Review Time: Pepper from Maru and Friends and Happy Halloween!

   Happy Halloween! Today we are celebrating Halloween with a review of Maru and Friends' Pepper.

    First I have to say that I was sent this doll by the company. I will, as always, give an honest review though.

  Pepper is a 13" Mini Pal doll. 

    I have detailed the packaging of Maru and Friends dolls several times, so I won't go into huge detail on the packaging. If you're interested in more details, you can look at one of my earlier Maru and Friends reviews by clicking the Maru and Friends name in the sidebar on the right. I will say a few things about Pepper's packaging though. Pepper was mailed in a plain brown box, which enclosed her official Maru and Friends box. If I'm remembering correctly this version of the box is a new design. The last review of Maru and Friends dolls  I did was the twins, Ash and Joy, and they had the same box. Pepper's box was sealed with a Maru sticker, and tied with a ribbon.

The dolls are tied in their boxes with satin ribbon

 

There is no plastic involved, other than a few pieces of foam around the doll's neck, arms and ankles, to protect them from the ribbon ties. They are easily removed and replaced. There are no plastic ties holding anything together. I like that.

She comes with a certificate of authenticity.

    A bonus with Pepper is that she has a removable wig. She comes with a curly brown wig. I was also sent a short, red wig, which is available separately on the Maru website.

   A purple wig is one of the upcoming items available on the website, as well as a Halloween pumpkin trick or treat bucket for Pepper and the Mini Pals. I'm not crazy about unnatural hair colours in most cases, so I actually prefer the red one to a purple wig anyway. (There are exceptions to the preference for natural hair colours, but usually I'm going for the natural look, especially on kids. But since this is a Halloween look, I guess it's not so bad. I know most people don't share that opinion anyway, as evidenced by all the kids with weird hair colours these days. I don't think there's anything wrong with a teenager having weird hair colours. I was always angered by the rule at my kids' school that said nobody was allowed to have a 'distracting'  hair colour. In other words, they couldn't dye their hair any bright, unnatural colours. They said it was a distraction to other students. I had several complaints about this rule. First of all, what does your hair colour have to do with how well you do your schoolwork? Second, if kids are going to be distracted by somebody's hair colour, how are they ever going to be able to function in the real world? You can't control every aspect of everybody else, just so you're not 'distracted'. Learn to deal. Maybe minding your own business would be a start. And third, there are even some natural hair colours that are bright and 'distracting'. Case in point, my own head. And the heads of two of my kids that were attending the school with the stupid rule. What's next? Making redheads dye their hair a less 'distracting'  colour? Rant over.)

  Here she is in her curly brown wig.

  The wigs are made up of several shades, just like real hair.

The wigs fasten to her head by the Velcro on her head. The wigs hold on very well. and are easily removed.

Pepper was sculpted by the late Dianna Effner. You know how I love Dianna Effner's adorable child faces. The original facial painting was done by Dianna too, and has been reproduced in the doll.

Her eyebrows are made of individually drawn hairs, and not a solid line, so they look more realistic.

And here's that red wig.

Pepper has real glass eyes.

They are a beautiful realistic brown, and have 'real' lashes.

I like her natural lip colour.

  She seemed a little pale to me straight out of the box. Looking at her in the natural light outside, she looks fine. I like the natural colour of her lips too.

  

The vinyl on Maru and Friends dolls is always smooth and feels and looks like a really nice quality doll.

Her cute, chubby cheeks are softly blushed.

  Pepper is ready for Halloween, in her animal costume. 

The costume consists of a leopard print dress...

... with a detachable black skirt with lace trim... 

The skirt has a faux fur waistband and an attached tail. 

 

The blouse has faux fur trim at the wrists, and neckline.

    As usual the quality of the clothes is very good. Also included in her outfit are a pair of black boots...

...with hand sewn 'claws'...

...and a headpiece with 'furry' ears.

    Her ears seemed to be a bit loose. Maybe her hair needed fluffed up. But I'm bad with hair. I wasn't about to try to fluff that curly wig. It could have used a bit of a fluff too, as the curls were falling in clumps and at times the wig didn't look as full as it could have. But as I said, I would almost certainly ruin the curls if I tried to fluff it.

  Under it all, she's wearing a pair of lace trimmed undies.

   

   The boots were surprisingly easy to get on and off. They close on the inside with Velcro, but I was still expecting them to be tough to get off, and even tougher to get back on, so I was pleasantly surprised.

  The dress/blouse, and the skirt close in the back with snaps.

  I love that. I hate Velcro getting stuck to everything. It would be very easy to ruin that sheer skirt with  Velcro. It also usually makes the seam thick and lumpy. Snaps are so much better. 

  Pepper's head and limbs are strung. Her legs can turn a bit, and move out to the sides as well as back and forth.

Her head can tilt, and look up and down.

   One special thing about Pepper is, she has jointed elbows! 

  I have been saying that something that could make the beautiful Maru and Friends  dolls even better, would be articulation. And now they have jointed elbows.

 I can't wait for the jointed knees! But how well does the elbow articulation work?

The elbows don't bend as far as they might, and they don't hold the pose when bent to their limits. This is one of those cases where customizers would shave off a bit more on the inside of the upper joint so the lower half of the arm could bend up farther. 

Jointed elbows are new to these dolls. so hopefully they'll work out the bugs eventually.  I am always disappointed with the jointing on modern strung dolls though. Maybe it's because I'm used to well worn vintage strung dolls, who can move much more easily and farther. (They don't always hold a pose well though, because they get loose over time.) 

  Pepper is a limited edition doll, and is the second in a series of two. She is priced at $150, and is available from the Maru and Friends website HERE.  

  And what are my final opinions about Pepper? I like her. She has a sweet face. 

 Of course, I love her beautiful Dianna Effner sculpt. I like her natural lip colour and her deep brown eyes. I have to say, I do prefer the red wig to the brown one. The brown wig looks nice on her, but the curls are a bit much for me to deal with.  I am bad with curls. The red one looks good and is smooth and easy to comb. I am slightly disappointed with the jointed elbows, as I wish they had been able to bend farther and hold the farther pose better. As I said though, that may be because I am more used to ball jointed dolls or old, worn strung dolls that are looser now.  I like her Halloween theme, but I would have preferred a more child oriented costume. The clothes are well made, but I think the tall boots and leopard print make her look too mature. I like to keep the overskirt and the ears on her. But then, I'm an old fogey who dressed her kids in smocked dresses, and coats with matching hats and muffs. I'm interested to see what Pepper will look like in other outfits that make her more childlike.

  That's the review for this time. I'll be back soon with another new review of a Maru and Friends doll. See you then!