Monday, March 18, 2013

Articulated Fashion Dolls Comparison

 I wanted to compare the articulation of some of my fashion dolls.  The dolls pictured below are:

Juku Couture Kana, Bratz Sasha, Super Model Bel body with Calista head, Liv Alexis body with Hadley head, Kenya body with Milan Barbie head, and one of the first wave Artsy Fashionista dolls.

They all have articulation at the elbows, wrists, and knees.  Juku Couture, Super Model, and Liv dolls have articulation at the waist.  Bratz and Fashionista dolls have articulation at the chest.  Juku Couture, Super Model, and Liv dolls have articulation at the ankles.  Bratz dolls have feet (shoes) that can move from side to side.

Juku Couture, Bratz, Super Model, and Liv dolls can stand on their own without being propped up and without the use of stands, which is important to me.  Kenya and Fashionista dolls can stand on their own in certain shoes.

Juku Couture, Super Model, and Liv dolls have feet that are similar sizes, so they can share shoes.  Super Model dolls have a slight arch in their feet, so they look good in heels as well as flats.

Bratz feet can be removed and replaced with flat or heeled feet (shoes).  Kenya and Barbie have similar feet and can share shoes.

Here they are stretching to the side.  The Fashionista doll does this the best.  The Kenya doll has no torso articulation at all.  The Super Model doll has waist articulation that looks similar to the Liv doll, but does not have the same range of motion.

 Here they are walking like an Egyptian in order to show off their elbow, wrist, and knee articulation.

Here they are doing kneeling back stretches.  The Liv dolls have double-jointed knees, so they are superior at any kneeling poses.  The articulation of the Fashionista allows her to arch her back quite a bit.





Here they are showing off their hands.  I don't really have a favorite here.  They all have decent wrist articulation.  If I had to pick a favorite, I guess I'd go with Kenya's hands.  I actually prefer the big hands of action figure females that can pick items up and hold them.

I wanted to see if any of them could sit on the floor cross-legged.  Um, none of them can, but the Super Model doll comes the closest.

 Here they are doing middle splits. The Fashionista doll does this the best.

Here they are doing front splits.  All of the dolls can do this one, with the exception of Kenya.
 

The Fashionista does the best leg lift.  Her leg will actually go all the way back.
 

So here they are seated.  The Juku Couture and Fashionista dolls can't seem to keep their legs closed when they sit.
 
So which articulated fashion dolls are your favorites?  Which ones have the best articulation?  Which ones are the most attractive?  Which ones are the most realistic?

22 comments:

  1. Hello from Spain: a comparison between dolls is very interesting. For me articulated bodies are the most realistic. I like the bodies of Barbies fashionistas. Great job. Keep in touch

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  2. Great comparison photos.

    It appears to me the Super Model body has the most versatility with the ability to stand unassisted and versatility of wearing flats or heels. I also like it when a doll can sit like a lady. Clearly the Fashionista body loses here. I also like graceful, well proportioned hands, which is why I never liked the LIV hands.

    Thanks for sharing!

    dbg

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    1. Thank you, Debbie! I like the upper torso articulation of the Fashionista, but I don't like the way that she sits, her knees, or her little pointy feet. Out of this group, even though I had trouble picking my favorite hands, the LIV hands are easily my least favorite.

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  3. Thanks for the body articulation photos. It was educational to see the dolls next to one another with the comparison of movement.

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  4. Great post! Love seeing all the different poses and a few dolls I haven't seen before. I won't pick a fave from this bunch. They all seem to have some pluses and minuses.

    Sidenote: The new SIS bodies have the same knees as this Artsy, but their legs can close much better. As a storyteller, I still prefer the rotating knees for better posing abilities.

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    1. Thank you, Vanessa! I should have made it clear in my post that I wanted to know people's favorites, even if the favorite is not among those featured here. You're right, they all have their pluses and minuses. Thanks for the info about the new SIS knees. I'm still hoping to pick up a Chandra!

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  5. Great post Roxanne! Hmmm, my favorite is probably the super model's body. The best articulation for me is the fashionista body. The most attractive body is the Kenya body. She looks great in all of her poses except the front spilt. The most realistic is Kenya. I don't particularly care for the hands on Liv. I love her posabilities, but that's about it.

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    1. Thank you, Georgia Girl! It is hard for me to answer my own questions at the end of my post, because there are things that I like about each doll, and things that I don't like. I agree with you that the Fashionista body has the best articulation (on top anyway) and the Kenya body is the most attractive. I wish that I could pick and choose features from each doll. :) I would start with the Live body and give her the upper torso articulation of the Fashionista, and different hands. Also I will praise the day that I see some plus sized dolls with articulation!

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  6. Fascinating post. It's really interesting to see all the bodies lined up with variations in height and proportions. It's also interesting to see what each doll can and can't do. I think my marginal favourites are the Liv and Fashionista bodies but they are all good.

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    1. Thank you, Carrickters! It's so hard for me to pick a favorite. I guess it's a good thing that I have variety. :)

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    2. Ok, new follower here!

      You know, thank you so much for doing these!
      I recently just got Hot Toys Black Widow and was blown away by her posing... and so to see her here posing less well than some others, it's pretty amusing! I have a theory on the action figures and doing the splits though... they've all got so much more by way of leg muscles, I think it decreases flexibility, hehehe.

      Anyhow, I'm reading my way through your blog and loving it!
      Please feel free to stop by and check out mine as well:
      http://travelingtwig.blogspot.com

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    3. Hi Heather, thanks for following and thanks for your comments! Hot Toys Black Widow is such a beautiful doll. I think that I would snatch up just about all Hot Toys figures if I could afford to! I like your theory about the action figures having more muscle and therefore, decreased flexibility. Sounds plausible. :) I will check out your blog.

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  7. It was really interesting and helpful. Im specially happy that you rebodied them with barbie heads (well...most of them).
    May I ask which model of BRATZ you used? I thought they are not articulated in knees :)

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  8. Thank you Major Mistakes! Some Bratz dolls do have articulated knees, and that's the only reason why I bought this Sasha. This is a Bratz Party Sasha. I also have a Bratz Catz Sasha that is also articulated.

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  9. I prefer the Liv bodies best of the ones presented. They have flat feet ;-)

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    1. Thanks, D7ana! The flat feet are very useful when posing.

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  10. Awesome Roxanne! I just got 2 liv dolls at a 2nd hand store. I'm thinking of swapping the heads of a regular Barbie with an articulated Liv. Do you know how to, and do you recommend it? I'm only 11 so I'll get my mum or dad to help out :)

    Love from Laika, all the way from Australia!!

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    1. Hi MyDollsWorld! I apologize for my late reply. Barbie heads are slightly large for the Liv doll bodies, but teen Barbies (like Skipper, High School Musical, etc.) heads fit really well on the Liv bodies. When removing the doll heads, be sure to heat the head first (I use a hand held hair dryer for 60 seconds). Then, gently ease the heads off. There are some good tutorials on the internet if you google "Barbie doll head removal". Good luck!

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