OVERVIEW: Hearts For Hearts Girls

Dell and Tipi in the original packaging style

Ah, my precious Hearts for Hearts Girls. This is one of my favorite lines of all time and I still am not over them being discontinued. 

HFHG were made by Playmates Toys from November 2010 until October 2014. They are beautifully-crafted 14" dolls that told the stories of girls from around the world, struggling through various serious problems. The original six girls got full-length stories told in the form of diary entries on the HFHG page. There's enough writing there to fill a small book for each! Lauryce's full story was also told, but not in diary format. It was a series of 16 chapters. Zelia's was written similarly, but left unfinished at chapter 14, and the written portion of HFHG was left behind midway through the line. I still have all the stories saved in a 317-page document! 

  

Nahji, Rahel, Dell, Lilian, Consuelo and Tipi

The original six dolls are pictured on the right. They didn't come out right away in my area, so I relied on help from friends to get me good versions of several. It was only later on in the line that I realized the quality on these is actually quite good. The issue is that the facemolds on some girls have their eye sockets different shapes and that gives every doll with that mold the same type of eye wonk.

I received Tipi and Dell first and was instantly smitten. No doll line I've ever collected before or since has hair this nice. The detailing on the outfits was superb and the skin just has this luminous quality. And the only cost $24.99!

Dell's fashion

Next to be released was a set of six fashions, along with two deluxe dolls. Dell had a clogging outfit, Rahel a school uniform, Lilian and Tipi both had sleepwear, Consuelo a Folklorico dress, and Nahji a fancy outfit for tea. These again were excellent quality at a fair price and you got a ton of accessories.

Both Dell and Consuelo received dolls in new outfits with a ton of accessories. Dell came with her guitar and Consuelo had a jewelry box. Consuelo's doll was pretty much the same as her original, but Dell's had some differences in paint and eye colors. I did not pick up these two deluxe dolls right away, but after the release of the next two characters in the series, I had the HFHG bug again and ordered both.

Lauryce

The lovely Lauryce and Zelia were the next dolls in the line. The original six girls each had an individual headmold, but now we begin to see Playmates' skill at making completely new-looking characters out of the same molds as the originals. Lauryce shares Rahel's mold, but it's neither incredibly obvious, nor does it make her look like a lighter Rahel. She's Lauryce.

Nahji and Zelia

                                                                                Nahji and Zelia share the same mold as well and also look like totally different characters, although I think Nahji suits the mold better than Zelia. This is when I first realized the eye problems I was seeing weren't with individual dolls, but with the mold as a whole.

Mosi at last!

Now we had seen three dolls at Toy Fair 2012. Lauryce and Zelia finally came out in July of that year, but where was Mosi? Mosi was my favorite of the three and remains my favorite of the entire line. Well, she was delayed. I heard there were issues with her being part of the Navajo, so she was made "Native American" with no further details. But she finally appeared in July 2013, an entire year later than the two girls she was supposed to be released with. Mosi was when the complaints began from people who didn't understand that prototype images often do not depict the final product. The prototype Mosi had a real feather in her hair, but it was changed to plastic, which is just plain practicality. She also had fabric boots, which unfortunately they couldn't afford to keep. (I assume.) Mosi shares Consuelo's gorgeous face.

Shola

Along with Mosi came Shola from Afghanistan. When have you ever seen a doll like this on US toy shelves? This is one of the reasons HFHG was so important! The level of diversity in this line is unparalleled and at such a low price. Argh. I'm still mad. Shola shares Lilian's mold, but would you ever know it? She's like a completely different girl! My only issue with the final doll is that she lost her purple boots and came with flat purple shoes. Her ankles should not be showing, so I gave her the boots from Lilian's sleepwear set.

Before these two came out, there were some very generic fashions offered. I don't remember exactly when they were released. Maybe even before Lauryce and Zelia? They did not do well and I saw them afterwards at Marshall's where I picked up a single outfit. Generic stuff just does not work for these cultural ladies.

Nyesha in the new style box

HFHG would be with us for one final release. Nyesha and Surjan were shown at Toy Fair 2014, much to my excitement, and I got the privilege of reviewing them for Playmates in my Flickr.

The line decided to try a new box style, hoping to attract customers by showing the actual doll instead of the giant photograph. A lot of the older dolls were rereleased in this style, even coming out before the two new girls were added to the cases. I saw Dell and Lilian on the shelves for the first time since their initial release! And I still regret not picking up a second Mosi to keep boxed in the new style. Ah, hindsight.

Nyesha shares Consuelo's headmold, making Consuelo the only one to have two face clones (Mosi and Nyesha). This looks stunning on Nyesha, just as it does on the other two.

Tipi and Surjan

Surjan has Tipi's headmold, making Dell's the only one never to be repeated. Surjan is absolutely stunning. She's the headmold reuse closest to the original, but she's still very distinctly her own character. She doesn't look like Tipi with a nose ring.

Right until the end, HFHG gave us beautiful dolls at very affordable prices. The quality never stopped. The diversity never stopped. I will mourn this line for a very long time. It should have done better and I consider it the most underrated line in my entire collection.
                           







PHOTO CREDITS: All mine.