In The Minority

My collection consists mostly of Black dolls. In a previous post, I highlighted my Hispanic/Latino dolls. In this post, I highlight my non-Black and non-Hispanic/Latino dolls.

40th Anniversary Ken	Babydoll knock-off on Phicen S02A	Mattel Becky
Talking Presidents William J. Clinton	Liv Daniela	Dollar Store Guy
Fun To Dress Barbie 1988 on DML Amy	Mattel Harry Potter on Obitsu	Happy Family Grandma
Takara Jenny R&B Calendar Girl	Justin Bieber	Mattel Kevin
Phicen PLLB2014-S08 Large Bust Tan	Flavas Liam	Dragon Linh
Momoko	My Scene Kennedy	High School Musical Sharpay
Sideshow Mandy	Star Trek Barbie	Star Trek Ken
Mattel Todd	Ken	Hairspray Tracy Turnblad

 Here is a group photo.

And here is the complete Star Trek set.

Having these dolls out reminded me of something that I've been meaning to do for a while.

I got Liv Daniela from the thrift store last year with one purpose in mind: to give one of my dolls an articulated body. Now Sharpay is posing much better!

Justin Bieber approves of Sharpay's transformation. I think that these two are going to be singing a lot of duets together.

Sparkle Girlz Clothes

After reading about the new Sparkle Girlz fashions on several blogs, I went to Walmart in search of cute cheap clothing for my teen dolls.  Someone had already cleared out all of the single $1.97 fashions, but there were still some Fashion Boutique packs left.  I picked up 3 of them for $8.88 each, and the ones that I purchased are pictured below.

Several Sparkle Girlz dolls were on display, both full-sized and mini.  I was almost tempted to purchase a doll.  Almost.  The Sparkle Girlz even have a cute little inexpensive car now.  I did not get a photo of that, but I did take a quick photo of some of the dolls below.

When I got home, I opened one of the packs and tried the clothes on some of my dolls, and the dolls are modeling the clothing in the photo below.  The dolls are from left to right:  HSM Sharpay, Juku Couture Kana, Calista on Super Model Bel body, Hispanic everGirl, and Flavas Kiyoni Brown.  Most of the clothes are too big for Kana, but she fits the outfit below really well.  Sharpay, Kana, and Calista can all put the Sparkle Girlz shoes on, but Sharpay can not stand in them.  The shoes are really flimsy, though, so it would be easy to cut the heels to make the shoes fit Sharpay better.  These young ladies are ready to head back to school in style!

I also got a little something for Ken.  He will have to model his some other time.

Teen Girl Doll Comparisons

Here are some teen girl doll comparisons.  A couple of them were in previous comparisons, but I wanted to put them with other similarly sized dolls.  They are from left to right:  Wee Three Friends Janet, Super Model Bel doll with Calista head, Hispanic everGirl, Flavas Kiyoni Brown, V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna, and Sashabella Paws.

Calista is the only one that can stand on her own in bare feet.  The others can stand in certain shoes.

Here they are showing their elbow flexibility.  They all have jointed elbows.  Sashabella Paws has the most flexibility in this pose.

Here they are sitting on the floor trying to cross their arms while showing their feet.  Sashabella Paws comes the closest to being able to cross her arms.  Janet has very large feet and can share shoes with Ken.  The others have doll friends that they can share shoes with.  Calista has arched feet and articulation at the ankle, so she can wear flat or heeled shoes.

Here they are doing a side stretch.  Calista and Sashabella have articulation at the lower torso, while  Kiyoni and Chyna have articulation at the upper torso.  Kiyoni's side arch is the most impressive.

Here they are in the "walk like an Egyptian" pose.  Calista and Sashabella have articulation at the wrists, while the others do not.  As previously stated, Calista also has articulation at the ankles.  I think that Sashabella does this the best.  What do you think?

Here they are attempting kneeling back bends.  Janet, Hispanic everGirl (does anyone know which one she is - Joy, Hope, Skye, or Starr), and Kiyoni have clicky knees and can not kneel.  Chyna does this pose the best.

Here they are showing off their hands.  None of them are able to grasp objects in their hands.  I like Calista's hands the best.

Here they are attempting to sit cross-legged on the floor.  Calista does this the best.

Here they are attempting to do middle splits.  It's close between Calista and Sashabella, but I think that Calista does this slightly better.

 Here they are doing front splits.  Kiyoni does this the best.

 Here they are doing a leg lift.  Janet does this the best.

Here they are sitting down.  Since Calista, Chyna, and Sashabella have articulation at the knees, they look more natural in seated positions.  

 Do you have a favorite among these dolls?  What makes that particular doll stand out for you?  Which ones pose the best?  Which ones look the best?  Which dolls are the most realistic?

JLS Marvin

My teen girls are very thankful for this recent arrival.  Ever since reading D7ana's blog post about the JLS dolls, I have been wanting them.  But the shipping charges to have them shipped from Great Britain were cost prohibitive.  Until now (for Marvin).  There is currently a seller on eBay who is selling Marvin for a very reasonable price and only $6 to ship from Great Britain to the United States.  I hope that some of Marvin's band members will be able to join him here soon (for cheap).

Here is Marvin still in his box.

And here he is out of the box.

Here is a close-up of Marvin.  I thought about Squarepeg78 and smiled when I inspected Marvin because not only is he showing teeth, but he has indentations so that you can see each individual tooth.  For anyone who is creeped out by dolls with teeth, be forewarned and do not enlarge the photo below.  Marvin's lips are nearly as red as his shirt.

Marvin is wearing a red hooded top, khaki pants, some grayish short boots, a brown belt, and a green wrist band.  I like that his belt is removable.  The clothing is good quality and well stitched.  His feet are about the same size as Ken's and they can share shoes.

Marvin is 30cm tall.  Here is a height comparison with other teen male dolls.  From left to right, here are American Teen Benjamin, High School Musical Zeke, Marvin, S Club 7 Bradley McIntosh, and Flavas Tre.

Marvin immediately started looking around for pretty girls and found Lena, but he's a little too short and too young for her taste.  She said that they can just be friends.

That's okay, the guys know plenty of girls that they can introduce to Marvin.  Here are some of the group enjoying some day-after-Thanksgiving snacks (I guess they already ate the turkey sandwiches).  Marvin's knees do not bend, so he has trouble sitting down.

Here's a closer look at Marvin's body.  Let's see, how can I put this delicately...  Marvin has a little something extra.  Not much, but enough that he stands apart from my female dolls (and the vast majority of my male dolls).  Other than that, there are no surprises here.  Marvin can stand on his own.  He has no articulation at the elbows or knees.  His arms and legs move forward and backward only.  His head moves side to side.

Here's a side view.

Marvin convinced me to finally open my Justin Bieber fashion pack.

The fashion pack contains a hoodie, a pair of jeans, shoes, sunglasses, and a laptop.  The quality of the clothes and shoes is really good.  The sunglasses are okay, but don't look right on Marvin.  I like Marvin in his Justin Bieber clothes better than I like him in his own clothes.

I really like the laptop.  My teens will have a good time using this.

My overall impression of Marvin is that he is a good sturdy doll that can withstand child's play, and he is good for collectors as well.  I am happy to have another ethnic teen male doll in my collection.  I wish that he had more articulation, and that his lips were less red.

He is a nice addition to my collection.

Boyz n the Hoodies