Small Girl Dolls Comparisons

I have a request on my Comparisons page to do an articulation comparison with some of my younger dolls.  The girls below will get us started.  They all have the ability to bend at the knees and elbows at the least, and they are the shortest girls that I have that have this ability.  They are from left to right:  Mattel Janet, Juku Couture Kana, Only Hearts Club Briana Joy, Kenya Fashion Madness Keyshia, Bratz doll with Hottiez Kiara head, and Winx Club Layla.  

I am posing them similarly to my previous figure comparisons.  Some of these young ladies have appeared in other comparisons, but they wanted to come back for comparisons with dolls their own size.  Janet, Kana, Keyshia, and Kiara can all stand on their own without assistance from a doll stand.  Briana Joy can stand with shoes and her feet can adjust to heel height, so she can stand in both flat and heeled shoes. 

Here they are showing their flexed arms.  Janet, Kana, Keyshia, and Kiara have jointed elbows.  Briana Joy has a cloth body over a wire armature.  Layla has vinyl over wire for her limbs.  Janet is able to flex her arm further and hold it in position better than the others

None of them are able to cross their arms completely, but Janet comes the closest.  Janet, Kana, Briana Joy, and Keyshia can share shoes.  Kiara's Bratz body has large feet (shoes) that can be removed.  Layla has heeled feet and can wear some of the larger Barbie shoes.  Janet and Kana have articulation at the ankle.

Here they are doing a side stretch.  Janet and Kana have lower torso articulation, while Kiara is articulated at the chest.  I think that Janet has the best range of motion here.

Here they are in the "walk like an Egyptian" pose.  Kana and Kiara have articulation at the wrist.  Briana Joy's feet can be flexed.  Kiara's removable feet can swivel.  I think that Kana does this move the best.  What do you think?

Here they are doing kneeling back bends.  Janet does this the best.

Here they are showing off their hands.  None of these dolls can grip objects (no big surprise there).  Janet's hands are my favorites from this group.

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

 Here they are attempting to do middle splits.  Kiara does this the best.

 Here they are attempting to do front splits.  Keyshia does this the best.

 Here they are doing a leg lift.  Kana and Briana Joy do this the best.

 Here they are sitting down.  Kana's legs will not close while seated.  Layla has issues when it comes to siting down (she might do better on a higher surface.  Keyshia looks the most natural to me in her seated position.

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?

Calista's Diary Entry - Halloween Carnival

Dear Diary,

Tonight I went to a Halloween carnival with my friends Kana, Briana Joy, and Big Janet and I had a lot of fun!

There were indoor activities, and they also had a few rides and games outside.  Others from my school were there.  Bob was there.  :)

Skipper was there with her boyfriend Kevin.

Jenna and Kiara were there together.  Jenna was dressed as a witch.  I overheard a girl saying "How fitting" and another girl said "Which witch is which?".

There was a lot of good food there.  They had some humongous pecan pies that were so delicious!

I spent a lot of time hanging out with Bob.  We went on a hayride.

We also rode on a big monstrous duck.

Some of the things were kind of creepy, but not really scary.

One thing that was rather frightening was a huge jack-in-the-box.

And there was a huge hairy spider.  Even though I knew it was fake, I didn't want it to touch me.  It gave me the shivers!

There was also a big snake that kind of made me feel uneasy.

There was just so much there to see!

And so much there to do!

Eventually we went outside and I did not see Bob much after that.  I didn't know where he went.  Dylan came over and asked Big Janet if she wanted to ride through the Haunted House with him and she said "yes".  Well they came out with big smiles and holding hands!  I can't wait to talk to Big Janet to find out what happened!

A while later, I saw Bob.  He was playing a game, trying to win a prize.  I felt a little disappointed that he was not spending time with me riding some of the rides.

Just when we were about to leave, Bob came over to me with a huge Teddy bear, and he gave it to me!  I was shocked!  I almost couldn't get my words out.  I said "What...  Oh my....  How did you....  How long did it take you to win this?"  He told me that it wasn't a problem and handed the bear to me.  I didn't know what to say other than "thank you!"  

I hugged my bear in the car all the way home.  :)))))))

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.

Calista's Diary Entry - Awkward Moments

Dear Diary,

Today we had a substitute teacher. We were supposed to review Chapter 7 but Mikey told the substitute that Mr. Smith always lets us read on our own and talk about the chapter amongst ourselves on review day (which is not true). The substitute believed Mikey, so we basically talked and played around all during class. Mikey misbehaved a little.

Kana and Briana Joy have been telling me that I need to ask Bob to the dance. They say maybe he's too shy to ask me. I don't know, he wasn't too shy to write me that note a while back. They say I need to go ahead and ask because the dance is a week from Friday! I didn't want to ask him; I felt that he should be the one to ask me. Kana kept leaning back and whispering "Ask him! Ask him!" So I decided to just drop a few hints to Bob. I said "Sooooooo, the big Homecoming Dance is next week..." and he said "Yep." I said "You know, girls have a lot to do to prepare for a dance like this, so they really need to make plans in advance..." and he said "I imagine so." And he turned around and started reading his book. I don't understand him!

I saw Mikey coming my way and I had this feeling of dread because I just knew that he was coming to crack jokes about me. I was surprised when he stopped at Layla's desk and ignored me completely. He said "What's up Looooooooong Legged Layla!" Layla giggled and said "Mikey why do you always have to comment on my legs every time you see me?" Mikey said "I don't know. I guess because your legs are the first thing that I notice about you. And I notice because I like your legs." Then Layla let out this high pitched giggle and I felt my stomach turn. I was so ready for class to be over.

I saw Skipper in the hallway and I tried to go the other way but she started calling my name. She told me that we need to talk and asked me why I have been avoiding her. I told her that I wasn't doing it on purpose and she said "Come on! You don't even reply to the text messages that I send to you!" I tried to think of what to say. She said "Calista I thought that we were friends!" I said "I thought so too!" and she said "Well this isn't a very nice way to treat a friend!" So I told her "Okay, let's talk, but not now. We can talk for as long as we need to. I promise!" She said "Okay." As she was walking away, I told her "By the way, I've been meaning to tell you congratulations on being nominated as Homecoming Queen." She said "Thanks." and kept walking.

Calista's Diary Entry - Babysitting Horror

Dear Diary,

Saturday night, there was a big Halloween party for adults and some of them needed babysitters. So Kana, Layla, and I decided to babysit together and split the money.

Since it was Halloween, we decided to let the kids watch scary movies. The scariest one was about a big purple dinosaur who preys on young children. I will have nightmares about that one! **shudders**

After that, we gave them snacks. We let them eat some Halloween candy, cookies, soda pop, etc. It was a challenge getting them all fed, but Little Janet was a big helper to us.

The children became a bit unruly! They were running around and jumping on the furniture. Finally we got them to calm down and we gave them some activities. We drew, played games like Musical Chairs, etc.

Eventually the young ones fell asleep. Me and my friends sat around talking after that. At one point my cell phone fell out of my purse and Layla grabbed it. She pretended to talk on the phone, saying "Hello? Hello?... Okay, just a moment." Then she handed the phone to me and said "Calista, 1999 is on the phone and they want their cell phone back." Kana and Layla giggled but I didn't think it was very funny. I hope that I get a new cell phone for Christmas.

A couple of the children woke up, so Layla played a video of one of her performances at school for us all to watch. That put them right back to sleep. LOL! I saw myself in the audience!

Calista's Diary Entry - Beauty Interrupted

Dear Diary,

Fall is my favorite season. I love looking at the multi-colored scenery. The beauty of the land just takes my breath away.

Today me, Kana, Briana, and Big Janet went on a nature walk. Oh yeah, I'm over what happened last weekend with them leaving me out of their plans. Last Monday they acted like nothing had ever happened, and I just went along. I haven't spoken to Skipper much. I just don't know what to say.

I had so much fun with my friends today. I'm just glad that things seem to be back to normal between all of us. My mom says that whenever there's conflict, that people need to talk things out. She says that communication is key. Maybe that's not always true. Maybe if people just hang out and look at the beauty of nature, they will realize that their problems are not so important after all.

I got separated from the rest of the girls for a while and I was just enjoying myself, looking at my surroundings when I heard "Calista! Calista!" I looked up and it was Mikey. I braced myself for his teasing. He said "You know the homecoming dance is less than 3 weeks away right?" I said "Yes I know." He said "I was wondering if we could go to the dance...together." I said "Ha ha Mikey, very funny." He said "I'm serious." And I looked at him and I saw that he really was serious! I was stunned! I tried to talk and my words came out in a jumble. "I...welll it's, you see..I just, I can't go with you." He said "Why not?" and I said "I'm already going...with someone else." I couldn't believe it when I heard that lie come out of my mouth. Well it's not really a lie, I do WANT to go with someone else, he just hasn't asked me yet. And in spite of everything, I just really didn't want to hurt Mikey's feelings.

Mikey said "Ok, that's cool. I didn't really want to go with you ANYWAY!"