I've always enjoyed vintage and discontinued dolls. They can evoke tender feelings of nostalgia, a sense of wonder over the passage of time, or just seem hilariously funny in their outdated features. I feel like I've gotten more interested in older dolls recently, perhaps because they remind me of the dolls that I had as a kid, or the brands that got me hooked on doll collecting as an adult.
Back in January I got a review recommendation from Rory involving older dolls. Rory had recently found two nine-inch dolls in her parents' closet that she thought were from the early 2000s--around the time I started collecting dolls as an adult. The dolls reminded her of Robert Tonner's aesthetic, which she knows I love. She sent me a few photos of the dolls she found, and I was instantly intrigued. They certainly resemble Tonner dolls, with their hand-painted faces, but they also looked distinctly like Helen Kish dolls to me. And to deepen the intrigue, they're from the American Girl brand. It should come as no surprise that within twenty four hours I'd purchased three of them.
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| Girls of Many Lands Isabel, by Pleasant Company (2002). |
