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Wednesday 3 September 2014

Introducing Reece.....a UFDC 'Companion' Doll...Photo heavy!!! :)

The UFDC (United Federation of Dolls Clubs) held their annual conference in San Antonio, Texas, back in July and Dianna Effner was spotlighted at the event.   The souvenir doll, along with the 'companion' doll for the event, were both vinyl dolls sculpted by Dianna, however they are not artist painted but painted by the factory in China that produces the blank Little Darlings for Dianna and her artists to make into their gorgeous creations.

At first I wasn't particularly interested in getting my hands on one of the dolls from the event but as they started to appear on Ebay, I was increasingly drawn to the dark haired 'companion' doll, a #2 sculpt called Ana.  Ana was dresses as a little Indian girl and she just looked very cute in the sellers photos, so I decided to go ahead and get one.  However, I was outbid a few times on Ebay, so wasn't going to bother, but then I heard that the UFDC were selling off the 'extra' dolls and decided to go ahead and get one.  I had seen 'real life' photos on the Little Darlings Yahoo group and on Flickr and realised that despite the fact that the doll is not artist painted, she has so much potential....I'm so glad I went for her!!!  She arrived yesterday without any customs fees....that has to be a great start....and she really is as cute as a button. 


The doll herself is exactly the same as the Little Darlings.  The only difference, as I've already mentioned, is she's not handpainted by one of Dianna's trained artists, plus she doesn't have the manicure and pedicure that the artists ones come with.  She does however come fully dressed in well made outfit of tee shirt dress with, funnily enough,  ra-ra frills around the bottom, matching calf length leggings, sandals and a beaded necklace.  The outfit does up at the back with velcro.  Her wig is glued on, it is not bad quality either although mine was shedding a little bit, it has a straight fringe and two little pieces of hair pulled back at the sides into ponytails and these are decorated with long strings with beads on the end.  The wig actually feels like it could be artificial mohair, it's quite soft.  However, it wasn't the style I had in mind for her so I prised it off using the handle of a spoon.  Unfortunately her head underneath was quite stained from the wig, but it doesn't show with a new wig on so I'm not bothered by it.

I have ordered some Judikins Diamond Glaze from Ebay UK, after hearing that this is what Dianna and her artists use to glaze the eyes and give them that beautiful shine.  Hopefully that will be here at the weekend and I can give it a go on this new girl.

In the meantime, I've been having fun trying out wigs on her.....I won't bore you with the photos of all the different wigs, because we've been there, done that, already once this week, I'll just go on to show you the two I chose for her to try out.  She chose the outfit for herself ;)  I thought perhaps I'd finally got a 'girlie' girl to go with Ellie and Finn....until I saw her dirty sneakers!!!  I haven't had time to make her an outfit of her own yet, so she is wearing a mishmash of things that she found in the dolls clothes box!!! 





In the meantime, I cut the below wig shorter (this was the one I first tried on Finn and liked) and now it is a chin length bob....I think this will be Reece's wig for the time being as she looks so cute in it!






And here she is with her two artist painted sisters/friends:



Comparing the two girls of the same sculpt:




Bottom line:  Well the bottom line is, I know that Reece is not a handpainted doll, but quality wise, she is great!  I think she is a very cute doll with so much potential.  All I've done so far is change her wig and I'm sure you'll agree that she fits right in with Ellie and Finn!! 

If you want an alternative to the long wait for an artist painted Little Darling or the high prices on the secondhand market, then I would certainly recommend one of the UFDC Convention cuties.

17 comments:

  1. Another cutie Sharon! I am loving these girls more and more and cannot wait until mine arrives !! Hopefully before th end of the year!!
    I'm sure Reece will look great once you have finished working your magic on her.
    Good to know that she is great to buy even without the artist finish.
    Lovely trio , beginning to think i may need TWO!!! lol
    Hugs Dee xx

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    1. Thanks very much Dee, I've ever so pleased with her, she's better than I expected!
      Yes, hopefully you'll get notification that your girl is ready in a few months time. I don't know if Lana has managed to get her wait time down at all with her few months break, I really hope so, but am learning that patience is a virtue...LOL...yeah right!
      I think you may well need two!!! ;)
      Hugs Sharon xx

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  2. Yet MORE temptation! How could you? I really would love to own one like little Finn. (really adore that wig on her) ... but guessing that that's out of the question for this year.
    Reece is a real little poppet though. Are YOU going to enhance and customise her as you go along?

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    1. LOL I'm sorry Kendal! I'm glad you like the new girls too.
      I definitely intend to enhance her eyes once the liquid glaze arrives from the UK. I'm hoping that it'll arrive by the weekend and my son will bring it with him when he comes. I have the paintbrush all ready!!!
      Hugs Sharon xx

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  3. These girls are fab!! I love them so much and am very tempted ...maybe next year, which considering we are in September is not very long at all!
    They are really lovely, you are one lucky girl S!!

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    1. Thanks very much Ronny, I thought you might be tempted! They are such a nice size too, not too big, not too small.
      Hugs Sharon xx

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  4. They look great together. You can see the eye difference but, if I'd not seen the hand painted ones, I think I would have thought it impossible to improve on Reece's eyes. They are slightly smaller but give her an oriental/native American look. She's a real cutie pie.

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    1. Thanks very much Jenni. You're right, you can see the difference but I'm sure if it wasn't pointed out, then it wouldn't be a problem. Some people are not interested in having anything but the artist painted ones and that's just fine, but if that isn't an issue, then these are great little dolls. And yes, she really does have that oriental/native American look.....I was wondering if I should have described her as 'native American'.....is it politically incorrect to say 'Indian' nowadays? Blimey, I haven't a clue. Well you all know me, I wouldn't have meant it in an offensive way anyway if it's not the accepted name nowadays......
      Hugs Sharon xx

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  5. As i started to look at your blog I was just seeing the words, then I scrolled down and my heart just leapt - she is so beautiful. After seeing your other Effners I didn't think they could be improved on .... but ... it sounds so corny ... they are all sooooo beautiful. Think I must be in love. Sadly I doubt if my dolly pounds would stretch so far but it is lovely to see them here!

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    1. BTW in the first photo I think she looks a bit like an Inuit (we musn't say Eskimo these days). We used to have a Canadian friend who sent us calendars each year with drawings of beautiful Inuit children on them - that's what I'm reminded of.

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    2. Thanks so much for your lovely comments Rosie, I'm so glad that you enjoyed seeing the girls and that you thought they were beautiful..... :)
      I know what you mean about the Inuit, she definitely has that sort of look about her. She looks so different with the lighter wig though, doesn't she? When Dianna first sculpted this #2 sculpt, apparently she wanted an Asian girl, I do think she achieved it too, don't you?
      That calendar sounds beautiful, did you keep them?
      Big hugs Sharon xx

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  6. She's lovely! I like her running shoes with her pretty, girly outfit. :D

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    1. Hi Lynn, thanks so much.....I'm glad you like that look, I do too but have to blame the poor doll for chosing the look, just in case people think I've got very bad taste in clothes LOL ;)
      Big hugs Sharon xx

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  7. Reece is adorable and certainly holds her own with Ellie and Finn. They are a very pretty trio of girls. Ellie has my heart though :) xxx

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  8. Thanks so much Ginger, I'm very pleased with her, even though she's not handpainted by one of the artists, I find her just as sweet and pretty!
    Hugs Sharon xxx

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  9. I came across your website searching on Diamond Glaze and doll eyes. Was wondering how you liked the Diamond Glaze on your doll. Did you do multiple layers or only one? Thank you

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    1. Sorry for the delay in replying.
      I quite like the effect but to be honest I didn't do it quite like Dianna Effner explained how to do it, I just put it on as a tiny dot in the middle and then just covered the iris with it. I believe that she does it the other way around, putting it at the edge and sort of drawing it up into the centre, so making more of a dome than I made. I was just wary of ruining the doll to be honest!!! I put on about three layers, leaving about an hour between layers for it to dry properly.
      I do think that the shine itself brings the eyes more to life, so I was pleased with that.

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