Celebrity Crush

A recent discussion in the WLBDA Facebook group prompted me to ask this question: who is your celebrity crush and do you have him/her in doll form?

My celebrity crush is Denzel Washington. I have a doll created in his likeness, but my doll doesn't look as much like Denzel as I would like. I wish that I have a 1/6 scale trumpet for my Denzel to play in these photos, but I don't, so this horn will have to do.

I once had a crush on Wesley Snipes back in the early 90's, but not for long. I have a Wesley Snipes doll as his character Blade. My crush on Wesley was gone by the time the movie Blade was released. I thought that both Denzel and Wesley were hot in the movie Mo' Better Blues.

My crush on Denzel began in 1984 when I saw the movie A Soldier's Story. I thought that Denzel's character Private First Class Peterson was super cute, and I admired Denzel's acting abilities. My crush on Denzel has persisted to this day. 

I remember seeing Wesley Snipes' first movie Wildcats and I thought he was very funny, but not particularly attractive. That opinion changed when I saw Mo' Better Blues. As I recall, he had one scene in particular that I found especially pleasing and it really captured my young imagination.

I admire both Denzel and Wesley for their acting abilities. I loved seeing them together in Mo' Better Blues, and I loved seeing them individually in movies that would follow.

My respect and admiration for Denzel Washington extends beyond his acting abilities and his good looks. For that reason, the crush that I formed on him when I was 14 years old is still going strong with me as a middle aged woman.

Seamless Male Dolls

I recently purchased a male Jiaou doll ("Black"). Here is my video review of the figure.

At the time I didn't have any extra heads that would be a good match. I purchased this Steph Curry head on eBay hoping that it would match either the Jiaou doll or the Phicen.

This head was a better match for the Phicen body, which meant that Bruce Lee had to give up his Phicen body. The Bruce head looks good on either body.

The Steph head is not a perfect match for the Phicen body, but it's close enough for me. The Jiaou doll body is slightly shorter and has a shorter neck, so Bruce is not entirely pleased with this arrangement. Perhaps I'll make an adjustment to Bruce's head at some point so that it will sit higher on the Jiaou doll neck.

Steph would have preferred a tall body, but he likes flexing the muscles of this seamless body. And he doesn't seem to mind hanging out in his underwear all the time. 

Bruce is going to make the best of this situation. After all, he is a great skin tone match for the Jiaou doll body. And he's just as muscular and almost as flexible.

Maybe these two can be friends. Even though Steph got the Phicen body with the completely stainless steel skeleton. Bruce's Jiaou doll body is part stainless steel and part plastic.

Ok, maybe they can't be friends. It's nice to know that Bruce can still deliver those kicks when he feels the need.

 That leaves Steph more time for posing and whatnot.

I am really pleased with how this figure has turned out. He looks and poses great.

Steph is settling right in, and has even found himself a pet. I got this tiger as a souvenir from the zoo when I visited last year.

Steph is having no problem making new friends.

 

The Jiaou doll came with some "extra" special body parts, as did the Phicen. I have uploaded some photos of the extras to my restricted Flickr album. DO NOT CLICK HERE if you are easily offended.

Leontyne Grace

Leontyne Grace is the 2018 WLBDA club doll by artist Frantz Brent-Harris. She is my second doll made by this artist (my first was Martini Beach Monica). Check out this post by Black Doll Enthusiast for a great review of Leontyne Grace.

Here is my video review of the doll.

I was thrilled when WLBDA chose artist Frantz Brent-Harris to create the 2018 club doll, and I jumped at the chance to own another doll by this artist. Leontyne Grace is a beautiful curvy fashion doll.

She came with a doll stand, but can also stand on her own in her shoes.

Leontyne Grace is very similar to my Monica doll, but there are some differences between the two. A major difference is that while Monica used strong earth magnets to attach her head and legs, Leontyne Grace is stringed.

Leontyne Grace has the standard 5 points of articulation. Her elbows and knees do not bend, which makes it a bit difficult for her to sit.

She can still strike a fierce pose, though.

Monica quickly made new friends here, and Anthony Julian offered to help Monica have a seat.

On this special occasion, I deboxed my The Look Barbie. Here is how Leontyne Grace measures up against a curvy Barbie.

 Here are some photos of Leontyne Grace with other friends that she's made here.

My overall impression is that Leontyne Grace is a beautiful, high-quality, and highly collectible doll. She has a gorgeous face and a lovely full figure. Her dress, wig, and accessories are all high quality as well. She is a sturdy resin doll that while collectible, can withstand some posing and doll play. I am thrilled to have this beautiful doll in my collection. 

Sneak peek at a figure that I will be reviewing soon.

Phicen Phiasco

Edited to remove all text, photos, and labels. Hopefully this finally resolves the issue. This post was previously about damaged dolls.

Getting Caught Up

Here are some dolls that I purchased last year that I photographed, but did not blog about. Most of these have remained in their boxes. I took a break from buying dolls for a few months, but I'm starting to add a few dolls to my collection again now. 

GFive Vanessa was on my wish list for years. I finally got her at a price that I was willing to pay.

These Bad Boys II action figures had also been on my wish list for a number of years. I had almost given up on getting this set.

I got this Tangerine Twist Barbie because I already had the Uptown Chic Barbie and thought it would be nice to own the entire Fashion Savvy collection. I thought that there were only 2, but found out there's another one. Maybe I'll add that one also one of these years.

I'm pretty sure that I've already opened this Ken outfit and given to one of the guys around here. I just don't remember which one.

Whenever I travel, I always try to get a doll from the place that I'm visiting. Last year we vacationed in Branson, Missouri, and I purchased this Barbie doll while there.

Here's a doll that I was really looking forward to last year, The Barbie Look articulated curvy doll. I will remove her from her box one of these days (probably).

I wanted this Ice Skater Barbie for her face. Her head is occupying a different body these days (I hope to post about that soon).

I liked the look of this athletic Made To Move Barbie soccer player.

I think this Tropi-Cutie Barbie was an impulse buy. I probably saw her on someone's blog and they probably put her on an articulated body and repainted her lips, and I thought that I would do the same. Maybe I will, one of these years. For now, she has remained in her package.

I purchased this Travel Friends Kenya doll strictly for her articulated body. I specifically had in mind re-bodying Pawla Wolf (see below) on this body. But when I saw Pawla's younger siblings, I decided to keep her on her original body.

Well, well, well! The Werewolf has been very busy! Meet Pawla, younger sister of Clawdeen, Clawdia, Clawd, and Howleen. I was not pleased with Pawla's little wolf body. Apparently in the Wolf family, the younger you are, the more you look like an actual wolf. I was on the fence about purchasing Pawla, but her older siblings urged me to add her to the collection. So here she is.

Soon after finding out about Pawla, I found out about little Barker and Weredith. How could I add Pawla and not add the two youngest members of the Wolf family? I couldn't, I tell you. I was confused when this item arrived. I kept thinking that the little wolf thing was some sort of toy for Barker, but no. That's little Weredith. That's the youngest member of the Wolf family. Oh my. I didn't need another Clawdeen, but one of these days I'll probably practice head shrinking on this one.

Maybe I was just in the mood to purchase Wolf dolls. I decided to also pick up this Clawdeen and Clawd set. This Clawd appears to be a little taller and more buff than the original Clawd. I will no doubt attempt some type of body swap on him at some point.

I thought that the little Monster High children could use a Monster High doll of their very own, so I purchased this mini. I didn't know which doll would be inside, but had hoped that it would be a mini Clawdeen.

Nope, not Clawdeen. 

I don't know who this is, but I'm sure that the Wolf children will enjoy playing with her.

I figured that since I was in the market to buy dolls for dolls, I'd go ahead and pick up this American Girl mini (or would this be a micro) for my AG minis.

 I still have some catching up to do. I have a few projects that I photographed, but did not blog about. Things have been hectic for me lately, but I'm going to try to find some time for dolls and blogging here and there.