Jem Es Fabulosa!/"Jem is Fabulous!"

As far as I know, there were only the first 7 female Jem dolls available in Mexican packaging (so, 1st Ed. Jem/Jerrica, Aja, Kimber, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy and Stormer).  It remains to be seen if Rio, fashions or playsets were made.
Packages are in (Mexican) Spanish, and say Made in Mexico. They are made by a company called "Juguetes Con Vida".  (translates to "Toys with Life" - thanks Omar!)  There has been some debate as to whether these are "real" Jem dolls or not, since it's not actually Hasbro themselves, but an apparent subsidiary of the company, the dolls themselves - at least the parts that were Mexican made...  Among the dolls available in Mexican packaging, there are the fully Mexican dolls (bodies and heads are presumably Mexican-made and have no markings on them); hybrid dolls (those with the shiny/unstamped bodies and Hasbro marked heads, usually second edition heads) and I've seen at least one doll in a Mexican box, that had only some of the Jem clothes, but the doll itself was of the fakey/dollar store variety!  Of these dolls, the complete Mexicans seem to be the most desirable as they have the most variation from the Chinese & Hong Kong-produced dolls*.  However, the Mexican-made heads, for all there distinctness, also tend to be lower quality and poorly made; often paint will be applied sloppily, hair plugs erratically placed, etc.  
For some reason, Mexican-made dolls these days seem to be most easily found in the UK (possibly because it was the biggest English-speaking market that imported them).  I've found one in Canada, have bought a few from the US and there have been some available from Mexico itself too.  Interestingly,  Spanish Jem dolls (as in, Made In Spain) were apparently available in South America (I got mine from Chile), as well as Spain.  I do not know if Mexican dolls were sold in South or Central America, at least in a typical retail toy store. 

*A sample of some interesting differences:

  • The bodies are very distinguishable in that their torsos are extremely shiny and do not have any Hasbro/date/Manufacturer markings on them.  The faces are usually paler, and the skin tone of the arms and legs tend to be pinker and shinier than their US counterparts (this extends to Shana as well).
  • Mexican dolls can come with either stamped Hasbro heads (sometimes known as "hybrid" dolls) or non-stamped, presumably Mexican-made heads. 
  • The Mexican dolls are generally the first year dolls but incorporating some second year improvements (the guitars are a hybrid of the 1st and 2nd edition US guitars.)
  • The tapes included with the dolls were dubbed into Spanish!
  • In many cases the fabrics are different; so far all of the outfits originally made of lamé have been replaced with a thicker "pleather" type material.
  • The shoes are from different molds- click here to tell Mexican shoes apart.
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    DOLLS: I don't have all of the dolls yet, but here are a few examples I can share some pics and info about:

    Mexican Jem/Jerrica
    Mexican Roxy
    Mexican Shana
    Mexican Aja
    Mexican Pizzazz
    Mexican Kimber
    Mexican Stormer
    Mexican Rio (Can anyone tell me if they've ever seen a Mexican Rio? I've only ever heard he *wasn't* available in South & Central America/Mexico.)
    See also Britrock, for much more detailed information on Mexican Jem dolls.
    The Show:  
    Jem was aired with a Spanish overdub.  The songs however, were not dubbed.  (How odd that the dolls' tapes were). As the songs began, a guy with a deep voice said the title in Spanish as the song started in English.  Interestingly, a tape I got with my Spanish made Jem (as in, Valencia Spain, not Mexican made) also had a man with a deep voice introducing some songs (that were not dubbed) and narrating the story.   Apparently Jem was aired by the Mexican cartoon channel "Zaz" in 2001. 
    David from The Jem Player has emailed me some clarifying information about the Mexican dub.  There were two dubs in Spanish.  A Mexican cast recorded the episodes of Jem, as well as My Little Pony, GI Joe and other Sunbow shows, in Los Angeles.   This dub was aired in Mexico, Central America and South America.  In 2008, a Spanish television station replayed these Mexican (or Latin American) dubs.  Spain also had it's own dub of the show, which certainly aired in Spain, and possibly other Spanish speaking countries.   I do not know if those songs were dubbed or not, but oddly enough there were two different voice actors for Jem and Jerrica!  
    Other Jem Items:
    A series of Jem comics were released in Mexico.  They were smaller than the regular comics.  I've only seen one, "La Aventura de Joanna"  featuring Jerrica wearing a cowboy hat. In Spanish, VID Editorial, dated 1988.
    Show and Comic information courtesy of Charles.