Dumpling Dolls by Mrs Dumpling

Mrs Dumpling once ran a very popular little bakery. People would queue for miles around to get a taste of the stuff that came from her store. But then, nearby, a massive multi-store shopping centre opened, and the queue steadily got smaller and smaller until no one was coming at all. While mixing up what she was sure was going to be her last batch of cakes, Mrs Dumpling cried two tears into her mixing bowl. Twenty-eight minutes later, the Dumpling Dolls were freshly baked, and looking for that special someone who would raise them right.

The stall in Covent Gardens

I came across Dumpling Dolls at their stand outside of the Jubilee Market in London's Covent Gardens and was charmed pretty much straight away. The stall is only there at the weekend, but the dolls are always available via the website. How cute at these dolls? The Mum was charmed, the Dad was charmed, even Brother Boy gave a smile at the sight of them. It helps that the people who run the stall are some of the nicest stalls holders I've come across, and it's a genuine pleasure to speak with them.

Now, while the details on every Dumpling Doll are different, the basic design is rather similar between them all, so I'll be able to give you an overview, as well as review my dear Pippa – and yes, that name is unique to her. (Part of me wants to call her Pippi but she doesn't seem a lot like Miss Longstocking). The first thing I should note that the first impression I had of a Dumpling Doll when holding one is that it did feel quite heavy – this was not some cheap (or expensive) plastic toy. It felt a little like hardened clay, but I could be entirely mis-remembering and thus wrong on that.

So when you buy a doll at the Covent Garden stall, it will be given to you in quite a lovely purple bag. Oh, first I must apologise for the fuzziness of some of the pictures. I was taking them in the hotel room, and the lighting kept changing on me. London, people. And I suppose I should actually say when you adopt a Dumpling, because these little charmers certainly have a lot of personality.

Purple tissue paper to protect dear little Pippa

Like I said... they keep these dolls well packaged.  Not so much, however, that you can't get into the item in question. I haven't ordered off the website - yet, watch this space - so I can't quite give a comment on how they come from there. When I have that information, I'll make a separate post to explain that packaging process. When you move away the tissue paper, you will come across your new friend

The first thought I had on seeing these? Was that they were adorable. I'd just come out of one of the toy shops in Covent Garden, and was discussing with the Mum the possibility of saving up for one of the Girl For All Time dolls. (Long story short: it's certainly going to be something I attempt. We both like the Victorian girl.) I've kept you in suspense long enough; here's my little Pippa. 

I was charging my mobile, hence why you can spot it in the background. This table also happened to have the free plug sockets. Hope it doesn't detract from Pippa's cuteness too much

Yes, she is about the height of the bag itself. (Yes, I still have the bag; I'm keeping it nice.) I think she's roughly about 8 or 9 inches tall. I did ask at the stall, and I have measured again with my ruler, but now I cannot find said ruler to double check the measurement, so we'll need to go with my foggy memory here. Speaking of measurements...

11cm Obitsu (Matilda Wormwood), Dumpling Doll (Pippa), Disney Classic 2014 (Merida)

Here she is beside an 11cm Obitsu, and a boxed Disney Classic Doll - and yes, Merida is my favourite. I'm a cliche, I like the Scottish princess best. But yes, as you can see, size wise, she'd probably work well as an elder sister type figure for a small doll, but a good little sister for a taller doll. And no, I don't really have anything out of the 1/6 scale, so I can't tell you how she'd look with a bigger doll. Well, no, that's not entirely true, I have the animator's collection Merida, but she looks a bit too big to be a play toy or that size of doll. 

Pippa is what they call a 'self-raising' doll, meaning that she stands, Dumpling Dolls also come in 'plain' form, which are ones that sit down. I hope to get a plain Dumpling for my next one; I just need to think up an adorable little name. (Male Dumplings, for those who are curious, do exist and are often 'half-baked') Ideas for names in the comments, if you please, but note it will be a while before I can afford another one. Might even be, I dunno, May before I can get my hands on another one. I'm on a self-imposed spending ban, except for Zelfs, but I'll get around to review those later. 

Okay, again, sorry for the fuzziness of the picture, but this was another one that became very washed out when I tried it with the flash on. This was just an attempt to give a clearer look at the face of Pippa. As you can see, her features are all hand-painted, and she's got lovely blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and a cheeky little smile. She also has on a rather fetching blue hat which is made of felt with felt flower decoration. Her hair appears to be made out of wool, and is a very, I want to say sandy blonde. That's probably not the right description, but it's the best that will come to mind at the moment.

The only downside I could give you about a Dumpling Doll is that they don't have any articulation, but I don't see that to the doll's disadvantage. After all, a Dumpling is there for you to tell all your secrets, thoughts, and worries too. If they can hold their pose for so long, I'm sure that means they can hold all that information close to them for a long time as well. Pippa is also holding a lovely white bear, who appears to be waving at you all in the picture. Well, teddies are friendly little creatures like that.

Pippa wears a soft short white coat. The little slip of white tucked in under her arm is the little heart of paper that her name came on. If you pick up a Dumpling at the Covent Garden stall, you will be encourage to pull a name from the magic mixing bowl, a name that will be unique to your Dumpling. She also has a string of green beads around her neck. They're very sweet. The whole outfit comes across as very age appropriate for a young child, which is what the Dumplings seem to have the proportions of.

As you can see, her dress is dotted with a lot of little flowers - roses in this case - and she wears black tights and sensible black shoes with matching bows on the top. Mary Poppins would be pleased with how sensible Pippa's shoes are, actually. The shoes are not removable - which fits with the no articulation of the dolls - so likewise, you can't remove the tights.

Pardon my hand, but this was the best way to show this little bit off. I did ask Pippa, and she was not entirely pleased with this picture, and the next, but she understood that people would be curious. She does think it would be better if people did not inquire about other's underthings, but she would bear it for the sake of as complete a review as we could give. As you can see, she has a little underskirt. It's a delicate little thing, with eyelet holds and very lace like. Not fine lace, but the type you'd get as trim on a child's dress. The underskirt goes the whole way round, and seems to be sewn to the top of the skirt of the dress. I will admit to not prodding around too much to find out due to being concerned I may somehow ruin the doll. It was an unlikely possibility, but they seem to happen to me.

She also has little bloomers on. And yes, I do believe you would call these bloomers. Despite being a graduate in history and sociology, I am not as clued into my historical underthings as I ought to be. I have a bit of knowledge here and there, but it is not as complete as I would like it to be. But yes, you can see why Pippa was a little indignant about these pictures being taken. The underthings are white, just like the underskirt, and since most of the dresses are quite light in colour, there's little risk of staining.

And... that's all I have on Dumpling Dolls. They're adorable, and really more of a stand and look pretty doll than a play doll. Not that that's a bad thing, they are very adorable, after all. I'd recommend not getting them for a young child, wait until they're a little older, or at least have got a good sense of knowledge of taking care of things. For collectors, I'd say a Dumpling is something everyone should have in their collection. The price is very reasonable, and the people in charge are so lovely, you can't help but want to buy something from them.

So, there you have Dumpling Dolls. I hope that was informative. Next time... I don't know, I'll think of something.