I have a large toy-box in a spare bedroom at my home which is brimming with a whole host of toys to entertain and amuse my young nephew during our play-time together. In addition, I have two young nieces and a young (female) cousin who are regular visitors to my house. This means that I have to ensure that some of the toys I have in the toy-box are unisex and are suitable for both sexes, but also suitable for a range of ages. To buy a whole host of toys in these assorted ranges would no doubt cost me a small fortune, and so I will regularly snap up bargains in discounted stores, such as B&M, Poundland and via Tesco, using accumulated 'Clubcard' points to achieve discounts.

Whilst shopping in Poundland at the start of the year, I managed to pick up some toy cars that I knew would appeal to my nephew. At the same time, I spotted a small china tea set and a 'fashion doll' that were both priced at £1 each of course. I was pleased at being able to purchase three new additions to the toy-box at home for such a small sum of money, although each of the three items has had issues in terms of quality. This review outlines my experiences of the "Funtastic Fashion Doll."

The Funtastic dolls are still readily available in branches of Poundland (as @ October 2012), and although I believe the packaging has changed slightly, the actual dolls are identical to their previous versions as far as I can tell.

Boxed in a flimsy package with a see-through front, it is easy to see the doll contained in the box which may prove useful to allow the child to select which one she (or indeed he) wants to purchase, as the dolls are available wearing a variety of different outfits, although only one is supplied with her.

Our version - named Angel, by my niece (quite randomly!) - was supplied sporting a rather fetching purple shift dress, complete with polka dot detailing on the fabric. The fabric of the dress is extremely flimsy and it is not difficult to notice it's cheap appearance. Angel was wearing a pair of flimsy, plastic, pink shoes (high heels, I believe) when we first removed her from her cardboard prison, but these didn't stay on her plastic feet very well and they kept falling off. As there are two kiddies under the age of 3 who regularly play with the toys in our toy box, it felt safer just to discard the toy shoes altogether, and so they were thrown away long ago. A third and final accessory was supplied in Angel's box by way of a small plastic hairbrush, provided for combing her long brunette locks.

Combing Angel's hair using the brush provided is not particularly difficult, and my young niece will regularly undertake this task. The brush has proven to be sufficient for carrying out this task effectively. The doll's hair however is sadly not as robust, and we have noticed it 'breaking' easily during the brushing process. The hair also seems to matt quite easily and it feels slightly 'nylon-like' which probably doesn't help its lack of durability. The hair is not at all comparable to that of say, the Barbie dolls that are also in our toy-box, but for the £1 price tag that Angel carried, I didn't expect it to be.

The doll's dress has suffered pretty much no real damage in terms of wear and tear, and is still intact even though it has been removed and replaced several times from Angel's slender frame. We have some other doll's outfits in our toy box and my niece will often chose to change Angel into one of these, although they don't seem to fit her as well so I think perhaps her measurements are not quite up to that of her big-branded rivals. Although the quality of Angel's dress is extremely flimsy and cheap-looking, I feel that it has served its purpose rather well.

During the 'changing process' however, we will often stumble across Angel's biggest disadvantage; the sudden disappearance of one of her four limbs from its respective 'socket' on her slender body. This is by far the biggest let-down of the doll which would otherwise be a very agreeable item. The materials used in Angel's body are extremely thin when compared to her big-branded rivals and this, in my opinion, has meant that the doll has an overall flimsy feel to it which just can't withstand normal wear and tear during playtime. The plus side of the flimsier-than-average materials used in the doll's make up is that she feels much lighter than other dolls, perhaps making her an ideal travelling companion.

The problem first started out with Angel's left arm. Really any time that the doll was included in playtime, her arm would pop out of its socket. There was even a few occasions of her being retrieved from the toy-box in this unfortunate state, before playtime had even commenced! To be fair, the arm has always been easy enough to 'pop' back into the shoulder area, taking me a mere moment to correct this unfortunate impediment.

After a short time however, it was plain to see that this problem not only affected Angel's arm but both of her legs, with one or both of them frequently becoming 'loosened' from her body. Again, easy enough to replace, but not exactly ideal for a child's playtime and my niece became increasingly impatient with Angel's continuous limb displacements as time passed. Eventually, the other arm started to follow suit and now all four of Angel's limbs are affected by this unfortunate disadvantage.

This proves to me that the materials used in the doll's body are really sub-standard and below par, making the doll seem like a poor comparison to other, similar dolls in our toy-box. She really doesn't live up to these alternatives, although to be perfectly fair I hadn't expected her to, given she was so cheap to purchase.

I would be awarding this doll only one star if it wasn't for the fact that my niece STILL regularly seeks Angel out amongst the other dolls and toys contained in the toy-box. There is obviously still something greatly appealing about the doll for the child, and even though she will often 'tut-tut' at Angel's missing limbs, she still selects her to be included in her play. For this reason, I will award the doll three stars out of five, with this score taking into account the value price tag of the toy which makes it completely affordable, as well as the doll's obvious appeal.......... Where my niece is concerned, at least...