Doll Durability: American Girls, Journey Girls and Hearts for Hearts Dolls--A Guest Review!

My next guest reviewer, Emma, emailed to ask if she could write a piece on how some of her larger-scale dolls have weathered a few years of play.  I think this is a brilliant idea.  I am always reviewing new dolls right out of the box, but that's only the first step in determining quality.  I think that the durability of a play doll over time is the true test of its worth, and this is something that I would really like to learn more about.

Not only was Emma's review idea great, but I think you'll agree that she's done a nice job of summarizing her experience with three popular brands of doll: American Girl, Hearts for Hearts and Journey Girls.  I am very grateful to Emma for her hard work, creativity, and professionalism in bringing this new dimension to the blog.

This topic is so interesting to me that I hope many of you will contribute your own experiences in the comments section.  I am very curious to know how other well-loved dolls have stood the test of time.  In fact, I'd love to get some photographs of your older dolls (which you can email to toyboxphilosopher@gmail.com) so that I can add them to the bottom of this review.  If we keep this discussion limited to the 18" scale dolls that would be great, but I will think about ways to add "Doll Durability" posts as a recurring feature.  That's enough chatter from me--I am excited to sit back and hear what all of you have to say on this subject.  Take it away, Emma!

American Girl dolls of various ages.

Hi everyone! I’m Emma. I am super lucky that Ms. Emily let me do a follow-up review on three different popular brands of dolls: American Girl, Hearts for Hearts, and Journey Girls. I have owned each these doll for one and a half years or longer, and I will be showing you what becomes of them after a few years of play.

I’ll review each doll's face and limbs first, then their bodies, hair, clothes, and finally how they move.

Let’s start with American Girl, as they are probably the most popular.

Here's the cover shot again, showing my six American Girls from oldest (left) to newest (right):

The oldest one (Addy) is six years old, and the newest is about two months old.

The faces stay in good condition, with only a few scratch marks. Addy has fallen down quite a few times, and she only has a few scratches.

The eyes still open and close with ease:

The only thing I’m not happy with after all these years of play is the mouth. The paint chips off around the teeth.

Here is my newest doll’s mouth as a comparison:

The head still rotates like it should, but the gap between the neck and body seems a bit more significant. Here's a six-year-old doll's neck joint:

And here's a two-month-old doll: 

See how the older doll has a larger neck gap?

The neck strings also get a little frayed over time:

The bodies have stayed in excellent condition, with no stains, rips, or holes.

The hair also stays in very nice condition. Even after all these years, it’s still easy to brush and style.

And the wigs stay firmly attached, although from all the years of brushing, perhaps the dolls don’t have quite as much hair as they used to.

The outfits stay in remarkably good condition. They haven’t frayed or ripped at all, or lost any buttons. Here is Addy’s dress as an example:

The same thing is true for bonnets and hats, but I think that they might soften over time. The older bonnet below doesn’t have the stiffness or the crisp ribbons like the newer one does:

Addy's older bonnet (left) and Caroline's newer bonnet (right).

In my experience, the shoes don’t last. The top ripped off the pair in the picture below, exposing the fabric and some of the stitching has ripped too.

However the bottoms survived with only a few scratch marks:

And they are kind-of bent and squashed on the sides. Probably from five years of taking the shoes off and putting them back on. Bummer.

It varies from doll to doll how loose the limbs get. My six-year-old Addy doll has limbs that are just fine, but my grandma’s thirteen-year-old Lindsey doll can’t stand or even lift her arm. My three year old Kanani doll has legs that are getting loose as well.  It just really varies.

So, the American girl dolls stay in pretty good condition. And most of the things that do get worn out could be fixed with a trip to the doll hospital.

Let’s move on to the Hearts for Hearts dolls.

My oldest Hearts for Hearts doll is two years old, and my youngest is five months. 

Left to right: Consuelo, Dell

Left to right:Rahel, Mosi, and Shola.

The faces are AMAZING. There are absolutely no scratch marks on any of them. Not even on Dell, even though she did three face plants on the sidewalk when I was taking pictures of her on a windy day. All the face paint is still there as well.

Hearts for Hearts "Dell."

But…the eyes. All of the Hearts for Hearts dolls come with gorgeous eye colors. Take Nahji, for example. Her eyes were originally a beautiful chocolate brown…

And now, they are turning purple! A couple of my other  Hearts for Hearts dolls’ eyes are turning purple as well. Their beautiful eyes! It’s so sad.

Consuelo.

Nahji.

Dell.

The torso and limbs are, again, in pretty good condition. The torso does have a few scratches, however.

  

The hair quality really depends on the doll. One of my doll’s hair has gotten a little harder to brush, but that’s about it.

Another one of my doll’s hair has gone completely wild and nearly impossible to style…

The outfits are in decent condition, with a few seams coming loose and several ends fraying.

Dell’s earrings are in bad condition. Most of the shiny silver paint has chipped off, turning it from silver to grey. So disappointing.

All of my Hearts for Hearts dolls still move like normal.

Overall, the Hearts for Hearts dolls don’t hold up as well as American Girl dolls, but that’s kind-of expected from a cheaper doll. The eyes are a huge bummer. I loved their eye colors and now…they are all going to turn purple. I’ll need to visit a professional to have Nahji and Consuelo’s eyes replaced. It might cost a bit more time and money to restore these dolls to what they originally were.

Finally… The Journey Girls! My oldest Journey Girl is two years, and the youngest is five months.

The faces have survived without too many scratches. So have the limbs.

Journey Girl "Kyla."

The eyes are still in great condition and colorful. That’s a step up from the Hearts for Hearts dolls, at least.

The feet are pretty dirty--Kyla’s feet have a spot on them I can’t remove:

The bodies hold up pretty well. The only really disappointing thing I have to say about how they have held up is the stuffing is oozing out of the backside. This might call for emergency surgery someday.

Her hair is still silky and smooth. It’s gotten a little harder to brush though.

Many of the clothes, for some reason, don’t look new to me. They look…dirty.

The rotational movement of the limbs is still great. I’m pretty sure that they are not strung, but after hearing what happened after Ms. Emily investigated, I’m not going to take a peek!

The Journey Girls hold up really well, especially for a thirty-dollar doll. They might even hold up better than an American Girl doll.

So, all the popular play dolls hold up decently. Eventually, they will all need to visit a professional, but that’s kind-of expected. Out of all the old age signs, the largest problem and the most

disappointing is the Hearts for Hearts doll eyes. Someday I’m going to have to get them swapped.

I’d like to say thank you so much to Ms. Emily for letting me do a guest review on her blog. It was so fun, and I loved taking pictures of all my dolls. It was a great experience!

***

Thank you, Emma!  And thank you to everyone who is sharing their own experiences in the comments or through email.

Shai from Dolls and Then Some sent me a few pictures of her American Girl, "Maggie" (My American Girl #33).  She writes, "I've had her for about 4 years.  She has held up pretty well but has quite a few stains and really frizzy hair. Her lip paint also seems to be wearing off. But her limbs and clothes are fine!"

Four-year-old My American Girl #33.

Thank you, Shai!  I love this last picture of Maggie outside with her glasses on, carefully inspecting a leaf.  :)

Next, Rosalind kindly offered to share pictures and thoughts about her eight-year-old American Girl doll, "Jillian."

Rosalind writes: Jillian is an American Girl Today doll. Her My American Girl counterpart is #24, I believe. I received her for my 9th birthday and I'll be turning 17 in a few days. She has never been to the American Girl doll hospital and has never had her hair styled at American Girl Place. I had her cleaned at AGP early this year for the first time.

Jillian's face paint is still intact and not very faded:

 Her limbs are still plenty tight, although her stuffing isn't very stiff which can hamper posability.

Jillian's hair is shiny and smooth, although sometimes it feels a bit dirty; her hair has never been washed.

She has a slight gap at her neck joint and some of the stuffing is showing there. Her strings aren't very frayed. 

As you can see in this next picture, she has some slight dye transfer on her thighs:

This is her original, complete meet outfit:

Socks and undies are not shown and I couldn't find the other ponytail holder. It's around here somewhere!  Everything is in wonderful condition except the ponytail holder and shoes. 

The sole of one of the shoes has changed to a greenish-blue color and the ponytail holder is stretched/unraveled and the metal is discolored.

Thank you, Rosalind!  It's great to see a doll hold up this well--especially the hair.  What a treasure Jillian is!