Doll-A-Day 2017 #198:Review: Maru and friends Chad Mini Pal

  Recently I succumbed to this little guy's charms.He's Chad, from Maru and Friends.

 

He's from the new Mini Pals line.

 

The Mini Pals have been out for less than a year.

There are five dolls in the Mini Pals line. Maru,Tanya, and Savannah are smaller versions of the dolls fro the regular line. Chad and Halle are exclusive to the Mini Pals line.

Halle was a late edition to the line and isn't in the postcard picture.

Chad is a limited edition of 1500.

The Mini Pals are 13" tall, as opposed to the regular Maru line, which measures 20" tall.

Here is Chad with my Maru doll. You can read my review of her HERE.

Like all Maru dolls except Valentina,Chad is sculpted by Dianna Effner. Effner is famous for her Little Darlings and Heartstrings dolls,as well as a plethora of  Ashton Drake dolls and ceramic dolls, like my  Ashton Drake Willow and Goldilocks...

Goldi in the bottom left corner, and Willow in the top right.

My vinyl Ashton Drake Alice...

You can see her review HERE.

..and Goldilocks.

You can see Goldie's Day HERE.
And my vinyl Ultimate Collection Willow.

You can see here 'Day' HERE.

 I love the Little Darlings,but I'll never afford one. Chad has a similar look, but comes closer to my price range!

Chad arrived very quickly. Even with the July 4th weekend,it only took about three days from order to arrival. He came in this Maru shipper box.

When the tape was cut the box opened easily to reveal Chad's actual bright orange box.

The box has an orange satin handle.

Out of the shipper box.

The back of his box tells a little about the Maru dolls.

The tape was cut and the box flaps opened to reveal the box insert.

The insert then slid out easily. Chad was held in by a few white satin ribbons.

He was wearing a hairnet,and had foam padding to protect his arms and legs.

He came with this certificate of authenticity,which was behind him in his box.

When the ribbons were untied he could be lifted out of his box.

Here is little Chad with all his packing and hair net removed.

That sweet little face!

He has a cotton shirt with a pocket.

The buttons are only for looks, The shirt really closes with Velcro.

In the back the shirt has some gathers.

The sleeves have buttons.

His shirt has the Maru tag.

His jeans close in the front with Velcro too

The front pockets are fake.

The pockets in the back are real.

And the jeans also contain the Maru tag

He is wearing white cotton undies.

And these cute shoes that really tie and untie.

No socks though.

 They're high tops!

The shoes have realistic tread on the bottoms.

Like Maru's clothes, Chad's are well made, of good quality fabrics.

"You look great!" "You too!"

Here's Chad in all his glory!

His eyes aren't just blue.

 

His eyes have green in them too, for a realistic look. Notice his eyebrows are made up of little cross hatch marks,not just a solid line.

His eye lashes are applied, and not rooted. This isn't such a good idea, as when I tried to get a piece of fluff out of his right lash,it nearly came off. I have already seen somebody selling a Chad who had lost his eyelashes. Having dealt with the Maru company before, I'm willing to bet they replaced him though.

He has one of those adorable Dianna Effner faces. I like the realistic colour of his lips.

How could I resist this guy?!

Chad is strung, so he has quite a range of movement.

 

His head can tilt to the side in a cute way.

He can look up.

He can also look down.

His hair is actually a wig. This means it could be changed if you really wanted to do it. What other colour hair would look good on Chad?

His ears don't have much detail.

His wig is firmly glued in place.

Can you tell his hair has several colours in it?

His hair is more coarse than Maru's silky hair.

He could even be made into a girl with a change of wig.

"Excuse me?"

His arms can move up and down,as well as out to the sides.

His hands have realistic lines and creases.

Chad also has a belly button.

 His body is very similar to Maru's.

Chad doesn't stand especially well. Even with his nice, flat shoes, he still has to lean backward a bit to balance enough to stand up.

And most of the time he ends up falling on his face.

Maru was supporting him here.

But he somehow managed to balance enough to do this!

As you can see, Chad's legs have side to side movement too.

But he's better off leaning.

Or holding onto something.

Or,as I said, having something hold onto him.

He can sit,even if it's more awkward than it would have been if he could bend his knees.

The idea of shrinking down the Maru dolls isn't a bad one. The larger Maru and friends dolls may be a bit unwieldy for younger kids. The Mini Pals are a nice size for children to play with.

And they are more huggable.While the full size Maru and friends are made of a firm vinyl,the Mini Pals are made of a soft material.

 
The arms and legs are soft,and while they hold him up when he stands,Chad's rubbery limbs make him a litte harder to dress and undress.

It's a shame that the limbs aren't poseable, since they are so bendy anyway.

I think the Mini Pals are a nice addition to the Maru line, although I think it would have been a better idea to have made them from the same firm vinyl as the larger dolls.

I also love that they made a boy this time around. I love little boy dolls, and there aren't nearly as many made as there are girl dolls Chad has one of those cute Effner faces.

It's nice to see that in a doll that's easier to afford than the super expensive Little Darlings. I do worry about Chad's eyelashes. I think they are too ready to fall off. I didn't notice that with Maru.

So is Chad worth the $89 plus shipping? That depends on your bank account to a large extent. But I will say he's a good quality,beautiful doll,with lots of play value. His clothes are well made. Adult collector's will love these dolls as much or even more than children.

See you tomorrow for another doll.