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Sunday, April 15, 2018

Saying Goodbye to Journey Girls? Chavonne, Ilee and Callie Australia 2017 Line

With the closing of Toys 'R' Us, I'm left wondering what will happen to the Journey Girls doll line.
I haven't heard any news either way so I'm asking you guys if you've heard anything?

As you know, the Journey Girls line is Toys 'R' Us's version of the 18 inch doll that is so popular today.  Their main competitors are Walmart's My Life dolls, Target's Our Generation Dolls and of course, American Girl dolls.

In total, I only own 5 JG dolls, but I really like them and am sad to think about the possibility that this may be it for the line.

Today, I wanted to share some photos of the 3 I had recently added to our collection, as well as link 2 reviews I've previously done in case any of you are on the fence and want to snatch one up from your local TRU before they are gone (maybe forever)??

All 3 of my newer dolls are from the 2017 Australia line and first up is Chavonne.


Even the box is pretty. 


I knew I wanted this beauty from the moment I saw her.  Although, I missed out on the earlier Chavonne with the short curly hair, I am still really happy that I managed to get one Chavonne doll before TRU closed their doors. 

Journey girls Chavonne - Australia 2017

Her skin tone and eyes are so beautiful.  I had to order my doll online, so I'm slightly disappointed that her eyes appear to be a little wonky, but I can live with it. ;) 


Chavonne comes with an adorable peach-shaped purse (that opens)!


On her feet, she's wearing strappy, navy blue sandals. 
I must admit, I like the JG slim feet better than the AG boxy feet! 


They are very easy to get on and off . 


Here's her hair taken down from the original ponytails.  I just combed it through with my fingers and it's very soft and shiny.
The print on her dress is so pretty!  It's very "vintage tropical" and this dress would look great on AG Nanea.


They back of her dress close with Velcro and again, I'm totally in love with this print! 



The details in her sweater are just amazing for something so small. 


Her hair is pulled back with this lovely "gold" leaf clip.


Overall, I'm so happy I was able to get a Chavonne doll from this line.  I think she is beautiful and unique and will forever remind me of Toys R' Us!

Next, I wanted to show you two other Journey Girls I got last fall.  I bought them at the same time that I bought Kelsey (which I already reviewed here.)

Here's a quick look at Callie.  (And I mean 'quick' as I guess I barely took any photos of her!)



I was interested in this Callie because she came with bangs, which I thought was really cute.


Her outfit is really nice as well.  It's a very earthy color scheme and seems like very cute "real life" outfit.


It's hard to see the details in her shirt as it's a bit washed out, but the sleeves are lacy.  


Here is what Callie comes with.  Not pictured is her yellow purse (which you can see in her box photo.  I think her outfit is so adorable.  The girls were fighting over those cute slouch boots. ;)



Lastly we have Ilee, who made her introduction originally as a Special Edition Holiday doll from 2016.  She also came with brunette hair as you can see here.



Ilee's outfit is very well made with lots of texture and detail. I really like the colors they chose for her and it really compliments her light hair and eyes.


She has a unique facemold from the other girls.  Her eyes seem larger as well as the width of her mouth and lips.  I think she would've looked really cute with freckles.  (Maybe I should give her some!)


Her dress has a lot of texture to it.  It's not just a flat fabric.  I'm so impressed with Journey Girls clothing.  I have honestly never bought any of their clothing packs, but the next time I go to TRU, if they still have any outfits, I want to grab some. (The last time I was there, the shelves were getting pretty bare, though.)   :(


A nice touch is this little fabric flower at the end of her braid.  It attaches to her hair with a little elastic band.


I'm happy to add another set of sandals to our shoe collection. :) 
You don't see orange sandals very often and these would look so cute on AG Julie, but I already know they would be too slim to fit. :(


This is what her hair looks like right out of the box.  It's hard to tell, but she has different tones of blonde in there giving her hair a beautiful shine.


The detail of this sweater shawl is gorgeous. 


 I took this one so you could see what the dress looks like.  I really love that JGs have a vinyl chest as I feel they look nicer in these types of outfits than a cloth bodied doll.



And lastly, here are more details her outfit.
I must've forgetten to take a photo of her purse as well, but you can see it in her box photo.

So to wrap things up, I'm going to miss the Journey Girls.  They are a beautiful group of characters and their personalities are left up to your imagination.  I have my 5 and these are probably the only ones I will own at this point.  I'm happy with it as I am running out of space anyway, ha!

Their clothing is lovely, they are very well made, and it was nice to have another quality, gorgeous, 18 inch doll line to collect..

Here's a group of my JGs and it's hard to chose a favorite!  Meredith was my first one and I've had her for a few years, so I'm a little partial to her, but they are each so unique and very pretty.


For those of you that collect 18 inch dolls, do you have any Journey Girls?
Are you sad to see them go?  Didn't Barnes and Noble have a doll line called Espari that had doll just like these?

Thank you again for visiting my part of the "dolliverse" and hope you have a fantastic week ahead.

xoxo Farrah 

33 comments:

  1. Chavonne has such a pretty dress! I love flower prints.
    If Callie would wear trousers, I mean jeans instead of the skirt, I would say she has the perfect riding outfit.
    I think Ilee is my personal favourite with her intense blue eyes but all of them are so cute!

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    1. I feel the same about her dress..so pretty. That's a great idea to put Callie in jeans to make her outfit more rider friendly and I agree about Ille, she's so pretty!

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  2. Hello Farrah,
    They are lovely dolls with great detail. I do home someone picks up the line.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  3. These are such pretty dolls, and their outfits are wonderful! I didn't know this line was exclusively by Toys R Us. What a pity they will not be made anymore! At least you have your beautiful girls to keep in your collection :-).

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    1. Thanks, Millicent! I'm pretty sure they are TRU exclusive, but I guess a different company could potentially buy the line and continue making dolls. I guess time will tell! I'm happy to have a few to remember them by, just in case they don't. :)

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  4. Your dolls are beautiful. I am late to the whole 18" modern doll and only have one Journey. I purchased her off eBay to use as a model, as I am in the process of opening a online store for AG, Madame Alexander and Journey dolls. I have Kelsey and she is so pretty and in excellent condition. I love your Callie and Chavonne. It is sad to see what is happening to our brick and mortor stores...everyday one more closes. After being in retail for 50 years I really think it comes down to people (sadly) being too lazy to get in the car and shop. They use the "I'm too busy" excuse. Hello every generation was busy and me being in late '60's are days were much harder than those today. I hate buying online. I want see, touch and feel what I am buying.

    Soon there isn't going to be any stores except for markets, pharmacy's and Walmart/Target.

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    1. I agree...I love the experience of going into a store...it's very theraputic for me! I would hate to see other stores closing, but I think you're right. So much time is spent online that we all "think we are so busy" but if no one had phones or internet, I bet we'd find that we had a lot more "time" on our hands!

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  5. If the Journey Girl doll manufacturer wasn't directly owned by TRU, I don't see any reason why they couldn't try to snag a deal with another store. They could also do direct selling on a website, or sell through Amazon. I see this being a negative for the American Girl line too. No more buying direct unless you live near an AG Place.

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    1. I was really disappointed about the AG part as well. My store only had Wellie Wishers, but I bought my first one recently and was hoping to hand pick the rest, but when I went back, they only had Camille left (who I had just gotten.) It's amazing how they can look different when you compare them..eyebrow placement, paint and eye positioning really can change their expressions.
      As for JG, you're right, I have seen some through Amazon already, but they are in the $50-60 range so that kind of stinks. Ah well, I'm happy with what I have! And I'll have to take my changes with the Wellie Wishers online since I don't live near an AG store!

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  6. I have the first doll pictured above; she is very pretty in person and I love her clothes. I'm so sorry about TRU. I hope the doll line is continued. It would be a sad day if all dolls stop being produced. What a strange world we live in. I LOVE in person shopping. I cannot afford the postage for things online. I'll be in a real pickle if that's all the shopping there is in the future. I live in Canada so everything is extremely expensive anyhow.

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    1. I agree Loretta! I really, really like to hand-pick my dolls and there have been so many that I've bought on Amazon that have messed up eyes. I did hear a rumor that KB Toys may be back, so that would be exciting! I'm sorry to hear that things are more expensive in Canada..it doesn't seem fair.

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  7. Thanks for writing this post, Farrah! All of your Journey Girl dolls are absolutely beautiful!! Callie’s face is super sweet and her outfit is so cute! ����
    My Mom and I only have one Journey Girl Doll which is the Christmas in Italy Giovanna. She is an absolutely Gorgeous doll and we would love to get more JG dolls, but we don’t have the space! �� I really love there eyes, eyelashes, and their hair is very good quality too! It’s so sad that ToysRUs is closing I love their JG dolls! �� Plus my Mom and I have been going to ToysRUs for a really long time. At least our Giovanna Doll will be a memory from our ToysRUs store. ��
    ~ �� Daisy
    My Blog ~ http://amicuteorwhat014.blogspot.com/?m=1

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    1. I'll be sad when they close as well because I enjoyed going there with my daughters! That is so nice that you have Giovanna..she's so gorgeous and that's awesome that you have such great memories of toy/doll shopping with your mom! :)

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  8. Three lovely new girls Farrah! I really like Chavonne, but I also think Ilee is gorgeous, I've never seen her before.
    I'm very saddened that the Journey Girls (and ToysrUs) won't be around any more, not that our TRU ever had much in this line but it was always nice to nip in there and live in hope. I have Kyla, Meredith, Michaela and Dana and I like Meredith best of those four, with Dana being my second favourite I think. I did recently look on the TRU UK website where they say that there are big discounts on stuff but the Journey Girls were the same price as always, £29.99, so no discount there as far as I can see. I will go back to our local store before it closes though, just in case! ;)
    xx

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    1. Hi Sharon!
      That's so interesting that the JG stuff hasn't been marked down yet! Maybe they want to try to squeeze out every last penny they can. I hope you find some nice stuff before they close! I'm tempted to go back there this weekend, just to see. :)

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  9. I wanted to let you know that the Journey Girls were made by the Lotus company, which also made the Barnes & Noble Espari dolls and still makes the Newberry dolls which are sold at Kmart & on Amazon. They recently started selling a new line on Amazon called Kindred Hearts which are similar to the Journey Girls, I suspect in response to the ToyRUs closings.

    If you'd like to see some from a blogger/collector's perspective, the PennilessCaucasianRubbish blog has featured some. Also, the Dollation doll reference site has some information on the Lotus company and the history of the different lines they've produced besides the ones I've mentioned.

    VERY SAD about ToysRUs closing. Glad to see I'm not alone. There's nothing quite like wandering a huge toy store.......

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    1. Thank you so much for the information and your comment! I will definitely check out that blog you mentioned for more details.
      I agree about TRU...it's the last large toy store in our area and I'm sad to see it go!

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    2. Ok, I just checked out those dolls and they are adorable! Thanks for letting me know..I love their cute faces. :)

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  10. The whole ToysRUs thing is so sad. I always loved going there and checking out all of the stuff. I've always liked the Journey Girls accessory sets, I've picked up a couple of things over the last few years and they were always well done. Retail is definitely a seriously changing landscape these days.

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    1. Yeah, it's amazing how much has changed. It's crazy to think about what it will be like in another 20 years!

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  11. Hello Farrah Lily! I'm not really into this 18' type of dolls, but yours look very pretty. I love how their fashions look so realistic and the fact that they don't come with an overdose of pink.
    I think that Toys'r'us is only closing stores in the USA, or at least they're not closing their stores in Spain. I'm not really sure, but maybe here they have like a partner business or investor that keeps them from having to close their stores. So far, the spanish online store still works.
    Sorry, I have a been a little bit disconnected from the dollyblog-verse, but I'm glad to be back and to be reading your lovely posts.

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    1. I've definitely been disconnected as well..life takes over and the dolls have to be pushed aside a little! That's wonderful that the Toys R Us's seem to be doing ok there. I've heard that they are closing in Australia as well. Hopefully they stay open in Europe!
      Thanks for your nice, comment..it's great to hear from you!

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  12. Since I wrote my reply in April, I've learned that Toys R Us is staying open in Canada! So the Journey Dolls are safe. I would love to know what became of the Newberry Doll brand that Sears sold. Sears closed in January 2018 and I miss it so much. The Newberry Dolls are also lovely.

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    1. I am so sorry for the late reply. I just noticed your comment. The Newberry Dolls really were very cute. To be honest, I haven't noticed if our Sears closed or not. Were a lot of them closing?

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  13. My first set of Journey Girl Dolls were 5 Curly Chavonne's. That grew to adding Dana, then Kelsey, Mikaella, and Callie. I have over 30 now including more Chavonne's. Before TRU shut its doors I amassed the entire Australian Adventure, including Ilee.

    I spied the Kindred Hearts Dolls on Amazon.

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    1. I love the Curly Chavonne's and I'm kicking myself that I didn't get one! I also missed out on Dana, Mikaella and Jordana. They are all so cute. Your collection sounds wonderful!

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  14. Toys Ruz is open in Canada in my town.
    However, they have changed the dolls to another kind and are not bringing in anymore jg dolls.
    Sad as 8 have missed out . The paten5 is in the u.s.

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    1. Yes, I've noticed that it stayed open in Canada...too bad the dolls aren't included in that. :(

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  15. I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. Meisjeskledij

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  16. I purchased the Australian Ilee, Callie, Kyla, Mikaella, and Chavonne from Amazon with no problems.They are all gorgeous. Amazon currently sells the Journey Girls exclusively. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas!

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  17. I also was disappointed when Toys R Us closed. I got there too late to buy any remaining Journey Girl Dolls. However, when I got home, I discovered them on Amazon.com. I then purchased Australian Ilee, Callie, Kyla, Mikaella, and Chavonne from Amazon.com. They arrived in excellent condition and are gorgeous! Amazon continues to sell the latest Journey Girl Dolls exclusively.

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    1. That's great that you could order yours from Amazon! Yes, I have since found out that they live on through Amazon and I am so happy about that. I haven't ordered any since this post, but they are such beautiful dolls and I may have to take another look. :) Thank you for commenting!

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