Downsizing Is Hard (Part Three)

 

I already mentioned that the adolescents in the classroom are either Harry Potter, Creatable World, or Claudia.  My dollhouse family males are hybrids, but the girls are not.  Jeremiah is a Fashionista and the twins are Finnick from Hunger Games, all three on MTM bodies.  Fred is a Kelly on a Zoe body.  Diana is Wonder Woman.  Belle and Hermione are from the recent Harry Potter line. Emma is the Hermione doll from the 90s.  Samara is a Babysitter Skipper baby.  

The children are mostly Chelseas and Kelly/Zoe hybrids.  Dan is the Harry Potter from the 90s.  Roxy is a Gymnast Stacie.  

The shoe holders house everyone else.  Most of the dolls pictured here are hybrids. 

MTM, Inspiring Women Susan B.  Anthony, and two wrestler ladies.  I'm pretty sure the wrestler ladies have the same body mold as Diana.  Divergent couple, Navajo Code Talker GI Joe (broken talk box), and Happy Family Grandma.

Cutie Reveals, Star Wars, and Barbie Extras.  

Fresh dolls, BMR 1959s, and two hybrids.

BTS, Barbie The Look, and a BRM 1959.

Harry Potter adults and a BTS.

Hiding in the bottom of my closet.  Wheelchairs, donor bodies, stands, etc.

Up top in my closet and neatly labeled.  Okoye's box (with all her stuff in it in case I decide to display her) and Western Fun Barbie in her box.  The Western Fun Barbie is notorious for not aging well and mine is no exception.

The display dolls are in the living room.  Two 18 inch Pocahontas dolls, Video Girl Barbie (who does work), Monster High Cleo and Lagoona, and Rusty.  I dress Rusty for upcoming holidays.

A Knock-off Rusty?

WARNING NEKKID DOLL 

 For those of you who are new here, or somehow out of the loop:  This is Rusty.

Rusty is the redheaded My Size Barbie that I wanted since 1992 and found a few years ago, at a local flea market, for ten whole big dollars.  She was wearing an original outfit, the bridal gown, but some accessories were missing.  Needless to say, I was THRILLED.   Rusty came home with me that day and has been my plastic daughter ever since.  

A chunk had been cut out of her hair, which I evened into a shaggy bob, but other than that damage was minimal.

Mark on one arm, presumably Sharpie.

A thin layer of nail polish on the eyes.  I assume someone tried to change her eye color.

*******************

Tonight my neighbor informed me that there's a doll "about this big" in the dumpster.  I called him a fibber (I had taken out trash about an hour before) and told him I didn't much care anyway unless it was a redhead.  He said the doll in question was a redhead.  He's yanking my chain, I thought.  He knows about Rusty and is just trying to get me to look so he can point at me and giggle.

"If you go out there and find a redhead doll of that size in the dumpster, I'll give you a dollar."  Guess what he did?  I'll give you a hint... I'm short a dollar. 

(Not my picture) 

(Not the actual doll in question)

Turns out, Jakks Pacific has a line of 32 inch Disney Princesses.  The current selling price is around 30 bucks, way less than the triple digits Mattel was asking in the 90s for Rusty.  But since it done costed me a buck, I figured I'd check the doll out and at least do a side-by-side comparison.

I brought Anna inside and stripped her in the bathtub - always the place for cleaning second hand toys that are too big for the sink.  This is what I found:

Her entire body below a black Sharpie "choker" is painted chalk white.  She's wearing a Duct Tape diaper.  Any value to a collector just tanked.  (The body mold does look very similar to Rusty's.) And when I removed the duct tape...

Someone made a valiant effort of replacing a broken-off leg.  I'm not sure what the blue is, but there's also a nice thick layer of hot glue.  I gave up at this point.  I'm not going to clean her up even enough for the planned comparison - she's going back into the dumpster as soon as I post this. 

I'm hoping the clothes she had on will fit Rusty, so I get something out of my dollar besides standing corrected on the existence of a redhead doll "about this big" in the dumpster.  

Just a funny lil story for y'all, really.  Enjoy. 

 

Doll Universes

 I got a little package in the mail today.  The note inside was signed by "The Main Giant" of Imagineville.  

I often muse on how individuals can diverge in their toy play.  I'm a doll gal, myself, so I'll be saying "doll" a lot, but this does cover the broader toy category.  I've often defended Barbie by telling people Ruth Handler insisted the doll is about possibilities, and my online "Barbie group" proves it!

I'm not one to join every group that comes down the pike, so I was wary when invited to join Toy StorieS on Facebook.  The second word in the name was what got me interested.  The same friend had invited me to other doll groups, but I'm neither a collector nor a displayer.  My dolls are for play!  Toy StorieS is a play group and WOW can we take the same doll in different directions.

This guy is a good example.  He is the Albus Dumbledore doll from Mattel's Harry Potter set.  It seems, though, that the only thing my Albus has in common with the Albuses of other people is that his beard has been trimmed!  Biker Grandpa seems to be a popular role for him. 

A lot of people have paired Albus with the doll version of  his fellow Hogwart's teacher.  I thought about that, but when I put him in regular clothes and the Bellamy Brothers started singing "Old Hippy" in my head, I knew that wouldn't work.

Another good example is Monster High.  I got these two for Christmas and they had to join my few display dolls.  (I do have a few, of the wrong scale and unboxed.  Guests are allowed to play with them. Hardly the usual life of a display doll.) 

I could rebody Cleo, but Lagoona is not a human skin tone.  Lots of other doll universes do go into the supernatural, but I keep Barbieville reasonably realistic.  Lagoona in one of those other universes could be an alien, the "daughter" of a mad scientist, or even just the monster she's designed to be.  

And every single possibility, every one of them, is okay.

It's so much fun to see what others do with the same toy, to explore a doll universe so unlike my own.  

 

Never Organized Enough

I've been reading about people using their stay-at-home time to reorganize and deep clean their homes.  Even though I try to keep things fairly well organized and do a deep clean in months divisible by three, I decided to see what I could do.  The area most in need of this was Barbieville.

Everything on this tall shelf is doll related.  I did have some non-doll items here and two of the vehicles in my desk area, but decided to remedy that situation.  Now, the only dolls outside of this area are the BOUS*, two Monster High gals, and Edna Mode.

At the border between Barbieville and Desk Area, we find the printer shelf.  The lowest shelf used to be a parking lot for the Jeep and Golf Cart.  It now holds coloring books, crayons, and my bin of Lego blocks.  The upper and third shelves used to hold assorted paper for the printer, phone books, and toy VWs.  Second shelf now holds my board games.  Upper shelf holds phone books and printer paper.  Top surface is, of course, the printer.  Keeping it company are the Pocahontas twins, Edna Mode, and Freddy Krueger.  Rusty has invaded Barbieville.

My VW toys took over this knick knack shelf.  Only the almighty Sam Booze survived the invasion.  (Wine from Two Paddocks, Sam Neill's winery.)

Odd combination of loose cards.  One of these games doesn't even live here!

Now I gotta figure out where to put all the homeless knick knacks that have invaded my pop culture shelf!  They done knocked Negan down and threw two other guys on the floor!  The carnage! 

*Barbies Of Unusual Size include Rusty (My Size Barbie) and 18 inch Pocahontas twins 

Doll Space Envy

A chat with some of my fellow doll people led me to consider the space I've dedicated to Barbieville.  Some of them have entire rooms!  And even outdoor spaces! 

This is Barbieville.  Not quite half of my living room.  Rusty (My Size Barbie) is the only doll that doesn't spend the majority of her time here.  Join me for a tour, won't you?  The large teal bin is Wardrobe and the pink thing under it is full of Lego blocks.

We start at the Pike's deck/carport.  A clip lamp on the neighboring bookshelf is used for lighting over here, if needed. (The table once held my grandmother's little television.)   

This shot of the Pike's house shows one of my lighting challenges. (It's a My Dolly And Me house, by Wicked Cool Toys.) 

Most of the day, I get natural lighting from the windows, which can create some lighting challenges.  I do sometimes use other locations in my apartment.  For hospital rooms, I use the kitchen counters. Anyplace that needs to look industrial, I set up in the furnace room. 

This old computer desk in the left-side corner is my primary shooting location.  The Guinness family portrait, for updating the census page, was the last thing I photographed and they're still there.  In all honesty, they'll be there until the next session.

Underneath is the rest of the Pike family vehicles, Pocahontas's Jeep, a play set piece, and an old grocery store display.  The display is crammed full of tables, school desks, and things to sit on.  Top shelf holds the pictures I sometimes use for backdrops.  Folding backdrops and play sets go between the desk and bookshelf next to it.

The bookshelf in the corner holds plastic bins full of accessories and one end of Albus's home.  This is also where most of the citizens of Barbieville hang out when not being played with.  (Those with established home sets, the Pikes and Albus, hang out in them.) There's also a "treasure chest" full of weapons.  My dolls are ready for the Zombie Apocalypse. 

That electric cord is to the wandering lamp.  So called because it wanders the area, providing light where needed. The iPod is hooked up to a portable radio, but those cords are tucked safely away.  You can see the lamp and radio in the first picture if you're really curious about them.

They generally hang out in family groups.  The Singles and Unassigned mix and mingle.  

The horses, horse trailer, sleigh, and golf cart share space with the day care's swing set and a tin full of headgear, including a space helmet.  The sleigh is full of decorative items.

My non-player dolls stand on the game shelf with my vintage VWs.  There are two 19 inch Pocahontas dolls, a Lagoona Blue, and a Cleo DeNile.  I'm not usually a fan of Monster High, but they were a gift - and ironically, I'd recently lost a feline companion of almost 20 years named Cleo!  

I have extra doll seating on the wall and right-side windowsill.  

That's my Behind The Scenes Barbieville.  None of my minions have complained about its utility as a play area.  I'm pretty happy with it, but just like Ariel....  (sing it with me) I want more!  So jealous of those with, like, whole rooms and yards to play in!

Rusty's Holiday Haul

WARNING!   POSSIBLE PARTIAL DOLL NUDITY AHEAD!  TURN BACK NOW OR YOUR EYEBALLS MAY BOIL!

It's been a busy day after Christmas for me and my dolls.  I already shared the fashion show and now it's Rusty's turn to be spoiled rotten.

Rusty says "Let's get this ball rolling!"

"That Santa bag is just overflowing with clothes for me!  But I know we've got to sort them out for size because I'm a 4T in height and, well, much smaller in width!" 

We got to work, first sorting the items by size group.  

The more we sorted, the more excited we got.

Finally, it was time to try things on.  

We started with "4T and up".  That skirt is very pretty, but...

...there is a waistband problem.  Honestly, I could make each leg of these pants into a pencil skirt for her if I had the talent and inclination.

The straps needs shortened a bit to avoid wardrobe malfunctions, but that I can do.  Looks like only the gingham top is going to be a keeper from this set.

On to "3T".  

Shirts are roomy, and Rusty is fine with that.   Waistbands are still too big.  This skirt is denim and way too thick for me to take in without giving Rusty a bustle.

So many double entendres...  

Waistband demo.  This skirt will go into the "maybe" pile.  

 That string-tie waistband is a lie!  But the shirt is good.  The pants go into the "Maybe" pile.  

"24 months and 2T".  These are the best fit for her, but only a couple of things came in this size.  

Gorgeous sundress.

 Rusty's on island time!  

"12 Months" is our best bet for pants.  Taking them in is far less likely to create a bustle.  Dresses are too short to be dresses, even with Rusty rocking the miniskirt, but they can be tops.  

Leopard spots, a bunch of bugs, and pretend denim.

Gingham britches, corduroy autumnal jumper, and what I suspect is a swim suit top.  That jumper is gonna get a lot of wear between Halloween and Thanksgiving!  

Pretty patterned shirt and a green mini with built in panties.

Another one for the "Maybe" pile. 

Rusty has a new Easter dress.  Check out the petticoat!  

The last set of clothes is "Less Than 12 Months".  Some of these might actually be too small! 

The bee's flight trails on the yellow say things like "bee happy".  The flowered shirt is awfully dark for my taste.  Chocolate brown doesn't speak spring or summer to me!

A tiny dress, complete with petticoats.  The red shirt may have been part of a set with the brown one above...  the flowers are very similar.  

The dress is too small in all directions.  

Overalls with snaps along the inner legs.  We aren't too keen on that, but they're adorable and the denim is in good shape.  I wonder if I could sew the inner legs or if that would make them too skinny?  I'll try that and if it doesn't work, repurpose the fabric.

These shirts are keepers.

As are these.

The sundress, baseball hoodie, and fancy dress.  I'm prone to thinking that light purple dress may have been worn by a flower girl in a wedding, it's that nice!

These will be taken in.  Anything else would end up with a bustle and Sir Mix-A-Lot is not Rusty's type.  I've not checked the overalls yet.

Very few pieces that cannot be used.  Rusty will pass them along or I will repurpose the fabric.

Rusty is quite pleased with her newly expanded wardrobe.