Notes
Artsy, Inc. is a Canadian toy company that
also manufactures arts and crafts kits for girls. The Awesome Girls were
their only foray into the 18" play doll market and were only available
for a short time in 1999-2000. These dolls were the recipients of the
Dr. Toy Best Vacation Toys award in 2000, as you can see from the
sticker on their box.
The dolls are very inexpensive but quite cute
for the price. Their faces are adorable. They have low-quality, rooted
hair and quite nice fixed eyes. Their face paint is subtle and natural.
Their vinyl is nice and a good color but my main issue with them is their
white cloth, floppy bodies. The bodies are of decent quality material but the one
I have is drastically understuffed. My poor Awesome Girl can't hold her
head up straight and my daughter found her frustrating to play with
because she kept flopping all over. If she is going to stay at our house
she will either need to have her head removed and more stuffing added or
she will need a body
transplant.
Her clothing is basic but cute. The materials
are synthetic and the seams are not serged (one of them had a split even
though the doll has gotten very little play).
Compared to American Girl, the dolls are a
little small as you can see in the comparison pictures below showing my
Awesome Girl on the left and American Girl Felicity on the right.
On the right is the Awesome Girl dressed in the American
Girl Go Anywhere outfit. As you can see, it is a little big on her but
it is not too bad. The shoes are too big but they stay on because of
they style. She would fit better in Magic Attic shoes.
Speaking of Magic Attic, whoever sculpted these dolls
must have been a fan of Robert Tonner's Magic Attic sculpt. In the
picture below you can see the Awesome Girl on the left and Magic Attic
Alison on the right.
If you are a fan of Magic Attic dolls, these Awesome Girls are
interesting because of the resemblance. And they are quite cute dolls
besides.
