Doll Envy

One of the bloggers I follow shared a picture of the dolls she'd bought in 2018 - it was more than Barbieville's entire population!   I can't do that.  I'm on a very limited income, and so have to be very choosy.  That said, I do have some plans for Barbieville.    

Lots of my fellow Internet Doll People are reviewing the Team Stacie dolls right now.  I've even posted about the boy in the line, mistakenly thinking he had the exact same head as the Babysitter Inc boy.  Of this line, I'm eyeballing the scientist, the gamer, and the artist.  I plan to call them Janet, Layla, and Todd - after past friends of Stacie.  But they aren't a priority because they aren't very well articulated.  Just the standard five points.

The ones I'm prioritizing are the new Harry Potter line.  Articulation, check.  Kids, check.  Elderly folks, check.  Well, one elderly folk - I'm not charmed by Dumbledore's beard.  It's hard plastic.  If you look up under it, it's not touching the chin at all.  It's like they molded it separately and glued it to his top lip.  I'll only get him if he's ridiculously marked down and then likely use him as a donor body.  I planned to start slowly buying this set in January.  But then I saw...

  

...these two on eBay.  The seven inch, fully articulated Harry Potter dolls from the 1990s.  Got them both for less than one of the new dolls is priced at and both are in excellent shape!  I'm saving the names Hermione and Harry for the new line, though, so these two are Emma and Dan after the actors who played the roles in the movies.  There is a Ron, also, but he seems to be rare and therefore expensive.  I doubt Rupert will ever live in Barbieville.  

Since the Grangers in the books were dentists, I've decided PJ is Dr Granger, mother of Hermione and Emma.  Dan and Harry will be siblings. Ron and Ginny will remain the siblings they already are.  The family make-up of the Potters and Weasleys in Barbieville is undetermined at this point.

Another one I want is Fashionista 110.  I just love her face and that green and black hair!  She isn't a priority because of articulation.  I do have donor bodies, though, so she's ahead of Team Stacie.  

Of course, there's always room for a bargain, but as it stands right now, these are my only planned purchases.  If Publisher's Clearing House shows up at my door, though, I'm gonna be the one giving Doll Envy! 

PS: None of these photos are mine.  They're mostly from Amazon.  Emma and Dan are the pictures from the actual eBay listings where I bought them.

What Is Mattel Thinking?

My Froggy Stuff posted a review of a new line of dolls.  Team Stacie.  I was thrilled!  Finally, some friends for Stacie!  Only the five basic points of articulation, which I can live with at that price point.  We can always find at Stacie with at least click knees and a matching skin tone, right?

Froggy said the two she reviewed were only part of the line, so I did a little research.  The Team Stacie's boy has an identical noggin to the Babysitters Inc boy.  The same mold, the same paint, everything. And maybe it's just me, but that face seems kinda mature for Stacie's age.

 (The boy in the dancing skeletons shirt is the one in question.)  

Head and face molds get reused all the time, it's no secret, but the face paint and skin tones can create many different looks.  Even the second run of Babysitters Inc isn't identical to the first, and I assume they're meant to be the same people!  I can live with lesser quality for a lower price point, I really can, but not even giving Team Stacie Boy his own noggin?  

Todd had the Stacie face mold.  His face paint was male-coded - shorter lashes and more neutral lip color.  A lot of people make their own boys by repainting the faces and cutting the hair on girl dolls.  It's actually pretty simple on a child.  Often even the same body mold works.  

It is possible that the picture I saw was a prototype.  He may end up with is own noggin.  I hope he does.  That one just hurts my brain.

Update:  Ms Leo over at I-Luv-Dolls posted better pictures of him and I totally stole one of them.  He doesn't have the same noggin after all!  In fact, he kind of looks like they took Babysitter Inc Boy's head and put the face of the Club Chelsea boy I named Bobby on it.