Here is a wonderful review from LuLuDoll!
Maplelea dolls VS American Girl dolls
Maplelea dolls are the Canadian version of American Girl dolls.
All the parts of a Maplelea doll are made in Canada even though all
the assembling is done in China. American Girl dolls are manufactured in China.
They are both 18" tall with vinyl faces, arms and legs and a cloth
body. The body is very similar, Maplelea dolls have slimmer legs and feet and even though they can stand up they are not as sturdy as the American Girl dolls.
The Maplelea's arms also are slightly slimmer than America Girl's.
Maplelea's hands are in a semi-close position that allows the dolls to hold small objects, a very cute feature but the overall look of Maplelea's arms is far less natural than American Girl dolls in my opinion.
Both dolls can move the arms up and down and in-out even though
American Girl doll's shoulder joints are much more flexible then Maplelea's.
American Girl dolls have a string in the neck that allows you to
restring your dolls in case of loose limbs, Maplelea dolls have no string or zip tie.
Maplelea doll faces are much different then American Girl dolls, both dolls have sleepy eyes. Maplelea have big round eyes with spread-out eyelashes, some people describe them as having a "surprised look", personally I think they are very sweet looking. American Girl dolls have smaller eyes with thick long eyelashes, very pretty.
American Girls are famous for their little slightly open mouths that
show always, (except for Kaya), two front teeth . Maplelea have a closed mouth, and they all have sweet little smiles.
Maplelea's wigs is better then A.G. Beautiful hair, thick and shiny that can endure hours of brushing and hair-do without loosing their beauty. Maplelea dolls are meant to be played with. I love Maplelea's hair.
Maplelea dolls have 6 main characters:
Taryn
Leonie
Brianne
Saila
Jenna
Alexi
And a variety of so called "Maplelea's Friends"
The variety of Maplelea dolls, clothes, furniture and accessories, is
not comparable to the variety of American Girl's yet. But to be fair
Maplelea is a fairly young company compared to American Girl.
Maplelea doesn't have a doll's hospital. If your doll gets ruined you can send it to a SPA and for 60$ Canadian they will give you a new doll, they don't fix the dolls!
Maplelea dolls retail for 99$ Canadian with a fixed shipping cost of 9$ Canadian and they can only be purchase online. American Girl dolls retail for 115/120$ US with variable shipping
cost, they can be purchase in stores and online.
*VIDEO REVIEW*
I have taryn and she is a super pretty doll. She was my first one, and I think maplelea dolls are really under estimated. I'd love it if you could do more reviews on maplelea items!
ReplyDelete*from Julie's doll mom:*
ReplyDeleteI do think Taryn is the cutest of the Maplelea dolls, but I really don't like the hands. To me, they kinda look like hooks! But it's cool that the hands can join together and hold small objects.
I totally agree with you!!!
DeleteErm....Rhonda?
ReplyDeleteIt's saying your blog address is livingadollslife.blogspot.co.uk
I thought you lived in the U.S. I'm so confused........
It depends on the search engine....it's co.ca from Canada. It's co.uk from United Kingdom. I am in the USA!
DeleteOdd. I live in the USA also, so I don't know why it would be doing that.
DeleteIt shows .com.br for me ;)
ReplyDeleteI like how the hand can hold little objects but the face looks a little creepy for me... Something is weird about that... Or maybe i would just get used to it...
Going to NY next week and get Grace!!! :-D
Thank you for posting this review, Rhonda. Lulu Doll did a great job of comparing the two dolls and her pictures are beautiful. I have both types of dolls and completely agree that each is of excellent quality. Personally, I like having some variety in my dolls. I, too, would be very interested in more reviews of Maplelea items and of other types of dolls, as well.
ReplyDeleteSome Maplelea dolls and outfits are also available on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteI love lulu doll. I watch all her videos because her videos make me smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rhonda for posting this! I do
ReplyDeletelove both of these dolls, they are both beautiful
and well made, such great dolls :)
I appreciate your affectionate but objective reviews of other 18" dolls here on LADL. For my money they'll never be cuter in the face than AG dolls, but darn it, you sure do point out what I'm missing by dismissing the others wholesale! Hmm, second looks may be necessary. I do like the very happy expressions of the Maplelea dolls. They just look happy. For me, the happier a doll, the better I like it. :) p.s. Some of those Journey Girls can hold their own too … I wouldn't know about any of them without LADL. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI look at the Maplelea dolls now and then. My favorite is Saila. If you look at the collections closely each character has a color scheme kind of like AG did with the BeForevers. One of the great things about Maplelea is that they come with journal pages for the doll - it reminds me of how Melody came with a great book and tools so I could write her own story - that was way back in 2000.
ReplyDelete~Xyra
Very well said. You have provided the most simplest but informative and helpful ways about ..... I really learned a lot. Shop Online Dolls-and-Accessories
ReplyDeleteI am very grateful for all this info. as a mom buying dolls and clothing for them can be SO confusing!
ReplyDeleteI am annoyed at Maplelea's non-existence reuse policy. Angrier when found that one can't purchase the dolls' journals separately in case of misplaced journals or just wanting to reuse the dolls (and give the 2nd child a new journal that's not scribbled on). Called customer service and offered to pay for the journal but they absolutely refuse to sell the journal as a separate item. No explanation offered and I'm just thinking a company that didn't want to encourage reuse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the frustration around the lack of ability to reuse the Maplelea dolls. However, they must have changed their texting in the past 4 months or so, because they now sell the journals a separate items. Great news!
DeleteThe journals are listed for sale on their website.
DeleteI’m really disappointed with the Maplelea Doll Leoni we bought. Besides my daughter only playing with it once the Maplelea snow pants that she had on the Doll was stored for approx 2 years and when we took it out of the box the black pants had badly stained the dolls legs. They were definitely not exposed to any dampness or heat to cause this. I tried customer service and they haven’t returned my calls. Should have bought AG!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'm so sorry.
DeleteIs it just me or do the Maplelea dolls look like an inch taller than AG?
ReplyDelete