Review of Hearts for Hearts Doll Lilian From Belarus

Unlike most of my other doll reviews, where I am reviewing something that is new...this time I'm reviewing a doll that was bought used.  She was out of box, but she was complete.  My mom actually found a good deal where she bought twelve out of box Hearts for Hearts dolls for $130.00, which included some of the hard to find ones like Nahji.  Zelia was missing one earring, one of the dolls didn't have its friendship necklace, and we didn't have several of the combs...but otherwise the dolls were complete--and all had their booklets, which are probably a big selling point.

As a result, I can't give all the product details I normally give for this doll.  She is a fifteen inch doll.  She is recommended for ages 6+ (which should be taken seriously for the choking hazard because of the small jewelry).  Item Number is 13132.  She is one of the first dolls released by Playmates Toys, Inc. in 2010.  She can be hard to find at times.  She is a Caucasian doll with blue eyes and long white-blonde hair.  She wears a headpiece, a tunic with decorative embroidery, a vest also with embroidered flowers, magenta ski pants with black polka-dots, black shoes with no socks, and silver earrings with purple gems.  She comes with a friendship bracelet with pink and dark purple hearts, a booklet, and a comb with an extra rubber band.  Lilian is from Belarus, a country that is bordered by Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and Lithuania.

The hairstyle in the photo is not how she originally came--I put her hair in a braid...which is why the headband--which was originally sewn to her hair--is a little turned around.  The doll has baby doll movements.  Her head can turn and nod up and down.  Some people get creeped out by how much the head can move, but I find it nice for posing.  Arms go up and down at the sides and back and forth, but the elbows and hands do not bend.  Torso does not twist.  Legs go up and down but do not bend at knees and ankles.  The doll can stand on her own, and she can also sit so long as you proper her up with her hands or with something else.

Okay, so now that the boring stuff is out of the way....onto my opinion of the doll and her story.  When Lilian came out years ago in the store, I hesitated to buy her.  Originally, I had fallen in love with Tipi, who had been released the same year as Lilian.  I liked the idea of collecting dolls that represented different cultures, and so I was debating whether I wanted to buy the others.  I was always strapped for cash when Rahel was available in the stores, and I kicked myself years later for not buying her when she was cheap.  I kicked myself for not buying Lilian a little bit less.  The problem was with Lilian is that she always creeped me out.  I liked the outfit, and the doll was pretty...but she was creepy.  I now understand why...she reminds me of those kids in Village of the Damned.

I can totally see Lilian as one of the creepy kids in Village of the Damned.

Really, I can just see her as one of those creepy kids.  I can hear her saying, "Mother, the oatmeal was too hot when you served it to me.  Though I have this super genius IQ and should have known to wait for it to cool...I decided to try and eat it and burned my mouth.  I blame you totally, so...DIE!!!"

I braided her hair and this is not how it originally came.

Some dolls seem to have personality right off the bat.  Lilian is a nice doll, but she is rather reserved.  She has a rather vacuous, blank expression--and so it can be difficult to connect with her.  Even when you read her story, I found it hard to connect with her unlike with some of the other dolls.  I didn't get a feel for her personality.  Of course, I have to admit that I'm confused by her story.  I thought I had read some time ago that Lilian's father had been a farmer that was fighting for his farmland.  Now he is a builder that has to move to the city to find work.  I had wondered if the story had been changed.

The Hearts for Hearts dolls go up and down in price like stocks do.  The dolls are only produced for one year generally and then go out of print.  Lilian and the five other dolls that were put out with her (Dell, Rahel, Consuelo, Tipi, and Nahji) have been out of print for several years.  I once bought Rahel for eighty dollars, and Tipi has been put up for sale over one hundred dollars.  I think, though, the dolls were re-released...possibly due to the problem with their eyes.  Originally, the dolls' eyes would become discolored over time and become purple.  Oddly enough, this was not something that the company had to correct--as it seems many people like the eyes.

However, the dolls can go very high and then suddenly drop very low.  This can be very irritating if you buy them when they are high.  A week after I bought Rahel for $80.00, she dropped in price by $40.  I started realizing, though, that this is not an accident.  As a seller, I have often noticed that I'll get a lot of watchers who never seem to buy.  I now realize that many sellers watch a high-priced item that they also have...and if they see it sell at a high price, they will list theirs, often marked a little lower.  Other sellers will follow suit, all dropping the price a little more, and suddenly a high priced item goes very cheap.  It can drive a buyer bonkers, because it will inevitably result in buyer's regret...but the fact is, someone has to start the process by buying the expensive doll first.  This also explains how something that seemed very rare suddenly floods the market.  As a seller, I dread this because it can result in angry customers.

Lilian is a nice doll.  The outfit is beautiful, and so are her earrings.  Her hair can be rather fly away due to the fact that it is easy for it to become full of static electricity.  Lilian can "warm-up" with a lot of TLC, and actually she is very photogenic.

Lilian's Story

Lilian's father is a builder.  Like many people, he cannot find work in their town...so he and his wife move to the capital city Minsk to find work.  They leave their three children--Lilian, Kristina, and Nikoli--with the children's grandmother Marina.  The grandmother is very skillful at embroidery, something that Belarus is famous for, but she is too old to go to the market to sell  her goods.  Lilian and Kristina go for her.  The grandmother is also teaching the girls how to sew.

There are many children in similar situations like Lilian who had parents who had to find work elsewhere and leave them behind.  Lilian and her siblings, though, were lucky enough to have a relative that could take care of them.  Many children not so fortunate wind up in orphanages and institutions.  Lilian wants this plight to become well known, and so she gives fourteen girls cameras to document their lives.  She hopes a friend of hers will help her get these pictures and stories into the big newspaper.  She hopes this might bring about change that will bring the parents home.  A new school is being built in her town, and she hopes her father will be able to find work.

Lilian also participated in an annual festival, representing her town in a folk dance.  Her grandmother made her an outfit, which everyone was impressed with...and this resulted in them selling dance outfits too.