Kaya doll

[irishnurse68]

I decided I really wanted a Kaya doll for my bday (August 6th), and when Memory said she had a beautiful first edition Kaya for sale, my dh said go ahead and get her. She is absolutely gorgeous! Her coloring is almost identical to my pm #11, with slightly rosier cheeks and lips. She has the most serene expression on her face. I am thrilled with her! Her hair is still in the original braids, so I can't attest to its quality unbraided, but I can say it is shiny and appears very thick. I think she would look gorgeous in any time period clothing.

Thanks for looking!

[ladoyle]

I just got my new Kaya at the St. Louis store and love her peaceful look! However, she is a full 1 inch (at least) shorter than my other 5 dolls! She has Pleasant Company 2002 on her neck, but a newer body tag (not the super long one though). Also she doesn't have the deeper face paint, which I do not prefer, since she looks more authentic in natural coloring.

[gretaboquet7781]

I got Kaya last weekend and finally got around to pictures yesterday. I adore her! My favorite photo of her (with her mini-me):

[fosterer]

Well first off I would like to say that this is my first post on here. Woooo.
Kaya is absolutely one of the most beautiful dolls American Girl makes. I have no clue why she gets ignored so much. I mean, you never see little girls with Kaya. They always have Julie or the girl of the year because they are apparently "more modern."
Starting on Kaya's hair. It seems most complain about her hair. They say that it is frizzy, dry, and textured from the moment her braids are taken out. I purchased my Kaya in December 2011 and her hair was perfectly fine when I took her braids out. Her hair was amazingly soft and smooth. Of course she had crimps in her hair from the braids, but it wasn't frizzy. I brushed it after spritzing water and it was fine. I ended up steaming her hair straight, (it is GORGEOUS by the way) but I didn't find it a problem before. Although the ends aren't all even because of the way it was cut in the braids, I love it. The longest her hair is is below her ankles. It is a very dark brown with red (not orange, RED) highlights. Her hair is so fun to brush and style.
Now, Kaya's outfit. Her outfit is very well made. I find it very very realistic for her time period. I love the details with the beads and the slits at the bottom of the dress and sleeves. The fabric is awesome quality too. The hair pieces are a nice touch too. I usually keep my dolls modern, as I don't have many historical outfits, but I do think Kaya's meet outfit is very nice.
For the doll herself.. Her limbs and head were tight right out of the box and they stay that way. Her eyes open and close well. They are pinwheel I believe. They are a nice shade of brown that goes well with her skin tone. She has feathered eyebrows that appear different than those of my other dolls. She has no head tilt (like a lot of Josefina mold dolls.) Her skin tone is beautiful, it is different than Sonali's if anyone is wondering. It says "PLEASANT COMPANY" on her neck, though I purchased her in December 2011. I suppose that is normal.
Overall, I do recommend Kaya to anyone. She is under appreciated at American Girl and that should change. She is a great quality doll. I will take pictures eventually and post them here.
Sorry for the long review, I'm not good at writing things short and sweet.

[fionabrigade]

Kaya is my third doll. I have an earlier model with the rosier complexion. I'm not sure if Mattel tweaked her mold but in comparison to the display dolls at AGP I think my doll has larger cheeks. The texture of her hair as indicated in other reviews is super dry and frizzy, yet I find it relatively easy to manage with heavy spritzing. Kaya's meet outfit is very detailed and made with a hefty material and her decorative hair shells are not cheap quality. She is a lot shorter than my other dolls, she stands probably a good half-inch below my tallest (Jess) which I believe is due to the lack of length of her neck.

I would love to give her an A+ but the hair and squat stature bring her down to an A.

***edit to remove picture

[sharayahlynn]

My Kaya's skin is darker than Kanani's skin. I tried to get a bit of a skin-tone comparison for you. As for their hair, I believe that Kanani's may be a bit longer, but as I have their hair in different styles (Kaya has a side ponytail and Kanani has a braid), I'm not 100% sure on that. Perhaps someone else has an opinion on hair length?

Skin-tone comparison (arms):


Skin-tone comparison (legs):


And their beautiful faces :

[fionabrigade]

Kaya's hair falls to her ankles when out of the braids. She only has short hairs on the back of her head so that may be a little strange but it does not hinder the style-ability of her wig. Ignore the corn, Kaya has been plucked from a Thanksgiving display.



Please excuse Julie, she wanted to get photographed as well:

[Colonial Rose]

Here is my Kaya in Josefina's Christmas Outfit, without mantilla.

and the Party Outfit without spencer

and in the Christmas dress with the Party Outfit spencer

[xmaskat]

Here are a few pictures of Kaya & Nizhoni wearing Josefina items as well as some Josefina-type replica outfits. I love Josefina's clothing on Kaya .

[irishnurse68]

My dd just dressed Kaya in Josefina's dress last week. She is gorgeous in Josefina's clothing!

[JustMagicMaria]

Kaya's unique face mold makes her very special. (I wish AG would use the mold again, perhaps for a My American Girl doll with very different coloring.) I really enjoyed Kaya's stories and I think she is a wonderful way to help kids learn about Native American culture.

My Kaya was purchased the day she was available from American Girl in 2002. She is one of the slightly darker skin dolls with the meet dress with the straight shoulders and tie belt. I don't have any problem with either of these -- I think the dress looks fine and the belt is not that difficult to tie (but I'm an adult).

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Kaya for a young girl because of her hair. She's less likely to appeal to the smaller girls because she's not girly or frilly by modern standards but she is one of my personal favorites. I love her serene expression and her place in history.

Grade: A