TMRT

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I got my Teresa from Toys R Us, which is a surprise because the TRUs in Singapore hardly ever stock such nice dollies. They only have those squatty bodied FF dolls, so I got Teresa on the spot. The first thing I noticed about the doll even when I was selecting the prettiest one was that her bangs are shorter than what the prototype picture shows, and the side tendrils for the production doll only reached her chin whereas it was the same length as the rest of the hair for the prototype doll.

This is how Teresa looked like in the box. Tohya, my BJD, just wants to be a part of the photo :-)

Deboxing this doll is a little tricky because the liner is double side taped to the box, and I had to semi rip the liner out from the box -- not a good move on Mattel's part. The doll had those annoying plastic thingies punched into the back of her head. One tip to removing them completely from her head instead of cutting out what you can see and pushing the rest back into her head is to use a pair of pliers and pull at an angle on the plastic strips. Most of the time they will come out clean. The prototype showed Teresa to have a long smooth high ponytail, but in reality the ponytail is at the back of her head and is in a curly and matted mess. I had to take it out and brush and wash it and straighten it a little before I could gain some control over it. Other than the plastic thingies in her head, Teresa was pretty easy to remove from the liner, just a wire holding her waist in...you just remove that and she is free from her box. The swimsuit had those even tinier plastic thingies securing it to the liner. I had to cut them out carefully before it could be removed. The sheath dress was easier to remove, as it was sewn on to the plastic liner.

Below, is the outfit that she came dressed in the box. I thought I would have a hard time removing the belt, but it was surprisingly easy. There is no real buckle to meddle with, just a punched hole for one to fit the peg into which is located at the tip of the belt buckle. While I like the style of the shoes she is wearing, they are not easy to put on or remove. One tip I have is to soak her feet into hot water before removing -- it will make the shoes softer. Likewise, when putting them on, soak the shoes in hot water for a while before putting them on. It makes the job much easier. The dress itself is fastened by velcro, the newer type that will not snag easily on fabrics. And she comes dressed with panties! I love that! I will talk more about her bag later.

Below, is her bathing suit. It is leopard print and kinda funky with the cut out sides. The bottom part of the swimsuit does not have any openings -- you just wear it up. The top part of the swimsuit is fastened by velcro. She is holding her hat which she just wore in the above pictures. She also comes with this pair of white strappy heels that she is wearing.

This is her third look, below. She also comes along with that white pair of sunglasses. The little sheath dress is actually for covering over her swimsuit; that's why it is so sheer. It's not easy to slip it over the swimsuit though, cos the opening is really snug. One way would be to undo the top part of her swimsuit, slip the dress on and then fasten the swimsuit back again. I like this look the best, because I like sheer short dresses. One can also see the swimsuit peeking out from underneath the sheer material.

Now let's talk about her accessories and facial screening. You've all seen the bag, now a close-up photo to see it in greater detail, below left. It looks like it is made of woven material. I personally think it is very well made. The bag handle, which is made of plastic actually really looks like bamboo; they painted this one really well.

Her earrings are those u-shaped wire type, so do watch out if you want to remove them, because they could rip a hole in Teresa's face! I nearly did with mine, but managed to prevent it from happening. Below right, is a close-up of Teresa's face. Her facial screening is very well done on this doll, I must say. She is side glancing. One thing I did notice is that her right pupil tend to be larger than her left, and I saw one doll in TRU that had wonky-eyes just because of the disproportionate pupil sizes. Personally, I love her brows the most. They’re fierce! Her bangs and tendrils was heavily gelled down when I got her, but I was pleasantly surprised that after I washed everything out, her bangs still managed to stay in place instead of sticking out like awning. Very well made and impressive!

Overall, I would give this doll 85 points out of 100. She does come with quite a number of outfits and accessories for her price point, and the quality is pretty good too. Facial screening is perfect, and I place a lot of emphasis on that. The only part that I took points off was for her hair. It still looks fly away and ratty even after washing. It should have been sleek like the prototype doll, but nonetheless, this is a recommended buy if you like the model muse body.