I've been pretty excited about these! A new line of articulated Harry Potter dolls with Ron, Harry, Hermione & Ginny with adult McGonagall and Dumbledore (no Snape? Boo!)
Anyhoo, they obviously had articulation, but they were kid sizes so did that mean that finally Skipper would have some articulated options? OMG! Finally! So when I saw Hermione in the store (note, these guys seem to be sold in cases by character, so your store may not get all the characters but you also don't have to worry about having 1 Harry in a box of 5 Rons for whatever reason), into my cart she went!
They also had Ron and Dumbledore, but I don't have that kind of money to blow on curiosity dolls. Plus, I've already seen pictures of Dumbledore naked and there's nothing new there, he looks like a regular articulated Ken. With a beard. What did you think I was going to say? GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER.
And so, the naked Hermione pics you've all been waiting for!
Naked DOLL pictures. Seriously, what kind of blog do you think this is?
So. Kind of let down. Less let down than I've been by any other new Mattel line in the last... 2-3 years, but still, kind of let down. This is basically a flat-footed EAH body with widened shoulders.
It's a bit weird anatomy-wise because her boobs are the same size and in the exact same place, but her rib cage has been widened around them. There is no connective tissue running a slight line from the outer edge of the bust up to the armpit, which gives them a 'these were randomly put here but don't belong here' look. But while it's pretty obvious not a lot of effort went into this, the chest anatomy weirdness isn't going to be visible unless the doll isn't in clothes, so it's not THAT big of a deal.
It's pretty decent for a $20 doll. Not compared to the $20 MH and EAH dolls, but nice compared to $20 Barbies or previous Harry Potter dolls?
The other change apart from the upper torso is the feets. They're flat, but not as small as you might think!
I'd say they're the same size as EAH feet with the toes cut off and flatter. Nobody's going to be sharing shoes, that's for sure!
And the final question: Can they share clothes?! Well, not shoes. Obviously.
Cloth outfits that have been pre-fit with velcro or snaps will be hit or miss. HP dolls can donate to EAH dolls because they're bigger, but HP dolls may not fit donated EAH clothes. Depends on how stretchy/baggy they are.
Patterns? The wider chest falls in the range of pattern allowance, so they should be fine. She's smaller in the chest than a Dal, for example. The first pre-fitted demo outfit I pulled out was the angarkha, and that fit on her fine even though it was already sized for an EAH torso. I don't think I'd recommend the corset pattern set because that one is hyper fitted, but all the other patterns in PS size should be OK!
And if you're thinking about sewing for them, maybe make them a new school uniform! The skirt is... not horrible, but the sweater/shirt/tie is one piece screen printed and super frumpy. The collar is just sewn into the sweater. It looks OK in pictures, but in person it's awwwwwful.
So, final thoughts? Not bad! If they're going to salvage a body from another line, at least they picked a good one. If you want a crew of tiny Harry Potter characters, better an articulated EAH body than an unarticulated Skipper, IMO. It's certainly the best line of Harry Potter dolls I've seen, and I think anyone who wanted to make them a little better with repaints or new outfits could make them amazing.
A tip: You may want to buy these in person. The ones I saw at the store had a lot of factory wonk around the eyes.