Hobbies Doll Collecting

Best Look-Alike Dolls for Gifts and Collectors

Caucasian girl brushing hair of doll on bed
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Kids can enjoy playing with a doll that looks just like them, and the collectors that love to display their dolls may want well-crafted dolls that resemble their children. These types of dolls are known as "look-alikes" and many companies specialize in them.

These look-alike dolls come in a variety of styles and price ranges, from the least expensive that use a scanned photo on fabric to middle-of-the-line vinyl dolls, to expensive artist-made dolls. Prior to purchasing the doll, consider if it will be well-loved by your child and need to survive handling through the growing years. Or, it may a collector's item safely stored and displayed on a shelf as a piece of art and cherished memory rather than a toy. The wide range of costs and materials will help dictate which type of look-alike doll is best for you and your family. Explore four of the best look-alike dolls on the market. 

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    Custom Doll Baby

    The Custom Doll Baby company creates handmade portrait dolls that are 18-inch tall dolls and look like your child. Parents can choose from seven expressions, three complexions, and practically unlimited hairstyles to create a doll that looks like your child. The size makes the dolls' accessories compatible with the popular American Girl dolls. 

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    American Girl Truly Me Dolls

    The well-known company American Girl sells look-alike dolls called Truly Me dolls. You can choose from dozens of varieties of skin, eye, and hair colors and male or female dolls. It's a great choice for children who already have American Girl dolls and wish to have one that resembles them. This brand of dolls have hundreds of different outfits and accessories to personalize your doll even further. Additionally, American Girl sells clothing and accessories in doll and child sizes, so that the girl and doll can be dressed alike. 

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    Linda's Look-A-Like Dolls

    Linda's Look-A-Like dolls are handmade porcelain dolls that bear a remarkable likeness to their namesakes. Each doll is ​handcrafted by the artist Linda Brennan. Her look-alike dolls have porcelain heads which are molded and then transformed to match the facial features of the model. The dolls are then hand painted. The dolls can be quite expensive; the baby doll is the least expensive while larger dolls cost more. Customized painted eyes (instead of inset eyes) are available for an extra cost. These dolls are an expensive piece of craftwork and may not be recommended for younger children. The porcelain doll is very delicate and can easily shatter and break if handled roughly. 

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    PhotoGiftTown

    For the look-alike dolls from PhotoGiftTown, parents send a digital photo of the child's face to the company. The photo is then scanned onto the cloth face of the doll. The result is a photo of a human face on a cute fabric doll. The doll can only be as good as the photo sent, so a high-resolution, close-up photo of the child is a must. This reasonably-priced and easy-to-care-for option could be a simple way to provide a child with a look-alike doll.