Fresh Fierce Collection Okoye

 Look who showed up on my doorstep! 

OKOYE! 

Okoye is the the general of the Dora Milaje and leader of Wakanda's armies.  In the interest of honesty, I will confess I have not seen her every appearance in the Marvel Universe.  I've only seen Black Panther in its entirety, and clips from the other movies. 

I have been watching this doll since I knew she existed because I freakin' love Okoye.  Full disclosure: I generally have no interest in superhero stuff.  The only Marvel movies I own are Thor Ragnarok (because Sam Neill) and Black Panther.  Black Panther caught my attention because of the rave reviews, so I watched it out of curiosity.  It blew me away.

Some folks will tell you Danai Gurira is the only reason I watched that movie or wanted this doll.  They're about 50% right, at least about the doll.  When I saw the doll for the first time, I said "She looks just like Danai."  World of EPI did a fantastic job on all three of the dolls in this set.  They all look very like the actresses.  I honestly think they are the best celebrity likenesses I've ever seen.

World of EPI is a black-owned company, focused on making black dolls that are not merely Caucasians in chocolate brown.  The fashion doll line is called Fresh Dolls, not easily found in my area, and a tad pricey.  The Fresh Squad (male fashion dolls) had my eye almost from the moment I heard of Fresh Dolls.  I eventually managed to get my mitts on two EPI dolls, both on sale.  

But I digress.  Okoye was very easy to remove from the box.  The insert has a Black Panther emblem in shades of blue and white.  Very cool.  Since the box didn't have to be destroyed, this gives me the option of keeping her items in it in case I ever decide I want to display her.

Okoye with my other dolls from World of IPA.  Fresh Doll "Lexi" and Fresh Squad "Kalil".  She's a bit shorter than Lex, but her shoulders are higher.  Lex got a big ole noggin.  

WARNING NEKKID PLASTIC PEOPLE AHEAD

RUN FOR THE HILLS

DON'T LOOK, ETHEL

While taking off her armor, I discovered that her skirt/wrap can be a cape.  

The clothes under her armor could be regular Barbieville clothes, but in the interest of keeping the set complete, they will be put away with the spear and armor.  I couldn't do this with my other movie characters because the boxes were destroyed.

Okoye has better hinges at the knee and elbow.  She's more muscular, as befits a warrior, and her wrists are articulated. Lex has smaller feet, so on the rare occasion that my dolls wear shoes, Okoye will have to share with the wrestler ladies and McG.   

With elbows at waist level, Okoye can almost touch her face.  She also sits in a more ladylike manner than Lex.

I haven't figured out yet what Okoye is gonna be doing in Barbieville.  

I now have two mini Danai Guriras in my house.  You are jealous. 

Skipper Babysitter Nursery

 Don't worry, I haven't forgotten y'all!  Just, as Big Sister says, life get in the way!  But I've not deserted Barbieville - been thinking about the next adventure even while juggling all the other stuff life's thrown at me.  To that end, I decided Orlando and Samara Pike needed a second crib.  I saw My Froggy Stuff review this set and just had to have it.

I tried to just get the crib on eBay, but those people were asking as much as for the whole set, so I just got the whole thing.  I figure the little Pike twins can use the stuff and new friends are welcome.

I usually keep things like this for fragile Christmas gifts, but The Boy (who is now a man) will be here soon and he deserves some officially sanctioned destruction.  Worse he can do with these is make me jump out of my skin!  Thank all the gods ever it ain't styrofoam.

I have a use for that backing, so carefully removed everything.  Here we have the bouncy seat, the babies, rocking horse, and Skipper.  Skipper will, of course, get rebodied.  The babies are clearly meant to be a boy and a girl (blue and pink diapers).

The bouncy seat even says Fisher Price on it.  Nice tie-in.  

The babies are both green eyed and blonde, but one has freckles and the hairstyle is different.  Blue Diaper looks a lot like Samara Pike, but Samara's hair is darker and her eyes are blue. I just love these newer Barbie babies - previous ones were either not articulated at all or almost too small to dress.

Rocking horse doesn't say Fisher Price, but is cute nonetheless. 

Skipper comes with a nice outfit, which will go into the wardrobe bin before she gets rebodied.

Wipes and bottle warmer have little pegs that lock into the under-crib shelf.  Both bottles will fit, but I found the limited space hard to work in.  The little hands this toy is meant for, though, should be fine.  This way I can show y'all one of the bottles - the only difference is color.

Solid plastic toy bear and solid plastic stack of diapers.  Nice detail on both.

Blanket in the crib.  It's a good size, which kind of surprised me.  Mattel's not known for supplying to-scale blankets with their beds.

You can take the mobile off the crib and play on the floor with it.  

I found this thing and was confused.

Then I realized it goes on the bouncy seat. 

Everything is in place.  Orlando checks out the bouncy seat and Samara rides off into the sunset while big brother Fred "cleans his side of the room".  Grandpa Mace sacrificed his night stand, but he's okay with that.  He likes his grandbabies more than the night stand.

The pediatric clinic gets a new look. 

Skipper and the babies join my Fresh doll Lexi (who is definitely getting a name change) in waiting for the move to Barbieville.  Maybe I'll make them all one big happy family, who knows?  Gotta get into the body donor bin before that happens. 

Finally!

I am so excited about new doll lines coming out!  For so long, we've had not much variety in the doll world - at least not the kind that appeals to me.  Barbie, of course, had the Made-To-Move line and sometimes a moderately articulated one would come along but lately the Standard Five have been, well, the standard.

That's not to say I've been languishing.  I've been able to find action figures in the right scale for Barbieville, or dolls from previous lines at places like yard sales and flea markets. Sometimes the Made-to-Move are on sale. There are even a few that have been around, but not in my area or price range.

All the dolls I'm talking about here have The Standard Five (neck, shoulders,hips) as well as elbows and knees.  Some of them have even more -- Made To Move Barbie has 22! 

I'm going to start with these handsome fellows.  The Fresh Squad is the male counterpart to The Fresh Dolls, who I'll talk about in a minute.  My favorite is Malik, the one with the braids.  Since they are fairly new and come with extra clothes, they cost a little more than most, but not ridiculously so.

The Fresh Dolls are a line designed (obviously) for girls "of color".  Even after all the progress we've made, there are still issues getting dolls that are anything but a brown-tinted but otherwise what designers call white-coded. The Fresh Dolls are an excellent way to fill that market gap. Some of these gals can be had for less than ten dollars!  

Bonus points if you can identify Froggy.

The WWE Superstars are Barbie-scaled versions of female wrestlers.  I've managed to get my mitts on Becky Lynch and Eva Marie.  Neither cost me more than fifteen bucks.  There are lots more in the line than pictured here and I love them!  They remind me of the Wonder Woman dolls... a line I neglected to mention in my opening.  I apologize, Amazons.

The Wild Hearts Crew.  These just hit the shelves!  They're carrying on the Monster High "Be yourself" credo, but with relatively normal size noggins. You can even find the Skullette hiding in the fashions.  Each gal has a distinct personality and there is a variety of body shapes. I think my favorite is Charlie Lake, she of the Pegasus shirt, followed closely by UFO chaser Kenna Roswell.   

The Comfy Disney Princesses from Ralph Breaks The Internet.  Articulation and the clothes more than make up for the unfortunate Disney tendency toward Vapid Face.  My favorites here (because of their clothes, frankly) are Tiana and Pocahontas.   

Last but not...  well, honestly...last and least.  The Disney Descendants.  I've gotten two on sale and used them for donor bodies.  That noggin is just a bit too big for my tastes, although a face with enough personality might make up for it.  

None of the photos in this post are mine, all came from the Internet.