Do These Jeans Make My Butt Look Big?

Are my guys feeling as if they overindulged on Thanksgiving?  Do they need to be reassured that everything is as it should be?  Are they just fishing for compliments?

Who do you think has the best pair of jeans, and who do you think wears them the best?

Here they are from the front.

From left to right, they are Heroik Muscle Body, bs0039 with Headplay Michael Jordan head, TTL with Vin head, Rocawear Darren, Triad Omega, Shave 'n Style Ken, Ken, Power Team guy, Blue Box with Tariq head, and Barbie Basics Model #17.

Two Kenyas are Better Than One

To all of you who have been blogging about the new Kenya dolls and posting photos, thank you, because you have finally worn down my resistance.

Monday, my husband called me at work and told me that he wasn't feeling well, and asked me to stop and pick up some cold medicine on the way home.  I immediately knew that I was going to stop by Family Dollar.  Now I REALLY had a reason to go.  LOL!  So I went to Family Dollar, and somehow Movin On Kenya found her way into my arms (truth be told, she landed there before the cold medicine did).  I was quite content with my purchase, until Tuesday when I read this post on the BDC - Dolls for Sale blog.  Why be content with having 1 doll for $20, when I could be even more content with having 2 dolls for $26?

I called Family Dollar on Wednesday and asked if I could bring my doll back in order to take advantage of Thursday's sale.  The person that I spoke with said that I could bring it back that day, and then come back on Thursday and get the deal.  I told her that my concern with that was that someone might purchase my doll before I got a chance to come back for her.  "Mmmmm hmmmmmm" was all that she said.  Well, I wasn't going to do that.

So bright and early on Thursday morning, I packed up my Kenya doll with receipt and headed to Family Dollar.  I asked if I could return my doll and get the Buy One Get One for 70% Off deal.  The cashier told me "No, I'm not going to do that today."  So I headed back to my car and sat there for a minute, contemplating whether or not I wanted to go back in and get 2 more dolls.  I quickly decided that no, that particular store would never see another dime of my money (a bit dramatic, I know).  I drove to the next nearest Family Dollar, asked the same thing, and they told me yes.  So I was able to return my doll, buy her right back, along with another Kenya - Beverly Hills.

So which doll should I open first?

Playing Dress-Up with an Action Figure

So I had a fun evening of trying different outfits on my Heroik muscle body figure.  Oh, maybe I shouldn't say outfit?  I was told by a male co-worker once not to use the word "outfit" when referring to men's clothes.  So what word do I use?  Ensemble?

Here's my muscular new guy in American Teen Benjamin's clothes and Bradley McIntosh's shoes.  The pants are too big around his waist, and they are too short.  Not to mention that this guy does not want to go around with a shirt that says "American Teen".

Here he is about to burst out of GI Joe's shirt and some action figure jeans.

He doesn't look too bad in this.  The shirt is a little too short, though.

I wanted to find him some jeans to wear, but sadly the only pair that I have that will fit him are some mom jeans.  I put them on him, and my husband walked into the room.  He said "If you're going to put him in those, he needs to wear some boots because those pants are too short."  I thanked my husband for his dollie dressing expertise.  I then launched into my tale of woe about not having any clothes that would fit my new guy.

I picked up the shirt pictured below and I said "This is the only thing that will fit him.  Do you think he'd want to punch me in the face if I dressed him in this?"  My husband said "Not only that, but people would come to your blog to cuss you out for dressing him like that.  People that have never even heard of your blog would come to cuss you out."  I said "Well that settles it, I'm dressing him in this.  I could use the blog hits!  They say that there's no such thing as bad publicity, ALL publicity is GOOD publicity!"  I giggled as I dressed my action figure, and my husband frowned.

My husband moved on to doing some other task, but I wanted him to see the shoes that I had picked out.  My husband told me that he didn't even want to see.  I insisted that he take a look at the complete ensemble. So he looked, and he let out a sound that was half laugh and half exasperated gasp, all while frowning.  He said "Let it be known that I do not approve of this."

 My new guy (I've named him Terry) does not approve, either.  None of my guys want to wear this top, except for Dennis Rodman.

Here is Terry in Remi's jacket.

Here's what we finally decided on.  He is wearing a Ken T-shirt, Flavas Liam's jacket, mom jeans, and Lando Calrissian's boots.  My husband approves.

Heroik Muscle Body

So this is the one that drew me back in - the Heroik Muscle Body action figure from Kaustic Plastik.

Earlier this year, I had been watching and waiting for the release of this figure.  This figure was released during a period of time when I had stopped ordering new dolls.  I still had it in the back of my mind that I would order this one at some point. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I was going to order.  I went to the place where I normally buy my action figures, and they had sold out.  So I went to eBay and I saw that some people were already starting to sell this figure at far higher prices than the retail price.  I began to have that panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach and I hoped that I hadn't waited too late.  

I found someone on eBay who was selling the figure at higher than retail, but lower than the other eBay sellers.  So I placed my bifd  Meanwhile, I was reading Male Doll World and found out that I could get this figure at another retailer for less.  So I was hoping that I would not win my eBay auction, and I did not.  Once I was outbid, I immediately went and ordered this figure.

He is taller and more muscular than most other action figures.  He's pictured above with some of my other taller figures.  He's about the same height as the bs0039 body (Michael Jordan) and Triad Omega.  Darius Reid and Scottie Pippen are a bit taller than he is.

He is not as massive as my Elijah Burke figure, but he can certainly hold his own in a wrestling match.

I giggled as I imagined what he would look like in Ken clothes.  I giggled even more once I saw him in Ken's clothes.  As you can see, Ken's clothes do not fit.  The pants will not pull all of the way up, the shirt will not pull over the arms, and the shoes are too small.

Even Ken's stretchy T-shirt will not fit.  Neither will regular action figure jeans.  He can fit regular action figure shoes, though.

For now, he'll have to hang out in his underwear.  I don't mind.  And neither do these ladies.

 This action figure resembles Terry Crews.

V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna

The second doll to arrive at my house after my recent hiatus was V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna.  I read about this one on Black Doll Collecting and I thought that she was cute, but did not order her at the time.  Last week, I decided that it was time to bring this one home.

Here she is released from the box.

I love that she is somewhat articulated, and I'm really glad that she can stand on her own in her boots.  Here she is with some friends that she's made here.

And here she is with more friends.

 This is a purchase that I am really happy with.

Dance Class Howleen Wolf

Dance Class Howleen Wolf was the first new doll to arrive at my house in months.  There was another doll that I tried to buy first, but I had some difficulties (more on that in a future blog post).

I had wanted Howleen since she came out in a Target exclusive sister pack with her sister Clawdeen earlier this year.  All of my local Target stores sold out, and that set was selling for outrageous (for me) prices on eBay.  I just waited and hoped that Howleen would be popular enough to be released on her own.  I'm glad that I waited.

I think that she's cute with her pink hair and attitude. Okay granted, I did have a failure to bond with Clawdeen, and it will probably be the same with this one, but I'm hoping to find a use for her.  I had something specific in mind when I bought her, but I don't know if that's going to work out.

And the ears on this one...  I had a puppy once that was a German Shepherd mix.  She had floppy ears when she was very young, but gradually over time, her ears began to straighten out.  Around the time of her first heat, she had one straight ear and one ear that was still a little floppy, just like Howleen.  I'm a little grossed out that this doll with her human characteristics reminds me of my puppy.  I'm kind of amused by it, also.

Awwwww, the happy family together at last.  Clawd Wolf was freed from his cardboard prison the same day as Howleen, and Clawdeen's head was reunited with her body long enough to take a few family photos.

 Howleen's body is shorter than Clawdeen's, and shaped a little differently.

Check out this video review of Howleen and her siblings.

More Stuff...

Here is more stuff that arrived between May - July that I'm just now photographing:

Justin Bieber gear - for one of my teen guys.

Build A Bear Fashions - after visiting Roville's Blog, I went to BABW seeking fashions that would fit my curvaceous Dasia doll.  I asked the workers if they had fashions from the Friends2B line, and they told me no and that the line had been discontinued.  I bought some fashions anyway, hoping they would fit Dasia.  No such luck.  They are way too big.  Oh well, I'm sure I have some bears somewhere that can fit these.  The good news is that they told me that I could take as many of these ribbons as I wanted for free, so I grabbed a big handful.

Clawd Wolf - what more can I say.  He even has a fashion and some jewelry for a lucky someone.

Fashion Doll Head - a very nice friend sent this to me.  I will practice repainting and re-rooting on her.

Ken Doll Fashion - my action figure guys are looking at me nervously, wondering if they will be the recipient of this fashion.  I think that they can relax, as I'm sure I have an old Ken doll that would love to wear this.

JLS Celebz Mini Marvin - I blame... I mean I credit D7ana for this purchase.  I was never able to find any of the JLS dolls for a price that I was willing to pay, but this little guy was cheap.

Back to Brooklyn Remi - I came close to missing out on him AGAIN this year.  Back in Spring, I went down the list of Integrity Toys dealers until I finally found one who was still taking pre-orders.  I was nervous because I knew that there was no way that I would be able to buy him on the secondary market.  I waited and waited and my Remi finally arrived!

Tomorrow I will start writing about my recent arrivals.  And the deboxing has begun!

It's Been A While

Over the past several months, my husband has asked me from time to time why I haven't used the camera that he bought me for my birthday yet.  My birthday was at the end of May.  I tried to keep the excuses fresh and relevant:
"It's too hot." - this one was my favorite for a while.
"I don't know how to use it yet."
"You're always asleep during the day and I take the best photos during daylight hours." - he works nights.
"I did use it, didn't I?" - ummmm, no I didn't.
"I plan on using it soon." - this was my second favorite.

The truth is, I lost most of the enjoyment that I get from dolls for a while.  I was going through something that felt overwhelming to me, and I even thought about selling some of my dolls.  The thought of selling my dolls was depressing, so I tried my best not to think about it.  So I barely looked at my dolls, because looking at them reminded me that I could be losing some of them soon.  The doll buying ceased for a few months.

Well, the doll-buying bug must have bitten me again, because I've bought 3 dolls in the past week.  I'll write about those soon, but first I want to catch up a little.  Here are photos that I took today of some dolls that I acquired back in June or July (they are still in the box - you know that's not like me at all).

Mattel's Die Another Day Jinx doll -  I'd been wanting this one for a while, and I was finally able to find her for a price I was willing to pay.

Bratz Catz Sasha doll - a head swap is coming her way.

Making Waves Alexis doll - a head swap is coming her way, also.

LIV Accessories - came free with the doll.  I don't have a LIV dog, so Only Hearts Club Briana Joy's dog Longfellow will receive the doggie fashion.

 Only Hearts Club Big Sister Kayla Rae and Sydney dolls - I already had a Kayla Rae, but I wanted Sydney also.  I think that I should open this one and leave my other Kayla Rae boxed.  My husband thinks that I should open the other one and leave this one boxed.  What do you think?

So these are the first images that I have taken with my "new" camera.  I need practice.  All of the close-ups that I tried to take came out blurry.  I have more photos that I took today, but I will share those at another time.  I have more boxed dolls to share!  And then, let the deboxing commence!