So the Oz dolls were cheap and i'd been kinda eyeing them up for their outfits. at £8 each, I decided to grab Oscar and Theo.
I didn't get photos of Oscar in his box before toddler decided to liberate him, so we'll start with Theodora.
The likeness to the actress isn't too bad, I mean i've seen FAR worse character dolls like this. The outfit's been a bit simplified but it's still a striking outfit, I love that red coat.
The dolls all come with a charm... for some reason. Yet no bracelet to put it on? Huh? What am I meant to do with it then? Dangle if from my earring? Pointless plastic tat to lose then... i'll add it to my pile.
The back of the box has the original TK Maxx price on lol, £12:99 is still a bit much for me, much happier with the £8 I actually paid.
Anyway, the back of the box shows the other dolls and i'm still bummed the large China Girl doll wasn't available because she looks awesome.
Glinda and Evanora are a bit meh to me, i've never much liked long formal looking dresses.
Anyway, the characters in Glinda's soap bubbles of magical... soapyness... are cute.
I've not seen the movie, so I can't really speak for any of the blurb here but it talks about a floppy hat and a magical ruby ring blah blah blah.
It looks from the perforations that Jaxx Pacific or whoever the heck made these expected you to literally destroy the box in order to get the doll out. I hate wasteful packaging like this, I don't want to have to tear a box apart to get the doll out damnit! It makes a mess.
So let's see if there's another way...
OK so there's a load of tabs all around the outside but the card outer is REALLY flimsy so I tore the stupid thing anyway despite my effort not to. It also took forever to get the thing to hinge open and reveal this... mess... of tape and tabs argh.
*deep breath*
Let's dive in.
Slide the doll out... wow, no tabs holding her head in. I'm seriously impressed. Instead her hair is held down by this single elastic band that's wrapped around both arms and her head was resting on a loose cushion of plastic that was held in place by nothing more than tension in the box. TAKE NOTE other doll manufacturers, you don't have to bloody staple the doll's head to the backing card!
So here she is, free at last.
First thing that struck me was how soft her hair is. Oh it's lovely and thick. Most of is is just lose falling in soft waves, with the very front pulled back and tied underneath the rest of her hair to give her this side parting.
She's got striking red lips, though one eye is printed a little smaller than the other. Booo. She also has a bit of a dead eyed stare anyway, there's something soulless about those eyes...
Her outfit is really nice though. The jacket is thick cotton and feels like an actual coat, the stitching is good adn there's little pocket details and cuffs. No buttons though, which is a shame but hey, it works fine. Under that she wears a satiny top with a criss cross lace detail and random rouching which has the unfortunate effect of making the top look a little ill fitting.
Her pants and belt are one piece, the pants are a shiny leather look fabric that feels slightly plasticky.
On one hand she has a moulded on ring, that aforementioned ruby ring I assume. It's a nice detail I feel, and having it moulded on certainly means it won't get lost as all those Barbie ones always did.
Her boots are awesome. I don't know what the heck this pattern is aside from mad flower/vine crazy but they're awesome.
Her blouse/top is sleeveless. I assume it isn't in the movie but I haven't a clue, but it doesn't look great on its own. It fits a little baggy thanks to the styling.
But speaking of wierdly fitting clothes... her trousers aren't trousers at all.
Wth? No seriously... what? What is this? They're like.. leather tights...
I can only assume this is to make it easier for her boots to go on and come off but it looks so bizarre.
and so they did... with sculpted lacy detailing and everything.
I particularly love how she still has a belly button despite supposedly wearing a swimsuit/basque thing, that's some skin tight kinky underwear right there ladies and gents. And the way it's painted around her bust means I can't NOT stare at how round her boobs are... they're like two tomatoes just... sitting there.
It's crazy distracting. Damnit Theo, put your damn clothes back on! Hypnotising me with your tomato boobs.
Before she does however, i'll point out that her only articulation is the hips, shoulders and elbows. She can do the robot but her range of motion is pretty crappy even with the elbow joints, they just don't really bend that much.
It's very detailed though, with a big flower in the brim with three long white feathers. It makes me think of Carmen Sandiago though, so i'm convinced this girl is gonna try to steal some ancient monument and i'll have to chase her across the globe following a series of needlessly cryptic geography puzzles.
Overall she's rather striking. Her outfit is very nicely made and she's easy to undress and redress. Her hat needed a strap though, I added one temporarily.
Her head is oversized but it works ok with this body, and the body has some pretty strange things going on with it under the hood (so to speak) but it's servicable.
She does feel quite light weight though and her range of movement is pretty limited. She's better than those static beach Barbies you get, but not by much.
At £8 I can't grumble. She's well put together and rather pretty despite her eye wonk. Certainly worth a look if you see these dolls going cheap.
And while I never trust TK Maxx's RRP, if these dolls really were retailing at £19:99, they were waaaay overpriced. I'd expect articulation for that, heck, i'd expect articulation for a £15 doll. Monster High has spoiled me so.
I kinda wish she had knee articulation or at the very least clicky knees, but her legs are totally rigid. There's no way she's sitting gracefully anywhere.
here she is with Oscar (on his new body, we'll get to that in a moment), who as I mentioned, I have few images of. But I did snap a couple.
Oscar is the same price as Theo, yet he comes with more stuff. As well as his outfit which is awesome, he has a plastic bag and a teeny China Doll figure.
Why on earth does he come with more stuff? I don't get that. He gets a bag and a dolly and the girls get.. nothing. Huh?
Anyway, Oscar's outfit consists of a really nicely made frock coat, a shirt with attached waistcoat (half printed) and bow tie, and a pair of pin striped trousers that oddly enough have no velcro closing, they just have a slightly elasticated waist. An interesting choice there.
His shoes are moulded as spats, so they have actual detail which is frankly AWESOME for male shoes. And yes, they fit Ken.
He also has a top hat which is again moulded plastic, really heavy and doesn't actually sit on his head without falling off.
His body is light weight and omg... painted black panties ahahaha.
His body is weird. Not only is it shorter than a Ken body, it leaves him way shorter than Theodora. Was he short in the film or something?
And his head is HUGE in comparrison. The neck is too small for the head's hole, meaning he's a bobble head, his huge ol' noggin wobbling about on there.
His elbows, oh they're articulated but they may as well not be for all the movement he has in them.
This body simply will not do. So onto a Ken body he goes.
The bulk of Ken's body helps balance out his head, and while it's still oversized it looks sooo much better. the clothes still fit absolutely fine as well. Awesome.
Anyway, Oscar himself is a really cute boy. He has floppy rooted hair and painted on facial hair. Looks to be a fairly decent likeness of the actor (as much as dolls ever are)
His bag is totally solid, it doesn't open, it's heavy and it's kinda pointless. it looks cool but I really wish it opened or at least was hollow. It's so weighty it kinda unbalances him when he's holding it.
His hat my toddler stole, i'll find it at some point.
And China doll.. oh my...
Need I really say more?
Overall, the Oz dolls have their flaws. Oooo boy do they have their flaws but they're also quite fun and their clothes are very nice. I'm a sucker for vintage fashions, particularly gents fashions so Oscar's edwardian inspired outfit makes me happy inside.
I give them 7 derp eyed china dolls out of 10. Well worth the purchase.
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