Box Opening: ‘Julia & the Sock Goblin’ an Elly Knoops Doll by Ashton Drake

‘Julia & the Sock Goblin’ at Ashton Drake

DISCLAIMER:   These are my opinions only and my suggestions are based on them.

I knew the first time I saw this doll that she would represent my very own lastborn baby.  Notice the resemblance?  That real baby is bigger than me now!  She’d squish me like a bug if I tried to hold her.  My children’s daddy is a skyscraper and they all take after him.  But, now, I have this sweet little doll I can hold and remember how wonderful it was to hold her.  The doll is named ‘Kristianna.”   Notice the resemblance?

Awww, mama’s witto baby dirlie!  Ohmigosh, my babies were so cute, the sweetest, best babies in the whole wide world!  (((sigh)))  Yeah, I’m baby-crazy.  I paid thousands of dollars to become a trained nanny to take care of other people’s babies.  And then I bagged a man and had a whole bunch of my own too.  Still waiting on grandchildren, because I don’t want my children to be in a hurry to procreate.  Make no mistake, I fully understand how challenging it is to raise the little darlings!  Like I’ve said before, my husband indulges my hobby because, he says, dolls are cheaper than the real thing.

Besides, he collects fake boats and fake airplanes, so I figure we’re even.

Really Cool Airplane Kit from Amazon

 

 

 

Anyway…

 

 

I began my Ashton Drake collection a few years ago, intent on buying five to represent my real babies.  I lost one baby to miscarriage, she’s represented by the only one I bought off eBay.  The rest of the dolls were all bought new from Ashton Drake and I never had any problems.  The second one did have a twisted leg, but my second real baby has Special Needs too.  So that worked for me.  The boy doll had brown eyes and I thought they were blue.  Also not a problem for me.  Always watch box opening and detail videos on YouTube like this one-   Julia’s Box Opening by Jenjenbify

Read blog posts like this one and ask lots of questions at Ashton Drake’s Facebook Page.

Know what you’re buying as best you can and remember, always remember this very important thing

Ashton Drake dolls are Adult Collectables.

This means they are not for children.

Not for children.  Not for children.

Why?  They’re not SAFE for children and they’re not durable enough to be played with by children.  They’re very expensive and you’re throwing your money away if you buy them for children.

If you’re looking to buy a doll for a child, or anyone else, check out my 2019 Gift Guide for Realistic Baby Dolls

Ashton Drake does have dolls safety tested for children and some designed specifically for children.  Make sure you read all descriptions.  It’s ridiculous how many people buy these for children and then complain with they fall apart.  I’m like, “Can’t you read?”  These are not toys.  These dolls are not for children.

Okay…

The Box Opening

My doll arrived faster than expected.  The holiday season is upon us and I wouldn’t have been surprised by a delay, due to delivery or running out of dolls.  I set my four other dolls up to ‘witness the blessed event.’

From left to right, back row, Evangeline and Arianna, front row, Kiefer Lucas and Evie.  Dolls’ company names are ‘Moment in Time, ‘ ‘Pretty in Pink (retired),’ ‘Lil Rascal,’ and ‘Emily (retired).’  You can find the retired dolls in new condition on secondary sites, like eBay.  The Emily doll was extremely popular back in the day.  The one I bought was so old I have no idea which version she was, but she is my most realistic one to cuddle.  She needed repairs and serious cleaning, but so worth the effort!

‘Julia & the Sock Goblin’ arrived in a sturdy mailing box and inside that box was the pretty Ashton Drake box.  I opened that lid to see the pretty papers.

I pulled back the papers to see that she was carefully wrapped and tied into the box to prevent damage during shipment.

And there is her pretty face!  Oh, my gosh, her eyes are so beautiful!  Can you see the colors?  Yes, they’re a little bigger than you typically see on a real baby.  Elly Knoops, the artist, seems to prefer that.  It’s funny how I can tell an artist just by looking at the doll now.  However, there are real families with big, beautiful eyes, so it’s not too unrealistic.

Julia is not weighted.  Many of these dolls have weight added to them to make them feel more realistic to hold.  It’s very easy to add weight to a doll.  I’ve done it several times.  You can find a tutorial on YouTube, but I’ll probably post one next month.  I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to add weight to this doll.

Julia’s hair is glued.  Many of the dolls have rooted hair or even wigs.  Julia’s hair is very nice and soft, but it is glued.  Only you can decide if that’s an issue.  Not a problem for me.

Julia’s clothing is very pretty.  Check out the detail on her pants!  These are doll clothes, however, so don’t expect them to feel like baby clothes.  They’re not soft and stretchy because fake babies don’t care about that.

This is Julia with her clothes off.  She comes in the diaper and is not anatomically correct.  You see how her torso is all fabric?  This is why it’s easy to add weight.  Many collectors trade out the body for a new one altogether, keeping the arms, legs, and head, of course.  It’s pretty easy to do, I hear.  Haven’t done it myself yet, but I will be doing it for Evie.  She’s so old, her fabric body is very fragile.

Check out the blushing and wrinkles on her pudgy little leg!  So cute!

And here they are, the Fabulous Five, together at last.  I love my dolls so much.  They cheer me up just looking at them.

The first thing I do after unboxing a new doll is change her or him into real baby clothes.  If those clothes happened to be stained by real baby barf, all the better!  Some collectors never take the original outfits off their dolls.  Doll collectors are as varied as the humans they happen to be.

Welcome home, Kristianna!  Please don’t cry, you look like you’re going to cry.

🙂

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