Culture Magazine

Dolly Review: Kurhn Doll with Living Room Set

By Ashley Brooke, Kewpie83 @KewpieDoll83

Have you heard of Kurhn dolls?  Well, up until a year or so ago, I hadn’t.  Kurhn is manufactured in China and I’m assuming sold in Chinese toy stores. I first came across Kurhn on eBay.  I don’t remember how exactly, because I know I definitely didn’t type in Kurhn, but I’m glad to have stumbled upon them!

Kurhn dolls are supposedly made in the same factories Mattel employs to work on Barbie.  They typically have large anime like eyes, rooted hair, and have been released on articulated and non-articulated vinyl bodies.  They’re fashion dolls and measure about 10″ tall.  Proportion wise, they are similar to Barbie’s size and weight. All legitimate Kurhn‘s have  Kurhn etched on the back of the dolls head mold (like you see with ball jointed dolls).

I’m always a bit skeptical about ordering items shipped from outside North America on eBay.  I know, I shouldn’t worry, but I do.  This past Christmas, I ordered my mom a fake Francie from the Netherlands and since that arrived without a hitch, I thought I would take a leap of faith and order a Kurhn doll from their ‘authorized eBay dealer’.

Choosing my Kurhn was very hard!  From the plethora of Kurhn‘s available, I chose my top three.

2 in 1 Styles look

2 in 1 Styles look

Disney Themed doll

Disney Themed doll

Kurhn with Living Room

Kurhn with Living Room

After much debate, I decided on Kurhn with her Living Room set.  The main draw of this one was Kurhn‘s adorable face and hair style  and the fact that with this set, I could test out both the doll quality and the furniture quality!  Kurhn took roughly a week and half to two weeks to arrive from her original home in China to the States. I was actually pretty surprised at how fast she arrived!

Special delivery!

Special delivery!

Packaged nicely in a sturdy hand cut cardboard box, she arrived safe and sound.  There was no damage whatsoever, even though she had traveled quite a ways to get to me.  One small hitch in the packaging was that I believe a tiny multi-legged stowaway traveled with Kurhn.  (Somehow I don’t think the dogs dragged in a teeny, tiny centipede like thing in the dead of winter!)  After dealing with that minor setback, I got back to enjoying the thrill of opening Kurhn!

Kurhn/Living Room set in Space themed box

Kurhn/Living Room set in Space themed box

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Kuhrn’s box

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Kuhrn’s box

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Kuhrn’s box

Kuhrn's box

Kuhrn’s box

There was one other, er, quirk about the doll’s packaging.  This time, it came from the actual doll box.  As I mentioned, I ordered the Kurhn/Living room set.  There is also a space themed set available.  My Kurhn seemed to be packaged in the wrong box!  To be honest, that still strikes me as weird. But, it was a small thing and, thankfully, they had the proper doll in he box!

Kurhn on her card

Kurhn on her card

I own a few fashion dolls from Asia.  Not many, but a few! My small collection includes one basic Takara Jenny, three Marmalade Boy (manga/anime) themed dolls, and two Licca-chans.  Most of them have pretty basic, somewhat cheap bodies.  Granted, they’re not ‘new’ by any means, so the manufacturers may have changed the bodies now.  In comparison to what I currently own, Kurhn has a very nice body!  While not jointed at the elbows or knees, her arms move up, down and around pretty freely.  She’s made of similar vinyl to Barbie.  Her limbs don’t feel hollow or look cheap or stiff.

Kurhn with a Licca-Chan

Kurhn with a Licca-Chan

Kurhn with furniture

Kurhn with furniture

First impressions?  Adorable and solidly made.   As I mentioned, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this doll.  I ordered her hoping she was a quality fashion doll and that is what arrived at my doorstep!

Let me start off by giving you an idea of her overall quality.  She has well rooted and, in this case, well styled hair.    Her body is solid, has a good weight to it, and her limited joints move freely.  Her head mold isn’t too hard or too soft.  It’s evenly matched with Mattel’s Barbie, which leads me to believe the eBays sellers claim that she is manufactured in a company authorized to work on Barbie.  Amazing and very unlike Barbie, Kurhn has the ability to stand pretty well!  She’s not balanced by any means, but if you pose her well enough, she’ll stand long enough to snatch a quick picture.  This is not something I could say about most other fashion dolls!

'The Doctor Dances' with Kurhn

‘The Doctor Dances’ with Kurhn

Some Kurhn‘s are jointed at the elbows and knees.  This one is not, as you can see.  If you look closely at the picture of the Disney themed Kurhn, you’ll notice the joints.

Kuhrn's Body

Kuhrn’s Body

Her face paint is fantastic.  It was one of the main reasons I gave this doll a second look!  The large brown eyes are unique compared to dolls in the States and are a bit ‘anime’ in style.  I’ve always been a fan of the large eyes found on Asian made fashion dolls.  Compared to my Takara Jenny‘s and Licca-Chan‘s, I actually prefer Kurhn‘s look.  While the characteristics are embellished in Kurhn‘s face paint, she still looks like a real girl.  There’s very minimal make up, too, which I like.  It gives Kurhn a nice, natural look.

Kurhn's Pretty Face

Kurhn’s Pretty Face

Kurhn (WS)

Kurhn (WS)

Her hairstyling is super cool.  It’s done up in two twisty buns.  The only thing that isn’t perfect is that her bangs do stick up a bit.  However, if I had a choice between this or having them stuck down with too much hairspray, I’d take this!  It looks much more natural than when dolls have their hair plastered down to their head!

Another shot of Kurhn's face

Another shot of Kurhn’s face

Buns

Buns

Onwards to the clothing…  In a perfect world, the quality of the clothing would be a smidgen higher.  The outfits are made well enough, but they could be improved.  The pink jacket, for example, has a lot of threads lining the inside that always catch on Kurhn‘s hands when I put it on her.  On the other hand, everything fits well and the outfits are cute, not to mention, they photograph well.

Kurhn without her pink jacket

Kurhn without her pink jacket

A closer look at her pants and top

A closer look at her pants and top

Kuhrn's pink jacket

Kuhrn’s pink jacket

The nice thing about this Kurhn is that she comes with furniture!  Kurhn came with a chair, table, and sofa.  There are small food pieces and pillows, as well.  It’s hollow, plastic furniture and a bit smaller than Kurhn‘s proportions call for, but it’s not bad furniture.

Food pieces on yellow plastic table

Food pieces on yellow plastic table

Overall, I really like this Kurhn doll.  I totally see myself buying more of these guys in the future.  Here are a few more shots from my photo shoot with Kurhn.  Special guest?  The 11th Doctor!

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Photo Fun with Kurhn

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Photo Fun with Kurhn

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Photo Fun with Kurhn

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Photo Fun with Kurhn

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Photo Fun with Kurhn

For those who follow me on Youtube, a video review will be posted soon!

What do you think of Kurhn?  Do you have any questions about her?  Do you have a favorite Kurhn?  Share your thoughts below!


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COMMENTS ( 1 )

By kerridoll
posted on 22 August at 07:54
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Hello! I was thinking I had Kurhn dolls-but there is no Kurhn name on the back of their heads 2 have made in China 1 on them are there Kurhn doll clones?