Review Time: Maileg Ginger Brother

   It's review time again. I got an action figure for Christmas, a Funko Pop Vinyl, and one actual doll. I picked it out myself. It was one I'd had my eye on for a while. And he's the doll we're going to look at today.

  I discovered the company Maileg when someone I follow on Flickr posted photos of her super cute Maileg  mouse family. I've always loved storybook mice. (But not the ones that get into the house and chew up my stuff!) I checked Maileg out, and found The Gingers. The Gingers are a family of five, Mum, Dad, Sister, Brother, and baby. They were described on the Maileg site as "...a family that always enjoys the time they spend together and their hair is as bright as their personalities!" They were available in three sizes. Size 1 included a 16 inch Mum and Dad, and 12 inch Brother and Sister. Size 2 included a 30 inch Mum and Dad, and a 25 inch Brother and Sister. Size 3 included a 39 inch Mum and Dad and a 28 inch Brother and Sister. They were all available individually, as was the 7 inch Ginger Baby, which came with it's own 'room', swaddling covers, pajamas, an outfit, and a tiny pacifier.

  The smaller sizes came in their underwear, while the other two sizes of the dolls wore casual clothes. Clothes and pajamas were also available for the smaller sized dolls, including Dad's pilot uniform, and Mum's stewardess (flight attendant) uniform.

  A few pieces of clothing and pajamas were sold for the bigger dolls.

The smaller version of the family even had a house, and furnishings available.

They could even go camping.

  I originally wanted the size 2 or 3 Ginger sister. I always balk at spending money though, so I kept putting off ordering her, and alas, she was no longer available by late last year. My second choice was size 2 or 3 Ginger Brother, and I am usually drawn to the boy dolls anyway. So while size 2 Brother was still available, and clearanced for $15.00, I snapped him up before Christmas last year. (When he arrived Ken commandeered him to give to me for Christmas.)

  Originally he was a bit expensive, as is everything from Maileg. So I shouldn't have been surprised by his quality. But I was. I assumed he was made of a smooth cotton fabric, like a Raggedy Ann or Andy. But he is made of a heavy cotton, with a woven texture.

Despite the texture of the cotton, Ginger Brother is soft. 

  He has long, thin arms and legs. 

They aren't dangly and floppy like a traditional rag doll. His legs are fairly moveable, but his arms are more firm. They don't want to stay moved away from his sides. They go, but they want very badly to return there. 

   His hair is a separate piece of fabric sewn into his head. It has a printed pattern.

I love his little 'Alfalfa' hair on the top of his head.

  He has a cute face, with embroidered eyes, and printed freckles, nose, and mouth.

And look at those ears.

He has fingers stitched into his hands.

  His feet are just an angle at the end of his legs.

  He has a little embroidered belly button! His polka dot underwear is part of his body, and can't be removed.

    His body tag is sewn into his body on his underwear.

His clothing is nice quality.  The soft grey sweatshirt is not super thin, and the fabric is nubbly on the back.

 The Gingers logo is printed  on the front of his shirt in metallic coppery coloured paint.

There's a Maileg tag on the side.

  His jeans are a fairly heavy weight fabric.

 They have sewn cuffs that can't unroll.

   The waist has a stretchy band so the pants can be removed easily by little hands, and still stay up when they need to. They are quite tight though, so very little hands may still need some help until his pants stretch out a bit.

   They have a real pocket on the side of one leg.

His arms obviously don't reach that far, so he can't put his hand in it. You could put something small in there though. 

  And look at his socks! 

  I love these socks! They're cute, stretchy, and have rolled down tops. And I love that he has socks! It makes me feel that his feet are cozy and warm. There don't seem to have been any shoes made for The Ginger kids though. (All sizes of the Mum and Dad come with sewn on soft shoes.)

  He comes with a double tag. The top tag, with The Gingers logo and pictures, is cloth. The second tag is heavy paper. According to said tags, Ginger Brother consists of cotton and polyester, and is surface washable only, and colour running is possible. From what I found on the Maileg website, the doll itself is cotton, so the polyester must show up in the stretchable clothing.

      Ginger Brother is cuddly and huggable, with a soft body that could be easily squeezed by tiny arms.

  I can see this guy lasting a child very well, and maybe being passed down. The fabric is sturdy, and his hair is part of his head, so it can't wear off. Even his clothing seems like it will wear well.

   Unfortunately, most of the Gingers collection is no longer available. At the moment there are a few pieces of clothing of various sizes, a size 1 Ginger Mum, and this guy, the size 2 Ginger Brother, still available.

  Included in the box was a Maileg catalog.

The catalog is beautifully photographed, and shows the current Maileg products.

     Maileg was founded in 1999 by Danish designer and illustrator Dorthe Mailil and her husband Erik. The name Mailig, (which is pronounced 'my-lay'.), comes from their last name, combined with the Danish word 'leg', which means play. Apart from Maileg's toy designs, Dorthe, who studied at the Danish Design School and  L'ecole D'art de Marsailles and Paris, also does illustrations for books, magazines, and TV.

  So do I recommend this Ginger boy? At the price I got him, yes. I think he's cute and quirky looking, which is something I love anyway. He's an excellent quality toy that seems like he will last through a childhood of play, (or two!) But he started out much more expensive. He had been $38 before he was marked down to the $15 I paid for him. Would I pay $38 for him? Hmm. I'm cheap, so I'd have to think about that. I think if one of my kids had fallen in love with a doll like this, I would have paid $38 for him if he were this quality. (If my kids had fallen in love with him, I would probably have paid that for him no matter what his quality was, but I would have preferred he was this good!) Actually, thinking about it, $38 isn't that bad if you compare him to mass produced toys. And this guy seems like he might outlast most mass produced dolls. For example, I think this cloth will outlast the thin cotton blend that Raggedy Ann and Andy tend to be made of. 

  That's it for this review. Coming soon are some fun finds I've made recently.