Monday, November 11, 2013

Tuesday Morning Knockoffs & Only Hearts

I went to Tuesday Morning this weekend and found some really cheap ($3.99) Barbie knockoffs. When I first saw the box I thought someone had replaced a Barbie Basics with a clone until I realized it wasn't actually a Barbie Box.


Cute face, but clothing poorly sewn

Comparison to actual Barbie Basics

Comparison to actual Barbie Basics

Back of Denim Box

Back of Little Black Dress Box

Talk about being a serious clone. Of course I've seen hundreds of clones, but never one packaged to exactly mimic a Mattel product. The backs of the boxes are gorgeous, but too bad they relate in no way to what's inside the box. I almost bought one of the denim ones until I noticed how poor the stitching was on the top.


They also have a "I Can Be..." line but the clone brand is called "I Want To Be..."  Dang, they even copied the use of ellipses. Her outfit is generic, but still okay for $4.99. They had a floor nurse and a pilot as well.

The store also carried a HUGE selection of Only Hearts girls:





Does anyone who have them know if the clothes will fit a Monster High body? Those are some high quality outfits they have on. I don't know that I want to pay $7.99 for clothes though since I don't want the doll.

40 comments:

  1. One of my cats jumped up on my keyboard while I was posting and refreshed - so sorry if you get this twice, Muff. I tried some OH stuff on my custom Monster High doll back in July and the pants are really tight (and a bit short), but if you never need the doll to sit down they could work. Tops are made for a much broader-torso doll, though. Full-length sleeves end up looking short, also. Let me know if you want to see some sample pics. :)

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    1. Thanks for that info, Presto! Based on what you said I'm guessing that the tops could fit some of my older Bratz. Hmmmm.

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  2. QUOTE:
    Thanks to a comment from one of my readers, misspiggy=awesome, I discovered that the Only Hearts Club doll clothes were the right size for the Ever After High dolls. I did some searching on eBay, but since the dolls do not appear to be in production anymore, the clothing prices were a little higher than I wanted to pay.
    from here: http://nevergrowupdollguide.blogspot.com/2013/09/other-clothing-for-ever-after-high-dolls.html hope it helps a little.

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    1. MM, I appreciate that link! I do plan to get the Ever After double pack when it goes on clearance. The clothes look really well on them.

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  3. Those Beauty Basics had me asking, "How can they do that?" It's unbelievable what cloners are able to get away with these days. What company makes the Beauty Basics? Are the "I Want to Be" dolls made by the same company?

    dbg

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    1. I just noticed all the "beauties" are wearing purple shoes. If anyone buys these check their feet and ankles. I have some similar purple shoes from China (not sold by Mattel) that stained one of my SIS doll's feet after the doll wore them for only a few weeks.

      dbg

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    2. Debbie, the Beauties were manufactured in China on August 1, 2013 and imported by Lollipop Toys of Brooklyn NY. Since they are pretty recently produced maybe Mattel hasn't issued a cease and desist yet.

      I did not get a photo of the backs of the I Want to Be boxes but I'm guessing it's not the same company. The secondary writing on the I Want to Be boxes is in French and on the Pilot doll the interior graphics of the box all show immigration and departure labels to Canada.

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  4. Awww...I love OH dolls! They had them in Portugal for a short time and I was able to get an Olivia doll and several accessories set. The shoes are awesome and they fit Momoko dolls. The clothing also fits Skipper :)

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    1. V. I had not heard of Olivia dolls so I had to look them up but I am familiar with Momoko even though I'm too cheap to buy one, lol. Now that you say the Only Hearts fit Skipper, I do have some teens I got from the thrift store (no Skippers though). I was going to change their bodies but I have yet to find an articulated teen body at the thrift store.

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    2. When I said Olivia I meant she's one of the Only Hearts Club dolls :)

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  5. I think it is funny that there are clones. I always think of parents who cant afford the Barbies or organizations who have small budgets but still want to give. I bought an OH girl from a yard sale. I had no idea she was so tall! I like her though...fuzzy limbs and all. lol

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    1. Grandmommy, I don't think I can get past the fuzzy nature of the doll. I have a thing about keeping things clean and all I can imagine is how much hand oil and dust settles into that fuzz. I can wash vinyl, but cloth is going to lose its luster after multiple washings.

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  6. Those knockoffs are insane!!! I would have been duped right off too... at least you don't have to look too closely at the doll to realize they're not legit.

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    1. Heather, I remember back in the heyday of the Barbie Basic releases that several times, people would buy the Basic, put an old doll in the box, and return it to the store. That's exactly what I thought happened this time until I looked at the box more closely. That's how good a job they did mimicking Mattel.

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  7. Hello from Spain: interesting clones. In my country there are none at the moment. I always like to see the dolls on sale in stores in your city. 'Only hearts club' has some very nice outfits but I think it is a big clothing for Monsters. Keep in touch

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    1. Hi Marta! Yes, so far it appears that the Only Heart stuff wont fit Monsters very well. I still think their clothes are very charming and fitting for teens.

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  8. Shame the Beauty Basics fashions are not better.

    The Only Heart fashions can fit some of the smaller dolls like an 8" Mego Waltons Grandma. They might also fit MGA Entertainment's BFC Ink dolls, the smaller ones, of course, lol. I'll check to see who else they fit ;-)

    The shoes are nicely detailed soft plastic and those fit Momokos, R&D Susies, Volks Who's That Girl.

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    1. Dana, I know! If the Beauty fashions weren't so poorly sewn I would have gotten one. Even with my sewing skills I could have done better. I will say that it was mostly the tops that looked bad, but the pants seemed okay.

      I got a 1:6 BFC Ink outfit on clearance at TRU once that was a perfect fit for Monster High and the inside package showed the dolls themselves. However, I have never seen any in the stores, just the huge tall ones. I guess they were out of production by the time I found out they even existed.

      Thanks for the info on what other dolls can wear Only Hearts. I swear I want to keep typing "Lonely Hearts" instead of "Only."

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  9. Your not kidding, those knockoff what of had me in full inspector mode. They are not bad clones either.

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    1. Hi, Brini! I gotta say that the clone faces aren't half bad - well, on the Beauties, at least. They do favor a typical Barbie.

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  10. I just found out there's a Tuesday Mornings in San Diego so I will definitely be checking one out before Christmas for some dolly deals for my little girl and me. I must say, I cracked up laughing at first when I saw the Beauty Basic photos because the jeans make them look like the soccer mom edition, LOL. However, at the price of $3.99...I quickly got my laughter together and started seeing the possibilities. ;) I think the clothing will fit Barbie better because she's hippier. So, I think she will turn those high waist over the belly button somethings into stylish jeans. I'm also really feeling the black dress in the last flick. I think it'd be a really cute dinner dress for Barbie.

    The OH dolls are really cute. I'm guessing but at first glance, their outfits look as if they would work for MH girls. I hope they workout for MH because they're really cute and well made items.

    Great post!

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    1. LOL, Tracy at your "soccer mom edition." I actually think that the pants aren't half bad, it's the tops that look wonky.

      Tuesday Mornings are the same as in when sales occur, but not necessarily similar in what merchandise they carry. I have two close to me and the nice clean one has less doll stuff. The overstocked dirty one has lots of clearance merch, doll and otherwise. Depends on what side of town you want to go to, I guess, lol.

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  11. Hahahahahahah!!! Why we don't have these hilarious stuffs here? OMG! I bet they come from China, after a loong travel in smelly containers.

    I want the Basics # 05 Coll. 001 so bad!! :-(

    A friend of mine has OH dolls on sale in a sorta of gift set box, I saw them in person and they look like monkeys to me

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    1. Sergio, the Beauties did come from China, but I'm not sure about the other dolls. Neither one smelled that bad in the store, lol.

      I have not seen the Basics sold at all this year. I guess all the old versions have clearance out here by now.

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  12. Girl they got you too!!! When I saw the beauty basics I went from super happy to WTH in 0.5 seconds!!!! LOL! I might give in and get one one day to experiment with the clothing because KO doll clothing is the best to modify with a lil "fray no more" and fabric glue you can get some interesting new looks. My Tuesday Morning had all of those they even had OH fashions by themselves!

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    1. LOL, Jay at your "WTH in 0.5 seconds." They sure did get me though. I thought I was about to find some old Basics, but nope! One of my Tuesdays did have the Mattel Golf Club fashion pack, but I really wanted the one with the Tea Party set and neither one carried that version. Neither store had just Only Hearts fashions either but they had like 50 of those OH dolls.

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    2. I saw those and was surprised. I went from o-O to =-O to >:\ in about that time (maybe 3 seconds).

      I then thought maybe that's what the Internet meant by "clones." Guess not, not that any of the cheapo dolls (I hated as a kid seeing at Christmas Tree Shops) come close to cloning the fab B.

      My store near Boston had the Only Hearts fashions. I got my mum to pick up one with a robe and stuff for my stocking (she isn't doing the rest of my stocking though, but I was with her, sooo... ... ...oh, of course that's Santa doing the rest). Cheap enough! :-)

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  13. Hiya, Cosmodollitan (I like that name)! I always thought that clones just meant a cheaper knockoff of a well known brand. But to blatantly copy another product's packaging seems super fishy and actionable. Mattel needs to go on Judge Judy and sue!

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  14. Que gran semejanza con las de barbie, es bueno comprarlas por sus accesorios a un precio mas economico.

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    1. Estoy de acuerdo, Lindaivette. Muñecas Clon son el camino a seguir para conseguir los accesorios baratos.

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  15. I like their clothes, but bodies are not very good... Yoy always find cheap dolls, congratulations for it!! ;)

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    1. Ana, I have yet to find a clone doll that has a good body, but I guess you get what you pay for, lol.

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  16. The cloning is just too funny. It's probably worth buying for people who need extra clothing.

    Tuesday Mornings in my area have always carried large quantities of OH girls for the past 7 yrs. That's where I bought my first group. In all the years I've been playing with them, they have not gotten dirty at all. The posing abilities alone, make them so worth it.

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    1. Vanessa, hmmm. In that case, I'm definitely going to get one of the Only Hearts girls and take her for a test spin.

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  17. Those clones look so similar to the real thing that I am sure some people will be duped. I wouldn't blame Mattel at all for taking legal action in these cases. On the other hand, it may not make much difference, the dolls will probably just be repackaged and re-released.

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    1. Carrickters, the packaging certainly tricked me for a good second, so I imagine someone who isn't a collector could buy one thinking it was a Mattel product. Maybe these cloners are small potatoes as far as Mattel is concerned or they just haven't caught them yet.

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  18. i saw a lot of clones in one of the stores in my country Jamaica .The ones that i saw even had a barbie logo and can with barbies cat and bedroom set i was so surprised when i saw it .These companies need their own creativity and ideas ,one of these days Mattel is going to sue .You know that not one of them has a good body they have such skinny legs.In Jamaica they are so popular because they are so cheap,i am more of a barbie person although they are so expensive .One stardoll is like $5,000jmd ($50 us) and it is not worth so much.

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    1. Sarah, I have to wonder if it's just not worth the expense for Mattel to sue when another clone company will replace the one they put out of business. More likely the same company with a different name.

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  19. lately i've been finding this AMAZING doll line called J-Doll at my Tuesday morning. i got 3 different types of j-dolls and they have GODLY articulation and clothing that fits my Monster High, Barbie etc. but they are kinda pricey(30-40 bucks) but in my opinion WAY worth it because they have such variety in body types and fashion so i think that you should be on the look out :D. hope i helped/informed you in some way.

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    1. NerdyNetChick, great minds must think alike, because I JUST posted about the J-Dolls I saw at Tuesday Morning. Thanks for giving us a heads up!

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