Review Of The Madame Alexander Fan Girl Doll: Captain America

Since Toys R Us has announced their decision to close 182 stores between now and April, I figured I’d better swing by our local store and pick up a special dolly still on my wish-list.

I swear I’m not planning to buy the entire Fan Girl collection, but I had to get Captain America!

While I was at Toys R Us, I took the chance to look around and see what they had (or didn’t have) in stock.  Not surprisingly, they didn’t have any Ever After High dolls.  But, other than that, their stock seemed decent (I’m not sure whether that’s a good sign or not?) and I was especially happy to see they had plenty of Fan Girls.

 

And would you look at that!  It’s a Fan Girl Find!

So now we know what Black Widow’s Fan Girl Find looks like.  Personally, I like the black hat with the red spider outline better.  Since this Black Widow Find was so easy to spot, I went ahead and (gently) pawed through the Captain America dolls looking for a Fan Girl Find.  Did I get one?  Keep reading to find out!

Here is Miss Captain America still in her box.

And yes, she is a Fan Girl Find!

On the back of the box is an image showing the inspiration behind her design.  The sketchbook has pictures of Captain America and his shield, as well as the words legend, star, and honor.

Beneath the sketchbook is a description of the Marvel Fan Girl Collection and a picture showing the other dolls in the series.

Alright, we’ve inspected the box.  Now let’s free the doll!

Here is our pretty Captain America Fan Girl:

She comes wearing an Americana themed outfit and has a clear doll stand.

Like our Iron Man Fan Girl (who we named Toni), Miss Captain America has lovely, black, rooted eyelashes.

Her eyes are a deeper blue than Toni’s, and she has a more natural colored skin tone.  Her lips are peachy pink, and her bangs are pinned back with thread that matches her hair color.

Have you spotted her special accessory yet?

It’s her headband!  Instead of a solid navy headband, this doll comes wearing a headband printed with silver stars.  Now I’m not trying to be overly nitpicky here, but I think Madame Alexander could have done better for their Fan Girl Finds.  I’m not convinced a headband is worth driving all the way to the store for.

Our Captain America Fan Girl’s hair is styled into a neat, braided bun, so there is no issue of her having “crispy hair syndrome” like Toni did (you can read about it here) and no need to wash her hair.

Just like the other Marvel Fan Girls, this doll stands about 13.5 inches tall and is articulated.

Her head turns from side to side:

She can rotate at the shoulder, bend her elbows, and flex her wrists:

She can also lift her leg at the hip and bend her knees:

Now let’s check out her red, white, and blue outfit!

Miss Captain America’s clothes resemble the American flag.

The outfit consists of:

• A navy blue crop top over a white shirt.
• A red and white striped skirt.
• Navy blue leggings.
• Tall army-style boots.
• A pair of red, faux leather gloves.

The red gloves are quite long.  They reach all the way to her shoulders.

Like Toni’s, these gloves are smaller at the cuff end and wider at the shoulder end, which makes them easy to slip on and off.

Her blue crop top and white undershirt are one piece.  The crop top is cut from lycra fabric, which is basically a shiny knit.

You can see the white undershirt isn’t really a shirt and only reaches to the middle of the crop top.  The shirt closes in the back with Velcro and has a small tag inside that says, “Fan Girl, Captain America”.  I don’t remember Toni’s outfit having a label like this and, while it’s not a big deal, I do think it’s odd.  Why put a label on some of the clothes and not all of them?  But like I said, it’s a tag–not anything crucial.

Next, we have her beautiful, chiffon skirt.

The skirt has two tiers which are stitched together.  The top is a short, bubble skirt that wraps all the way around and has mesh fabric sewn between the layers of chiffon to stabilize it and make it poof out.  The second tier is more of a train that is attached to the back and wraps about halfway around sides.

At the top of the skirt is a brown, faux leather belt.  The belt has a silver buckle in the center which is supposed to be Captain America’s shield; however, you can hardly see it because it’s so tiny.  It reminds me more of a belt buckle you’d win at a Barrel Racing Event than shield used to fend off the enemy.

Under her skirt, Miss Captain America wears navy blue leggings:

The leggings are sewn from the same knit (lycra) fabric as the crop top.  They have an elastic waistband and simply slip over the doll’s hips.

Unlike our Iron Man Fan Girl, this doll wears a pair of hefty shoes–army boots!  According to the back of the box, Miss Captain America’s shoes are knee-high, lace-up, World War II army style boots.  These boots have a lot of detail.  You can clearly see the laces, a few extra holes at the top, some stitching, etc.

Unfortunately, the boots are not easy to take off.  The plastic is stiff and I had to pull quite hard to slip them over the doll’s foot.  As a matter of fact, I’m considering taking them off altogether and making her a new set of boots that are easier to work with.

However, even though they are a pain to remove, the boots do have one redeeming quality–heels!  And having heels means…

She can stand on her own!  Since the boots have heels, Miss Captain America can balance without her doll stand.

Whoa, hold on a second!

Can we talk about this later?  I’m still in the middle of a review here, after all.

Toni, why don’t you go do something, like make a shield for our new friend?

Of course not!  You are a Stark, and Starks are masters at making and fixing stuff!

Okay, so where was I… Oh yes, reviewing Miss Captain America!

The Overall Opinion:

Appeal:

Even though I intend for this to be my last Fan Girl purchase, I still think the collection is awesome.  I do wish there were more elements from the Marvel character the doll is based on (such as Captain America’s shield), but I guess you can’t get everything.  Plus, part of me thinks the company may be waiting to see how well the line is received before plunking a lot of money into it.

Also, (and I may have mentioned this in my last Fan Girl review) I love the behind-the-scenes look on the back of the box.

Durability And Uniqueness:

I’m quite impressed with the look and feel of the Fan Girl collection.  They don’t have thin, hollow sounding bodies (like some of Hasbro’s dolls), they are articulated, and I think their faces are pretty.  We have a lot of the same grinning Barbie–which I’m not knocking because I love Barbie’s grin?! But it’s nice to have a little variety from other toy manufacturers.

Also, I know I mentioned that Toni’s skin tone is painted on and not the true color of her plastic, but I don’t believe this is the case for Miss Captain America.  I think the color of her skin is the color of the material used to make her which means there shouldn’t be any issue with her skin flaking off over time.

Another thing that Captain America has going for her that poor Toni didn’t is her hair.  Since this doll’s hair is tied up in a bun, there’s no need to wash or restyle it–unless you just wanted to?.

Clothing:

Although it doesn’t have much Captain America character, the outfit is nice.  I like how they incorporated some fun textures, such as faux leather and chiffon.  Except for the boots, everything was easy to remove, did not rip or have any loose threads, and fits nicely on the doll.

Still, I think the dress needs more “Captain America” put in it.  The fact that the shield is nothing more than a belt buckle is kind of disappointing.  If someone didn’t know any better, they might mistake her for a Fourth Of July doll instead of a Captain America inspired fashionista.

Price:

I paid about $55 for this doll am okay with that price.  Why?  Because she’s a good quality doll.  With Ever After High (the original ones) fading away, it’s getting harder to find a decent, articulated doll that doesn’t need tweaking.  Yes, they have their faults and are not perfect, but the Marvel Fan Girls are unique and I hope Madame Alexander continues to expand and improve the line.

Personally, I can’t wait to start creating cool things for these girls and incorporating them into my doll universe!

Well, I think that pretty much sums up this review, except for…

Okay, I admit it!  The shield is a little small.  But, hey…a small shield is better than no shield at all, am I right?

I hope you enjoyed this review of the Captain America Marvel Fan Girl!  I know I’m thrilled to finally add her to my collection and can’t wait to get my craft room finished up because I have lots of ideas of things to make for these girls!

Also, I still need a name for this pretty dolly and could use your help.  I want her to have a name that sounds patriotic.  So far, my two top contenders are:

1. Liberty
2. America

Which one do you prefer?  Let me know by leaving a comment and I look forward to seeing you next time!