Let’s Discuss NON-American Girl 18” Dolls!

[@kerrysmiles]

You can make even longer videos and it won't interrupt my day. It will in fact make my day! Always feels like hanging out with you haha

[@DisBlaine]

@@kerrysmiles awww that’s sweet of you to say!! 🥰 I definitely relaxed and let this video be as long as it needed. Maybe taking notes helps lol.

[@YasminaReality]

We had journey girls at toys r us before they closed down. They were real popular in the american doll collecting community. But we don't see them as much anymore! I thrifted one that I rewigged, and she's absolutely beautiful.I wish I could post a photo.

[@DisBlaine]

@@YasminaReality ahhhh okay, I’m getting the impression I couldn’t find more on journey girls because they’re not really a thing anymore. What aid you use (and on what doll)?

[@emmie3028]

The boy doll Stirling is the cutest thing ever 💗

[@DisBlaine]

@@emmie3028 I wish I could figure out how to show him in every video 🤣🤣 He’s one of my special dolls for sure

[@MaxineAndrew]

Sterling, your Black Canadian and the ILY dolls are standouts to me in this video. Very fun, very fascinating video! Excited for the Maplelea deep dive!

[@DisBlaine]

@@MaxineAndrew yay I’m so glad Sterling and Tamika made an impression! He’s special because he’s custom, but I don’t see much of this Maplelea doll shared by collectors-and she’s so pretty in person! I’m glad the video captured her beauty.

[@settheworldonfire94]

I love that 121 is your buddy for this video. She is the second AG doll I ever bought, and I am considering making mine into a Ruthie for my Kit. I just think the Joss mold is beautiful.

[@DisBlaine]

@@settheworldonfire94 ohhh she does look more like Ruthie than the doll doesn’t she? And it would be nice if she and her bff didn’t have the same face 🤣 Joss is my second favorite mold.

[@lnp102]

I loved seeing all your non-AG dolls in one video! I watched as I unboxed my new KMF51 who just arrived today! I was really sweating out the Canada Post strike because my tracking hadn't updated in a while and she was potentially still in their possession Thursday night! My package (which was going to the US) ended up going through four different shipping carriers, including, oddly enough, a Chinese International shipping carrier, but she finally made it! My favorite new item is Saila's Bear Hug Sweater Dress. The colors are stunning and the fabric is really thick. I also really love the grey jeans from the Maple Cabin Forest set, but I don't think I'm going to try to put those on an AG doll, lol!

[@DisBlaine]

@@lnp102 yay, do you love her?? Mine hasn’t only gotten cuter with time lol. Weird about the shipping journey! Maplelea has now switched to purolator. I think a lot of companies will. Oh and I out the cabin forest jeans on another AG. They fit like a dream. The gotz doll has chubbier legs lol. That’s why I wanted to see it.

[@lnp102]

@@DisBlaine Yes, I love her! And thanks so much for that video where you unboxed her. That's when I finally made the decision to get her because I wasn't sure with the new stock photo. She looks just like the older version in person. Now I have to seen how long I can hold off before I get another Maplelea doll!

[@DisBlaine]

@ yes in her new stock photo she looks different… and that’s why I bought her 🤣 It didn’t take me long to buy my next ML doll.

[@clj37]

I love the Ily 4ever 18"dolls. I own 3 of them. They are my first 18" dolls. I have the same two you have. Which is the med skin tone is the Elsa inspired and the deep skin tone is the Olaf inspired doll. My third one is the red head stitch. I have them all displayed still in their boxes.

[@DisBlaine]

@@clj37 so between me and my niece, we have the same dolls! I bought her that stitch doll-and she cut her hair!! ☠️🤣 I wanted them all when they first came out, so I have to be careful when I walk down that aisle. Those faces are so captivating!

[@TeresaMinsinger]

I now have a passion for Disney ILY , more dolls are now joining my AG lineup . I find the My life doll clothes fit them perfectly and the Hello Kitty collection for her 50th anniversary which I got for AG are now on my ILY dolls. Not the best quality from My Life but they are adorable. But I love all the dolls you presented from your collection. You never interrupt the day. I look forward to your videos.😊

[@DisBlaine]

@@TeresaMinsinger ily dolls are a slippery slope! I’m lucky I can buy them for my niece. It scratches that itch lol. She’s also obsessed with hello kitty, but I didn’t want to show any of those fashions IN CASE my niece watches this (doubtful as that is). How many ily dolls have you bought? The faces are too cute with their big doe eyes!

[@TeresaMinsinger]

@ I have 5 so far and One in the mail coming in from Target holiday pre Black Friday sale . I promised myself I would only look locally. But eBay and Mercari keeps calling my name .😂

[@DisBlaine]

@ oh noooooo it’s too late to abort 🤣🤣 Don’t worry. We’re the same people lol.

[@MyRealitywithNicole]

Journey Girls used to be at ToysRus in the US. I think sometimes they pop up on Amazon and Target.

[@DisBlaine]

@@MyRealitywithNicole did toysrus return to America? I thought I read somewhere they did. Journey girls might be a thing of the past tho!

[@CherishedDollFriends]

Briannabelle! So funny. Too bad about the postal strike here in Canada. I do think the newer Brianna’s are very pretty. I want to collect some more MapleLea dolls too. It’s fun hearing about the other 18” doll brands. I have owned a couple of Our Generation dolls that I found in the thrift store. Some are very pretty but I haven’t had the urge to collect them. The ILY dolls are tempting but they are more cartoony looking. American Girl and MapleLea are my two favourite 18” doll lines. Thanks for the chat and showing us this interesting like up of 18” dolls. 😄

[@DisBlaine]

@@CherishedDollFriends another post strike!! I hope they can recover from it. Brianne is definitely prettier now, but I think she’s my least favorite of the core girls. Mine is hilarious tho. I totally agree about the ily dolls being too cartoony. They look like aliens next to AG

[@beepcontinue]

American here! When I was younger, i vividly remember seeing Journey Girls in Michael’s stores where I live in MI!!! I used to be gifted a lot of journey girls stuff because we were not in the tax bracket for AG lmaooo I still have some of the stuff!!!

[@DisBlaine]

@@beepcontinue ohhhh so maybe they don’t really make them anymore. I couldn’t fidn any info!

[@Janice-l4l]

Thank you for this video. I have some Gotz dolls I started collecting and some Journey dolls along with my ag dolls. Good to know others have a diversified collection of dolls. Enjoying listening to you. You are informative and relatable. Looking forward to the next video. Oceans of respect from Florida 🏖️🌅🏝️

[@DisBlaine]

@@Janice-l4l I’m trying not to go too deep with Gotz dolls-or any other 18” doll lines. This video proves I’m succeeding there 🤪 Do you display all yours together? I have this annoying tendency to display dolls that “match”.

[@Janice-l4l]

@DisBlaine didn't think of grouping them. I don't group them because to me they are different groups of friends that like to hang out together 😜

[@Emily-oq1on]

Perfect timing! I can watch while I’m restringing my new #12

[@DisBlaine]

@@Emily-oq1on hopefully it went okay! Is your 12 TM, JLY, AGOT? I have the AGOT version, and I love her 😭

[@melangellperry5984]

You certainly tried a sample of 18” dolls! I really like the healthy roots dolls. I remember when they got started. I see them in target occasionally and they are super cute. They look like they have a similar body to the journey girls.

[@DisBlaine]

@@melangellperry5984 haha yes, any time I’m in target I have to swing down the aisle where the HR dolls are just to see them new in box (I threw mine out). And I think you’re right about the bodies! I had HR and my JG doll before any AG, so I never realized it.

[@melangellperry5984]

Journey girls were sold exclusively at Toys R Us in the States.

[@DisBlaine]

@@melangellperry5984 did toyrsus ever come back? I feel like journey girls maybe don’t exist anymore. The only ones I see on Amazon Ca are older

[@steph585]

Great video. Thanks! I’ve got Leonie on the way too!

[@DisBlaine]

@@steph585 have you seen her original sculpt? ☠️ But the new one is really cute in pics. I won’t know until next month when the LE doll ships

[@steph585]

@ Original is a fright show. Are you talking about the LE Camp Whatamacallit one?

[@DisBlaine]

@@steph585 haha yes camp tanamakoon. The other 2 options were dolls I already had. Otherwise I don’t think I would’ve ended up with Léonie.

[@AshleighGalbraith]

I believe that Alexi the Maplelea doll from Toronto is supposed to be racially ambiguous, but her cats name and some of the themes in her Journal point to possibly South East Asian decent

[@DisBlaine]

@@AshleighGalbraith I wondered if she might be multi racial, but her names don’t have any cultural significance. Too bad instead of ambiguous they didn’t give her an actually cultural story. But maybe they did since I didn’t read her journal. Is her cat’s name supposed to be the Hindi word for “flat”??

[@AshleighGalbraith]

@ Alexi’s cat’s name is ‘Chapta’, I didn’t know that it means ‘flat’ in Hindi, that’s really cool. Yes it would have been nice if they had centred her story around South Asian culture. Considering how diverse Canada is , it would make sense if Maplelea came out with named characters of different backgrounds, perhaps it’s something we will see in the future.

[@DisBlaine]

@ if I get Taryn (because I live in Toronto) I’ll probably call her Tara so I can say she’s definitively Indian (or half). It’s very strange they didn’t use Toronto to be their home of a poc doll considering our population. I don’t know if there’s anything flat about the cat, but his name might be a play on the Hindi word.

[@iamsoverybored878]

Those Healthy Roots dolls are cute.

[@DisBlaine]

@@iamsoverybored878 such beautiful sculpts! I wonder if the 4th character will ever get produced.

[@Anon4a2cp]

Someone has probably already said it but Journey Girl used to be carried at Toys R Us in the US but when the Toys R Us closed we lost our Journey Girls

[@DisBlaine]

@@Anon4a2cp aha, so toys r us hasn’t returned! The story is now complete lol (others mentioned they were sold there but not if the store or dolls still exist)

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

Thank you for another excellent doll talk! I was surprised you don't have more götz dolls. And have you ever seen the Spanish 18 inch dolls? My main collection are the götz jointed dolls, they have long narrow feet like maplelea. Is it hard to find second hand maplelea stuff where you live? So many questions!

[@DisBlaine]

@@brutallyhonestdollreviews my brain tries to block out other 18” dolls - because I’m already interested in too many 🤣 A couple other Gotz dolls have caught my eye (oh no!) and since they have AG type bodies, I’m trying to block them out. Their mouths are closed, so theyd make adorable boys, something AG lacks Jointed as in bend at the elbows and knees?? I wish!! Hmmm it’s much easier to find used AG clothes than ML believe it or not. But ML is really cheap on the secondary market. I feel like people buy ML clothes to keep. I almost died when I saw this concertina for sale!!!

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

@@DisBlaine did my comment disappear again?

[@DisBlaine]

@ the comment above or was there a reply in here? I don’t see another reply

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

@@DisBlaine it was another reply. It happens a lot to me on youtube. Probably for mentioning another socmedia

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

@@DisBlaine in the disappeared comment i was talking about the jointed dolls and about experimenting with your collection and finding 'your thing' and that I just shifted away from the cloth bodied dolls. Apparently I like realistic body proportions and big feet 🤣

[@shannonchristie-wickham8453]

This is fun. I have always mixed in other 18" dolls in.my AG collection. I have a couple of Heidi Ott dolls, an Elizabeth Cady Stanton doll, a beautiful dark skin tone Journey Girl, a couple of Our Generation dolls, My Little Sister dos, and a few different 18" Madame Alexander dolls. I also have Salia. I have customized some. I also have several different hard body 18" dolls like Carpatina . Double Dutch Dolls and My Salon Doll. These dolls like great with 16" dolls like the British line, A Girl for All Time. I do have 14" dolls like Ruby Red Fashion Friends, too. My newest obsession.

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

I'm still saving up for the girl for all time dolls. I am smitten with Bex.

[@DisBlaine]

@@shannonchristie-wickham8453 I like my dolls to match for some reason, so Gotz are perfect to mix lol. I’m skowwwwwly coming around to Maplelea existing with them-but they look quite different … the way humans look different from each other is what I tell myself 🤣 How many dolls do you have in total? That’s my worry about expanding. I can never control myself!

[@shannonchristie-wickham8453]

@DisBlaine i honestly don't know. I have several AG's but more other brands. I should count, but im not sure i want to know. Several of the non AG's are grouped separately. I like them as fantasy characters

[@shannonchristie-wickham8453]

@@brutallyhonestdollreviews I love Bex

[@DisBlaine]

@ haha I have the same feeling before counting my dolls-like if I know the number I’ll have to stage my own intervention 🤣

[@Latinart]

Great job on creating your male gender doll. He looks fab. Thanks for sharing your doll collecting journey.

[@DisBlaine]

@@Latinart I still can’t believe how cute the little sister dolls look as little brother dolls lol. I’m sure one day I’ll make him a friend.

[@joymontague251]

I got lucky. I was looking at Zoey at Target and thinking $80 was kind of high, and I was in a second-hand store, and there she was for $2. I found a Molly AG the other day for $10 and have gotten other AG dolls for a lot less second-hand. I also started kind of randomly with 18 inch dolls but mainly collecting clothes and the dolls on Ebay. I was mad because I wanted the Asian Wellie Wisher, and I thought she was $50, but then only her outfit arrived. I didn't know much about returning stuff then about 5 years ago and just kept the outfit. Then I went into a second-hand store, and I saw her in someone's basket for $4., so that was frustrating.

[@DisBlaine]

@@joymontague251 oh wow I’ve never seen these on the secondary market-what a deal! And on Molly too! Did you ever find your wellie wisher??

[@buffmontana4203]

Another 18" doll line that is really nice is Madam Alexander. Unfortunately they are no longer made.

[@DisBlaine]

@@buffmontana4203 they made 18” dolls?? I only know of their 10” dolls because there’s a 10” MA Tiana I’ve been hunting for for about 8 years 🤪

[@Anon4a2cp]

I’m pretty sure Alexi from Maplelea is a POC, the illustrations of her family seem to hint at it, and she’s comparative to Taryn and Brianne and Jenna much more darker complexioned. Alexi is also a common name I’ve seen in Hispanic communities but she could be another backstory too I think they left her pretty up to interpretation in that way (though I think perhaps they should’ve given her story, 2003 is when her story was written I think so perhaps things have changed since she was created, and would’ve felt weird to change it, just theorizing) but my Alexi is of African and Hispanic descent in my canon. She reminds me of a girl I went to school with who had the best quinceanera who was of African and Hispanic descent, right down to the hobbies.

[@DisBlaine]

@@Anon4a2cp her story only mentions she’s proud of Toronto’s diversity, but doesn’t mention her as part of it. She likes to partake in the different cultures around her, so it makes her seem white, as in there’s plenty of space to talk about her culture / ethnicity if it’s part of who she is. If she’s poc, it definitely shouldn’t be ambiguous. All the names in her family are very European. But yes this might be a reflection of the time the dolls were created.

[@DarayaVahu]

Anyone can share a link to the ily 4ever prototypes concepts?

[@DisBlaine]

@@DarayaVahu these aren’t my pics, so I’ll post a link here and in the description instagram.com/p/DBwPxH9u0zy/?img_index=4&igsh=MWJxcXZtaXkxZDRpag==

[@dodiblumstein7559]

Journey dolls use to be sold at toys r us exclusively

[@DisBlaine]

@@dodiblumstein7559 it’s weird that toys r us doesn’t have them in Canada. They seem to be Amazon exclusive here (if they even make them still)

[@nikkithompson445]

I have Zoey in my doll collection

[@DisBlaine]

@@nikkithompson445 she’s adorable isn’t she?? Such a sweet face and great hair for styling.

[@rosyp71]

I love the Maplelea dolls. They’re so pretty. What’s the name for the last one you showed with the French outfit?

[@DisBlaine]

@@rosyp71 they’ve really grown on me a lot - despite how funny they tend to look in pics. The doll in the concertina outfit is Maplelea and me 68, but I’m bad at remembering doll numbers lol.

[@rosyp71]

@ lol! Thank you. You have so many dolls,there’s no way you can remember all their names. I write mine down. She will be my first Maplelea. I love her look ❤️

[@pennylane36]

So I saw a doll or a few dolls in an Etsy shop as the lady was selling pdf patterns. I messaged her and asked her about the dolls but she wouldn’t tell me where to find them. Idk if you saw them if you would know anything about the dolls. I think she lives in Canada On etsy she is berry basic designs she has a few dolls modeling her outfits but I’d love to know about the dolls idk if you can help

[@DisBlaine]

@@pennylane36 welllll I just checked out her shop. lol I she won’t tell you what dolls those are because they’re AI 🤣 Look closer. The pics are fake. I guess they’re just patterns, so they didn’t bother making actual clothes for pics.

[@pennylane36]

@@DisBlaine Well that explains why I couldn’t find them online lol. Not real would be hard to find lol

[@DisBlaine]

@ what did she say when you messaged her?? The scandal lol!

[@pennylane36]

@ lol. This was her response “ i’m sorry I can’t provide the answer you’re looking for, however, I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about the pattern. Since I mainly focus on creating doll clothing patterns feel free to reach out if you have any questions She could have just told me they were computer generated

[@DisBlaine]

@ pahaaaa now you know why she couldn’t provide the answer!! So odd.

[@sjordan9586]

Thanks to you, KMF51 is on her way to me! I’ve been eyeing her for quite a while. She’ll be my first Maplelea doll though I’ve had quite a few of their outfits.

[@DisBlaine]

@@sjordan9586 do you mean seeing her in this video tipped the scales? If you’re not totally in love when you open her, give her hair time to settle. She just gets cuter and cuter I promise! Did you also order the kittens and paws outfit? Not trying to be a further bad influence, but it’s so precious on her!

[@sjordan9586]

@@DisBlaine I meant your earlier video from a few weeks ago that focused on 51.

[@Anon4a2cp]

I also didn’t get a very good Saila, the wig on mine was awful, I got mine from what I think was the same batch as yours. Worries me about their quality in the future but I let them know about how my Saila had short chunks all in her wig

[@DisBlaine]

@@Anon4a2cp oh wow, bad wigs too?? Mine are nice so far. Chunks of hair missing is worse than an oddly sculpted eye socket. What a strange oversight

[@Anon4a2cp]

@@DisBlaine I let customer service know but I felt mine had a really cute face and wanted to keep her. It’s like she had very unintentionally and oddly layered hair though I do think I just got unlucky

[@Sarbiez]

Hi Blaine! I'm super new to AG but I just fell in love with one of your girlies and I need to know who she is. Behind you she's the fourth on starting for the far left. She's wearing a cute blue beret and I LOVE her.

[@DisBlaine]

@@Sarbiez hello! That’s just a TM108 (TM82 “upgraded” with painted eyelashes) on a sort of weird mix and match outift I threw together. It’s the shoes, hat, and choker from the birthstone outfit, and I think the jeans and top from western chic. The vest is off brand and was a gift.

[@GGiblet]

loved the video and all your dolls! journey girls are at Macy's now Saila is just gorgeous, i still hope to get her .. are the wigs a challenge to deal with?

[@DisBlaine]

@@GGiblet ohhhh okay so journey girls do exist. lol going through these comments was like solving the mystery of what happened to them!! 😝 The Maplelea wigs are really soft and beautiful so far. They’re thinner than AG wigs, maybe more realistic in that regard - but I love the luxuriousness of AG wigs.

[@GGiblet]

@DisBlaine ikr! The whole JG saga (they journeyed from store to store lol) and thank you for info about the wigs, it's so helpful 🌞

[@lnp102]

Thanks for the info. I thought Journey Girls had been discontinued a while ago.

[@nationdolls]

One day hopefully you will do a review of my doll line 😂❤

[@DisBlaine]

@@nationdolls oh! You have 18” dolls now! Are they only in the UK at the moment? Congrats on the 18” girlies!!

[@nationdolls]

@ yes but I want to explore candy would love to work with you

[@pennylane36]

Have you ever heard of Magic Attic Club dolls?? 1994-2004 Megan, Heather and Allison were the first 3, then Keisha joined in 1995. Rose joined in 1997 then in 2001 Chloe joined We have all the dolls except Keisha. We did have her but gave her to my sister because she really wanted her They are an all vinyl doll. The company changed hands three times from the original people then to Knickerbocker who filed chapter 11 then sold the company to Marie Osmond’s husband. Robert Tonner was the doll designer but he was not the creator. They tried to sell the company to him but he wasn’t interested

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

I had my magic attic dolls shipped from the USA to the Netherlands by a fb friend. Still looking for Keisha, she's one of my holy grail dolls!

[@DisBlaine]

@@pennylane36 ohhhhh so that’s what they’re called. I just googled them. I’ve seen those in doll groups. Most AG collectors seem to enjoy plenty of 18” dolls. I can’t tell how rare / expensive they are to find. They just be a lot easier to dress with no cloth body. I guess kids are expected to hug their dolls lol

[@DisBlaine]

@@brutallyhonestdollreviews ohhh so they are hard to find I guess. Or just Keisha?

[@brutallyhonestdollreviews]

@@DisBlaine in the Netherlands they are non existent. But even in the USA Keisha is one of the rarer ones. But if you aren't too picky, there are a lot of magic attic dolls on the second hand market.

[@pennylane36]

@@DisBlaineChloe is hard to find too. We have her but I think Chloe was the one Marie Osmond added and was the last doll. The company ended 2 years after Marie took it over, nothing she did as it was already having issues. I just saw Keisha on eBay $125 new in box in the original outfit from the first line up very rare