Rusty and Pokey: The BOUSes

 Anyone who has seen or read "The Princess Bride" knows what an ROUS is, but a BOUS?  A Barbie Of Unusual Size, of course!  I have two of these, an 18 inch Pocahontas and a red-headed My Size Barbie.  Here they are, with a BORS (Barbie Of Regular Size) to show the difference:

Since these gals are so big, they can't play with the other Barbies.  I use them as decor (if you ask nicely, you may play with them) and dress them for holidays.  A holiday themed knee sock is easily converted (even by me!) into a tube dress for Poky and Rusty wears anything up to 2T.  The waist will probably need taken in.  Mattel's estimate of 4T is based on her height, so anything under 4T is going to be short.  She's Barbie, she can rock a mini, and the smaller sizes are a better fit because she's so slim.  (More on that in a bit.)  Oh, she she wears a size 4 toddler shoe.

Pocahontas was a gift.  She was used, but still wore her Disney halter-and-mini combo and her hair was reasonably salvageable.  The basketball uniform she's wearing here was on Frodo when I brought him home from the thrift store! It was HUGE on him!  

Many years ago, a pair of My Size dolls "lived at Jeanie's".  They were the standard blonde, but I wanted a redhead!  (I even wrote one into my novel, which might get me sued if I ever get published.)  Fast forward several years and I'm browsing a local flea market.  There she was, wearing the bridal gown she'd been originally packaged in, and with a ten dollar price tag!  Despite a family rule about buying for yourself so close to Christmas, I snatched her up and took her home.  With that hair, she had to be Ginger or Rusty, and I chose Rusty in defiance of gender roles.

WARNING NEKKID DOLLS  

DON'T LOOK, ETHEL! 

Poky has the classic Barbie body shape, with waist articulation.  Her hair needed a bit of a trim, but otherwise she's in excellent condition.  Standard five points of articulation, as is the norm for an 18 inch.    

Getting ready to write this post, I was musing on the long-standing controversy over Barbie's figure and wondered what Rusty's measurements would be as a real woman.  According to my admittedly rough math, she'd be 38-28-38.  Those are actually reasonable measurements for a healthy human woman!  

Rusty's hair, like Poky's, was salvageable with minimal trimming needed.  She does have two marks on her arm that don't wash off, but that's all. She has flat feet and can stand on her own, but her articulation is limited to the standard five points.

When you come to my house, Rusty can be found in the living room, but in different spots.  Sometimes I make her stare out the window to creep out folks who don't realize she's a doll.  I'm easily amused.  Poky hangs out in the window all the time, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows she's a doll.