Blessing In Disguise

During my annual destruction/reconstruction of my window area (aka Barbieville) to decorate for Christmas, I found something very surprising. My babies, Orlando and Samara, have survived three moves and an extended time in storage.  They survived the gentle and not-so-gentle play of many minions - including at least one real effort at decapitation.  (Well, the other dolls have heads that pop right back on, so it was a valid experiment.)

 A word of warning:  This blog contains pictures of a dismembered plastic baby.  

I put this picture here for two reasons - so the slightly disturbing image won't be on my thumbnail, and to remind y'all who I'm talking about.  Orlando and Samara originally came with Baby Doctor Barbie back in the 1990s.  They belonged to a niece but "lived at Jeanie's".  When I moved the second time, I had to downsize drastically.  I told the minions that any dolls that stayed with me would become mine.  All the Midges and Jasmines promptly moved out...  

Well, yesterday I found this.  Honestly, after everything these little guys have survived, I'm at a total loss.  Because she's so small, any attempt at superglue would result in an immobile doll affixed to my hand, so I had a dilemma.  I've had other characters in Barbieville make a quiet exit after the dolls became irreparable.  Kida's exit even became a story point.  But this is a Pike.  A baby Pike.

Then I remembered the Babysitters Inc line.  I got two dolls with the standard five points of articulation for less than one usually is!  Because they're much smaller, I know, but I take my victories where I can. (Update:  Slight fib.  They only have four...  the heads don't move.)

These guys are almost as big as the Kelly dolls, which I like.  I know they're dolls and so won't age like real people do, but it was annoying that they were so tiny.  Hard to pose, for starters!  There's another reason this is a good thing.

Because now they can share clothes!  No more hanging around in diapers 24/7 with the pink dress and only onesie coming out for special occasions!  

I did have to go with a much darker Orlando, but that's not a problem.  I chose the two that looked the most like the originals.  Also, I've known lots of mixed-race babies to get darker.  I even alluded to it when these two were born.  

The original Orlando will stick around in case I need a newborn at some point.  What's left of the original Samara, though, is going to have to go in the trash.  Bummer.