Erin by Carpatina

My review inspiration comes from unexpected places.   For example, we were sitting around chatting about stuff in Panama, and my brother-in-law mentioned a play doll catalogue that had recently arrived in the mail at his house.  He couldn’t remember the name of the line, but it had clearly made an impression on him.  He described the girl dolls as being cute and wearing nice-looking historical costumes, but he described the boy dolls as being (and I quote) “grotesque.”  That got my attention.  Grotesque?  Really?  Definitely worth investigating.  He elaborated to explain that while the male dolls have child-like bodies, they’re burdened with large heads and angular man-features.  The problem was, I had absolutely no idea what dolls he was talking about.  I thought maybe he meant Ellowyne Wilde?  But Rufus isn’t grotesque, really, just comical.  I literally had no idea where to start my search for these mystery dolls.  Googling "grotesque male doll" didn't get me anywhere I wanted to be.  Fortunately, my mom came to the rescue.  She used her Google superpowers and tracked down the Carpatina line in under twenty minutes.

Carpatina LLC is a privately owned New Hampshire-based company that has been making play dolls since 2002.  The company name could be derived from the Latin word carpatinus which means "made of hide."  The Carpatina company got its start in 1998 selling medieval Romanian clothing for people.  Their cloaks are amazing and can be bought directly from the Carpatina website or on Amazon.  The company also makes several lines of doll clothing with an emphasis on medieval and fantasy pieces.  The Carpatina website is really fun to browse.  After a few days of deliberation, I settled on the following purchase:

Erin doll wearing the Guinevere fashion.

So, you're probably thinking, Hey, that's not a grotesque male doll!  I wanna see the grotesque male doll!  I don't blame you.  Here you go:

Carpatina "Adam."

Adam looks a little ticked that he's not the star of this review.  I'll have to see what I can do about that....

Adam isn't my doll.  I got permission from a very kind eBay seller to use this photograph.  This Adam is currently up for adoption.  I have to say, I don't quite agree that the boy dolls are grotesque.  They give me fits of giggles, but I don't think they're grotesque.  They're kind-of like bobble head caricatures...without bobbly heads.  Be sure to check out the catalogue pictures here, too (Carter totally looks like mini Spock, doesn't he?).

Anyway, I bought Erin mostly because I wanted to buy a girl outfit for her, and also because I thought her resale/re-gifting potential would be higher than mini-Spock.  I am still eyeing the guys with some amused temptation.  I like dolls that make me laugh.

Back to business: Carpatina dolls are 18 inch “slim” vinyl play dolls in roughly the same scale as the American Girl dolls.  They have more slender features than American Girl, and therefore can’t reliably share clothes with their more popular cousins.  To me, the Doll Diaries blog is the ultimate American Girl resource, and so it's no surprise that there are some wonderful Carpatina/AG comparison pictures over there for you to check out.  Carpatina dolls are similar in size to Madame Alexander's  Kidz ‘n’ Cats, The Doll Factory's discontinued Euro Girls or Tonner’s discontinued Magic Attic dolls.

My goodies came in a bright blue cardboard doll box.  The clothing was used as additional padding for the doll:

Erin is a basic doll (wearing a simple outfit), and she was priced at $69.  The extra Guinevere outfit cost $39.  The fully-dressed Carpatina dolls cost $89 right now, but their regular retail is listed as $108.  These prices are comparable to the $110 price of a dressed American Girl doll.

Erin was nestled beneath the clothes and under an extra layer of bubble wrap.  I love how her eyes close when she lies down.  She looks so peaceful and cozy in her box:

The outfit and accessories were packaged in a separate plastic bag with a tiny plastic hanger:

When the box is upright, Erin opens her bright green eyes.  Her box is very similar to a Tonner doll box.  It's made completely out of cardboard, and all I had to do is untie three white ribbon bows and Erin was free.  There are three foam strips to protect her vinyl from ribbon burn:

She doesn't stand very well on her own, and she doesn't come with a stand, so I had to lean her up against the wall for most of my shots.

She has a very sweet face.  I thought that the face looked fine in the catalogue, but I like it even better in person.

Erin wears a hand tag with some pictures of the other Carpatina dolls and costumes:

If you look at the lineup of girl dolls on the website, you'll notice that the dolls have different head molds.  It looks like Rowena, Zoe and Erin all share a face, and maybe the other 4 girls all have the same face (?).  The faces seem ageless to me.  In some pictures, the dolls look like kids, and in other pictures, they look like adults.  This could add to the versatility of these dolls.

Erin has long, silky red hair and is wearing a basic satiny nightgown.  Her nightgown looks a lot like a slip or a negligee to me.  Again, this makes me wonder what age person these dolls are meant to portray.

In contrast to the slinky clothing, Erin's face is very young.  She has wide green eyes that open and close and faint freckles all across her nose.  I love her freckles:

Erin's lips have an exaggerated bow shape and are painted a generic pink color.  I don't love the color of her lips, but I prefer it to the bright red or orange on some of the other Carpatina dolls.  She has orange eyeshadow over both eyes, and I feel like this part of her face paint is overdone.  It's a bit hard to see in the pictures, but it gives her a slight raccoon eye.

Her lip paint is a bit asymmetric.

Erin has both painted and applied eyelashes.  The painted lashes are a light brown color and the applied lashes are black.  Her eyebrows are medium ginger brown and a bit chunky.  There is some nice detail in the irises of her plastic eyes.

Erin has great flexibility in her neck, and can look from side to side and up and down.  She can tilt her head back a little without it affecting her eyes...

But if she leans back too far, she starts to get that dreamy look:

The plastic lid of Erin's eye doesn't quite match the rest of her skin.  It looks slightly yellower and more opaque than her fair skin.

The applied lash strip is a little crude--it's just a straight line of lashes that doesn't quite span the width of the eyelid.  Also, when the eyes are closed, the painted upper lashes look out of place.  Despite all of this, the overall effect of the closing eyes is nice.

So many play dolls have tiny unrealistic noses,  I like that Erin has a nice, straight, realistic nose.

Erin's hair is wigged.  The wig fiber is really nice--it has shine and movement and while it can be stubborn about laying completely flat and smooth, it does not tangle.  I love the color.

The quality of the stitching in this wig is not ideal.  There are a lot of very short strands of hair sticking up, and these are most visible towards the front of the wig.  If you part the hair and look at the rows of stitches, they look widely spaced, however, in playing with this doll, I didn't notice gaps in the hair as a problem at all.

In the front of Erin's wig, you can see several of the short strands, etc., sticking up, and also a glue error that has plastered a bit of hair to Erin's forehead.  This makes for an uneven, messy-looking hairline:

While I am not crazy about the style of Erin's nightgown, it is very well made.

The garment is made out of a white shiny synthetic satin and has some nice lace details.

The spaghetti straps are folded and stitched:

And all of the internal seams look well-sewn and durable:

Under the nightie, Erin is wearing a simple pair of white cotton underpants:

The Carpatina dolls have only 5 points of articulation.  As you know, I prefer dolls with more movement, but I also understand that for younger children, reduced articulation can make a doll easier to handle.  From my personal experience, children over five (particularly those who are interested in something like gymnastics, ballet, or horseback riding) could become frustrated with this doll's inability to re-enact certain poses.

Erin has great movement in her neck, but her arms do not hold many positions besides straight up and straight down:

The shape of this doll's torso is a bit lopsided.  If you look carefully at this picture, you might notice that the right side of Erin's hip (on the left of the picture) has a small ridge that is missing on the opposite side:

It might be easier to see in the pair of shots below--the picture on the left shows the ridge (just above the hip joint) while the picture on the right shows the side with no ridge.

Part of me actually likes this asymmetry.  It reminds me that someone probably sculpted the model for this doll and that hand-sculpted items aren't perfect.

All of Erin's joints are strung elastic.  They are tight and sturdy, although elastic joints don't hold poses quite as well as other types of joint.  She can hold a good walking pose:

She can do an ok side-to-side split (better than I can do...):

And a great front-to-back split:

Her hands have a nice shape and her feet are very plain and unremarkable.

Since I don't have an American Girl doll yet, I'll have to show you Erin in comparison to Lorifina and my Karito Kid, Ling:

Lorifina is a different scale, but Ling is close in size to Erin.  Ling is taller, with a larger head and a cloth torso.  I doubt that they will be able to share many clothes.  

The biggest difference between these two dolls is in their faces.  I find Ling's face to be much more unique and realistic.  Ling's features make Erin's eyes look a little buggy and her lips look too pink:

Ling's orange velour shirt fits Erin pretty well...

But Ling's skirt is way too big:

The dolls find common ground in the blue dress I bought from the Springfield Collection.  This dress fits Ling pretty well.  From what I understand, Springfield Collection clothes also fit American Girl dolls.  

There's something extra special about this dress.  It fits and looks good on everyone:

The sash helps tighten the dress at the torso to make it fit perfectly:

I love the dark blue color with Erin's red hair:

With this Springfield Collection pajama set, the elastic waist bottoms fit really well, and the top is too big:

I was curious about the size difference between the Carpatina dolls and the Hearts 4 Hearts dolls.  I don't have my Nahji doll anymore, but I do have a Dell doll still in her box.  I see some younger sibling potential here:

Dell is adorable, by the way.  The camera loves her cute freckled face:

The Carpatina company makes clothes that fit their own dolls, of course, but they also make a line of clothes that fit American Girl dolls.  The clothes that fit Carpatina dolls are called the Fantasy Adventures collection and the American Girl sized clothes are called the Girlfriends Collection.  I love the selection of clothes!  I think I like the Carpatina clothes even more than I like the dolls.

Here's the Guinevere outfit ($40) that I chose for Erin.  She is pictured wearing this outfit on the website, and I thought it went really well with her eyes. The outfit prices seem comparable to some of the fancier historical outfits on the American Girl website.

The dress is made out of off-white linen and is trimmed with green velvet, gold thread and rhinestones.

There are corset-style ties on either side of the waist.  The dress is beautifully sewn.  It came a little bit wrinkled, but I imagine that a warm iron would quickly set this straight.  The full length of the dress is sewn with princess seams and it has a short train in the back.

The dress looks white in a lot of my pictures, but it actually has a faint sage green tinge to it.  Here is the skirt up next to the refrigerator-white nightgown so that you can see the difference:

Here are some close-ups of the beautiful hem detail:

The outfit includes a pair of matching linen slippers. These are very easy to get on and off:

Also included with this outfit set is a gold crown ringed with rhinestones.  

Take some time to examine the lovely detail in this piece:

Here is Erin wearing the dress:

I tied the side strings loosely to cinch in the waist just a bit.  If I pull the strings too tight, they wrinkle the dress in an unappealing way.

Here she is with the crown:

Char over at Doll Diaries thinks that her Carpatina Rowena resembles Merida from Brave...and I totally agree!  I had the same thought about Erin--even with her straight hair.  Her mouth also reminds me a bit of Juliet from Lost.  But that's just because my kids are making me watch that show non-stop and it's all I can think about some days.  My husband thinks she looks like Deanna Troi from Star Trek.

When I bought this dress, I was curious about whether or not it would fit Lorifina and some of my larger BJDs.  For Lorifina, the dress is short, tight at the bust and loose in the waist:

I can cinch down the side strings to make the waist fit better, but it doesn't look very good like this, and the top is still pulled out of shape at the bust line.

The colors look great with Lorifina's green eyes, but I doubt she'll get to wear this dress very often.

I tried the dress on my Limhwa Half-Elf 57cm BJD.  I really wanted the dress to fit this doll because I love the idea of an elfin doll wearing medieval clothing.  It reminds me a bit of Zelda and Lord of the Rings.  The dress is too short for her, too:

Again, Limhwa's bust is a way too big for this dress and her waist is too tiny:

She can still look good in the dress, but that means very little since she looks good in just about everything.

Here are a few more pictures of Erin in her dress. She can't strike very many poses, but her bright green eyes and red hair combined with this elegant dress still make her very fun to photograph.

Bottom line?  I am surprised that the Carpatina dolls weren't on my radar.  I am grateful to my brother-in-law's keen eye and my mom's internet hunting skills.  These are cute, well-made dolls and their clothing is wonderful.  The most notable differences between Carpatina and American Girl are that Carpatina dolls are slimmer, they have completely vinyl bodies, they have slightly more versatile faces, and there are a few face molds to choose from.  These dolls would be a nice alternative for collectors who don't care for the American Girl face, or who are into medieval and fantasy themes.

I would prefer a more articulated doll for myself--knee articulation, in particular, would be a great addition.  Some kids might be frustrated by this doll's lack of movement.  Erin would struggle to act out cool athletic moves or ride a horse accurately (a key element in all medieval fantasies).  On the other hand, the limited articulation makes her very easy to dress and handle, and this would surely be a bonus for younger kids or people who enjoy a lot of outfit changes.  

The wig has one irritating flaw: I don't like the short pieces that stick up, and I don't see an easy way to correct this problem.  Aside from that, there are no real quality issues with this doll or her clothing.  The hair fiber is smooth and silky and the wig is thick and durable.  The eyes open and close flawlessly and the green color is appealing and realistically detailed.  The clothes are beautifully constructed and I love the romantic medieval designs.  Accessories like the rhinestone crown and the intricate slippers make the outfit worth its $40 price.  The doll is really great, the clothing is even better.

I think this line of dolls would be very high on my list if I was putting together a gift for an imaginative six to twelve-year-old doll lover.  I don't like Erin as much as I like my Karito Kid dolls, but the fantastic clothing line makes Carpatina a competitive choice.  I probably don't need any more Carpatina girls for my personal collection, but if I ever find the perfect 18" slim doll to wear the Carpatina clothes, it will be hard to keep me away from that website.  At the very least, there must be some way I can justify buying one of the glorious full-size Carpatina capes for myself....

Summary:

Age Level	12 and up per the box.  I think a younger child could enjoy this doll.  I would gift this doll to a careful six or seven year old.
Value	The price is comparable to similar dolls on the market.
Quality	Very good quality.  The wig has some strands that stick up, but there are no other quality issues.  There are only 5 points of articulation. The joints are tightly strung, the face is nicely painted, the eye mechanism works well, the clothes are well-made and have creative designs.
Packaging	Excellent.  Cardboard box with cloth ribbons securing the doll. There are three small foam pieces to protect the vinyl.
Collectable?	No.  This is a high-end play doll.
Versatility	Aside from her limited articulation, this is a very versatile toy.  She is ageless and has an open, friendly face.  She could be a modern child or a medieval queen.  She does not share clothes reliably with American Girl, but might share with other 18” slim dolls like Kidz ‘n’ Cats and Magic Attic.
Overall	This is a sturdy, appealing, well-made play doll with a gorgeous fantasy wardrobe.  The clothes slightly outshine the doll.  A nice option in the 18” doll market.