These came out in 2012, and "Astor" and "Basic Houston" shown above are the only dolls I have ever bought direct from Tonner (split shipping with a friend who was also buying some doll stuff). I also have the blonde one, "Brook-Lynn" (groan) and I don't have "Billy" the dark haired one because she was seemingly the most popular and thus the hardest to track down.
They're not quite 16" tall and have some nice if basic articulation. There is only one facial sculpt so yes they look a bit samey. The key thing is that they were meant to be sort of "starter collector" dolls, priced lower than the usual Tonner doll and aimed at The Youth Of Today. This did not work. Personally I suspect the price was just a bit high for what they were, because (as the Makies also discovered) parents base their doll-buying choices on the price of a playline Barbie.
But for me yes they were a gateway drug to Tonner proper. As you can see I sewed for them a bit, and I'd quite like to return to that some day because they do wear clothes nicely, but they're in a box somewhere unloved and naked and that is just sad. I think the idiosyncratic size of them put people off a bit, which is the same thing that puts me off sewing for them. They don't *quite* fit clothes made for other dolls, they need their own stuff and then only they can wear it. See also their shoes.
Also is it me or do they seem to have influenced the later Deja Vu line from Tonner? The slightly vacant expression, etc?
I like these dolls for the most part, I just don't seem to do much with them. Alas.
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