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.

Yard Sale Haul (Sorting and Cleaning)

The Boy's neighbor had a yard sale.  His mom, urged to "get Jeanie up here", instead opted to just buy me an entire bin of assorted used dolls.  The hair is going to be a challenge, but otherwise they are in pretty good shape.

Here they are after the communal bath, standing around naked, as you do.  The Boy's mom stripped them for me and washed the clothes.  (Thanks!)  All I have to do now is sort them out, decide who is a keeper, find homes for the others, and assign roles to the keepers.

Two soft-body dolls, after a run through the washer and drying in a patch of sun.  Use of a commercial dryer might damage the hair, so we avoided that. I love the face on Purple Slippers.

Google wasn't a lot of help with the trio on the left.  Obviously they are Strawberry Shortcake characters, but I found little to no information on 12 inch dolls in that line.  The long-legged things on the right are Winx dolls.  Again, I don't remember this specific line.  All the Winx I ever saw were leggy, but not to this extreme.  All five of these dolls have the basic five points of articulation and click knees.  Winx faces are gorgeous but they are so... wispy? Well, they are meant to be fairies. 

UPDATE

The "Strawberry Shortcake" dolls are Holly Hobbie and the "Winx" are a line called Hi Glamm.  Thanks to Treesa for the correction!

A plethora of Wee Three Friends.  The bodies are dated 2000.  My only real recollection of them is being mad that they gave Stacie boobs.  The whole reason they introduced her was to fill a void left by the aging-up of Skipper!  Google tells me the friends are Whitney Hadley (kin to Midge, I assume) and Janet.  Most of these have the standard five points of articulation and click knees.  Some of them have jointed elbows. 

Bratz.  Like the Monster High dolls, I love the clothes and accesories but I'm not a fan of the dolls.  Giant noggins, tiny bodies...   Most of their clothing will fit Stacie and friends.  The clothes from the smaller ones will fit the toddlers. Five points of articulation and click knees on most of them.  I did spot a few jointed elbows.  I'm eyeing the boys as body donors for Kevin... he don't even have click knees.

Assorted others.  Two "Lovely Patsy" dolls, Monster High, Steffie Love, a Diva Star, and I think Farrah Fawcett.  She's a Mego from 1977.  I hope to find the Monster High boy's forearms, but no luck.  Others in the doll community have told me he's a good match for Kevin's skin tone.

Another assortment.  These look to be dollar store finds, mostly with click knees.  That little Ariel in the front was wearing a Snow White dress.  That gray-bearded fella is definitely moving to Barbieville.

Mattel Disney Princeses.  Jasmine, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Anna.  Poor Anna is missing a foot. Click knees on most, if not, all of them.    

And the actual Barbies!  That gal in the back left, with the crazy hair, I cannot place.  I think she's one of The Rockers. I'll get a closeup of her face in a later post.  Kyra's identical twin (Secret Spells Kayla) in the back row, between the headless and the brunette with working elbows. 

That poor Ken on the end doesn't even have click knees. Mixed in with the Barbies are some My Scene and maybe a couple of celebrities.  At least one of them will end up being Cho's mommy.

Bits and bobs, as I call them.  Clothes that were missed during the inital stripping. The swimming pool does hold water but needs a bit of railing replaced.  

And the clothes.  There were several dresses that fit my bigger gals.  Only a handful of items were not usable - in part because I don't want kindergarteners in corset tops.  Next step is rescuing the hair and deciding who goes and who stays. 

BTS Dolls

                               

WARNING!   DOLL NUDITY AHEAD!  TURN BACK NOW IF THAT BOTHERS YOU!

The BTS dolls, which were reviewed in depth on My Froggy Stuff and NexJen (YouTube), were available at Five Below, but all gone by the time I was able to buy them.  GRRRR 

Mind you, I know next to nothing about BTS.  I just wanted articulated boys who aren't "action figures" and therefore built like Rambo.  The reviews of the dolls were good -- joints are solid, they have nice face sculpts and quality clothes.  

Someone dropped a bug in my ear about the pricing on Amazon.  I splurged, because it averaged out at less than ten dollars a doll.  And here they are!

Obviously, this is after they were freed from the boxes and got the product washed out of their hair.  I also wrote the names on the soles of their feet so I remember who is who.  

I just noticed you can't see the ankles are jointed, but you'll have to take my word for that one.  The joints are a little stiff but that makes it easier for them to hold a pose.  There are some limits - they aren't able to touch their faces - but I can adapt.  

I left the britches on them.  They are pretty standard pants, in patterns that match the jackets.  One pair has a belt and one pair is black (no red-with-paisley).  Shoes were nicely detailed sneakers. One guy was wearing a tie.

Most of the shirts are sewn into the jackets, but the front opens with velcro.  The one with a hoodie pulls off over his head and the jacket part has very little give, so it does give a bit of a fight.  The yellow jacket (glad it doesn't sting) had a white sleeveless shirt under it, which opens at the neck with velcro.

I wondered how many of my other guys could share clothes with BTS.  They look awfully skinny.  Pretty sure I managed to try one man of each body mold... let's see the results.

Ben and Ken are pretty comfortable.  It closed over Dean's chest, but the arms are tight.  The sleeve doesn't quite reach Dean or Ken's wrists.  (Ben is on a Disney Descendants body, Dean is either World Peacekeeper or Power Team, and Ken is a standard Ken.)

Albus manages to get his arms in, which is more than I can say for Sulu. Both these guys are on the original bodies. I didn't even try my Star Wars men and Hagrid.  Verdict is that roughly half my men and probably all my women will be able to share clothes with them.  I was very pleased. 

If you love dolls, you should buy these dolls ASAP.  They are pert-near perfect. 

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.

After Christmas Markdowns

NUDE DOLLS AHEAD!  YOU WILL SEE FEATURELESS GROINS!

Finally got over to Maysville for groceries and to hit the post-holiday clearance.  Of, course, since this is me we're talking about, that included toys!  The only actual Christmas stuff I got was 200 ornament hooks for a quarter and 2 boxes of cereal for three bucks.  (I used the cereal boxes and a towel I already owned to hide my messy kitchen.) 

Found Supergirl at the thrift store.  Her noggin was beyond help, my help anyway, but I'm pretty sure the only thing missing was her boots!  They had a plethora of Barbies, most not articulated, but at least I scored a good body donor.  Complete with cute dress, necklace, and socks. 

Found some furniture at the thrift store as well.  Looks like I can actually set scenes in PJ's office now.  I have removed the cardboard bit for cleaning - I never trust thrift stores or yard sales.  ETERNAL VIGILANCE! (Bonus points if you get that reference.)

Also picked up a table and a shelving unit with a clock.  All for less than six bucks!  

These two guys came from "real" stores.  10 bucks for a fully articulated dude?  I can deal with permanent blue hands!  I've already got a few in fingerless gloves running around Barbieville, anyway. They had a couple of his Marvel Rising team mates, but I'm not quite desperate enough for an articulated girl to deal with metal hands or a fist nearly the size of her head.

The other dude is a five-pointer, but anyone who knows me can guess why I grabbed him.  His hair and that tie-dye shirt, of course!  He'll have to wait for me to find a matching body donor, poor guy.  My only male donor is way too pale.

The box tells me Blue-hands is Rayshawn Lucas AKA Patriot.  Rayshawn has lots of articulation, including a version of the Made-To-Move knee! He's got a mischievous grin, which makes me think he's gonna be a lot of fun. 

I was surprised at how mature Hippy Ken's face looks.  I'm thinking he's gonna be a parent for one of the younger teens.  

They tried to trade clothes, but Rayshawn's thighs are just a bit meatier than Hippy Ken's. 

Rayshawn: Ha ha, I can almost sit in the Lotus Position!

Hippy Ken: Ha ha, I've got real hair!  By the way, Jeanie, can we wash all this product out of my hair?

Look!  He's weeping with joy! 

Creatable World

This one is gonna be very short on the pictures and long on the words.  I even considered putting it on my regular - political soap box - blog.  But as it applies to dolls, I felt it fits better here.

In case any of my readers have been in a cave the last few days:  Mattel has released a line of "gender inclusive" dolls.  Most of the doll community has taken it as Mattel clearly intended.  A few of us, and an awful lot of people outside the doll community, seem to have missed something.  This post is for that group.

1. These dolls are not being marketed as LGBT.  "Gender inclusive" simply means they can be used in play as either sex.  The dolls are the size of Skipper,  Barbie's pubescent sister.  Granted, I have not seen these dolls in a state of undress, but the body mold appears to be clearly a child.  Without genitals, there are no markers of biological sex, and we all know that even the adult dolls have no genitals.   

Get your hands on a doll and ignore anything below the shoulders.  What you are looking at is "gender coding".  This is what marks a child doll as male or female.  Possibly the most common customization done on child dolls is the cutting of hair and removal of make up - turning a girl doll into a boy.  The Creatable World dolls just save us the trouble.

2. The entire point of these dolls is an acknowledgement that traditional gender roles have been dying since the days of Rosie the Riveter.  Today's children are seeing women on the battlefield and men in the kitchen.  Today's children's parents grew up seeing that.  Only the grandparent generation remembers when Wonder Woman was the only super heroine and we were born in the Woodstock era.  Long-haired boys everywhere!

3. As a doll player - I am not so delusional as to call myself a collector -  the important thing to me is the potential of the toy.  The big selling point for me is the articulation.  These adorable children have working joints!  When you consider that they come with several mix-and-match fashions and accessories, the price point isn't bad.

They can be boys or they can be girls whose mothers haven't caved to Big Cosmetics. They can be non binary, if the player so chooses.  And I'm okay with that.  Because it's all about the potential. Oh, yeah, and DEATH TO GENDER ROLES.

Wow! I did it!

Today, I got my usual three o'clock call while I was at the grocery store.   The Boy said "I stopped on the walk home from school to steal a drink.  You have a box on your welcome mat."  "Yeah, that's Dumbledore.  Toss him on the desk."

He was in the freezer.  Poor guy.

First order of business, Muggle clothes.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the hair.  Nice and thick!  (I'd heard differently.)

Now, about that beard....  I originally intended him for a head swap, plain and simple, because of the beard. Why, oh, why?  Not only is it hard plastic, it's attached to his face all weird.  If you take it off, he looks like the kid who got fused with a gas mask on Dr Who.  "Are you my mummy?"

Rebuilding his entire lower face, which has been done, is beyond my ability and inclination, but I've seen where some have trimmed his beard and it looked pretty good.  So... I braced myself for the coming disaster and tried that.

Well.  Here he is.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  

And now I've got that Bellamy Brothers song in my head.  

"He's an old hippie and he don't know what to do..."