Doll-A-Day 2023 #82: Aidan of Oren

   Today's doll is Aidan of Oren.

  Aidan is based on a character from a series of books by Alan St. Jean, which were illustrated by Judith Friedman.  There were three books in the original Oren Village series: The Journey Begins, The Elf Princess, and Valley of the Dragons. Later there was a prequel, The Oren Chronicles. Just as a point of interest, (to me anyway!), while born in Pennsylvania, Alan St. Jean grew up in Central Ohio, and now lives in Marengo, Ohio, where my dad bought our dog Butch, and which isn't that far from here. The world is a small place sometimes!

  After the publication of the Aidan books, St. Jean founded the doll company Oren Village, which in 2004 produced four doll based on the book's characters, sculpted by Maryanne Oldenburg. 

Besides Aidan, they included Aidan's friends, Lilly and McKenzie, and a dragon named Damon. I've seen the other human dolls online, and one of them in person, but I have never seen anything else about the dragon doll besides an interview with author Alan St. Jean. St. Jean mentions that Damon was produced, so he must have been, but he must be really rare. 

The dolls were available in two sizes, 12 and 8 inch Aidan dolls, and his friends, who were slightly smaller. Only 500 of each doll were produced. My doll is the 8 inch Aidan.

   The larger dolls were sold in boxes made to look like old books, with faux leather covers. The smaller dolls were sold in cases with curved tops. Both sizes of the dolls were accessorized with a journal, in which the owner could record their own writings.

  The backs of the doll boxes explained the theme of the Aidan of Oren books: "In the remote village of Oren, a child was hidden amidst a terrible war. A child of peace, yet powerful beyond imagination. A child unique in all of the world, whose destiny is to fulfill an ancient prophecy of restoration...a destiny that will not go unchallenged. His name is Aidan of Oren, and this is his story."

  Aidan's clothes are sort of medieval. He has a wool looking cloak, with a satin lining.

 

  Under the cloak, Aidan has a very detailed outfit. He wears a tunic with colourful trim around the off the shoulder neckline.

Underneath the tunic, Aidan has a white shirt, and white underwear.

Okay. His necklace is backward. The string was twisted.

He's wearing leggings/stockings that are held up by real suede ties.

  All the suede is real, which I don't like, but what can I do? His shoes are suede, and have ties that lace up to his thighs.

  Aidan's other suede accessories include his satchel...

...and his belt.

The tip is painted gold, to look, I presume, like a metal tip.

His necklace is also on a piece of suede.

    When I was buying Aidan at an antique mall the other day, (The same antique mall, and maybe even the same case where I bought the Kish Little Prince that I showed you HERE.), the cashier called him Frodo. I suppose there is a certain Frodoesque quality about him. He certainly looks like he's going on a journey, which he is.

I nearly bought an Aidan from my friend Karen at a doll show in our town a few years ago. Karen had both Aidan and one of the girl dolls. She was asking very little for them compared to what they sell for, because Karen is like that. (Karen is who I bought my Karito Kids doll from, for $18, at the same show.) But for some reason I only wanted to buy Aidan, and Karen didn't want to break up the set.

I love Aidan's face and his outfit. But I wish he had been more jointed. He only has the standard articulation of neck, shoulders, and hips.

Think what fun and interesting adventure poses he could have done with jointed knees and elbows. 

He can at least tilt his head up and down a bit.

  Aidan has an elfin face and a mop of brown hair.

His cheeks are blushy and his eyebrows are made up of individual strokes.

  The character of Aidan is supposed to be 13 in the books, but I think the doll looks like a younger kid.

    The quality of Aidan's vinyl is really nice. The clothes are very detailed and made of really nice fabrics. There's just one place where I think the quality of an item fails to meet up to the quality of the other parts. That's the wig. The hair is not a bad quality, but it's a bit thin. Aidan's hair is wigged, not rooted, and the wig cap is not hard to see.

It's especially think in the front which, of course, is the worst place for a wig to be thin.

  One critic described the Aidan of Oren books as combining "the charm of Charlotte's Web with the magic of Harry Potter". They've also been compared to the original Wizard of Oz books.

   St. Jean intended for the stories to be a full experience, and, also being a songwriter, he wrote songs to go with the books. He has a music partner, and they recorded the songs for the Oren Village books. McKenzie's Song is quite pretty. You can listen to it, and the other songs from Aidan of Oren, for free HERE. 

  Now, here are some more pictures of Aidan, just because he was such fun to photograph. See you tomorrow for another doll, and the Doll Book of the Month!