My Collection Part Twelve: Tonner/Effanbee Ann Estelle, Patsy and Mimi

I thought all of these dolls were made by Effanbee while owned by the Robert Tonner company, but I didn't see Effanbee on my new Dottie Delight doll's box. But in any case, here's my group of 10" dolls, often referred to as "tenners" among collectors. :)

This is Basic Ann Estelle, who I believe was my first Ann Estelle purchase. She and the other dolls from the Ann Estelle line are based on illustrations from artist Mary Engelbreit. Originally she came with a short blond bob, but I recently replaced it with a Monique wig, as the wig she came with is pretty dry. If the braids are on her back, they curl up at the back; the ends could be tied to the tops and would look something like AG Kirsten's. She's wearing a Patsy dress that I bought loose at the Robert Tonner convention that I attended.

Sophie was purchased next in line. I bought either her or Ann nude, as this is a basic Sophie, but I only have one basic romper. She had a red bow sewn into her hair, which I removed. Her face is really endearing to me. She may get a new wig, as hers is pretty dry as well. She's wearing a dress made by me.

I think Ann's baby sister Lilah came next. Lilah dolls are pretty rare. There was another Lilah produced as a centerpiece doll for a convention, riding a seahorse. I don't remember off the top of my head if there were any other productions. Lilah is wearing her original outfit, minus her tights, which are a bright red net, with large bright red dots woven in. Her sweater is removable, but the bodice of her dress has a loose piece of thread floating inside. She rattles when moved, like she has something loose inside of her. You might not be able to tell, but her legs are a little curved, so she's meant to be seated.

I bought Mimi around the same time as Lilah. Mimi was part of a line by Effanbee called Petite Filles. The other doll in this line was a brunette named Babette. I ought to buy one of those just because of her name. :) Truly, though, I did like the clothes these dolls were dressed in. This is Strawberry Cupcake Mimi, wearing everything original to her. Her body has bending knees, like the Patsy dolls, but straight arms like the original Ann Estelle dolls.

Patsy was a line produced by Effanbee, that hearkened back to the composition Patsy dolls produced by Effanbee in the 1920s-1940s. Patsy's body is pretty similar to Ann Estelle's, except that Patsy dolls have bending knees, elbows and wrists, as well as the standard shoulder and hip movement. I bought this Patsy with new eyes and a new wig. I ended up not being fond of the wig. It was a very shaggy short style, that kept falling in her eyes. I just got this Monique one, but I don't know that it suits her. It was up in two high pigtails, but it looked too happy and bouncy a style, to me, for the wistful look on her face. I tried to tie the hair in two bunches, low, but the hair keeps wanting to ride up, since that's how it was styled. I might get something new at some point, even more so since this one is a bit small on her. Her head and body are slightly smaller than the Ann line, though. The dress she is wearing is one that I made using the same pattern as the ones that Georgia and Sophie are wearing, but it swims on Patsy.

I bought Georgia wigless. She only came wearing a pair of corduroy pants with an elastic waist, made for her by the woman who was selling the doll, and had used Georgia as a clothing model. I like her new wig on her, although it's funny to see her with a full head of hair after being bald for so long. She looks so sweet in it, though! I also made her dress.

The next Ann Estelle is named A Bit Younger. She was made for the 25th Robert Tonner doll convention, along with a teen or young adult version of Ann Estelle on a 16" body, called Breit Nights. Both dolls wear age appropriate versions of the velvet dress with embroidered flowers, a petticoat with lace, white tights, and matching shoes and hair bows. This Ann's hair is soft, but extremely flyaway. I had to keep her away from my backdrop, or her hair looked she was touching a plasma ball. For fun, I'll include here a shot from the convention, of Robert Tonner and Mary Engelbreit signing after the Cheery Cherry Mary Engelbreit luncheon. I got A Bit Younger's certificate signed by both.

 

And lastly, I recently posted on how I was able to receive Dottie Delight Ann NRFB as a gift for Christmas 2020. I'm so thrilled to have her back in my collection.

You never know what you'll find when you're searching around on eBay. One day, I saw a small wooden cabinet with drawers, painted by an individual to resemble Mary Engelbreit's style. I posed Ann next to it, wearing the basic romper, so you can see what a good job the artist did. You can also see the size. I store things like the Ann dolls' glasses in there, along with a couple of cardigans I bought from eBay as well.

I think these "tenners" are all cute as a button. :) From basic to convention, I love all of them.

Total dolls: 53

Tonner Strawberry Cupcake Mimi and Fall Flowers Lilah Dolls

Since the last time I posted about my Tonner 10", or "tenner," line, I've acquired two new dolls. The first is named Strawberry Cupcake Mimi, not to be confused with the more recent release, Strawberry Cupcake Patsy. The second doll is Ann Estelle's baby sister, Lilah. She's 9" according to Tonner's website. I wanted to get a Mimi and a Babette from the Petite Filles line for my tenner collection; there were only a few styles of each doll produced, and the faces are unique, except for a couple of dolls made in Dr. Seuss styles for a Tonner convention. And of course the convention ones are even rarer.

Mimi's hair is wonky, in that her curls on each side don't really match.

Mimi's body is a mix between the old and new 10" dolls. Her arms are the same as Ann Estelle.

Her knees bend like those in the new Patsy doll line.

Her pantaloons have some faint brownish stains on the legs. I'll try soaking them in Biz detergent.

She has a flaw in the inside corner of her right eye.

Here Mimi is with two of her 10" friends, from the Mary Englebreit and Patsy lines. They each have very unique faces. Sophie's face is also different from Ann Estelle's, but I didn't want to mess around with that many dolls in the picture just then. I'll take a picture of the whole gang sometime.

Lilah dolls are relatively hard to find as well. From what I found, there were only three different Lilah dolls produced, and one of those was also a convention doll, and came riding a large seahorse at that, so her value is much higher. I got my Lilah at just above original retail price, however, so it seems she is not hot in the doll market right now. I still like her. :)

Lilah is described by Tonner as being in a seated leg position. I guess that means she's not old enough to stand up on her own yet. I did stand her up for a couple of pictures, but she doesn't really stand well.

Ann likes being a big sister.

I think the onesie would have been cuter with sleeves.

However, the dress underneath the sweater does not have sleeves. The dress is cute, but there is one flaw. In the bottom right of the picture below, you can see a black thread in between the two layers of bodice fabric. At some point I may try to take the dress apart at the waist to get in and get that thread out. It's not like I have to worry too much about ruining the dress; it's unwearable by itself in this state.

There's also something rattling somewhere in Lilah's body. I may try to get her head off at some point and investigate that.

There are more faces I would like to get for my 10" collection, but I'm not on eBay nearly as much as I used to be, so that might be an issue. I'll talk about the eBay thing sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm glad I expanded my collection of little girls.