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FAO Schwartz Avery and Gotz Asian Hannah

FAO Schwatz Asian Avery (by Gotz) and Gotz Asian Hannah use essentially the same Gotz Asian model. The main difference is in their hairstyle. Avery's straight black hair is worn in a chin-length bob, either with or without bangs/ fringe. Asian Hannah has much longer, wavy black hair with bangs/ fringe. They each have brown eyes and medium tan and/or light tan skin, and their face paint may vary slightly. They are slim 18" vinyl dolls.

Avery, who is now retired by FAO Schwartz, can be easily found used on the secondary market for about $30 - $60. Asian Hannah is available from the Gotz website and other online doll markets for about $130 - $150. She can also be found new on the secondary market for about the same price.

Gotz Precious Day Kimberly | Pottery Barn Kids Mei

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Gotz Precious Day Kimberly | Pottery Barn Kids Mei

In 2002, Gotz added several 18" girl dolls to their Precious Day collection, one of them being Asian pouty-faced Kimberly. Kimberly has light skin, dark brown eyes, and long, thick brownish-black hair with bangs. She was retired after only two years so she can sometimes be difficult to find, but she does occasionally show up on secondary markets like eBay. Her cost will vary, usually between $30 - $100.

A very similar doll is Pottery Barn Kids Limited Edition Mei from China, also by Gotz. Mei uses the same face mold as Kimberly, with a slightly slimmer, slightly lower quality Pottery Barn Kids body. Her thinner hair comes styled into two, high, side buns, and is shoulder-length and layered when taken down. Mei, like Kimberly, is retired and difficult to find. Her secondary market cost when in new condition runs similar to Kimberly's, about $30 - $100.

GOTZ PD KIMBERLY AND PBK MEI FROM CHINA

American Girl Ivy Ling

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American Girl Ivy Ling

Ivy Ling is an American Girl "Best Friend." She was released with Historical Character Julie Albright in 2007. Ivy uses a modified version of a face mold that was first used for Jess McConnell. Ivy has light skin and brown eyes. She has straight, brownish-black shoulder-length hair with bangs/ fringe. Ivy was retired in 2014. She can be found on the secondary market for about $120 - $180 or more, though lower prices occasionally happen.

For those looking for "multiracial Asian" American Girl dolls, both Jess McConnell ( Japanese and Scotch-Irish descent) and Kanini Akina ( Japanese-Hawaiian and French-German descent) are available, though retired. They also use this mold.

JESS (L) AND KANANI (R) MULTIRACIAL ASIAN DOLLS

There are also always at least several different "Truly Me" Asian American Girl dolls available through the American Girl doll site. They currently retail for $115.

TRULY ME ASIAN AMERICAN GIRL

216/16

Sculpt 216/16 also has a long history as a vintage Gotz doll that has been used more recently by Pottery Barn Kids dolls. This sculpt has been used for blue-eyed brunette vintage "Debbie" and a number of others whose names are now forgotten. More recently the face was used as Indian "Prita," one of PBK's limited edition "Girls of the World" dolls.

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#216/16

Another incarnation of #216/16 and a similar vintage sculpt alongside it. The vintage sculpt (which had inset or painted eyes) on the right, and the blonde "Barbara" sculpt below, are possibly related #216/16. The sculpt has been attributed to Marianne Gotz.

BRUNETTE #216/15 (left) AND SIMILAR VINTAGE SCULPT (right)

VINTAGE GOTZ DOLL BARBARA

130/16

Mold #130/16 has characteristics of both the 128 and 129 series. The face is wide and the mouth pouty, the eyes small and wide-set. It has a more solemn look than #128 and #129. Its name is unknown to me.

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#130/16

129/14

Mold #129/14 has some of the same features as those with the #128 prefix, though several clear differences too. The face is thinner, the smaller eyes more widely set. The mouth smiles more playfully. I don't know the name of the sculpt or the dolls who used it; it was possibly used less than the #128 series. I have seen fewer examples of it.

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#129/14

#129/14 FROM THE 1990 GOTZ CATALOG

128/14

#128/14 is yet another in the #128 series that highly resembles the others. It was used for an alternate version of Precious Day Alicia, as well as for other dolls, such as the bespectacled girl below. I'm not aware of its name.

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#128/14

The differences between this sculpt and #16 are more apparent than those between this sculpt and #15. The head is slightly broader as is the nose and mouth; the eyes may be closer-set, the jaw more defined. But the overall similarity to both #128/16 and #128/15 is still very significant.

Pottery Barn Kids' AA Maya, Zoey, and Zola from Kenya may use a version of this sculpt or one of the others in the #128 series. However, PBK uses their own logo as a neck stamp rather than the Gotz mold number, so it's difficult to say whether these dolls are #128/14, #128/15, or #128/16 (or something else!)

POTTERY BARN KIDS MAYA (LEFT) AND ZOLA (RIGHT) WITH PRECIOUS DAY ALICIA #128/14 (CENTER)

My best guess is that Pottery Barn Kids dolls use a slightly different sculpt than any of the previous dolls, as the eyes on both Maya and Zola look slightly wider to me. It may also have been one of the molds used by Vision Forum's Beautiful Girlhood doll Abigail.

128/15

Very similar to #128/16 is mold #128/15. The only instance I have seen of this sculpt is for AA vintage doll Collette (below left) although an identically dressed doll named Ginger (below right) had the #128/16 face. The two sculpts might have been interchanged between them, is my best guess. I'm not aware if it has a formal name.

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#128/15 and #128/16

The differences between this sculpt and #128/16 may be minor, though detectable by those with a good eye for it. Namely, in the #16 version, the lips seem to pout and protrude ever-so-slightly more. The chin may recede more noticeably.

#128/15 COLETTE AND A SIMILARLY DRESSED DOLL WITH THE SIMILAR #128/16 SCULPT

Pamela

Another often-used Gotz face is sculpt is #128/16.

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#128/16

I'm not aware if this charming little face actually has a name, but like her Gotz peers, she has resurfaced a few times since her debut. The neck on this sculpt is marked "Gotz 90," which indicates the year it was created. Interestingly, in the 1990 Gotz catalog, this sculpt does appear on several dolls, one of whom was named "Pamela." Since this was possibly one of the first appearances of this sculpt, I will refer to it here as "Pamela."

#128/16 FROM THE 1990 GOTZ CATALOG

I've also seen this sculpt referred to as the face Pleasant Roland fell in love with when she went to Gotz. I'm not exactly sure what that means, especially in regards to the year 1990. But in either case, it was utilized well enough by Gotz as a series of crinoline-dressed brunettes, pig-tailed blondes, or freckled gingers whose individual names may be currently lost to time.

STRAWBERRY/RED AND BLONDE VERSION of #128/16

#128/16 AS A FRECKLED GINGER

ANOTHER VIEW OF #128/16

It was also used for several ethnic dolls, possibly including African American doll Maddison and other AA dolls. Vision Forum's "Beautiful Girlhood" doll line may have also used this mold for their AA doll Fidelia.

GOTZ MADDISON (left) and UNKNOWN AA DOLL MARKED #120/16

In 2002, Gotz also used the "Pamela" sculpt for Precious Day's Hispanic doll Alicia.

GOTZ PRECIOUS DAY ALICIA #128/16

#128/16 is particularly interesting to me because there are several Gotz sculpts with similar mold numbers that very closely resemble this face.

Mona Lisa

The very first sculpt used for Precious Day dolls was actually #305/16, the "Mona Lisa" sculpt.

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#305/16 | "MONA LISA"

This mold was only used between 2002-2004 for the Precious Day line, and then replaced with the Stolle and Starshine sculpt. #305/16 was also used for the Little Sister dolls, which preceded the Precious Day dolls by a year.

GOTZ LITTLE SISTERS

Some have suggested there is a very subtle difference between the Little Sisters and original Precious Day sculpts, in that Little Sisters eyes are larger or rounder. (This can be difficult to detect without a trained eye.)

PRECIOUS DAY JESSICA (RIGHT) and LITTLE SISTERS DOLL LILY (LEFT)

However, some of the Precious Day Mona Lisa dolls also have the rounder eyes, as seen in the image below.

BOTH "EYE" VERSIONS OF PRECIOUS DAY JESSICA

So it seems that two face molds were commonly interchanged between these dolls lines and both eyes shapes can be found in each set of dolls. Interestingly, some of the sculpts are sometimes numbered as #305 without the #16.

#305/16 can also be found on vintage Gotz dolls from the 1990s, possibly earlier; it has been abundantly reused by Gotz.

SOFT BODY MONA LISA DOLL

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