Meet Cathy

I decided to purchase another "playing" doll to counterbalance the long locks of Cindy and Calla. Keeping with the theme of my other girls, the obvious choice was a Sasha Blonde Sweater (112); she is the only Trendon Sasha produced with short hair. As I posted previously, the doll I purchased needed restringing, but she now stands and poses nicely. Thanks Pat! She looks quite bland in her original "beige" outfit (what were they thinking with this?). I don't think she will be wearing it much beyond these pictures.


Her hair is still a bit funky from laying in her box for so long, but I've brushed and styled it a bit and it's starting to look better. I was worried she would be mistaken for a Gregor at first, but no longer feel that way.

Sasha Addict?

I think my obsession is becoming an addiction. I was originally looking for a Sasha doll or two that I could dress with my daughter. Something like the dolls I saw in my childhood, which were probably from the early 70's. I decided to purchase dolls from the 80's, as they are plentiful and I figured they would have fewer hair and stringing issues. We now have four "playing" dolls and a mountain of clothes. But I didn't stop there because I longed to have a whole collection of Sashas that I could display and admire. I decided to focus on the Gotz dolls from the second production as they can easily be found in "as new" condition in their original outfits, many only removed from their tubes briefly. Plus that put a limit on the number of dolls to choose from, as there were roughly 30 different girls produced in this time period. I picked my favorites and set about acquiring them, both on eBay and from private sellers. I was originally planning on a dozen, but am thinking it may be more like 15 or 16 before I'm through. I thought it would be easy to stop at that -- some dolls for play and some dolls for display -- but the early girls keep pulling at me. Not the early Gotz or no philtrums, but the late 60's blondes. Their hand-painted eyes and stylish hair make their faces so compelling.

Here are photos of my latest purchase, currently on layaway (you may have seen this picture on Kelly Wenarsky's sale page). She is a Fringe Sasha from 1968, wearing a brown cord dress from the same year (not her original outfit, though she would likely have been dressed similarly or in blue cord or gingham).


Kelly kindly washed her hair for me and left it down for this picture. A very different look from above, and yet equally stunning. I can't wait until she's paid for and I can see her in person. I feel like a kid at Christmas!


UPDATE: She's finally paid for! I have decided to name her Alison.

Meet Luisa

Luisa appears to have been styled after the limited edition Sasha Brunette Velvet doll from 1981 (albeit with rooted hair instead of a wig). She was produced in both 1997 and 1998. I believe my Luisa is from 1997, as the booklet attached to her only shows dolls that were produced in 1997. She wears a navy blue velveteen dress with a lace-trimmed half slip that shows at the hem.


Her skin is slightly darker than Cindy and Calla, my 1980's Trendon girls, and her hair is a beautiful shade of brown (chestnut?) with lots of wave at the ends.

Meet Stella

Stella was produced in 2000, and has pale skin and pink blush like Anika from 2001. Gotz had started shifting at least some of their dolls to this more "modern" look. She wears clogs on her feet (as did Wibke from the same year), which appear far more red in photographs I've seen of other dolls. I'm not sure if mine were always this brownish shade, or started out redder and changed over time. The dress that I put on Sofie is just a different-colored version of this dress.


She has very pale brown eyes and her original red hairclip. I don't know if Stella always came with a braid or not, but most of the dolls I've seen for sale online have a braid on her right hand side. When I received my doll the clip was simply holding a section of hair by her scalp; I added the braid and really like the way her hair looks with it.


UPDATE: From Susanna Lewis' Doll Charts, I have learned that the first Stellas produced had red clogs, while those produced later had dark maroon clogs ("dark maroon" is a better description than "brownish" as I referred to them). Thus, I must have one of the later Stellas. I have also learned that not all Stellas had a braid at the side. I'll never know for sure how my doll's hair was originally styled (I'm suspecting no braid, but since her tags were removed by her previous owner, perhaps her hair was unbraided also). I like it with the braid, but it's nice to know I can remove it and still have her look "authentic".

Party Dresses

I've put off taking pictures of my Sashas as it's been so damp and overcast here lately. We had a bit of sun today, so the girls celebrated by having their picture taken in the yard. It was quite blustery, but I managed to get the dolls and their clothing to cooperate briefly. Their party dresses are all white with pink trim, but very different styles: Calla is wearing a "Nellie-Rose" creation from eBay seller maudie-mays; Cindy's dress and hat were purchased from eBay seller specialdelivery2006; and Cora is wearing a Euro Girl outfit. For a more detailed view of the dresses, click on the picture to see a larger version.


I'm discovering how difficult it is to take pictures of Cora, at least posed together with the paler girls. In most of my shots from today she appears so dark that you can barely make out her facial features. I think I need much better lighting to photograph her properly as there's so little contrast between her hair, eyes, and skin.

Restringing

I purchased an addition to our "playing" dolls from an online toy store, a 1980's Sweater Girl. She arrived in her original box and clothes, looking marvelous. Well, except for one problem -- her leg/neck stringing is completely shot. This makes her all floppy like a rag doll, which I found very distressing at first. Fortunately there are a lot of great online Sasha resources, and I was able to find someone who can repair her. She is at the Sasha Spa in Florida now, being repaired by Pat Pellerito. I will make her official introduction when she returns.



UPDATE #1: She has returned from her trip to the spa, relaxed, refreshed, and ready to strike a pose! I'll post more about her once I've had some time to take pictures.
UPDATE #2: Here's the post: Meet Cathy.

Fashionistas

I decided to dress "the girls" in coordinating gingham dresses. All three were made by Patty at The Sasha Wardrobe in the UK. I bought the blue dress shortly after I purchased Chloe, and received both of the purple dresses in a collection of clothes that came with Sofie (they have tags inside, so I'm sure of the seamstress). My yard has nothing blooming, so they are standing by some flowers at the edge of my neighbor's yard.


I'm still learning the nuances of posing, as the arm position, angle, and tilt of the head make a huge difference. And good lighting is imperative.


The Sasha Wardrobe is one of my favorite places to purchase Sasha clothes. Not only do they look adorable, but they are well made, reasonably priced (even with the currency conversion), and come nicely packaged. Patty is wonderful (or at least seems that way in her emails), the website photos are gorgeous, and her models have such pretty hair. No, this is not a paid endorsement; I'm just gushing because I'm a very satisfied customer. Here's a picture with some of my latest purchases: pants, sweaters, dresses, pajamas, a jacket, shoes ...


I will share photos of Chloe, Cindy, and Calla wearing more of these clothes as time and weather permit, as they are far more beautiful out of the packages.

Meet Anika

Anika was produced in 2001, the final year of production. She has pale skin, blue eyes and pink blush on her cheeks. She was originally sold in a very modern outfit, which I think is almost as unappealing as Sofie's. Here's a picture of one that was for sale on eBay, though not the doll that I purchased.


My Anika was purchased from a Sasha doll enthusiast in the UK. She came to me wearing a beautiful dress made by Betsymay -- a lilac cotton dress with yellow, green and purple smocking. I think she looks more innocent and child-like in this outfit. These pictures were taken before her voyage to America.


As you can see, she is a truly gorgeous Sasha.

Meet Sofie

Sofie didn't originally appeal to me, probably because of her outfit (from the tools, I think she's supposed to be a carpenter). But I found her for a good price and decided I could always change her clothes. She was produced in 2000, and came to me in mint condition - only removed from her tube to have pictures taken. When Sophie arrived and I saw her pretty face, I was glad that I decided to add her to my collection.


Next it was time for some pretty clothes to replace the coveralls. I purchased a pink and white Sasha dress made by Gotz in 2001 (still in its packaging), some white Mary Jane shoes, and a pair of lace-trimmed socks. With a wide ribbon in her hair, she's a changed girl.


Her hair is very straight and sleek, and she looks so much better to me now. More childlike.

Meet Calla

Calla came to us still tied into her box, thus I know she is a Sasha Honey Blonde Party (116S) from 1985. We promptly removed her, took off her hair net, changed her into some casual clothes, and put her hair in pigtails. Despite her mint-in-box condition, she was purchased to be a playmate for Chloe and Cindy. We now have two dress-up dolls with long wavy hair, but once I discovered the honey blondes I had to have one. I put her back into her original outfit to take these pictures.


She has pale blue, almost grey eyes, and her hair color almost matches her skin.

Meet Cindy

Cindy is another eBay purchase, and once again I'm assuming she came from the 80's. She was naked when I bought her, so I do not know exactly which version of Sasha she is. My guess is a Sasha Brunette Red Pinafore (111s), but I may be wrong. She has thick hair, with a bit of curl at the bottom. Here is her eBay "mugshot", which convinced me of her potential:


And here she is with her hair brushed, wearing a new outfit from Dayzees, and a coordinating ribbon as a headband.

Meet Chloe

As I stated here, I was originally looking for a Sasha doll for my daughter to play with. I found Chloe (nee Cora) on eBay. When I saw her curls I knew she was the perfect choice. Boo often wishes she had straight hair, and I was concerned that a Sasha with long straight locks would reinforce that as the ideal of beauty. A doll with hair that matched hers might convince Boo that curls were beautiful too. Chloe came to us wearing a blue gingham Sasha dress (with added lace), matching panties, and her original brown sandals and wrist tag. I do not know her year of production, but I'm assuming sometime in the 80's.


Chloe is a lighter-skinned Cora with very pink lips and dark brown eyes - an attractive combination.


UPDATE: Since my original post, I've learned a bit more about the lighter-skinned Coras. They were produced wearing a flowered dress with brown sandals (118) from 1980-1984, and a corduroy dress with black lace shoes (119) from 1985-1986. Given that my Cora was still wearing her brown sandals, I believe she is a Cora Flower Dress (118).

Meet Maria

After buying a brunette and a redhead, my third doll purchased is a blonde named Maria. She was produced in 1995 and 1996; my Maria is from 1995, the first year of the new production. Her picture adorns the tube that all the Later Gotz dolls came in. She wears blue corduroy farm pants, a white blouse, and white sandals. Her hair came tied back in a ponytail with long tapered bangs (or fringe as the English say), and she has brown eyes with eyelashes.

Meet Ruth

Ruth was purchased shortly after Anna, but arrived here first since she didn't have as far to travel. She was produced in 1999 in a limited edition of 400. My Ruth is #190, and labeled as such on her torso and accompanying certificate. All her tags are still attached in this picture, which makes her cute "traveling clothes" hard to see. Both of these pictures were taken by her seller.


She has lovely red hair, green eyes, and the most adorable freckles.

Meet Anna

Anna is the first doll that I purchased for my collection (and the most expensive so far). She was produced in 1998, and is the only Later Gotz doll with a side part. Boo and I both think her hair looks a bit like mine - perhaps that's why I found her so appealing. Here she is in the UK, before crossing the ocean to her new home.


Here's a closeup I took of her face, so you can see her beautiful blue eyes.

A Brief History

This information is quoted from the website www.sasha-dolls.com:

Sasha Morgenthaler (1893-1975) was a Swiss artist who started out making small animals and dolls for her children. She also designed shop mannequins and made exclusive one-of-a-kind original dolls in her studio in Zurich starting in the 1940s with a small team of helpers. However, she realised that these dolls, whilst they were very beautiful, were works of art and as such were costly and unaffordable for most parents. So when in 1964/5 she was approached by Gotz of Germany to make Sasha dolls in their factory, she granted them a licence to produce Sasha dolls. This first Gotz mass-production of Sashas lasted from 1965-70 and for the first three years the dolls were all painted by hand. In 1966 the Trendon company from the UK were given the licence to produce the Sasha dolls in their factory at Stockport, near Manchester. Like the Sashas made by Gotz, the Trendon Sasha dolls for the first year were mostly hand-painted and for the next few years there was much hand-finishing of the faces - especially the eye painting. Trendon sold the factory and ceased production of Sasha dolls in 1986. Gotz then made a second production of Sasha dolls from 1995-2001 when they again ceased production. The dolls are no longer made and there are no plans at present to produce them again. Although they are no longer being made, Sasha dolls are very collectible and popular all over the world, from the rare studio dolls made by Sasha herself to those made in all three factory productions.

This picture is from the booklet that came with the Gotz dolls in 2000:


My "playing" dolls are Trendon (English) dolls from the 1980's. My "displaying" dolls are Gotz (German) dolls from the second production (1995-2001). While the earlier dolls were all called Sasha, Gregor, Cora, or Caleb, the Gotz dolls from the second production (AKA "Later Gotz" dolls) were given unique names. As time allows, I will post pictures and information about each of my dolls. For now, you can check out the Sasha Links on the left to see LOTS of other Sasha doll and clothing sites.