OVERVIEW: Karito Kids

My first sighting of the Karito Kids.

I learned about the Karito Kids from photos taken at some larger doll convention (possibly IDEX), but August 15, 2007 is the day I first saw them in person. They were in the window of a small toy store I occasionally visited when I still lived near Buffalo. And they were gorgeous! It took me awhile to get into them though. Back then, my only larger dolls were my BJDs and Ellowynes, then I got into AG once I moved and saw them in person.

After passing by the display of them in FAO for ages, I became smitten in summer 2008, when they updated the display with some dolls out that could actually be handled. I found the quality impressive and picked up the book set, only to put it right back because it cost $50. I came home and bought the set of books on ebay for $25. 

Gia, first and still favorite

I read through the books and enjoyed them a lot. It's about time for a reread actually! So when I got some extra money, I decided to head right out to FAO and bring my first girl home. I saw all five dolls on diplay waiting to be held, so I picked each up and gave her a thorough examination. I ruled out Zoe immediately. She may be from Manhattan, but a blonde from America was not going to be my first, despite me living in that city at the time. I ruled out Ling, too. She's pretty, but not who I wanted first. Ditto Lulu. She has a very foxy face. Not foxy as in hot, but as in pointy. She's gorgeous, but in an unusual way. I wanted someone a little more sweet and soft looking. (Which is unusual for me.) So I held up Pita and Gia. I liked Gia's outfit better and her face-framing hairstyle, so I set Pita down and gave Gia a really serious look. Yep. She was the one. 

Ling and Gia

Problem though. There were no boxed Gias. I saw the other four girls, but not her. I gently moved items aside and poked around. No dice. I eyed Pita, but was set on Gia. A very exuberant employee walked past and asked if I needed anything. I held up Gia and he did a quick box check, chatting the whole time. He asked if I knew about the two new girls coming out and we talked about them. He was right about one, but sadly, she was to be the last full-size Karito. 

Gia and Pita, the only 2 face twins

Anyways, he headed to the back to look for Gia for me. Meanwhile, I examined Pita and compared her to first Lulu and then Ling. (Poor Zoe wasn't even remotely being considered.) Then I picked up Gia and hugged her, like oodles of little girls probably have. I am so five. A few minutes later he returned, cradling a box. (This was the best FAO employee EVER.) I thanked him profusely and trotted off, only to realize I had no place to set her down and I needed to use the bathroom before getting back on the subway. I was NOT leaving her unguarded after all the trouble he went to finding her for me. So I paid for her at the Harry Potter alcove and asked the guy there, who was also very nice and friendly, to watch her for me while I hit the ladies. Then I headed back home, mission accomplished.

One of my only good pics of Zoe

So that story's a little long, but I have lots of pics to share and I love that story anyway. Gia will always be very special to me. 

Four days after Gia, I ended up making some more money than expected off ebay sales, so I was already shopping for my next girl. I ended up choosing Ling. Zoe I believe was an online deal I found and Pita I think I went to FAO for. They both arrived almost together, if I recall. I don't have LJ entries to document this, unlike Gia's story, and this was before the days of my Flickr account, so no help there either. 

The stunning Piper

Piper was my next girl. My mom came to visit me over the summer and bought her for me for an early birthday gift. Piper went through the most outfit changes, since her surfer girl look wasn't my thing. She got a pair of sneakers from some random doll and some AG jeans, I think. Eventually, she got an official Karito fashion pack when I found them at Tuesday Morning. Well, she wore most of it, but not the shirt. It was this long flowery thing. The bag from that outfit went to Pita.

Lulu was finally purchased in February 2009. She got a fashion pack, too.

Lulu and Piper's new fashions

So now I had everyone and I eagerly awaited news of more dolls. What I got instead was the Travel Charmers line. 

First edition Travel Charmers

 

The Travel Charmers were smaller soft dolls depicting each of the girls wearing an outfit she got while travelling abroad. Gia went to France, Pita to Brazil, Ling to Japan, Lulu to Madagascar, and Zoe to Canada. Zoe lost her curls and had straight blonde hair. Lulu's curls were done in an updo. Ling got three little mini ponytails on top of the rest of her loose hair. Both Lulu and Ling would keep these hairstyles for the second set of Travel Charmers as well. I found the Charmers in FAO and I believe I was able to get Ling, Pita and Gia right away. I don't think they had the other two. I remember going back a couple times and picking up Lulu, then Zoe. Maybe. I could be wrong about the order there. 

Piper's Travel Charmer

The first set of Charmers came out late 2008, I think. Then the second set was in late 2009. This time Piper was included, off to Ireland. Zoe went to England, Pita to Argentina, Lulu to Egypt, Ling to Russia, and Gia to Greece. I think the second set of Charmers is better than the first. Zoe's got her curls back and her England doll is one of my faves. Gia is the only one that I liked better in the first set. 

These dolls were sadly the last Karito items I purchased. After that, the line began changing. It released a couple full-size dolls called the Giving Girls (Lara and Leza), but they were lower quality and not tied to any countries. Some random small soft dolls came out, once again not tied to any characters. Then they rereleased the six main dolls with brand new outfits, but still no new character. Some of the new outfits were cute, but I never bought any for my girls. Most of them were not improvements on their first outfits. Ling's was the only one I really liked, and while Piper's was better than her original outfit, it wasn't a style I would put on mine when I had the cute stock/fashion pack hybrid on her. 

And so Karito Kids came to a quiet end. I'm not sure why the dolls didn't do well. They're absolutely beautifully made and I think higher quality than American Girl. They're certainly more facially-appealing than American Girl. My Karitos are some of the most beautiful dolls on my shelf. Thankfully, Hearts for Hearts Girls stepped in to be the new charity-donating, girls from around the world line.

PHOTO CREDITS: All mine.