Marie-Grace Doll

I honestly didn't expect to have much interest in Marie-Grace, what with me having strong New Orleans colonial history interests and her character being so much more, well, American than French Creole. When I first glanced at the doll I even dismissed her straight up, thinking she had the Josefina face mold which I adamantly dislike. It wasn't until I paid more attention to her features that I realized that AG has made subtle changes that have corrected the things I didn't like about the Josefina mold. In so doing, AG has created a mold that is to my eyes more delicate, realistic, and aesthetically pleasing. YMMV, but I like AG's new heart-shaped mold a great deal and I think it was an inspired choice for this somewhat shy but firm character.

Marie-Grace's eye color isn't what I'd call 'new' per se, as it is very reminiscent of the older Kirsten color. However, it picks up deep blues and greys in ways that the older Kirsten eyes did not.

I find that the mold's mouth is not so much pursed as it has a more pronounced overbite. I find this extremely endearing since my own little boy has a mild overbite. Because they are so common among children, I think this adds a note of realism to the mold without straying into Uncanny Valley territory. It's kind of like the perfect imperfection to me, and coupled with lips that aren't quite as wide as Josefina's, gives M-G a very sweet look.

I like Marie-Grace's hair color, which is a rich, natural brown. It reminds me a lot of Kanani's, actually. The texture feels more natural to me than some of the other wigs AG has created. The pin curls are nicely done and are period-appropriate. I have to add here that I am dead tired of reading complaints from adult collectors about M-G's pincurls being inappropriate for their modern characters. head::desk Of course they're inappropriate for a modern character! This doll is meant to represent a girl from 1853. If you don't like the pincurls, just get rid of them rather than wasting your energies berating AG for creating a historically appropriate hairstyle. Now as to whether the curls, historically accurate though they are but so very different from our modern aesthetic, are appealing enough to the target market to open wallets is a different story. The pincurls represent one of the MANY variables which have affected the sales figures for these characters.

Anyway, it would take some work to accidentally blend these curls in, unlike those of Felicity, so unless someone deliberately wants to lose the pin curls I don't think careless little (or big!) hands are likely to ruin them. I do think Grace's wig can get fly-away easily, and there is a fineness to the individual strands that reminds me of my first issue Josefina. There are always just a few strays that drive me nuts! I wonder how it will hold up to heavy brushing. The braid hairstyle that she comes with is not difficult to replicate but for the time being I'm leaving mine in because, again, yay for historical accuracy.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few close-ups of my Marie-Grace, who gets a resounding A from me with a hair style that is representative of her time period and for debuting a lovely new face mold: