The Hearts for Hearts Girls are girls around the age of 10, from different places in the world. The diversity of this line was one thing I really latched onto; that and their sweet faces! Not only are there dolls with multiple skin tones, but they have unique backstories that make an effort to teach kids about different cultures worldwide. Of the available dolls, two are from the United States (Dell, from Kentucky, and Lauryce, from Louisiana) one from Ethiopia (Rahel) one from Mexico (Consuelo) one from India (Nahji) and one from Laos (Tipi- not pictured.) Each doll comes with a plastic comb (which I don't recommend using if you want to keep their hair nice! A wire wig brush is best for doll hair, or wire hair pick for curly hair like Rahel's) a bracelet, and a little booklet telling her story. The booklets are not as detailed as they could be, but they offer a good background and are likely meant to be more of a starting point for kids to look up things they're interested in. They're journal style, but not very long. Nahji's booklet, for example, mentions henna tattooing, and that she is the first girl in her family to get an education, but doesn't go into detail about what henna is or her schooling aside from her "walking to the education center."
The dolls in stores and available new online are a re-release. They originally debuted in 2010, made by Playmates, but were discontinued by 2015. Now, they're back! MPA Sales bought the license from Playmates, and so far has been re-releasing all the old favorites. Starting with Dell, Nahji, Consuelo, and Rahel, they've since released Lauryce and Tipi online only, and the Hearts for Hearts Girls facebook page has announced the planned re-release of Shola (from Afghanistan) and Mosi (Native American) this fall. I'm unsure if their re-release will be online only, or if they'll also be able to be found in the toy aisles of Target, where the first four were primarily found. Online, they can be found on Amazon.
These dolls are 14 inches tall, and are comparable in size to the WellieWishers (14.5 inches) and Glitter Girls (14 inches.) They make perfect "little sisters" for 18" play dolls! I do not personally own any WellieWishers or Glitter Girls to compare them directly to, but I do own clothes from all three lines to try on the Hearts for Hearts girls. WellieWisher clothes are a bit wider, I don't think they'd be able to fit into Hearts for Hearts clothing comfortably, but Hearts for Hearts girls can wear the clothes from all three lines. The only exception, is shoes, which is where you really see a difference.
Above, in order, are a WellieWisher shoe, a Hearts for Hearts shoe, and a Glitter Girl shoe. WellieWisher feet are shorter and broader than Hearts for Hearts girls by quite a bit, which makes sense as the Wellies are meant to represent 4-to-6 year olds and are proportioned that way. While it is possible to cram the Hearts for Hearts feet into the Wellie boots, it's a lot harder to get them out, it might even be impossible for a child, so I can't say that even those are interchangeable among the doll lines.
On the other hand, Glitter Girls clothes and shoes fit like they were made for Hearts for Hearts dolls! The shoes fit perfectly on the Hearts for Hearts dolls, which really opens up shoe options for these dolls, especially since there are no other Hearts for Hearts doll clothes besides the outfits the girls come in. There were a few outfits released for the dolls under Playmates, but those are harder to come across on the second-hand market and are likely to run you at least $40 USD per outfit, depending on what you're looking for.
I haven't had my dolls long enough to tell if this is still an issue, but with the 2010 line, there was a manufacturing defect with the dolls eyes. After just a few years, many of the original dolls eyes have turned purple and cloudy. I'm not sure what the pattern for this is, as my Lauryce is older but hasn't had this problem, but a lot of Rahel's, Consuelo's, and even a few Dells and Nahji's I see on ebay have had this happen. The eyes are inset, and it's possible to replace them, but I haven't personally tried so I don't want to give out any false information.
Other than a potential fix in manufacturing the eyes, the only difference I can find in the original and re-released dolls is the hardness of their limbs. My newer dolls all have slightly flexible limbs, softer vinyl, while my Lauryce has very rigid limbs that almost feel like hard plastic. This isn't an issue for me but for anyone who wants to customize their doll, I suspect that the newer dolls would be easier to work with. As far as play value, though, the only thing I've noticed is that it is slightly easier to get clothes on and off the new dolls, even clothes that are a tight fit, like the blue dress Rahel is wearing in the group picture.
Overall, I absolutely love these dolls! They're absolutely beautiful and made of good quality materials. My only criticisms of the line are the marketing, and the accessories (or lack of them.) I'd love to see extra outfits available for these dolls, as well as accessories. I'd also like to see proper hair brushes! I've heard of these girls being seen at Toy Fairs, but beyond that I haven't seen a lick of advertising for these beautiful dolls!
I can't wait to see where this new release will take these dolls. I'd love to see all of the original dolls re-released, of course, but I'm really eager to see what new dolls MPA Sales will come up with for this line!
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