Esme is/was Tyler Wentworth's African American friend, but I am starting to wonder what happened to her! Granted, I am not an avid collector of 16" fashion dolls, since they require too much room to display - way more than 11-12" Barbie types. A few of them however, have found their way to my house. I purchased my first Esme about 9 years ago and she was a lovely brown-eyed beauty with a chocolate complexion. Although she was quite pretty, she had limited posability - her knees would bend, but not her elbows or wrists. I wanted one with more articulation, but kept putting off the purchase in favor of other dolls.
A couple of weeks ago, Tonner Doll Co. had an incredible sale and I thought it time I bought an articulated Esme - this one had wigs too - woo-hoo! Upon her arrival, I opened the box with great anticipation, but was soon taken aback! I had to check the packing slip as will as the box label to make sure I had ordered the right doll! Gone were the pretty brown eyes, and in their place were grey ones! Even more perplexing was the skin tone - now a medium tan, instead of chocolate brown. What happened? Don't get me wrong, the doll is still quite pretty, but she looks nothing like her "old" self. In fact, it looks to me like the face mold is even different.
I have attempted to blacken her up a bit by allowing her to wear the Moxie Teenz afro wig. I think it looks great on her, but she looks biracial at best. What do you think?
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5 comments:
In doll world "it" happens, too.
I have noticed the same complexion and eye color changes with one of my dolls A blog is in the works about it.
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That's interesting, I wonder too why they changed the skin tone!
Perhaps they are taking a page from Mattel?
I like the new Esme with the curly wig. The straight hair looks dull and boring :-)
I think, and this is just my opinion, Tonner is following the trend of 'light is in'. Even Russell is lighter! While I don't see anything wrong with giving Russell a lighter touch, I do wish he'd given him dreadlocks instead of the straight hair. Maybe this is just Tonner's way of giving collectors more choices among his Af. American. dolls.
Personally, I love my 'Mesmerizing Esme' and wouldn't give her up for a lighter version.
She looks a bit like Rhianna to me.
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