thank goodness we all we all don't like the same type...or all himmmes wold be same price as AI LIEN......

I have to say that I agree with Elisabeth. I wanted Ilai so much, but when I opened her box, her teeth were the first thing I saw, and I didn't care for them. Her eyes didn't sparkle either. She went to a new mom within two weeks, and that mother loves her to pieces still today. My Ilai found just the right mother for her.

I always enjoy seeing other people's pictures of their Ilai, but have never wanted to rebuy her.

Janice

I think Ilai has lovely eyes BUT her teeth REALLY bug me as they are not accurate - she has bigger teeth on the bottom than on the top - it's just not accurate for any child so it looks wrong to me which stops me from thinking she's stunning!
This is how I have always felt about her....as if they have made a silly mistake
Becky xxx

I love Ilai because she has so much joy in her face. All my Himstedts are kept in my doll room and when I ALLOW people to see my dolls, everyone goes straight to Ilai and studies her face. They all seem to love her...she's a standout. My favorite Himmie is my enchanting Marthy, with Lillemore a close second. I love Ilai's teeth (she looks like a regular child whose parents had better start saving for braces).
To sum it up, Ilai is a joyful, cute, realistic doll with a great faux fur coat. (I found her NIB for $1000 on Ebay, and she's worth every $$. As for Mithi, I had her and sold her. No personality, in my eyes. Beautiful doll, but not for me.
Mo

Different strokes for different folks!

I like Ilai and can certainly appreciate Mithi and Ai Lien to an extent. But, for me, Mithi and Ai Lien are too white. Many Japanese and Chinese children have much darker complexions which then lighten as they get older. Mostly, this is due to whitening creams, though, that many women take religiously.

The other day, at work, I was asking about a student and the staff referred to the child as having "black skin" because she was so tanned. This came from a pretty petite Japanese woman who probably spends more on cosmetics than I do on rent. In Japan, to say something like the above implies that the child or person is unattractive because they are "too dark". My friend's boyfriend always complains that he's too dark and so he doesn't look "Japanese enough". It's unfortunate that there is that stigma attached to darker complexions, and this is why I don't like Mithi or Ai Lien. It has nothing to do with the dolls themselves. They simply remind me of things I'd rather forget.

As for Ilai, Becky, I never noticed her "teeth-grinding" problem! For me, the best smile that shows true joy has to be Tetti, but there are a lot of great smilers out there now. I LOVE Anne Moni and Tivi, for instance. And Kindra!

When people see my dolls, Mo, they seem to go for Rinike. But I haven't let a lot of people see them!

Shawnah, I remember your initial view on Mithi and Ai Lien and their skin tones. The darker-skinned Chinese were basically slaves to the aristocratic Chinese. (You got some people's juices going on that one, LOL!)
Last night as I was watching the Japanese men's gymnastics, I thought my gosh they're gorgeous (I'm such an old perv). Then I noticed how white their skin was in comparison to the Chinese men's team (who were also gorgeous). The Chinese women holding the teams' placards were all very light skinned, actually white. I'm sure the Chinese Olympic Committee could have found many beautiful dark- skinned women, but someone obviously believes the lighter the better. Wrong!!
AA women have been quite vocal about the exclusive "use" of light-skinned women in music videos and tv commercials. Now, we see a wider range of AA women on tv.
It's sad that people have such a tightly-defined perception of what or who is beautiful. Even in my own family, as children, my sister Nancy and I had dark eyes and hair, while my sisters Diane and Rita were fair with auburn hair. Guess who always received the compliments...the fair kids. It never bothered me because I was a tomboy (plus, olive skin doesn't wrinkle as badly as white skin ). Now I have light hair, but it's a funky grey and looks blah!! (Hope I didn't crap up this thread, if so, sorry.)
Mo

I LOVE the SCULPT of Mithi, but not ai lien...only because she looks snotty and is a toddlerish sculpt....which personally I dont care for....otherwsie she would be cute. I love her real life inspiration though!

I agree with the fair skin theory, and it seems to be in most countries not just ours. I too noticed the Japanese mens team Mo (hahaha) they all had himstedt haircuts and fair skin! ha

I noticed because when i see my neices from China (see my water balloon thread) they are darker than even our friends with mixed race children. The cutie patooties are so dark especailly in the summer...love them! I figure that is probably what they avoid over there. i do know the babies are kept covered from neck to ankle even in the summer...wow!

hugs

Elisabeth

It's highly likely the Japanese gymnastics team use whitening creams so they "look better" in competition, unfortunately. Asian society is like that. Image is so much more important than substance in a lot of things. Mothers pressure their children to be "successful" in school for bragging rights. Marriages are a sham. Some companies favor men who are married with kids for promotions and raises. I would say women as well, but there is a stigma attached to hiring women since they will quit to have babies someday. These are common in Japanese society, but there are ALWAYS exceptions. But it happens A LOT.

And young children are generally not covered up, Elisabeth. If they play outside they are in fact VERY dark as you have seen with your neices. It's the ones who stay inside to "study" all the time that have paler complexions. Or teens who start taking whitening creams. Parasols are huge sellers here to protect people from the sun but so are arm length gloves to prevent tanning for adult women.

And I agree with you SO much about the narrow perspective of what's beautiful, Mo. It's unfortunate, because the most beautiful things are the things that are REAL. But people seem to forget that.

OMG Jen that dog! That is hysterical! Love him!

Claire

Ya know, I have to agree about Mithi. Believe it or not, I actually had three of them. I sold them all. To me, her arms just looked out of proportion to the rest of her. I just didn't like the splotchy paint they did that year. All three of the ones I got were like that.

I started out ordering one, but wasn't sure I would get it. Then I ordered another just to make sure. Then, another shop informed me that I had moved to the top of their list, so I got her too. I must have been nuts! Her pictures were so outstanding! To me, she just didn't measure up. I was disappointed.

I did love her dark eyes and that hairstyle was just outstanding, but not enough to make me want to keep her.

Claire

I wish I had found himmies in time to pre order that year. i would have been broke before broke! ha

I would have preordered Mithi, bunda, natiti, mumeka, and prob mugi. I guess it is lucky that I had to wait cause I found all but the first two below retail.

hugs

Elisabeth

I've been watching the auction for Bunda that this thread was started about and now the auction has ended - 'item no longer for sale' Mmmm - wonder what happened to her and if she has sold.

I too would love Bunda but I certainly would never pay that price for her - I may just consider something near to that for Mithi (but only of course if I won the lottery!!)

Tracey

I do adore Ilai because for me she is just pure joy in expression and she's the only one who's eyes sparkle to that degree...BUT I totally think Tetti is another one that just radiates joy. I also loved Bunda and Yufang from 2005. I love the crooked smiles/teeth and wish I'd gotten Bunda and Ilai and hung on to my Yufang. I have Tetti on her way and can't wait to get her. One of my most favorite of my Himmies is Rinike...she is the picture of exuberance, I couldn't even imagine letting go of her and Tetti will be the same way. If I had Ilai she would never leave.

I never cared at all for Mithi, she was not attractive to me and seems a bit calculating or mad in her expression. Ai Lien is cute but I'd have to have her in a time out chair all the time, she is full of toddler attitude.

I have all the mentioned dolls w/the exception of Ilia. I've loved all of them for what they are. Dark skin-light skin-they are dolls to me. I have Korean friends, Chinese friends, Italian friends, Greek friends, jewish friends, and on and on. They all have ifferent skintones. I have A/A fiends that have light skin and dark skin. I love all of them and their skintone has nothing to do w/them. Therefore, a dolls skinetone has nothing to do w/whether I like her or not. I have and have kept Linn only because she reminds me of myself at that age. Hugz, jann/joycep

A doll's skintone is irrelevant to me as well, Jann, when it comes to what I love or not love, but when a doll is supposed to represent a particular ethnicity I do like it to be somewhat comparable. Wanipanda's complexion is nowhere nearly as dark as it should be, but it's not white either, and I can accept that.

I respect the artistic element of the Asian dolls from 2005, but I don't like what they represent. I think it is hard to explain this to someone who has never lived outside of a multi-ethnic society, but I will try. EVERYONE here is Japanese or Asian except for perhaps five percent of the population. But who are the models in magazines? White girls with blonde or brown hair. Why is that? Well, European and American standards of beauty aren't limited to those areas. It is changing very slowly, but I cannot say how many times I have heard the expression "I like your skin". It's very unnerving since it is coming from gorgeous women who feel that to be beautiful they need to be white.

What bothers me about Ai Lien and Mithi is not so much their complexion, but the perpetuation of the "myth" that Asian people have and should have white skin. This is simply not true. In four years, and across Japan, I have NEVER seen an Asian child with a complexion of Mithi, Ai Lien or Kiomi. I have seen a complexion as light as Kindra's and as dark as Tscharle's, so I am very glad this misconception was corrected by Annette in the 2008 collection. Frankly, it isn't that Mithi, Ai Lien and Kiomi are ugly. They are very beautiful, but they are "unnatural" to my eye, because I'm expecting to see "Asian".

At the same time, I don't like the redheads from 2004 either for the very same reason. Few natural redheads can tan like that, and I think it's a bit unnatural for little redheaded girls to have such dark complexions. I love a lot of the 2004 sculpts, but I can't handle that vinyl color.