Review of the Strawberry Shortcake dolls by The Bridge Direct

When I was a kid, my cousin Janelle had an enviable collection of Strawberry Shortcake dolls.  She had freaking every doll they made, plus playsets and separate outfits and the little pets that went with them, and I WANTED IT ALL. 

My mom never bought me any Strawberry Shortcake dolls.  Ever.  Sniff. 

So as an adult, my eyes are still drawn to these cute little dolls.    The newest incarnations look different from the originals, but they're still SO CUTE.  The new ones have big, pretty eyes and sweet expressions.  And they still smell so very good. 

After coveting Strawberry Shortcake dolls for 30 freaking years, I've finally, at long last, bought myself two dolls.  Yay! 

These two are from the "Berry Best Friends" set of four dolls, which also include the characters Lemon Meringue and Cherry Jam, made by The Bridge Direct, Inc.  They were $9.99 apiece and came with little toy dogs and combs.  I had to get this incarnation of Strawberry Shortcake because she came with the hat.  I mean, without the hat, she's just not Miss Shortcake, ya know?  The blue-haired one is Blueberry Muffin.  I love blue hair, so I wanted her even more than Miss Shortcake.  She comes with a cute plastic headband that fits her head nicely, and the blue dog.

They're 6" (15cm) tall.  I was pleasantly surprised by their body jointing.  They can either sit or stand, and they can actually stand on their own unsupported.  They can move their heads left and right.  Their arms are on a rotational joint so they can not only lift their arms, they can also swing them outward as well.  Their legs don't swing outward, but do have a nice sturdy hinge so they can sit straight-legged.  (The knees don't bend.)  They feel and bend like a nice-quality play doll.

Their face screening is wonderful!  To me, eyes mean everything for a doll, and these have great eyes.  Their hair quality is nice, too, and the rooting is pretty decent for a play doll.  They don't have big bald spots in the back when you part the hair.

The clothes are fairly simplistic, but cute.  They have a Velcro tab on the back so you can dress them in each other's clothes.  Each outfit is basically a single dress.  Blueberry's outfit looks at first like a top, skirt and jacket, but it's really all sewn together as a single garment.  Strawberry's top and skirt are sewn together.  It makes it easy for little hands to dress and undress them.  I'm not oohing and aaaahing over the quality of the clothes, but they're all right.  Their shoes fit nicely and are removable, too, so they can also exchange shoes. 

Here's the only weird thing about the dolls:  Their feet are crazy!  The stripes are painted on the legs, so it looks like they're wearing tights.  But when you take off their shoes, you can see toes!  LOL.  I guess this is so they can use the same mold for dolls who aren't wearing tights.  Looks funny to me, like they're wearing toe socks. 

There was another (nice) surprise with their pet dogs.  I didn't realize this at first, but the heads on the dogs can swivel around.  I love that.  It adds a bit more playability to what would otherwise be a cute little figurine. 

So, at long last I have the Strawberry Shortcake dolls I coveted as a child.  (Well, new versions, anyway.  LOL!)  They're sitting on my desk in front of me as I type this, oozing happy all over it. 

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Later,