The Finn Doll For Boys from Arklu review

We don't mind reviewing dolls, my two young boys have always played with them alongside other toys, so being offered the chance to review a doll for boys that challenges the aggressive stereotypes and hopes to show males in a more usual 'boy' role sounds great.

Finn is an 18cm tall doll who comes with different activities and outfits. We've been sent Kite Flyer Finn with a Gone Fishing Accessory pack.

The people behind Finn are Arklu, who in 2012 launched the Lottie Doll. Finn is the first boy doll in their range, and just like Lottie is designed to have a healthy body shape representative of a 9 year old child.

Finn engages in real-life activities that an average 9 year old really engages in, and encourages children to play using their imaginations, but exploring real-life scenarios. He's a far more REAL child than any other doll we've had, and frankly a much better role model.

I'm impressed that Finn can stand up by himself, although it's a bit tricky for my 4 and 6 year olds to balance him themselves. He's nicely poseable, with bending knees and jointed hips, neck and shoulders.

Clothes are something my boys have never really bothered with before with big dolls and action figures, so I was really pleased when I saw their response to Finn and they immediately started dressing and undressing him. The clothes are nicely made and represent clothes my boys would actually wear!

All of the clothes for Finn and the Lottie dolls fit either doll, which is right, as healthy sized 9 year old boys and girls can usually share clothes - ours did!

The accessories are nice too. They are well made with nice detail, and my 2 boys spent a long time playing with them with Finn. They've never actually been fishing, but they played at it for about an hour!

I was also impressed with the minimal packaging, using only a couple of twist ties. The recloseable box Finn arrives in is beautifully decorated, made from thick card with a handle, and can be used as storage afterwards.

We really like Finn, and can totally see what the buzz is about. My only problem is that my boys fight over him, they both think he's great, and not a mention of guns or violence!

Now it may not be entirely a match for this post, but the people behind the Lottie and Finn dolls have just released a stop-motion animation to promote their forthcoming 'Dolls Of Science' Lottie range, which will include a ‘Stargazer Lottie’ doll which is a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), and ‘Fossil Hunter’ Lottie doll which is a collaboration with TrowelBlazers, an international team of scientists dedicated to highlighting the contributions of women to archaeology, geology, and palaeontology. Finn's in it - he gets rescued by Pirate Lottie!

We like gender equality in our house. We like boy dolls and we like girls who aren't afraid to be pirates, ninjas or palaeontologists. We also like it when children are allowed to be children, and not sexualised,stereotyped or pigeon-holed early on. We like Finn, and we like Lottie too.

Arklu have given me a code to share with my readers. The offer code is LOTTIE10 and it works at the AMAZON checkout only (not on the LOTTIE website cart) and this offers shoppers the chance to get 20% off their purchase across entire range using the code, once they’ve spent over £20. The offer ends at Midnight on Sunday, 14 December 2014. 

The links I'm including here are to the products on Amazon so that you can take advantage of the codes. Kite Flyer Finn is currently £16.99 and the Gone Fishing accessory pack is £7.99.

We were sent our Kite Flyer Finn and Gone Fishing set to review.