Calista's Diary Entry - Growth Spurt

Dear Diary,

My clothes are tight, my shoes are too small, and people always comment about how much I've grown.  They say that I've hit a growth spurt.  I look different on the outside, but I feel the same on the inside.

I'm about the same height as Skipper now. She hasn't changed much.

Some of Skipper's friends have changed a lot though.  The twins Hadley and Isla, and her friend Taylor have all gotten so tall!

Kana and Briana Joy haven't changed much.  Kana's hair isn't purple anymore - that's the biggest change with her.

I'm a little bit taller than Bob now.  I wonder if he's noticed?  I wonder if it matters to him?  It doesn't really matter to me.  Maybe he'll hit a growth spurt of his own pretty soon.

Maybe I'm just imagining things, but I could've sworn that Kiara used to be taller.  Maybe she just seems short to me now because I'm taller?  I don't know.  She's been hanging out with the new girl Jenna a lot.  I don't know Jenna well, but she seems okay.  I heard someone say that she is cute until she opens her mouth.  I don't know what they mean by that.

Mikey has not changed a bit.  He is just as obnoxious as ever!  His nickname for me now is Medusa.  I guess he's trying to be funny about the twists that I wear in my hair.  Layla has always worn twists, so why doesn't he call her Medusa?  He was calling me Bigfoot Knight for a while.  I don't know which name I hate worse.  I keep ignoring him and hoping that he'll eventually just leave me alone.

I guess that a lot of things are changing, but a lot of things have remained the same.  I'm just glad to have my family and my friends.  I feel that with their support, I can face any changes that come my way.

Head Swap-A-Rama

Lately I've been busy swapping doll heads around.

"Oh yeah, Sasha, it's about to go down."

The photo above is of Bratz Sasha (left) and Hottiez Kiara (right) before the swap.  The photo below is of Kiara's head on Sasha's body.  Sadly, this has resulted in a doll casualty.  I have caused irreparable damage to Kiara's original body.  I like Kiara's head on Sasha's body, though.

I saw this mermaid doll in the store and thought that she was cute, and she was cheap so I bought her.  I have no use for her mermaid's body.

I thought that she would look cute with Juku Couture Kana's body.

Success!  The head fits and the skin tone is a close match.  The head is just a little loose, but holds poses well.

Opal has had her current action figure body for quite some time now, but her original body had been languishing in my bin of forgotten dolls until recently.  Well, a fellow collector sent me a Top Model Nikki head which has found a home (for now) on Opal's old body.

I purchased Making Waves Alexis (pictured below on the right) for the sole purpose of swapping her head for one more proportionate to her body, and to give one of my other dolls more articulation.  Well today is Mattel High School Musical Taylor's (pictured below on the left) lucky day.

Success!  Taylor's head fits perfectly on the Liv Alexis body, and the skin tone is a close match.  I am thrilled with this swap.

Speaking of Alexis, I rebodied Isla again from the Monster High Clawdeen body that she had been occupying to an Alexis body.  Her body now matches her twin sister Hadley's body again, and the twins are much happier now with their articulated bodies.

Todd has long envied Janet's articulated body, wishing that he could move like her.

Well, today a little boy's wish came true!

Pictured below are some of my happy head swap recipients.

Trendy and Bendy: More Fashion Doll Comparisons

Happy Easter, Everyone!  This is not an Easter themed post, but feel free to check out my Easter Parade video from last year.

Here is my next group of fashion dolls for comparison.  They are posed similarly to my previous comparisons.  They are from left to right:  Winx Club Layla, Howleen Wolf, Isla head on Clawdeen Wolf body, V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna, Fashion Royalty Monsieur Z. Wild, and Dance 'N Flex Christie.

None of them can stand on their own.  Layla has bendy arms and legs, and Christie is entirely bendy.  The rest are articulated.  

They can all cross their arms somewhat.  They all have high-heeled feet.  Monsieur Z. Wild and Christie can share shoes.

Here they are doing a side stretch.  Layla, Howleen, and the Clawdeen Wolf body do not have torso articulation.  Chyna and Monsieur Z. Wild have upper torso articulation and do a decent job of stretching to the side.  Christie with her bendy torso does this better than all of them.

Here they are "walking like an Egyptian".  Chyna has no wrist articulation and Layla can not bend at the wrist.

Here they are doing kneeling back bends.  Christie can arch her back quite a bit.

Here they are showing off their hands.  All of them have weird hands that are not useful for holding objects.

Here they are attempting to sit cross-legged. Christie comes the closest, but it looks like I tried to tie her legs in a knot.

 Here they are attempting to do middle splits.  None of them are successful at this, least of all Layla.

Here they are doing front splits.  The Wolf sisters do this the best.

Here they are doing a leg lift.  The Wolf sisters and Monsieur Z. Wild do this the best.

 Here they are seated.  Layla can cross her legs, but she has issues with sitting straight up.  I think that Christie does the best job of crossing her legs.

Do you prefer bendy dolls or articulated dolls?  Do you have a favorite among these dolls?  Which ones look the best in their poses?

Pretty Girls All In a Bow

Here are some of my young ladies showing off their free bows from Build A Bear Workshop.

Isla Rebodied

I did a head swap with Isla and Clawdeen Wolf. The new Isla looks good in clothing with high collars.

In revealing clothing, the results vary. In some poses, she looks pretty good.

In other poses, she looks like she has a serious thyroid condition.

She's still closer than ever to her twin Hadley.