The Bottom Line
Each doll has a personality (there are four in all) and clothing can be purchased that keys into the personalities of the dolls, but of course all the clothing can (and should!) be mixed and matched for multiple looks.
Pros
- Juku Couture dolls have set (not painted) eyes
- Clothing and accessories are available separately,
- Influenced by Japanese styles and anime.
- Dolls are highly poseable
Cons
- Fabric used for clothing on the Juku Coutur dolls is inexpensive
- Certain details such as velcro closures and split boots won't appeal to collectors.
- Dolls are packages so securely it will take awhile to get them out of the box
Description
- Suggested retail for the dolls is $19.99 each.
- Four dolls are available...Audrina, Jun, Hayley and Kana.
- Each doll has it's own personality.
- Clothing outfits and accessory paks are available separately.
- Dolls have set "true eyes," not painted eyes like on a Barbie doll.
- The multi-layered clothing makes it easy to mix and match separate pieces to create original outfits.
- Dolls are jointed at the neck, waist (rotational joint), shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.
- The layered, mismatched style of the dolls' clothing is based on a trendy, current style that started in Harajuku, Jaapan.
- Dolls are 8 inches tall.
- You can create 10 different looks with one outfit.
Guide Review - Review of the Juku Couture Dolls by JAAKS Pacific
I really like these dolls, especially the quality of the dolls vinyl, the extreme poseability of the dolls, and the sturdily set hair. I also like the concept of the dolls--mixing and matching layered outfits with a vaguely Japanese flair.What I'm disappointed about is the quality of the clothing..specifically, the quality of the fabrics and trims used to create the clothing. I feel that the quality is lacking, and shiny, gaudy polyesters are too prevalent. Perhaps I'm looking at the dolls too much from a collector's point of view, but I do think that girls notice these things, and for the $19.99 price, the fabrics that are used could be much nicer (for instance, the slightly cheaper Only Hearts Club dolls use much nicer fabric on a similarly sized doll). And, after all, these dolls are supposed to be all about the clothes! Other things I personally don't like about the doll clothing...the Velcro closures, and the split boots on Jun, one of the two dolls I looked at in depth (the other doll is Kana)obviously are very appropriate for play and easy dressing of the dolls.
I also like the hair on the dolls (heavily lacquered into place, but, well, I really, really liked the banana curls on Jun and the fact that they stay in place). And, I'm wild about the poseability of such a small doll..the rotational waist joint is a nice touch, as are the wrist and ankle joints.
Another nice feature of the dolls are the individual personalities--Jun, from South Korea, is the girlie one, then there is Kana from New York (her style is Candy Punk), Audrina from Los Angeles (Preppy) and Hayley from Sweden (Sporty).
The separate clothing and accessory pak that I looked at (themed for Kana's Art Class) had some fun looks..this clothing pak was a bit less polyestery (Unlike Jun's Dance Class) but I didn't like the plasticy key chain in the accessory pak.
