My 5-year-old has no less than 40 Barbie dolls. I’m serious. I counted them about a week ago because I felt bad that I’d only bought her one new Barbie for Christmas. But after the Barbie head count from hell, I was glad I exercised some self restraint because there is just no more room in my life for another perpetually perky, forever teen queen, platinum blonde monstrosity. NONE, I SAY!!

But I digress..

So, when my mother asked for some toy ideas to get my daughter, I suggested she buy her a Liv doll. I’d seen the dolls at Target and they looked interesting (I particularly liked the fact that you could replace the hair because we have many poor balding Barbies thanks to my fashionista daughter). So my mom got her the Liv Katie Doll

There are a lot of things I like about this doll, notwithstanding the disproportionately large head size.

1)   The doll seems to be very well made and it’s got poseable limbs, which is a change from the piles of stiff-legged, pointy toed Barbies my daughter already owns (There’s actually a line of new Barbies with poseable limbs and I got one of those for her for Christmas – but that’s a WHOLE other review).

2)  Katie really looks like a pre-teen girl albeit with too much collagen in her lips. I like that my daughter is finally playing with a more realistic doll than something out of a Playboy magazine. I mean, Barbie is just a bit creepy that way. I’m just saying..

3)  The details on the doll are impressive, right down to the hair which, as mentioned above, is detachable. Katie came with two sets of hair. The hair is affixed to the head with a sort of peg (so when the doll doesn’t have a wig on, there’s a hole in her head). The wig stayed in place and really there’s nothing else to say about that. If the wig kept falling off then I would’ve mailed her back to Spin Master Toys in a tiny body bag.

This doll gets my highest recommendation. I don’t say that often. Buy it. It’s a well-made, interesting toy that your child will likely love (if she likes Barbie and/or other fashion dolls). Here’s the proof of the doll’s worthiness – when I brought my daughter to Toys R Us to spend some of her Christmas money, she bought another one – Liv Sophie

The best part is that the dolls are relatively cheap. They were about $20.00 in Toys R Us, but I’m seeing them for as low as $13.00 on Amazon right now.

| Category Christmas Unwrapped, Super Cool Toys