EAH Cedar Wood review - with pics!

Got Cedar today! Review is under a cut because I messed with the settings and accidentally uploaded all the images in size huge.

• First of all, I've seen people complain about how the plastic tabs makes the EAH boxes difficult to open. There is a super simple trick to it, though: use something thin like a crochet needle to pull on the slit in the middle of the tab. The two halves of the tab will fold together and you can easily pull it out of the slot. If you're a bit careful you can even reseal the box afterwards.

• MADE IN CHINA! Yesss! Since I got her online I couldn't check the manufacturing country beforehand. Unfortunately her head is still rock hard from glue. This had me worried, particularly since heard the glue seepage problem has spread to Chinese-made dolls as well, but I washed her hair out with lukewarm water and it seems ok for now. 

Since I really want to repaint this doll, I made a deal with myself beforehand to shave & strip the head at first sign of glue seepage, but now that it's not an immediate threat I'm not sure what to do. Do I keep the hair and repaint her now, only to risk being forced to reroot her later anyway, ruining the new face in the process? I think for now I'll just wait and see.

• My doll has a little less of the lavender streak than I'd like, but considering I was just willing to sacrifice all her hair it's not that big a deal. 

• After wash and brush, her hair is only slightly curly. I think she'd look great with more curls and I'll try a boil perm on the lower half or so. 

• I LOVE her woodgrain and it's generally done beautifully: no two limbs have the same pattern! It goes up to about the knuckles on the hands, and reaches out on the thumbs a bit. (I think the fingers are the same mold for L & R, or at least very similar). The lines shouldn't narrow down and come together like that on her neck, but I can see why they took that liberty. 

• Because I love the woodgrain on this doll, the biggest disappointment was THIS: the mold flares on her thighs have been rather clumsily shaved off, particularly on the insides. There's a long strip on each side where the grain pattern is almost entirely removed. AAAAARGGHH!! In the box it's hidden by her skirt, so it's not something you can check before buying. You just have to keep buying dolls and hope for the best, I guess. Oh well, At least it's only there, though: torso and other extremities look fine. 

• She still has the ridiculous molded underwear. WHY. She's made of a plastic replica of wood - she has less than zero indecent bits to cover up! It's so stupid. Also this color makes them look like a waffle cone. 

• Apart from the woodgrain (which I love and would actually have liked to be even more visual on her face), I'm not sure if there's any news in this facemold. I don't have my other EAH dolls right now, but it looks fairly standard. Her eyes have the slightest bit of convex shape to them, but I think they're all about the same in that regard.

• Eyes are standard and boring. Her lips are printed in skin color with a patch of red. I like them and will try using the same design for the repaint.

• My other two EAH dolls have super tight hip joints that take muscle force to move. Cedar doesn't! Actually they're a bit loose and make a clicking sound when moved. It feels like the entire joint section is just sliiightly loose inside the torso, but I don't think that'll be a problem. At least she can pose unhindered.

• Her shoes are great, but you knew that already because they all are. Nice details, but shouldn't the leaves have been oak leaves? Or am I the only one thinking of her style as basically human cuckoo clock? 

The shoes do need the socks to fit properly. She can wear them without, but they wobble and the straps look huge. The soles are a bit rounded so I haven't been able to make her stand unaided yet.

• The purse looks like a cowpat, but it's not as bad as I thought when I saw the pictures. It actually has a good shape and proportions, and looks like it could be a real live purse. What I don't get is why they didn't give it a dark wash: it has lots of great details that deserve to be more visible, plus it would have matched the shoes better.

The purse is hard plastic and opens, but not by much, and half the interior is taken up by the plastic plugs holding it together. I thought if you put somethibg small like her ring in there it might get stuck, but fwiw I tried it and had no a problem getting it out. I also managed to fit both her earrings in there (after taking the ring out), but that's all the space there is. Still, really nice purse.

• GREEN CRICKET BERET! I think it's adorable. The actual mechanism is a bit bulky and looks HEAVY DUTY, SERIOUS BUSINESS, but they all do. I guess you can't make things too dainty in a playline doll for ...well, the box doesn't say for what ages. Doesn't it normally do that?

• Earrings are simple, golden, bit boring. Speaking of ages, isn't it weird how both EAH and MH have earrings with straight posts that come out easily, but Barbie's usually can't be removed at any cost? Maybe Mattel is really trying to niche these new lines as For The Big Girls?

• Bracelet is a golden chain with stuff I couldn't make out at first - is that a dolphin? Then I realized it's all Pinocchio related stuff: a whale, a donkey and the blue fairy! Except she's gold here. (Btw, have you read the original Pinocchio story? NOT suitable for children.)

(No photo of that because I messed up, sorry)

(I know it looks like a blue blur - just take my word for it, ok?)

• Two-finger ring is the blue fairy, in light blue. It's cute, but she now has two pieces of jewelry with two different colors diverging from her overall color scheme. Maybe it's a bit much? I'm not sure.

• I find the dress pretty meh. It's ok and has some nice details reminiscent of her source material, like the cut of the collar and the sleeves. Mine is a bit crooked and with uneven sleeves. 

Bottom line? I love the woodgrain, like I knew I would. That's why I bought her - anything else is just a bonus. I'm quite disappointed in the damage at the mold seams and I don't think those particulat parts should have passed quality control. I love the cricket beret - the fairy ring too, come to think of it - and I'm nervously hoping her head won't start leaking glue. And really I wish she weren't wearing an ice cream cone for panties.