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.

Football Fever

Are you ready for some FOOTBALLLLLLLL?  I don't personally care much for it, but football season is a huge deal at my place of employment.  So, I thought I'd grab a couple of my dolls at work and get them in on the action.

One of my co-workers bought a football helmet standing tracker set similar to this one, and I borrowed some helmets.  They are a good fit for most 1/6 males.

I'm sure that a lot of my action figure guys (and probably some of my action figure ladies) wish that I could bring these home for them to wear.

Here are my guys having football fun around my job site.

My dolls at work are fine, but they don't really look like football players to me.  So here's a bonus shot of one of my action figures at home.

Not Wanting to Leave Empty Handed

I did not find TJ and Dwayne during my evening excursion to WalMart, but I did find these cuties.

I opened the Sparkle Girlz doll immediately, and she met some new friends.

There is a head swap in this mermaid's future.

The search continues for TJ, Dwayne, and Keyshia.

Bricka Bracka Firecracker Sis Boom Bah!

He's here!  He's here!  Rah rah RAH!

My Texas A&M male cheerleader (AA) has arrived!

I thought that I had missed out on this one after he had sold out earlier this year.  When I saw the message that he was back on sale, I jumped at the chance to get him.

My husband and I were spending time "together" on Saturday.  I say "together" because we were in the same room, but doing different things.  He was watching football game after football game, and I was on the computer.  When I'm at the computer, my back is to the television, but by golly I turned around in time enough to see the Texas A&M male cheerleaders run out onto the field.  I blurted out "I've got one coming!"  My husband gave me a strange look and said "What?"  I thought about whether or not I wanted to tell my husband about my latest doll purchase and decided that I really didn't want to, so I said "Nevermind."  My husband asked "You've got one of WHAT coming?"  So I quickly changed my mind again and told him about my doll. He even indulged me as I showed him photos of the doll on the internet.

Hours later during some other game that I had no interest in, I asked my husband who won the Texas A&M game.  He corrected me "You mean the ALABAMA and Texas A&M game?"  I said "You know what game I mean, so just answer the question."  He was laughing as he told me that Alabama won.  I didn't really care, the only reason that the game even registered with me is because of this doll.  I love it when my interests and his interests collide.

Meanwhile, back to today and the arrival of my new doll.  I am not the only one in this household excited about the new arrival.  Several of my female dolls are excited as well.  Alvin Ailey Barbie welcomed him in a way that she knew he would appreciate.

She led the others in a rallying cry, "LET HIM OUT! LET HIM OUT!  LET HIM OUT!"  Soon, ladies, soon he will be free.

My husband thinks that their exuberance is misplaced, as he thinks that this Texas A&M cheerleader doll will have no interest in spending time with the ladies.  I happen to disagree.  I guess we shall see.

Ryan Whittaker

After reading A Philly Collector's latest post about the Ryan Whittaker action figure, I decided to take some photos a do a post of my own.  A while back, I received a couple of Ryan Whittaker action figures from a collector friend.  I received a complete figure, and a body without the head.  The complete figure is pictured below.  He arrived without his original boots.  The boots that he is wearing below come from another figure (one of my dollar store guys, but don't tell Ryan).

He's not a bad looking guy.

 Ryan is outfitted in a suit that is very difficult to remove.  The fabric can not be removed without cutting or ripping, and the plastic armor is sewn on.  His pants are even screwed onto his legs.  He has gloved hands.

I had a Denzel head that needed a body, so I used the second Ryan Whittaker body for that.  The body came to me with the suit already removed.  I used a couple of Hot Toys hands to complete the figure.


Ken doll clothes fit Ryan very well, but Ken shoes are slightly too small.

Here's a photo showing how the Ken shoes do not fit properly.  I have a shortage of action figure shoes at the moment, and Ryan (Denzel) is able to balance on these shoes, so these will have to work for now.

The Denzel head has a longer neck, so the figure on the left is slightly taller than the figure on the right.  They are both able to tilt their heads forward and back.

I can also get Denzel's head to tilt from side to side by rotating the base of his neck.  I am unable to rotate Ryan's head on the base, so I can't really get his head to tilt from side to side.

Ok brace yourself.  This is why Denzel will never do a nude scene in any of my stories (unless he gets another body).  On the left is the Ryan Whittaker body in the nude.  The body uses 2 or 3 different shades of brown, and different types of plastic, so some parts are shinier than others.  

He has great articulation, though, and his range of motion is increased with the removal of his suit.

Here he is from the back, flexing a few muscles.

So let's talk about feet and ankles.  Here are the ones that my figures came with.  They look like they belong to this body.  The seams in the front align, and the width of the ankle and lower leg is more or less the same. The material and coloring looks the same for the lower legs and ankles.

Here is what the ankles look like when turned to the side (front seams not aligned).

The collector who sent these bodies to me does a great job of customizing figures.  I can't say with certainty that these are Ryan Whittaker's original factory manufactured feet and ankles, but they look like they belong to this figure to me.  Last year, I asked the person who sent these to me how he had removed the boots, and this is what he said:

"If I remember correctly I slipped a letter opener in the thigh and worked it around the perimeter. I let it sit in so hot tap water for about five mins and pull them right off. The pants are screwed on at the sides under the boots (you'll see what i mean when you remove the boots. If you are still having trouble then slice a thin line into the boot on the back center where the indentation is."

 The photo below is of Ryan's pants screwed onto his leg, and what his leg looks like after the screw and pants have been removed.

If these are not Ryan Whittaker's original feet and ankles, I would love to know what figure these came from.  Do these look familiar to anyone?

Edit:  These are indeed Ryan Whittaker's original feet and ankles.

And The Winner Is...

Dragon Jennifer has been giving me the evil eye for the past few months for not officially announcing the winner of the Final Challenge - Yoga Poses.  Well, Jennifer finally gets her day in the spotlight!

The readers of this blog have voted and the winner of the Final Challenge - Yoga is Dragon Jennifer!

The readers have spoken, and Jennifer has blown away the competition with her awesome moves.  She is durable, she is flexible, and she can hold a pose like no other.

Jennifer is presented with a bouquet of roses while her fellow finalists and others join in congratulating her on her well-deserved victory.

Second place goes to Alvin Ailey Barbie!

She is graceful, beautiful, and flexible, and the readers were impressed with how well she posed against the fierce competition of the action figures.

Triad Alpha seemed visibly upset when second place was announced.  She was later heard exclaiming "I was ROBBED!"

 Jennifer's speech:  "Thank you all very much for your votes.  I am aware that I do not embody glamour and beauty the way that other dolls do, and some may even find me unattractive. For that reason, I am relegated to the background most of the time. Thank you for recognizing my strengths and for allowing me to have this moment to stand out from the crowd."

Jennifer has become much more popular with the male figures here, which she appreciates.  But right now, she really just wants to snatch off that wig, wash off the make-up, and put on some comfortable clothes and shoes.  Yes, the outfit was my idea.  Forgive me, Jennifer, and congratulations once again!