Playing With Yourself

 

I've seen this meme, and others like it, and they always make me giggle.

We can always use a little giggle.

So I decided to see who could come to my house and do this.

Sadly, Sir Ian did not make the cut. 

We'll start outside the dollhouse.  (I did limit this to live-action characters.  Mainly because I haven't got the slightest idea which doll lines have animated versions, or how to qualify it.  Would my 1990s Midge count as Life In The Dreamhouse Midge?)

Here we have a couple of Robert Englund, Litefoot, Andre The Giant, and Kevin Peter Hall.

Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln and Jeffery Dean Morgan.

Two versions of Danai Gurira transitions us to the dolls.

Seated: Susan B. Anthony, Jimin, Jung Kook

Standing: Sir Christopher Lee, Theo James, Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Gal Gadot, Eva Marie, Becky Lynch, Samuel L. Jackson

Standing: Robbie Coltrane, Gary Oldman, Sir Richard Harris, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Dame Maggie Smith

Seated: Robert Pattinson, Katie Leung, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch 

3 of Emma Watson, 3 of Daniel Radcliffe, 2 of Rupert Grint 

**And thanks to my friend Leigh, Michelle Yeoh is on the way!**

 

Yard Sale Haul (Choosing Keepers)

I was surprised to see that most of the dolls did not need extensive trims.  Almost everyone's hair combed out with little effort.  Those I don't keep will appeal to a new human more if they don't look like they just got hit by lightning.  

After that was done, the selection process began.  Since my space is small, I limit the number of dolls in Barbieville.  One of my friends added more dolls to her dollyverse than I had in total during 2019!

The Mattel Princesses and Barbies.  There were a few here I knew were keepers from the start, even without working knees and elbows.  I was hoping some head swaps would help with that.  Also, I hoped some of the boys would be body donors for Kevin and Jeremiah.

Clone dolls, Monster High, and Hi Glamm (previously identified as Winx).  Only one of these was a keeper - the man with the gray beard.  The rest suffered from poor articulation, deformities, and/or Vapid Face.

Bratz.  Neither boy was suitable for Kevin or Jeremiah, even with feet attached.  The lemon-on-a-toothpick proportions are just too far from reality for me, so none of these dolls will be keepers. 

Holly Hobbies (not Strawberry Shortcake) and Wee Three Friends.  I debated these for quite a while.  The combinations of childlike features and adult shapes or sizes led me to decide against them.  I even had the Wee Threes with jointed elbows in my keep pile for a while.

This is the gal I mentioned in the previous blog, with the wild hair and face I really liked.  I thought she was Diva, from Barbie And The Rockers, but once I tamed the hair... she's Midge.  Every Diva I've ever seen had really heavy eye makeup, but I can't remember a Midge with super curly hair.  Research provided only the information that Diva and Midge share a face mold.

I think these three are celebrities.  Pretty sure the one on the left is Brandy Norwood.  

Shoes.  Lots of sizes and only three orphans.  They will all stay except the orphans.

Cinderella figures.  I waffled on these because that one of the stepsisters makes me giggle.  Decided not to keep them or break up the set.

Bratz feet and snap-on hair for one of the smaller gals.  I was bummed to see the black boots were Bratz.  None of my dolls can wear them.  Same with the roller skates.

Happy Meal toys.  Bratz and Barbie.  These will go into Doll County Day Care's toy stash.

Madame Alexander Happy Meal toys. Not keepers, but I stole what clothes I could for the toddlers. Was mad when the pumpkin costume didn't fit anyone.  

Cabbage Patch Kids.  Happy Meal toys,  Not keepers.

Sally Secrets Happy Meal toy - her feet are hole punches (one makes stars, the other hearts).   Debated keeping her just because she's so cute, but decided against it. I wouldn't use her.

 Wedding cake and bowling set.  Those balls are not the original ones - they're stress balls. The kind that clank against each other, not the squeezy kind.  The cake is a double of the one I already have, just in a different shade of pink.  The stress balls will probably go away but I'm keeping the pins and cake.

I have no idea what this is.  I thought it was the cap for a pencil-shaped pencil case, but it has what looks like Hebrew characters on it.  A dreidel?  I'll be keeping it for now.

After some head swapping and debate, these eight will be the only ones kept.  My Scene Chelsea, Gray Beard, Rapunzel, Hula Hair Barbie in rear. Brunette, Midge/Diva, Cho's mommy, and Purple Slippers in the front.

Hula Hair Barbie is on a My Scene Kennedy body - her own was very floppy and she chose to be less articulated.  Also, she gets a nice shoulder tattoo.  A snowflake in colors that match the dyed portion of her hair.  I kept Rapunzel because I thought they made a nice mom/daughter pair.

Midge/Diva and Purple Slippers upgraded to jointed elbows and a solid body, respectively.

I've got roles in mind for Gray Beard, the brunette, and of course Cho's Mommy.

Let The Carnage Begin

WARNING: DOLL CARNAGE AND NUDITY AHEAD

TURN BACK NOW OR SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE

I've had my eye on these gals for a while.  For the articulation, frankly, but more on that in a bit.  This is my COVID-19 splurge.  The rest is going to bills, I swear!  Okay, most of the rest...

The single pack Comfy Princesses do not have knees.  Not even click knees.  So I had to buy the double packs, which gave me a couple of extra gals.  

Most Disney Princess dolls suffer from a severe case of Vapid Face, so my intent from the start was to do some head-swapping.  I bought three princesses of color for the best match to Nikki, Courtney, and Gabriella.  I hoped the extras would match Wendy and Alex.  

Skin tone match isn't perfect, since the noggins are Mattel and the bodies are Hasbro, but I can work with it.

Here Nikki and her body donor compare how well they can hold a phone.  Neither can put it to her face, but at least Tiana can FaceTime.  Whoever Nikki is talking to is looking over there!

Nikki only has click knees, which is an improvement over no knees at all.  But only a slight one.

No, this isn't cannibalism.  

Boiling water softens the heads so they can be easily removed and minimizes the chances of neck pegs breakage.  We don't want the pegs stuck in there because then the new peg might be too big.  Wendy and Alex were already off their bodies.

I'm not so nice to the noggins I don't plan to keep.  This way the neck pegs are intact and not even bent.  You'll notice only four heads when I said I was rebodying five gals.  The Alex head didn't match any of the skin tones at all.

So I'm just going to recast her with one of these two.  Comparing them to Alex's father and sister, Aurora seems to fit in best.  (I guess my dark-haired Alex is gonna get a makeover.)  Not sure yet who Rapunzel will end up being.    

UPDATE: Alex will be the fashionista with the green mohawk on whichever body matches best.  There was an issue with my delivery and Amazon gave me a credit on my account, as an apology.  I chose to get a different noggin for Alex!  Neither of these big-eyed blondes were Alex for me. 

And here they are!  

Wendy Darling, Courtney Montez, Gabriella Montez, and Nikki Pike 

Debuting working elbows and improved knees!

They do have a slight case of bobble-head but that's all right.  

Jeremiah, the younger Eaton boys, and most of the children are jealous.  

They don't even have click knees.

That will be my next project.

A Much Needed Uplift

A little background for those who may not know:  I'm a Depressive and refer to said Depression as a demon in my head or the tenth personality.  As in "nine out of ten of my personalities approve".  The personification's name is Sybrie The Tenth.

Sybrie spent a good part of today raging at me that I'm a failure at life.  Specifically because I never had the brood of children I so badly wanted.  The same brood people "know" I have the moment they see evidence of my SSDI and supplemental Welfare programs. 

Heather, a recently adopted minion, texted to see if I was home.  She recently got her IRS refund, is quite generous of spirit, and had asked which Harry Potter dolls I don't have yet.  I'm hoping all those clues indicate she's bringing me someone. One being the key syllable.

She did.

Sybrie shut the eff up so fast!

I knew once I'd gotten over the wonderful surprise, at least to some extent, my hordes of Barbieville followers would want to know about this.  So here we are!

The Yule Ball dolls have the same articulation as the previous runs.  They can stand on their own, at least when wearing shoes.  We all know how seldom that happens in Barbieville! I couldn't get Cho to stand on her own. 

The first run and Quidditch dolls were based on Chamber of Secrets, in which they were 12/13.  This run obviously is based on Goblet of Fire, when they were 14/15.  As a result, these dolls have a new and more mature face sculpt. 

I think the guys look better without the dress robes.  (Poor Ron.) 

Comparison between Dan (90s Harry) and the newer versions.  The ones already living in Barbieville are named for the character or the actor.  Not sure what name Yule Ball Harry is going to answer to.  Yule Ball Harry's longer hair is more of a dark brown.  

Like Belle (Yule Ball Hermione), he will join the blended Potter/Granger family.  Belle was living with her dad.  I wonder where this guy was?

The Rons.  The new,  slightly more mature boy will likely be Rupert.  For the actor, just like Dan above and Emma below.  His hair is shaggier and a different shade of redhead. 

I've already established that Ron's only sibling is Ginny.  Maybe Rupert is Becky's little brother and therefore a cousin.

Emma is the 90s Hermione.  Hermione, in center, is from the Chamber of Secrets run.  Yule Ball Hermione, who I got for my birthday, was named Belle after one of Emma Watson's other roles.  Hmm... does that mean Yule Ball Harry is gonna be Iggy?  Horns is the only other Daniel Radcliffe movie I've seen.

I think these faces have the biggest difference.  Hermione looks far more serious than Belle and has more freckles.  Belle's even got a bit of a smirk. 

The Yule doll girls have different feet!  Cho and Belle are holding the big toe away from the rest.  Hermione isn't.

I don't have any previous Chos, so I'll compare her to Belle.  Same body mold, but the noggins are different.  Cho's face looks to be slightly rounder and Belle's nose is thinner.  I thought they had the same earrings, but no.  Both flowers, but details vary.

 Cho is an excellent likeness of Katie Leung.  Not sure how she's going to fit into Barbieville.  Yet.

Heather also gave me Belle for my birthday.  

Can you tell she's a Potterhead?  

HUFFLEPUFF PRIDE!

Building Families

When I decided to do a Barbie blog and thus spare people on the rest of my social media, I knew I wanted to do stories.  Most of my favorite Barbie blogs do that, with great variety!  Some are silly, some downright adult in content, and I wanted to join in on the fun.  

  I've not figured out how to divide this blog into sections like most of them.  They generally have an area for story lines, for character lists, and the like.  I found the idea of building Barbieville all at once intimidating.  Stephen King once said "The story is the boss", so I decided to simply let Barbieville evolve as the stories demanded.  

 At first, the only family I had developed was the Pike family.  Main characters, if you will.  A few of the family members I decided on had official names and I tend to stick to those.   Pike could be the dad's first name, so I had to decide if he'd stay Christopher and answer to his last name.  My other options were O'Dair (the twins), McKessie (Taylor), Roberts (Stacie), and Flintstone (Fred).  

I decided to make them a blended family since there are clearly two races represented.  It's been my experience that mixed-race humans do not remain so clearly one or the other.  I toyed with the idea of ex-wife drama, but that's been done to death.  Candy, Pike, and Rose-Grace love the kids and will not put them through the wringer. 

So Barbieville began with one big happy family.

The Smiths happened to give us a peek into Rose-Grace's life between husbands.  Since John was a widower, I found a couple of brats who looked like him.  I used the Dad's surname, as I had with the Pikes.  Roxy is technically a Stacie, so both she and Kelly should be Roberts.  There's some history between him and Pocahontas Nedakh to be explored.  Will she be the new Mrs. Smith?

The Eatons are named for the eldest son.  The only one with a character surname was Four (Tobias Eaton).  Esmeralda never had one.  Both the younger boys are named for former Mattel dolls that never had one.  Marcus was named for Four's dad in Divergent - but he's a much better person.  They evolved to further the KBV storyline.

The Montez family was almost accidental.  Joe was mentioned in a bit of dialogue and I didn't want another widower.  Gabrielle and Courtney were already sisters, at least in my head.  I noticed Courtney has very dark auburn highlights.  Batgirl has auburn hair!  Maybe her maiden name was Barbara Gordon.  Jenny joined on a whim.  

Violet needed a last name.   Her daughter Raven should make an interesting contrast - I see her as very easy going.  So they are the Baxters.  Raven is very firm in my mind as an only child, but does Violet have a spouse?  (BTW, the doll is the main character of "That's So Raven".)  

These two had a very sisterly vibe in the Disney films and I knew I wanted to bring that to Barbieville. When my Kida Nedakh died of Head Transplant complications, I made them her daughters.  Pocahontas left college to take over her mother's storyline amusement park and take custody of younger sister Nakoma.  Their father has always been absent.

Claudia Kishi is my favorite character in the Babysitters Club books and I named the Babysitter Inc Asian for her.  Ben is raising his little sister.  Why?  That remains to be seen.

These are my characters, short Peeta Mallark, with surnames but no assigned kin.  Midna was originally Sunburst of the Fairytopia line, so I made that her last name.  Brent Spiner had no name when I got him, but reminded me of the actor. Ken's official last name is Carson,  Hikaru Sulu runs a greenhouse - botany was a hobby of Sulu's on the original Star Trek. 

 Tris Prior, Mariko Nakano, Alex Russo, and Skipper Roberts in back.  Charmaine (originally Sharpay) Evans and Wendy Darling flank Wilma Flintstone.  What will become of them?  What will become of the Barbieville citizens without surnames?  Only The Story - The Boss - knows for sure.

**Of course, the disclaimer.  My characters share only faces and names with those of the copyrighted characters.  Well, maybe some personality traits.**