Late December, I received an e-mail from the fine folks at Fibre-Craft asking if I wanted to review their two 18″ doll lines, BU-tiful and the Springfield Collection. Having never handled their doll line before, I said, sure! Besides sending two dolls, they also sent a plethora of outfits to try out!
Let’s start with the Springfield Collection. Springfield Collection dolls are 18″ tall with vinyl limbs and a fully cloth body. There are four different dolls in this line: Olivia, Madison, Maria and Emma. For review, I received Emma. The stuffing in the torso is light, bouncy and huggable. Because of this, Emma doesn’t stand on her own.
Emma comes dressed in a simple pink dress. It’s nice, but the outfits they sell are much better, in my opinion. Admittedly, I forgot to take a photo of her wearing this basic outfit, but you can see it in the video linked below. Below, Emma is wearing one of the outfits sent for review, the Blazer and Dress. I love the blazer!
Emma has sleep eyes that move fluidly up and down. As far as Emma’s face goes, it’s cute. She has a cheerful expression to her that I like. I don’t think everyone will be won over by her sculpt, but overall, it’s nice and friendly looking. Emma is modeling the Winter Set below, which comes with the vest, scarf, gloves, earmuffs and boots. (Shirt and Pants not included in this set.)
BU-tiful have a very similar, if not the same, face sculpt to Springfield Dolls. The main difference between the two lines? Their bodies. BU-tiful dolls have a mostly vinyl body. She has a chest plate that is connected to a small bit of cloth body. The cloth portion of the BU-tiful’s body has very heavy, dense padding, different from the Springfield Collection. Even though both are 18″ dolls, BU-tiful dolls, when standing next to Springfield Dolls, look taller and leaner. Sent for review was Gabriella. Below she is pictured wearing a Winter Outfit. I love the boots that came with this outfit and the cat graphic is so cute!
Again, I was so excited to try on the extra outfits that I forgot to take a photo of her with her original outfit on– a daisy themed dress. I prefer the vinyl body of the BU-tiful line. This body type allows the doll to stand on her own, which is great for those looking for a sturdy and poseable doll. BU-tiful dolls are articulated in the shoulder and hip areas.
One of my favorite of the included outfits has to be this Galaxy Dress. It came with neat galaxy colored converse-like shoes. The dress is well made and the colors look great on Gabriella’s tan complexion.
The nice thing about Springfield Dolls and BU-tiful is that their outfits are interchangeable. Even though the torso’s of the dolls are different, the outfits do, in fact, fit both types of dolls. In fact, they fit a variety of 18″ dolls. I tested these outfits on both an American Girl and The Queen’s Treasures Laura Ingalls. While the outfits were a little tight on my Pleasant Company Molly, they fit Laura Ingalls pretty well. (She’s wearing one right now, in fact!) There’s a variety of outfits to choose from and none arrived poorly constructed. (Below, Gabriella is wearing the Sequin Jacket Outfit. Not my favorite of the looks, but sill a nice outfit to have on your doll’s clothing rack.)
One issue I have with the outfits is the fact that they use velcro instead of snaps. Since one of their dolls is cloth bodied, it would make more sense to start using snaps, as to not snag the fabric of the body. However, the fact that many of the outfits include multiple pieces and accessories (and best of all shoes) is a huge positive.
You can buy BU-tiful and the Springfield Collection online. What do you think of these two lines and the outfits? Share your thoughts below.
January 26, 2017. Tags: Fibrecraft, review, video review. Introductions & Reviews, Uncategorized.
