Well, this review has been months in the making. I knew about For Keeps ages ago. I first posted their promo shots in November. There was a pre-order for them then, but I didn't do it because I was going on vacation that month. Then when we got home, I saw that only the orders placed early in November would ship soon and everything else would be after Christmas, so I opted to wait. Weeks passed and I wrote Loyal Subjects about the dolls. I was told 3 were available on Walmart.com but the others weren't yet. So I ordered Bella, Mia and Ella from Walmart on January 15th. And they cancelled the order. I saw them again later and ordered the same 3 a month later and this time I got them. I took a couple photos of Bella in the box and opened her, but then lost interest in doing the review. So these girls have sat around since then. In March, I checked the Loyal Subjects website and saw that the dolls were slated to begin shipping the first week of April, so I ordered the other ones I needed. First week of April turned into THIRD week of April, but they finally all arrived today.
So let's do this. Bear in mind that this is going to be a less than perfect review. I'm recovering from my second dose of the covid vaccine and I spent most of last night suffering from chills, a fever and insomnia, so I'm a bit out of it. But I've done absolutely nothing today and I want to get one thing accomplished.
For Keeps dolls are $12.99 each, comparable to Hairdorables. My out of it self neglected to take a picture of them next to a Hairdorable. Sigh. They're similar in size, but the For Keeps dolls have articulation at the wrists and ankles. They're not ball joints, so it's limited side-to-side movement, but it's still articulation, which is pretty cool.
These dolls come with quite a bit. There is a stand, which you'll see in the review for Paris. I was going to start with her, then felt bad for not starting with Bella, the first one I opened back in February.
So each one comes with a sticker sheet (2 different designs, though I didn't open any of them so all the stickers may be contained in each package and they just have 2 different sheets visible), a polaroid (really cute idea), an inspiration message shirt, a cupcake that opens and you're supposed to pass secret messages in them, and various accessories.
Each girl has some jewelry pieces. Bella has a bracelet that doesn't stay on well and a choker.
I like the style and detail of her outfit. Her hair is really cute, but it's not great quality.
Here she is with her camera, her bag and her sunglasses.
And with her second pair of shoes. The shoes are all nicely done. Good molds and a lot of them are two colors. Like the sole is painted a different color.
They're not always easy to get off, thanks to the ankle articulation. There was a bit of a struggle with the boot types.
Moving on to Paris, my favorite.
There's the stand. It's a good quality, heavy plastic stand, but they're not easy to put together. I had to take the pole and put it in the stand base, then flip the waist clip upside down on a flat surface and shove the other end of the pole into it. It takes quite a bit of force, so you definitely need that hard surface to push against.
I like that twins Paris and London come with polaroids of both of them.
Each of the twins has a bow, cat ears, shoes, a cupcake and a cat.
Technically, they're each supposed to have a bracelet, too, but my Paris was missing hers.
Paris and London have some of the best hair in the line. It's not the dry, thin, lesser quality stuff the longer-haired dolls use.
I'm not a fan of the shirts. Cute idea, but the fabric feels cheap and they're so short that they look wrong worn alone.
I love her red shoes! But if you're going to give me a doll with big black boots, she's staying in the big black boots.
Both look cute with her main outfit though.
She can sort of hold her cat in that awkward Enchantimals-style way.
Then we've got London.
I would have swapped the names on these two. I already do it in my head. I think of the white-haired one as London. This pink and purple one looks way more like a Paris.
But I'll keep referring to her as London for the sake of accuracy in this review.
She does have the pink bow and the bracelet. I already had them on her when I remembered to take the accessories pic. (Told you I'm out of it.)
Here she is with her cat.
Where's the bracelet?
She gave it to her sister, as it's way more her style.
I love these two.
Let's do Mia next. She's the vet. Each one of these girls has a profession or professional aspiration. They're all listed on the back of the box.
Mia had some changes. The promo photos show her with two silver bracelets. Well, those turned into earrings, as seen on her polaroid. Then she's got a necklace and a tiny silver bracelet, too.
This, however, was a stupid idea, because there's no way those earrings are staying on. I barely got them to stay on for a single photo. I stashed them in her cupcake, but I should go get them and give her the bracelets.
That adorable silver star bracelet sadly is too small. Bella's was too big and kept falling off, but Mia's is too small and keeps popping off. Sigh. At least the choker fits.
She's got her bag and her drink.
And her dog is judging these shoes. Good call, dog. They're not cute.
Mia has the best hair in the line.
Now we've got Sophia. She comes in two versions: one with dusty raspberry pink hair and one with bright red.
Each version has the same accessories except for the phone. Each one had a different image.
I think the tiara looks better on the pink, though it doesn't fit well. I ended up taking it off and they're both wearing the barrette.
I thought maybe one could wear the clothes she wears to dance class, but no, this is just not cute.
Then we've got Emma who loves unicorns.
She does have some cute stuff. I use the cupcakes to stash the shirts and small accessories in, but some of them are really cute. Emma's. Mia's.
And now I'm rolling my eyes at myself because Sophia's did not end up in her accessories picture. Sigh.
I like how they did her hair, but it would be so much better if it was just a little better quality. These poor long-haired girls just got the short end of the stick.
She got a second bracelet since her promo pics. I'm pretty sure she only has one there.
The cut of her dress isn't great either. It's not horrible, but it's not as good as the other girls' clothes.
The pink shoes are cute though.
There we go. Simplicity is cutest for me.
That purse is darling.
And finally, Ella! I should have two versions of her, but they messed up and sent me this one. I already had her from Walmart, so I'm working on getting the purple-haired one in the green outfit that I ordered.
Ella comes with a ton of stuff!
Ella got socks! The promo pics didn't have those.
I thought she was going to be my least fave, but I actually really like her.
I think it's mostly her hair that sells her. I love the style. Mia has the best hair, but Ella is close second and then the twins.
I didn't want to remove the tiny socks, so Sophia stepped in to model the gold boots.
Overall, these dolls are cute. The articulation is nice. The clothing is decent, but not always the best cut or fit. The extra shirts in particular aren't good quality at all. The hair is hit or miss. The long-haired dolls have cheap, somewhat scraggly hair, while the bob cuts are good and the styled ones (Mia and Ella) are the best. The accessories are a wide variety and well done, though the jewelry needs to be quality checked for better fits. I think if they want to really compete in the doll world, then need to put less money into the gimmicks. The cupcakes, stickers and extra shirts all focus on this aspirational message theme, but the money funneled into that could have gone to improving hair quality and clothing quality. These are competition for Hairdorables, but Hairdorables have amazing hair, very nice quality clothes and more diversity while still giving girls a wide variety of characters with a lot of different interests to relate to and choose from. These are a decent first doll line for a company, but not strong enough to compete with the existing players unless they make some improvements fast.
PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.
