*IMPORTANT UPDATE* As of July 2019, Hill Country Reborn Tots is no longer accepting custom doll orders. You may view her reborn toddlers that are for sale and Ready-To-Ship on Instagram or Facebook.
Hello dollie lovers and welcome back to another post from my series of Reborn Artist Reviews. Today, I will be discussing the artist Mary-Kate Bashline McCormack of Hill Country Reborn Tots! I was contacted by Mary-Kate last Summer to partner with her in helping promote her reborn doll business and I agreed. Nevertheless, all of my opinions are my own and I am sharing my honest experience while working with her. If you’re interested in Mary-Kate’s work, keep reading!
I actually found the Hill Country Reborn Tots nursery early 2017 while browsing Instagram. I immediately fell in love with the realism and even more in love with the affordable price range. I vowed to save up money over the year to purchase one of her creations, but was luckily proposed a sponsored partnership with her!
About The Artist
Hill Country Reborn Tots is based in Texas, USA and specializes in reborn toddler sized dolls. From communicating with this artist and what I’ve learned of her online, Mary-Kate McCormack began her reborn doll business a little over one year ago. It was a way for her to spend time with her daughter, Stephanie, as she too loved all types of dolls. Over time, she realized this small hobby could grow into a lucrative (and enjoyable) business for her; so it did. Her exposure in the reborn doll community sprouted from Instagram and grew from there. You can find her online as @marykateandstephlovedolls. Overtime, Mary-Kate decided to offer reborn doll giveaways ranging from free custom toddlers supplies for creating your own reborn dolls at home.
Currently, Mary-Kate’s business is ran through Etsy; featuring various listings for reborn toddler dolls ranging from $700-900 (with specialty sculpts priced around $1-1200). Throughout the year, openings for full custom reborn dolls are advertised, but not frequently. You can shop her dolls at Hill County Reborn Tots. So far, for high quality toddler sized reborn, Mary-Kate has the most affordable price range that I have seen.
This artist has primarily done caucasian reborn dolls, but is learning new techniques and styles to bring biracial and ethnically diverse variations to her shop. An example of her most recent AA/Biracial doll creation can be seen here on Ty of AnimalCrackerNation‘s Instagram page.
The reborn doll I requested, however, is caucasian..but with a special request of freckles. Which was a new venture for her.
Communication
Communication with this artist was relatively smooth. Mary-Kate took the time to explain her process to me and her working time-frame. At any point in the process I had a question, she responded within 24hrs. At each step from ordering the doll sculpt, to when my doll would be started, was reported to me. This made me at ease for future orders. MK also updated me with work in progress photos once painting was done and right after rooting was completed. I was able too see my doll prior to shipment!
Quality Of Work
I really enjoy this artist’s work. I have watched her try new things with each order she fulfills and I fall more and more in love with it, each time. In my doll order, I specifically requested A LOT of freckles. I wanted them to cover not only the face, but the arms and legs as well. My Tuesday Elisabeth came out even better than I had imagined and looked so realistic! Her hair is human hair and rooted very nicely. It can be parted in various ways and still hold its realism. It isn’t rooted as thickly as I would like, but it is realistic for that of a toddler. (I just prefer thickly rooted hair) The painting is beautiful with all the details you would expect from a toddler sized doll.
Time Management & Customer Service
Mary Kate has always been up front on her time schedules and very honest. The average time for a reborn doll from Hill County Reborn Tots is 14-16 weeks. The artist, like many others, works on several toddler dolls at a time. I will say though, once a doll is started she seems to work pretty quickly!! Shipping and packaging was not only beautiful and fun to open, but all inside was secure with no damage at all.
Rating : 5/5
Overall, I give Hill Country Reborn Tots a 5 out of 5! I have been recommending her work to all of my friends and those interested in diving into collecting reborn toddlers. So far, I am super happy with her work and I look forward to ordering more dolls from her in the future.
