Thank you Ms Leo

 Ms Leo, of the i-luv-dolls blog, asked me if I would be willing to adopt a GI Jane.  I'm always up for unusual "Barbies", so I said sure. 

WARNING WARNING NEKKID PLASTIC PEOPLE AHEAD

My dolls immediately put up lookouts for their new friend.

This is what I was expecting to receive.

This is what I found among all the bubble wrap.  Jane brought along her whole fam damily!

We have Hannah Montana's bestie (Lily?), one of the Encanto sisters (Isabel?), a headless really dark dude, a pale clone of Jackson from one of the Barbie movies, and Jane herself.  Also a bag of heads.

Heads.  I recognize all but one of them.

Bald guy, Justin, Aaron, Dude from Wicked (Fiero? No, that's a car), Anthony, Disney Prince (Beast)

Ms Leo sent along a donor body for Lily.  

She knows my aversion to poorly articulated knees and elbows.

Izzy is a substantial woman.  Also well articulated.

I'm going to call this kid Jason.  He is unable to bend the knee.  Or elbow.

Levar (named for Levar Burton, one of my celebrity crushes) is a Fashionista head.  He only matches females in my body bin.  He thanks Ms Leo for thinking of him!  It's not perfect, but it works.  Lily's already flirting with him on her new body.

He rejected her so hard her leg fell off.  Meanie.

So I brought out the bins.  Jason and the noggins wonder if they might have a match in there.  I'm already thinking of one for Lily.

The only kid body I have is too small and too tan.  The pale bodies are all too female.  

Levar says "Well, at least you still have a stiff body.  I didn't even have that."  

I managed to find a body for the Wicked dude, who is based on actor Jonathan Bailey, so he will be Jonathan. Lily has painted on hose but she prefers that to a missing leg!  Everyone put clothes on.  Except Jason, who was already dressed.

Meet Jonathan, Jason, Jane, Izzy, Levar, and Lily. 

Jeff

WARNING NEKKID PLASTIC DUDE 

 

Santa was so busy bringing me other cool stuff, he forgot my Wizard of Oz doll! 

So I bought him my own self.  Like a grownup.

Just like Madame Morrible, this doll does a great job of capturing the likeness of the actor.  Jeff Goldblum can now come to my house and play with himself!  I just love Jeff Goldblum.  Almost as much as I love Sam Neill. 

But I digress.  Here we have The Wizard.  He's really leaning into his emerald theme.  The chains on his paisley waistcoat are all one plastic piece.  There's an eye on his Adam's Apple. And flowers on the long coat.  I think poppies, as a nod to the original story.  

I was disappointed to see that most of his wardrobe was all one piece.  I expected to find the shirt and waistcoat were one, but thought the coat might be separate. Bummer.  I wonder if the real Jeff looks this good.  I know he did once.  I've seen The Fly.

I have it on good authority that this is the same body as the other Wicked dude doll.  Jeff (and presumably that other guy) is nicely articulated.  Jeff can sit totally upright, an improvement on Mattel's Harry Potter men. I understood why Hagrid has a lean, being a portly fellow, but not the others. 

A better look at his shoes and cane. 

Anyone who knows me knew this would happen.  I just had to turn him in Ian Malcolm. I forgot his shoes, but barefoot is the norm for my dolls anyway.  "There will eventually be dinosaurs on the dinosaur tour?  Oh, excuse me, Miss Raptor, I didn't see you there."

Dressing Barbies for Christmas

 When I talk about my on-line friends that I met via the doll community, I usually refer to them as "my Barbie People".  We trade stuff our dolls no longer need, ask for information (like what articulated body matches the noggin from an unarticulated body), and just generally support each other in our refusal to act our ages.

Remember the one who sent me Morrible when I couldn't find her in my neck of the woods?  (Of course, Morrible showed up in my stores after that!)  I was telling her how hard it is for me to get my dolls Christmas clothes.  One reason is a combination of my own frugality and family rules about buying stuff for yourself between a certain date and Christmas.  I wait for the after-holiday sales, but miss out on things because others beat me to em.  Another is that the nearest Target (for example) is forty or fifty miles away and I hate driving.  I'm also not a fan of ordering through the mail because  I like to check things out in person before buying and because porch pirates exist.  

I'm okay with "settling-for" what's easily available to me.  But my friend took pity on my poor dolls and sent a package for them.  The packaging said "Zubebe" so I'm assuming that's the maker.  These are very nice sweaters and my dolls are stylin' in them.

They're great.  The only problem I had dressing the dolls was the fingers snagging in the knitting, and that's easy to prevent if you're too impatient to just slow down a little. Just toss a bit of tape or fabric over the doll's hand!  They slip right over the noggin and fit nicely.

These are the holiday clothes my dolls already had. Midna's Santa shirt was an ornament, the only one of the three I managed to de-glue enough for anyone to wear. Most of the others are wearing T-shirts meant for a knock-off "Elf on the Shelf".  (Elf Mates?) Those work really well for most fashion dolls. Albus is wearing a home-and-badly-made Santa suit.

My big boy Hagrid can't wear any of that, but last year Santa brought him some "Snoop on the Stoop" wine bottle sweaters.  He's not pictured here because he's wearing the one that's not Christmassy - it just says DOGG SUPPLY 20.  Here you can see Severus and Sirius wearing Snoop Claus.  

Iris (rainbow braids), Yule Ball Ron (end of top row), and Tommy (Creatable World beside Iris) are wearing Family Dollar sweater ornaments.  I do not recommend these for dolls.  The appliques are barely glued on.  They aren't stretchy.  I had to snip the neck holes to get em over the doll's heads and then the knitting tried to unravel.

But here's the crew in their Zubebe sweaters.  These are as easy to put on as the Elf Mate(?) shirts.  They fit well on a variety of body molds.  The colors and designs are festive.  Absolutely no complaints. Except it's hard to see, in the pictures, the snowflake on the light blue!

Once again, thank you to my Barbie Person.  My dolls suffer so horribly living in the boonies with a penny-pincher who hates driving.  I hope gifting these sweaters gave you as much pleasure as getting them has given us. 

Disney ily 4EVER

WARNING NEKKID DOLL BOOBIES

RUN FOR THE HILLS 

I haven't bought any of the Disney ily 4EVER dolls for a couple of reasons.  One, they are ridiculously expensive.  I don't even want to think about the price of the Disney Store versions.  The Jakks Pacific play line ones are more than a Barbie with more articulation.  Two, the only ily thing I've seen that really fired me up is this fashion pack.  Which I did buy.  Don't ask the price.

 They're based on the tradition of Disney Bounding, in which a guest at the amusement park dresses "inspired by" a favorite character as a way to circumvent rules against adults in actual costume.  None of them floated my boat until I spotted this gal. 

I didn't buy her but kept eyeballing her.  The high price was mitigated for me by the second outfit, but still more than I was willing to pay.  Today I found her in the Clearance aisle for less than 20!  You know she hopped right in my cart.

Some of the outfits don't strike me as practical for a day at the amusement park!

 I must confess I have never seen Nightmare Before Christmas.  What struck me about this doll was the whole Little-Goth-On-The-Prairie thing she has going on.  Unlike most of the dolls in this line, this gal bears a passing resemblance to her inspiration. I'm just going to go ahead and call her Sally.

Her earrings (which are removable) look like Jack Skellington.  Her hair tangles badly around that gray coming out of his noggin.  I might snip that - the gray, not the hair.

Here she is in her second outfit.

She has molded on panties and lots of articulation.  You know I gotta have them knees and elbows!

Her coffin shaped bag opens.  The necklace features the curvy hill I see in much of the Nightmare merchandising and the purse charm looks like Jack's ghost dog.  The clutch purse doesn't open and the handle has the ghost dog and a Jack head.  I could not manage a decent picture of it, but that's some cool detail.  The clutch makes me think of Yzma (Wrong movie, Kronk!).

Phoebe (a reissue Barbie and the Rockers doll) is similar in articulation.  Sally's head and feet are  larger, but that's okay.  A lot of my dolls have more realistically sized feet than Barbie.  And Sally's head ain't bigger than her torso like certain (freaky) doll lines I could name.  Jakks Pacific does dolls well.

Madame Morrible

 

WARNING! NEKKID DOLL BOOBIES!

I've been trying to get my mitts on Morrible since before Christmas.  I don't care much about the other Wicked dolls, or about Wicked.  But the folks politely referred to as "older" are rare in doll form.  When I saw Morrible reviewed on YouTube, I instantly added her to my wish list!

A friend in Pennsylvania took pity upon my quest and mailed her to me.  She was supposed to be here on the 15th but got here on the 20th, after a bizarre side trip right through Ohio and back.  Dumb post office.

Side Note: I had two empty roles for an Asian grandma when my Barbieville soap opera was a thing.

  Discounting characters like Severus Snape, who were much younger than the actor who played him, I had five "older" folks.  Now I have six and the boys are outnumbered!

Here she is!  Her hair comb jumped right back off her head and vanished, but otherwise she's intact.  Her clothes will be put up with Albus and McG's robes.  She gonna get some civvies.

Closeup of that lovely face.  It's a good likeness of the actress, Michelle Yeoh.  

I managed to get her out of the packaging without ruining the backdrop.

These boots are made for walkin'.  So are the knees.  Dolls in Jeanie Land must have working elbows and knees, with few exceptions. (Looking at you, Tris.) I keep a bin of donor bodies, usually from thrift stores and yard sales

I've been putting off McGee's boil wash (to straighten the updo) for almost as long as I've had her.  She joined Morrible.  I'm not very good at these - I'm always afraid of melting heads. 

Susan B volunteered to do the same.  The historical Susan B. Anthony was in her fifties during the Suffragette Movement, but this doll looks way younger.  Maybe the Inspiring Women dolls are Barbie cosplaying?  

Morrible is happy with her new friends.  Boiling water poured over the head is a great bonding experience, I guess.  I'll take their word for it.

Sunflower and Iris like their updos up.  I agree.  That hair was a big selling point for me on both of them.  And Sunflower had to raid the donor bin because she was a Fashionista! 

I and Morrible both thank my friend for her generosity.

 

  

Fashion Show!

My Christmas dolly diorama. 

It's some hybrid of sleigh ride and caroling.  

Don't think about it too hard, just enjoy the seasonal 

T-shirts.  

     After holiday markdowns and Santa's visit, more of them!  I bet the bottom halves of Khalil and Jeremiah are cold.  Also Hagrid's toes.  Hagrid is tickled pink at shirts he can wear, and even talked me into letting the gold and black be a year-round shirt.

Santa also brought Grumpy Bear Cutie Reveal and a whole bunch of clothes!  (Also some Mini Brands Home, but that's got no bearing on the fashion show you know I planned immediately.)  The clothes are second-hand and not all in pristine condition, some need repairs, but Santa did an excellent job of finding me a variety.  No complaints.

I decided to use the dolls in the diorama (and Grumpy, because none of the diorama females are standard body molds.  Susan B is curvy, Morgan and Diana have the athletic/heroine mold, Rose-Grace has a Wild Hearts body) as models in the fashion show. 

Are we ready, kids?

We'll start with the Disney Princess gowns.  I'm assuming the solid-color skirts go here because they were packaged with the gowns.  Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel, Rapunzel skirt.  (Grumpy's built-in top helps with modesty!)

Mirabel, Isabella, and Merida

Anna, Belle skirt, Belle, Elsa skirt.  Rose-Grace's improvised top is not part of the fashion show.  

Three versions of Elsa.  The sheer fabric on Morgan and Diana's shoulders were in bad shape, so they went bye-bye.  Other wise, all fashions shown are as they arrived.  

The red/yellow on Casey would work better as a top, or on a shorter friend. The red on Diana (I'm pretty sure) came from a Holiday Barbie.  I suspect the ones on Susan B and Morgan are hand-made.

More dresses.  

Susan B's house robe is really quilted.  I think it and the dresses on either side of her are hand-made.  

Skating costume and some more dresses.  I promise, we'll get to britches eventually.

I wonder where they are going, all dressed up?

Susan B finds another dress that better serves as a shirt.

The dress on Susan B looks like it came off a teddy bear, definitely needs some taking in.  Or turned into a skirt.  She's one movement away from a wardrobe malfunction!  (And yes, I know Diana looks like Jeanie dressed her.  Because I did!) 

Look!  Britches!  Now Susan B looks like Jeanie dressed her. 

Rose-Grace and Grumpy rocking the micro mini skirts.  Or are they shorts?

Now that we're into britches, the guys join the party.  

Ignore the dice bag holding up Khalil, he has a bad case of the floppies.  

Hagrid is wearing his original pants.

Now we're just getting silly.  Ron's in a life vest and Yule Ball Harry is wearing a coat with shorts.

Now Casey's wearing a coat with shorts!

Now, I know that Baywatch suit came on a full-size Barbie!  But it was even too small for Grumpy?

Trying really hard not to go off about doll proportions here.  Barbie's unrealistic, but them undies came off a doll with a head bigger than her torso.  

Back of the jackets modeled elsewhere.  The blue one says POP, not POO.

The swimsuit tops are too big around the chest (under the boobs).  

You saw Casey model the gingham, but it was very tight, and the others' waistband were too small even on Casey.  These things will fit Emma, Dan, or Roxy.  Maybe even the Harry Potter girls - they're quite skinny. 

All told, a very nice addition to the doll wardrobe.