Doll Review: Baby Annabell

Baby Annabell was introduced by Zapf Creations in 1998 and is one of the UK's most popular dolls. Unlike Baby Born, who has fairly simple functions, Baby Annabell is an interactive doll who requires batteries. She has undergone many changes since 1998, with new features being added and old ones being taken away. Her looks have undergone some radical changes, and the new Annabell looks completely different to the old one. Another major change is that she has shrunk in height, going from 46cm to 43cm.

I won't discuss the electronic features too much in this review because I'm sure they'll be changed again as soon as there is a new version of the doll. I'm actually not a big fan of dolls with electronic features. I feel like they dictate the way a child plays with the doll and can be quite limiting. Also, as a parent, noisy toys can be really annoying! I did do a review of the Missy Kissy doll and I should add that Annabell's electronic features are far, far less annoying than Missy Kissy's.

Annabell has a soft body and her batteries and speaker are tucked inside her back. Her limbs are vinyl and they are floppy as they have no joints. It's quite difficult to get Annabell to sit up on her own without back support. However, she is supposed to be a baby, so she probably shouldn't be able to sit up on her own anyway. Not having poseable limbs means that she lies in your arms more like a real baby. One thing I don't really like about Annabell, and it's something I mainly notice when she is next to other dolls, is that her skin tone isn't very nice. Compared to other dolls, Annabell has a bit of a disturbing grey undertone to her skin. She doesn't look too bad in any of these photos though.

Annabell has one of the least prettiest faces of all the dolls I own. I think it's something to do with the mechanism she has in her head. When she is switched on she drinks out of a bottle and her mouth moves in a realistic way. I'm just not a fan of the way her face looks. I usually leave her dummy in because it makes her face look so much nicer.

This version of Annabell has sleepy eyes that close when you lie her back, but in some versions the eyes are connected to the mechanism and only close when the doll is switched on. Her eyes are nice and do make up a bit for the rest of her facial features.

I found Annabell to be a very well made and good quality doll, especially compared to some of the cheaper dolls on the market. I like that the fabric her body is made from at least somewhat matches her skin tone. Most soft-bodied dolls have white or off-white bodies. The fabric her body is made from looks to be a good hard wearing fabric, while still being soft. The vinyl, while not being the nicest of skin tones, is soft and doesn't feel cold to the touch. It is quite hard vinyl, there is no "squish" to it.

The outfit that my Annabell doll came with is one of the nicest outfits of all the dolls I have. It's made from a lovely soft velour. Annabell is already quite a cuddly doll but the velour outfit makes her feel even cuddlier. The lamb on the front is Baby Annabell's 'mascot'. Baby Born dolls clothing and accessories have little yellow ducks on them. You can tell Baby Born and Annabell's things apart by which one has a duck and which one has a lamb.

All the seams and raw edges are overlocked inside Annabell's clothes. They don't need to be overlocked since this fabric wouldn't fray, but I think it makes the sleepsuit look neater and much more professional.

There are some smaller versions of Baby Annabell. None of these are the current version of the smaller doll. The doll on the left has the same facial features as the old Annabell doll, while the one on the right is a newer doll with the same bright blue eyes as the modern Annabell. The current version of the smaller doll is called Little Annabell and is 36cm. There is also another 36cm doll in the range called Hannah. For babies there are a range of much softer dolls that are 30cm tall. There is Baby Annabell Sleep Well and Baby Annabell Sweetie. There is another 30cm doll called My First Annabell. Unlike the dolls for babies which have cloth arms and legs, My First Annabell is very similar to the larger Annabell and has vinyl arms and legs. Other dolls in the Annabell range are the 43cm Baby Annabell Walk With Me doll, who is called Emily and the soft-bodied 43cm Baby Mia doll. Emily has crawling and walking features, and looks to be hard-bodied while Mia is just a soft-bodied doll with no electronic features.

There is a boy version of Annabell, called Baby Alexander and there is also Baby Leah, who has a darker skin tone. I'm not sure what race Leah is supposed to be. I don't have a Baby Alexander or a Baby Leah doll but from looking at the photos, there really doesn't seem to be much difference between the three dolls. It looks as if they all use the same head mould and the only difference is Alexander and Leah have brown eyes. I do think it's quite lazy of doll manufacturers to use the same mould for all their dolls, especially when they're taking the mould for a Caucasian doll and just recolouring it and calling it Black or Asian. Since there's not a lot of difference between the boy doll and girl doll, Annabell can be dressed as a boy doll. You can see a photo of her dressed as a boy in the gallery at the bottom of the page.

Here is Annabell compared to Baby Born. The dolls are now the same height but Annabell's body is a bit bigger. They can share a lot of clothes and Zapf does have a range of clothes that can be worn by both dolls. I've found that some dresses I made for Baby Born weren't able to fasten at the back when I tried them on Annabell. Some trousers made for Baby Born can be a bit tight around the waist on Annabell but overall the two dolls can share the majority of their wardrobes, which is nice. You can also find a lot of used Baby Born or Baby Annabell clothing and accessories on eBay. There are also quite a lot of people making and selling clothes for Baby Annabell, but I noticed quite a few of them use old Annabell dolls as their models and those dolls are a bit taller than the new Annabell dolls. If you are buying handmade clothes for Annabell make sure that they're made for the newer Annabell dolls or they could be too big. Similarly, if you have an older Annabell doll then she won't be able to fit into newer Annabell clothing. If you're buying second hand and want to be able to buy new Annabell clothes and accessories for the doll, make sure you buy a newer version of the doll and not the older larger version.

Overall, Baby Annabell is a very well-made doll and I'm sure she will continue to remain popular. Her batteries and mechanism make her quite heavy, so she is probably better suited to a slightly older child who can also appreciate her interactive features more than a toddler can. For a toddler, I would recommend one of the My First Annabell dolls or the Baby Annabell Mia doll. As already mentioned, there are lots of accessories available for Annabell, including on the second-hand market. The dolls and accessories seem to hold their value well.