

Respect

The movie, Respect, is a biopic of Aretha Franklin's early life and career through 1972. The movie begins in 1952 with young Aretha (played by Dallasite, Skye Dakota Turner) asleep in bed with an unidentified curly-haired black doll. Her father, Reverend C. L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker) awakens her to sing for the celebrity entertainers at one of his house parties. 

In another early scene in her bedroom, a larger black doll is seated at a child's table while Aretha is in bed asleep clutching the curly-haired doll.

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Facebook-friend Angela Real Young informed me about the dolls used in, Polly, The Inkwell, and the episode of Girlfriends.  Willena Nanton of Male Doll World and Figures shared the information about the dolls in A Saintly Switch and Funny Valentines.

Links

The Inkwell, history of

Stacy McBride-Irby's Instagram post of May 25, 2017

The movies, A Saintly Switch, Funny Valentines, and Polly were also available for viewing in full version on Youtube at the time this post was published.   Now that Youtube has monetized movies, these free versions will probably not be there long.

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Toy Fair 2016, Prettie Girls Dolls - New Dolls, Fashion Packs, Books, More!

In this video from this year's Toy Fair, doll designer, Stacey McBride-Irby shows the new Prettie Girls offerings from Tonner One World Dolls.



The same video along with still photos taken at the Tonner One World booth can be seen in this article by Crazy Al Cayne of Sugarcayne.com.

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Check out my eBay listings here.

In Case You Missed The Prettie Girls Interview on NewsOne Now

Journalist and NewOne Now's Roland Martin is joined by Ellen Livingston, LCSW-C; Trent T. Daniel, founder of One World Doll Project; and Stacey McBride-Irby, designer of Prettie Girls Dolls

Via Skype from Los Angeles, California, and Houston Texas, respectively, Stacey McBride-Irby and Trent T. Daniel of One World Doll Project were interviewed on Roland Martin’s NewsOne Now show earlier today.  Present during the segment was Ellen Livingston, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who spoke on the importance of Black dolls in promoting the esteem of Black girls. 

As an obsessed Black-doll enthusiast, not only did I watch and record the segment, I also took still shots and transcribed most of the questions and comments as the show aired.   My transcript is not word-for-word, but comes as close as my flying fingers allowed.  

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Prettie Girls Dolls on the set:  Dahlia (Middle Eastern/Indian), Cynthia Bailey Doll (from the collector series), and Kimani (African)

Roland Martin's initial questions and comment:  Can a line of Black dolls boost the self-image of Black girls?  Does it have an impact on how they see themselves later in life?  We will explore that topic on what these dolls actually mean to the images of sisters.

Roland's brief commentary prior to introducing the guests:  For a lot of African Americans, they actually did not have dolls that were made in their image in terms of their hair, in terms of how they looked, and when you talk to women as they got older, they talk about how the beauty or definition of beauty in America was determined by those images, not just what they saw in magazines and television commercials, but also the kinds of dolls they were able to play with.

Today we have a couple of African American entrepreneurs who have gone out to help Black girls embrace their own self images by creating a line of dolls they can relate to.  We also want to expand this beyond that and talk about what this means in terms of the self-image, in terms of the self-esteem of Black girls and eventually Black women.

Martin to Stacey:  Stacey, I want to start with you.  It's no surprise that you are calling these the Prettie Girls, and I would say that I wouldn't be surprised that you chose that.  Because when we talk about Black girls, when we talk about that image, you have folks who grow up who say, 'I never saw myself as pretty' because they didn't see themselves reflected when it came to the dolls they played with.

Stacey McBride-Irby:  Definitely, and I can speak to that because I didn't see fashion dolls that looked like or represented me.  I had baby dolls that looked like me, but not fashion dolls.  Everyone in this world wants to be pretty wherever you come from; race, creed, background, old or young, you want to feel pretty.  So I wanted to create a line of Prettie Girls dolls that represent being pretty not just inside but out.

Dr. Mamie Clark and husband Dr. Kenneth Clark developed and conducted the Doll Test during the 1940s and 1950s to study the psychological effects of segregation on Black children.

Martin mentioned the results of Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clark's1947 Doll Test where then and even today the children tested (boys and girls) preferred the White doll over the Black doll. 


Stacey commented:  That test always saddens me.  That is why I did want to create dolls because a doll is our first image that we really see and we are able to nurture and play with.  So I wanted to create images for little girls that really change the institution and make them feel good about themselves.

Martin asked Trent:  What is the origin of that particular name? [One World Doll Project]

Trent: When Stacey and I first met and decided that we wanted to do this, we first of all wanted to send a message that it’s not just about Black people or Hispanic people or one group, and I think that's kind of the messaging in our culture that gets lost.  If somebody creates a Black doll, all of a sudden they are a Black doll company, and we're not a Black doll company.  We are actually a company focused on multicultural diversity.  We want our dolls to reflect the melting pot that the United States of America is.  And so that's when we thought about the name of this.  We wanted to make sure we had a name that sent a crystal clear message that it’s about all of us and not just about one particular group.

(Martin reflects on his mother's difficulty finding Black dolls for his sisters, having to buy White dolls in the absence of Black dolls, yet wanting dolls that reflected their image.  He admits things in the doll market are better now than they were then.  Martin then asks Stacey why she left Mattel.)

Stacey:  A little bit of my Mattel history:  I used to play with fashion dolls as a little girl.  I played with White Barbies because that was my fantasy world and I didn't have a doll that represented me.  Fast forward to 2008.  I am a Mattel designer, designing Barbies, and my daughter wasn't playing with dolls.  I realized the time had changed and she didn't see an image of herself in a fashion doll.  So that's when my passion and designer [instincts inspired me] to create an African American line of dolls through Mattel [So in Style Barbie].  They embraced it.  My community embraced it, but I realized that my passion was bigger than Mattel’s marketing plan.  They did not really promote the dolls like I expected them to.  My passion outweighed that.  That's when I decided, I'm bigger than this.  This is a bigger movement.  I need to go out on my own, and that's when I partnered with Trent T. Daniel and we created the Prettie Girls line of dolls. 

Images used in CNN's 2010 Doll Test where results illustrates self-esteem in Black children has not improved much since the Clark's Doll Test of the 1940s.

 A video of CNN's 2010 Doll Test using images of characters that rang from white to black is shown.   Show me the smart child [the Black child points to white character].  Show me the dumb child [points to black character].  Show me the ugly child [points to the black character].  When asked why the negative image was chosen, each time the child said, "Because 'she' black."


Martin to Ellen Livingston, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, regarding CNN's Doll Test:  This really speaks loudly to the self-hatred that Black women and even Black men grow up with in terms of how we look at color, how we look at hair, how we look at all those different things.  We saw it in Bill Duke and Channsin Berry's Dark Girls.  [It's the] same thing, how you have these beautiful brothers and sisters, these beautiful children who grow up thinking they are ugly because beauty has been defined as not looking like this but only looking like someone who's White. 

Ellen Livingston, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Ellen Livingston:  This speaks from generations before.  When I was growing up, the only Black doll we had was the Julia doll... [from the 1960s TV Show starring Diahann Carroll.]  All of our dolls were White...  As we've come along, and this company that we have here, is wonderful to provide an array of what Blackness and what beauty looks like in all colors.  Because I understand it is not just African American dolls, there are brown dolls of all  different types.  It does affect our children and it does affect them negatively.  

Martin to Livingston:  Do you see it in your work in terms of women who come in and here they are adults, some of them in their 40s and 50s and 60s and they still are bothered by that notion of what is beautiful?

Livingston:  Absolutely.  In my practice I have seen women who have gone to great lengths to either participate in plastic surgery or changing their hair by adding hair extensions and different things to look more like what we consider beauty in America, which is very different from our broader nose, our broader hips, and our kinkier hair and curly hair and what have you, who have gone through great lengths and they don't like themselves, even after they have gone through all of that, because that's not their authentic personality.  That's not who they are really.

Prettie Girls Dahlia (now sold out according to my search for her today)

Martin to Stacey:  When I look at these dolls, I see some with straight and braided hair but also I see a huge Afro...  So clearly you were thinking about all of that in terms of offering different looks.  Because we have a lot of women who really emphasize natural hair versus getting a perm.

Prettie Girls Cynthia Bailey (from the collector line) and Kimani (also sold out, according to day's search)

Stacey:  Definitely.  I did want to put an Afro in our collector line of dolls.  This is actually the Cynthia Bailey Doll, our first collector doll.  I also wanted to add curly hair, straight hair. I wanted to give little girls something they can play with and also see themselves and women in their community.

Martin to Trent:  ..,The reality is, this also impacts us [as men].  It impacts it when it comes to our relationships, when it comes to our our daughters as well as our nieces and their interaction with men and boys.  

Trent:  That's a key point that you brought up, Roland.  It is always about the messaging.  When you walk into our local retail stores, when you see an entire aisle of one race of dolls and this little small sliver of another race, it does send a message.  And that's a message we intend on changing.  But I think a bigger dynamic, Roland, is we also have to understand it's not just a situation where the retail stores don't want to carry Black dolls, and White-owned stores don't have an interest in little Black girls.  There is also a supply problem.  That supply problem comes from the fact that there have been many attempts for businesses to create African American dolls, but when you talk about the financial dynamics of being able to bring a product to the marketplace that a major retail store can put a hundred thousand units in, that becomes a whole other different topic that goes into the Black business community's responsibility to create the supply for the demand because the demand is certainly out there, and in our conversation with many major big box retail stores, they want the product, but it is a matter of their having a problem sometimes finding the product.  That's really what the core of our mission is:  to provide the supply for the demand.

Martin to Ellen:  Do you believe that this line of dolls and others can have a dramatic impact on changing the view of the next generation to understand the different views of beauty and also greatly improve the self-esteem of the next generation.

American Girl dolls Addy and Kaya and Doc McStuffins were also on the set.

Ellen:  I believe it can...  I see the array of the dolls that they have, the different hues, skin tones, and the different hairstyles.  [Martin referred to the dark skinned dolls that Livingston brought:  American Girl Addy and Kaya and a Doc McStuffins doll and pointed out that dolls' shapes and sizes matter.  Ellen agreed. She pointed out that Black dolls representing professionals are important, like Doc McStuffins.]  I think that it is important for the self-esteem not only of our daughters but also of our sons.  Our sons do get impacted by how the women in their world feel about themselves and how they allow the men to treat them.  I think it is very important for our daughters to see these types of images.


Trent shared where the Prettie Girls dolls can be found online:
Oneworlddolls.com
Wayfair.com

Stacey's final comment:  Prettie Girls are beautiful.  You are a "prettie" girl.  We want you to embrace your "prettie" on the inside and out.  

The show ended after Roland patted the Cynthia Bailey Doll's Afro into shape and next asked viewers the question of the day:
Do you buy black toys and products to help boost your child's self-esteem? 

Each caller answered, Yes!

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Limited Edition Cynthia Bailey Collectors Doll in the House!

Limited Edition Cynthia Bailey Prettie Girls! Collectors Doll -- she is gorgeous!

The Cynthia Bailey Collectors Doll is here and more lovely than I had imagined, which is always a good thing.  I am as impressed with the box as I am with the doll.  I took several initial photos shown below.

The front of box shows a tonal image of the head and torso of the doll.

The inside flap defines Prettie Girls! and the One World Prettie (OWP) concept. The Cynthia doll's fashion is described in the final paragraph.

The lovely, articulated (underneath breasts, at elbows, wrists, and knees), 12-inch Cynthia Bailey doll is nicely presented inside the box with black doll stand included.  Her huge Afro hairstyle is well done with soft fibers. 

This lovely image of supermodel, actress, entrepreneur Cynthia Bailey is underneath the plastic liner that holds the doll in place.

The back of the box is as impressive as the front, featuring a tonal headshot of the doll.  A cute image of the doll's designer, Stacey McBride-Irby, is in the lower right corner.

The text from the back of the box contains Ms. Bailey's biography:

Supermodel Cynthia Bailey resides in Atlanta with her 13-year-old daughter, Noelle, and her husband Peter. The Alabama-born beauty moved to New York City 25 years ago to pursue her dream of modeling.  Cynthia's biggest career moment was when she beat out Naomi Campbell for a co-starring role opposite Sandra Berhardt in her film, WITHOUT YOU I'M NOTHING.  From there she was always on call for her friend and super-star film director Brett Ratner for all of his early movies & music videos.  Mr. Bill Cosby [cast] this southern beauty for 2 episodes of THE COSBY SHOW, and other television appearances that include NY UNDERCOVER, SOUL TRAIN guest model host, and host spots on BET.

Cynthia's commercials include [Macy's], Levis, Mercedes Benz and many more.  In addition to her "housewife" duties, Cynthia can be seen regularly on Good Morning America serving as a correspondent.  She also operates as CEO of The Bailey Agency School of Fashion and is creator of the Miss Renaissance Pageant and the Cynthia Bailey Model Search.

My doll is documented as follows in my doll inventory Excel spreadsheet:

Month-Year of Purchase

Manufacturer/Artist/Year Made

Name

Description

Price

January

One World Doll Project, 2013

Limited Edition Cynthia Bailey Prettie Girls! Collectors Doll

12-inch fashion doll designed by Stacey McBride-Irby (former Mattel designer) inspired by former supermodel/model agency owner Cynthia Bailey; black Afro, brown painted eyes; wears white tank with The Bailey Agency School of Fashion logo on front; black faux leather jacket, black and shimmery silver striped shorts, black high-heel shoes, gold cuff bracelet, gold hoop earrings, has black patent-leather purse with gold "chain" strap.  Doll is not a portrait of Cynthia Bailey; but was inspired by her.   Signed, #'d, COA enclosed in blue stock folder arrived later; has black doll stand.

$69.95

Scan of certificate of authenticity and OWDP Lifetime Collectors pin

Her impressive signed, numbered, certificate of authenticity arrived under separate cover accompanied by a One World Doll Project Lifetime Collectors Club pin, shown above.  

Still attached to the plastic liner, Cynthia hopes to be released soon

I have not removed the doll from the box liner and am not sure I will.  I want to, but I want to preserve her in her manufactured state a while longer.  (It's a collector's thing that only a doll collector would understand.)

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We are Prettie Girls, Lena is Here!

This is my review of Prettie Girls Lena, the African American doll in a line of articulated fashion dolls designed by Stacey Mcbride-Irby for the One World Doll Project, Inc. 

Packaging
Since I always photograph my dolls in their never-removed-from-box state prior to deboxing, this task was not spared for Lena.  The packaging is nice, front and back.   "I'm Lena, the business Girl!" is on the front.  Text on the back of the box includes where Lena is from (Charlotte, NC), her favorite things, what she is amazing at, what she loves, and why she is "prettie."  There is a cute picture of Stacey McBride-Irby in the lower left-hand corner of the back of the box.

Other than her hair being sewn to the blister with one plastic attachment from the head to the blister, removing Lena only required a few snips of the bands that held her arms, waist, and feet down.  The base of the OWP-personalized black doll stand had a cord threaded through it to hold it onto the blister. 

Lena, deboxed

Lena's Vital Statistics
Height:  12 inches
Head/Body Proportions:  The head is not over-sized!

Hair:  Straight, black, rooted, comb-able but a little stiff
Eyes:  Painted brown
Facial Features:  Full nose and lips
Appeal:  Gorgeous!

Lena is prettier than I expected.  I love her luscious lips, fuller nose, and beautiful brown eyes.

 
Clothing:  Separates -- floral-print blouse, tan high-waist suspender pants, red duffle bag, red high heels

Articulated Areas: Underneath the breasts, elbows, and knees; the breast movement is only slight from left to right.

I was pleasantly surprised that Lena's blouse is not attached to her pants.  Both have a Velcro closure in back.

Comparison to Similar-Size Dolls
I compared Lena's height and foot size with Mattel's So in Style Kara, Integrity Toys' Reese, and YNU Group's Opal.

So in Style Kara and Reese pose with Lena for height comparison with shoes on.

 

So in Style Kara and Reese pose with Lena for height comparison with shoes off.

Opal poses with Lena

The Feet
Lena's foot measures approximately 1 inch long and is longer and wider than the feet of the other dolls mentioned above.  Her arch is not as high as Kara's or Reese's.  It is not as low as Opal's.  She can wear Opal's shoes and Opal can wear hers.

L-R:  Kara and Lena

L-R:  Reese and Lena

L-R:  Lena and Opal

The Body
I did not do a nude comparison between Lena and the other dolls because I did not want to take the time to disrobe everyone.  I did disrobe Lena.  I often wondered why it appeared her butt protruded in her promo images.  Now I know why:  girlfriend has some impressive curves!

The next two images illustrate Lena's very slight chest movement.

Her upper torso is turned as far as possible to her right (to the left looking at the image).

Her upper torso is turned as far possible to her left (to the right looking at the image).

More about Hair and A Quick Change
The next image attempts to illustrate the hair fiber and length of Lena's hair from the back:

Lena's hair has a synthetic look and feel.  It is comb-able, but a little wiry.

Her curvaceous body can fit into Kara's dress. 

Overall Assessment
For the retail price of $21.95 (on sale for $18.95 when I purchased), I am pleased with Lena's overall quality and the attention to detail given the product.  I love her sculpt, the quality of her clothing, the inclusion of a doll stand, and the nice packaging.  The addition of other dolls representing a variety of ethnicities, each with a unique complexion and their own personality is an added plus.   

What I would change/add if I could:
Improved hair quality (softer, less wiry), wrist articulation, more movement at the breast joint and at the hips/knees -- Lena cannot cross her legs at the knees when seated.  The best she can do is cross her ankles.

Lena sits with her legs as close together as possible.

Legs crossed at the ankles

Was Lena worth the wait?
Yes.

Am I looking forward to the release of the other dolls in March 2014?  Yes!

Kudos to Stacey McBride-Irby for her outstanding design of this doll, the fashion, and box presentation.  I must also applaud The One World Doll Project for taking the initiative to create a line of multicultural dolls for collectors but especially for little girls.   They need to see themselves in a positive light and dolls can certainly aid in helping girls of color appreciate their whole beings, from their heads to their toes and to consider their reflections normal and beautiful.


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