A while back I was perusing Sasha group facebook posts and realized that the newer dolls are so often overlooked in the excitement surrounding the older dolls. Of course the newer English dolls aren't all that new, since they're 30ish years old themselves. And while they lack the hand painting of the earlier dolls, they are still gorgeous in their own right.
Here is a group shot of all the 80's dolls in the house at that time, my six and Boo's two. From left to right: Cathy, Rose, Cameo, Calla, Cybil, Chloe, Cindy, and Iris. This picture is currently on the main page of the sashafestival.com website.
It was a long photo shoot, with lots of chatting between takes.
And here are just my six, the Five Amigos and Iris (who never really warmed to the idea of being an Amigo). The size differences are really apparent when they're all lined up.
Cathy: Blonde Sweater. She has the most serene face, and just might be my favorite of this group (but shhhh, don't tell the others). She wants to be a pilot someday.
Cameo: Honey Blonde Silk Dress. She is so petite compared to the others, and likely from the early 80's. She also likes to stand with her toes pointed out - ballet training in her past?
Cybil: Redhead White Dress. She came to me in mint condition, still strapped into her box. Not a great way to spend 25 years in my opinion, but she's made up for it since.
Chloe: Cora Flower Dress. She came to me in gingham, but given her age this is the correct outfit for her. She is the first Sasha doll that I ever bought. Hard to capture in photographs, but very pretty.
Cindy: Brunette Red Pinafore(?). She came to me nude, and could possibly have been a Dancing Dress, Marina, or Red Pinafore. She toyed with being Marina, but decided the pinafore suited her style.
Iris: Black Haired Sari. She was named for the color of her sari. At one point I had four of these girls, ~1% of all made! When I decided to sell all but one, she wasn't the one I originally planned to keep. But she was my mom's favorite, which prompted a second look - and a second decision.
4 comments:
So lovely to see these girls Fran and you are right, they are so often overlooked and it is a shame. They are all lovely, and I really like Iris your Sari girl.
I have two, the Sweater girl (Susan) who is favourite as well, and Red head/white dress who is named for Brenda Walton as that was who I bought her from. She is lovely. I'm not sure if my Cora is a later girl or not, I suspect not.
Do you still have all these girls?
Alas, I do not still have all these girls. More info in the next post. If your Cora is light skinned (like mine) then she's from the 80's, but if she's dark skinned then she's earlier.
Lovely bunch of girls Fran! I'm often tempted by the little girl with the Honey Blond hair, it's such a nice shade of blond. And I like the brown skinned Cora more than the black skinned one as the colour is very 'warm'....but so far I have resisted. I have a red head in white dress who's hair had been cut into a bob...I really like her and I agree that these dolls do seem to get overlooked in favour of the older ones, and yet they do have a charm all their own.
Hugs Sharon in Spain x
I think that most of us, like me, have had (or still have) many of the eighty's dolls, especially the limited editions, in our collection at some time.
Lovely as they are and with their wider variety of original outfits, I always tend to feel slightly sorry for them that due to the great public demand at that time they never got to have the 'now more desired by the older, serious collectors' hand painted eye detail that the earlier dolls have.... but I don't suppose that they mind in the least as long as they are loved, played with and treasured by their owners.
I mean who'd want to be stuck standing behind closed glass cabinet doors and shielded from the sun, because your rare hand painted eyes might get damaged or your hair and clothing gather a bit of dust?
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