JLS Marvin

My teen girls are very thankful for this recent arrival.  Ever since reading D7ana's blog post about the JLS dolls, I have been wanting them.  But the shipping charges to have them shipped from Great Britain were cost prohibitive.  Until now (for Marvin).  There is currently a seller on eBay who is selling Marvin for a very reasonable price and only $6 to ship from Great Britain to the United States.  I hope that some of Marvin's band members will be able to join him here soon (for cheap).

Here is Marvin still in his box.

And here he is out of the box.

Here is a close-up of Marvin.  I thought about Squarepeg78 and smiled when I inspected Marvin because not only is he showing teeth, but he has indentations so that you can see each individual tooth.  For anyone who is creeped out by dolls with teeth, be forewarned and do not enlarge the photo below.  Marvin's lips are nearly as red as his shirt.

Marvin is wearing a red hooded top, khaki pants, some grayish short boots, a brown belt, and a green wrist band.  I like that his belt is removable.  The clothing is good quality and well stitched.  His feet are about the same size as Ken's and they can share shoes.

Marvin is 30cm tall.  Here is a height comparison with other teen male dolls.  From left to right, here are American Teen Benjamin, High School Musical Zeke, Marvin, S Club 7 Bradley McIntosh, and Flavas Tre.

Marvin immediately started looking around for pretty girls and found Lena, but he's a little too short and too young for her taste.  She said that they can just be friends.

That's okay, the guys know plenty of girls that they can introduce to Marvin.  Here are some of the group enjoying some day-after-Thanksgiving snacks (I guess they already ate the turkey sandwiches).  Marvin's knees do not bend, so he has trouble sitting down.

Here's a closer look at Marvin's body.  Let's see, how can I put this delicately...  Marvin has a little something extra.  Not much, but enough that he stands apart from my female dolls (and the vast majority of my male dolls).  Other than that, there are no surprises here.  Marvin can stand on his own.  He has no articulation at the elbows or knees.  His arms and legs move forward and backward only.  His head moves side to side.

Here's a side view.

Marvin convinced me to finally open my Justin Bieber fashion pack.

The fashion pack contains a hoodie, a pair of jeans, shoes, sunglasses, and a laptop.  The quality of the clothes and shoes is really good.  The sunglasses are okay, but don't look right on Marvin.  I like Marvin in his Justin Bieber clothes better than I like him in his own clothes.

I really like the laptop.  My teens will have a good time using this.

My overall impression of Marvin is that he is a good sturdy doll that can withstand child's play, and he is good for collectors as well.  I am happy to have another ethnic teen male doll in my collection.  I wish that he had more articulation, and that his lips were less red.

He is a nice addition to my collection.

Boyz n the Hoodies

Calista's Diary Entry - Thankful

Dear Diary,

Today I was asked to set the table for our Thanksgiving Day dinner.  I've never set it by myself before, and this was kind of a big deal for me.

Oprah says that "love is in the details", so I wanted to make sure that everything was just perfect for my family.

We used the good plates and the good silver.  I went online and looked up setting the table for a formal dinner to make sure that I was doing everything right.  I also added some personal touches.

 Before we brought out the food, I sat down for a moment alone to reflect.  At Thanksgiving dinner, my family always discusses all of the things that we are thankful for.  I wanted to get my thoughts together.

Even though things may not always go my way, I know that I am blessed.  I am so thankful for my family and friends and for all of the love and support that I have in my life.

I am thankful for those who encourage my creativity.  I'm thankful for those who read my words and who have kind things to say.  I am thankful for those who offer criticism and push me to strive to improve.  I am thankful for those who can identify with my struggles.  I am thankful for those who laugh at my jokes.  I am just so very, very thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Obitsu Harry

My girl dolls have been in an uproar.  The number of girls here exceeds the number of boys, and they have been demanding that I add more boys to my collection to make things right.  I am sympathetic to their plight.  I went to my Bin of Forgotten Dolls and retrieved a Mattel Harry Potter head that had been languishing there for years.  This head came to me in a box of other dolls from a fellow collector.  I decided that it's time to give Harry a body and have him officially join the collection.

I decided to order an Obitsu body for young Harry.  I had been hearing about these bodies for years, but never had an occasion to purchase one since they do not make brown bodies.  I purchased a 21cm body in flesh tone (my only choices were white and flesh).

 The body came with 3 extra sets of hands, and 4 different neck connectors of various sizes.  With 28 points of articulation, this figure is extremely pose-able and is by far my most articulated child figure.

I needed to change the neck connector in order to get Harry's head onto the body.  This was not a problem.  The neck connectors are attached with a small screw.

I removed the screw, detached a larger neck connector, and attached that neck connector to the body with the screw.

With the larger neck connector in place, I was able to easily attach Harry's head to the body.

Here he is with head attached and fully dressed.  He is wearing his original shirt and pants.  The pants are a little too short for him now.

I was trying to get him to change clothes, but all he wanted to do was hang out with his new friends.

Here is a height comparison.  Pictured below from left to right are:  SIS Julian, Mego Our Gang Buckwheat, Mattel Todd, Harry, and Dave Cub Scout. 

I think that I should have purchased a taller body for Harry.  He has a very boyish face, but his head is kind of on the large side, so I think that he could pass as a teen.  I thought about giving this body to my White Todd doll and purchasing a taller one for Harry, but the Obitsu body is too pale for Todd.  I will keep Harry on this body for now, but he may grow a few centimeters in the future.

As happy as my girls were about the new arrival, I think that my boys were even happier.  I have so few boys that some of my short men stand in for boys every now and then.

*Shaking my head*  Boys!  They will not be satisfied until someone breaks a limb.

My overall impression of the Obitsu body is that it is a good purchase for the money.  The body is flexible and sturdy, and it is easy to swap out the neck connectors and hands. I wish that this company (or another company like this) would make brown bodies.  I am so impressed with this body that I wanted to purchase more for some of my other White dolls (male and female), but this "flesh" color is too pale for all of them.  So this will be my only Obitsu for a while.

Calista's Diary Entry - Kiss and Tell

Dear Diary,

Big Janet and Dylan are clearly a couple now.  Me and Kana and Briana Joy had been trying to ask her about what happened at the Halloween Carnival, but whenever we saw her at school she would say "Not here!  Not now!".  It seems like she's been too busy to hang out with us after school.  It seems like any time we see her outside of school now, she's hugging or holding hands with Dylan.  We were finally able to catch up with her today, though, and we hung out at my house.  Needless to say, we had a lot of questions!

Kana:  Ok, you'd better spill it.
Big Janet:  What?
Kana:  Let's start with what the heck happened at the Halloween Carnival, inside the haunted house, to be specific.
Briana Joy:  And don't hold anything back, either.  We want the details.
Big Janet:  Ok, the ride started and we went through a big set of double doors.  It was pitch black inside.  Then all of a sudden this bright spotlight came on and we saw a coffin, which opened and...
Me:  Did he kiss you?
Big Janet (blushing):  Yes.
Me, Kana, and Briana Joy:  Ooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Big Janet (giggling):  I don't know why you're surprised!  We've kind of been flirting with each other for a while.  Remember the Valentine's Day party?  I almost kissed him back then!

Briana Joy:  But he's older!
Big Janet:  He's not that much older than me.
Kana:  Ok, finish telling the story!  I still want the details.

Big Janet told us that after her first big fright inside the Haunted House, she had screamed, and Dylan put his arm her and she moved over closer to him.  At one point, she closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder, not wanting to see what was coming next.  She could tell that he was moving his head closer to hers, and when she raised her head, he kissed her right on the lips.  Well, he missed at first, but then he kissed her and she kissed him back and they kept kissing for the rest of the ride.  After the carnival, Dylan had sent her a text message that said "So you're my girl, right?" and Big Janet texted him back saying "Yes."

Big Janet is the first one out of the four of us who has ever kissed a boy, so she had to deal with a lot of questions from us.  "Was it wet?"  "Was it gross?"  "How did it feel?" etc.  She answered all of our questions and gave us as many details as we wanted.

After the girls left, I stayed in my room for a while just thinking about things.  I can't believe that Big Janet is the first one out of our group of friends to have a boyfriend.  I'm not saying that in a mean way.  It's just that I always kind of thought that it would be me. 

Making a 1/6 Scale Fishing Pole

I wanted one of my stories to involve a fishing trip, so I checked around to see if I could find some 1/6 scale fishing poles to purchase for my dolls.  Yes, I could find some, but decided not to buy them.  I found some that were relatively inexpensive, but I decided not to spend any money at all on doll stuff that I'm probably only going to use a couple of times.  I'd much rather spend my money on dolls.  How hard could it be to make a fishing pole, right?

I started brainstorming on how I would make my poles.  So as I do almost always when faced with the prospect of making something from scratch, I asked my husband if he would make them for me.  He said no.  I asked him what I could use to make my fishing poles.  He told me to go out into the yard, grab some twigs, and tie some string to them.  I told him that I thought that I could do a little bit better than that (I asked him to whittle me some poles, but he didn't go for that idea).

He suggested using some straws, and I thought that straws would be a little big for my little people, but then I thought about the long coffee stirrers and decided to give them a try.  So my idea started to take shape.

Steps:

1.  Round up the necessary items:

• long coffee stirrer
• tape (I used duct tape)
• push pin
• used staple with one end slightly unbent
• super glue
• scissors
• links from an old broken necklace
• bead from an old broken necklace
• thread (or dental floss, or whatever)
• old pencil eraser

2.  Bend the end of the push pin.

3.  Cut the straw to the desired length.

4.  Fold the end of the straw so that it is narrower at one end.

5.  Add tape to the other end to make it wider.

6.  Tape the links and the push pin to the straw.  Be sure to tape the push pin to the same side of the straw as the links.  I did not do that, and I did not feel like fixing my mistake.

7.  Wrap the thread around the push pin a few times and glue it in place.

8.  Guide the other end of the thread through the links.

9.  Add a bead to the end of the thread (paint it first if you want).

10. Tie the staple to the very end of the thread as a hook and add a little glue.

11. Add a pencil eraser to the sharp end of the push pin as a handle.

Finished Fishing Pole

Eddie Strong is ready to test out the fishing pole.

It's flexible, lightweight, and the perfect size for him to grip.  But why does it have to be red, he wonders.

Here he inspects the reel.

Here's a closer look.  The reel is not actually functional.

Alright, it's show time.  Eddie is ready to cast out.

He's got a bite!

This must be a big one!

 Reel him in, Eddie, reel him in!  Oh yeah, the reel does not work.

Well, he got away, but Eddie swears that he was THIS BIG!

Prettie Girls Lena

When I saw this post on DBG's Black Doll Collecting blog, I knew that I had to get Lena.  I ordered her immediately, and a few days later Lena arrived.

The back of her box includes basic information about her.

She comes with a nice doll stands.  I don't really have a use for doll stands though, so I will put that away.  I was really interested to see if she could stand on her own in her shoes.

Hooray!  Lena can stand on her own in the shoes that she comes with.  Her clothes and accessories look nice.  I love the fact that her silver jewelry actually looks silver, as opposed to gray.

Here is a close-up.  Lena is a very pretty doll.  There is some type of product in her hair that holds her side-swept bangs in place and that part of her hair feels stiff.  Her hair is well rooted.

Her clothes are nice and they fit her very well.  Here she is in her blouse without her jumper.

And here she is nude.  She has points of articulation at her elbows, knees, and chest.  Her torso articulation allows her to move very slightly from side to side, to rotate slightly, and to arch her back very slightly.  She has molded on panties.  Her head will move back and forth, but not up and down.  Her feet are arched, so she can not stand without assistance when her shoes are not on.  She has an attractive pear-shaped figure.  Her arms will not rest against her body - they arch outward as shown here.

Here she is sitting down.  She can not close her legs.  In this photo, she is wearing Flavas Kiyoni Brown's bra and Mixis Opal's panties.

Here are a few comparison photos with other fashion dolls.  Pictured below are from left to right:  Artsy Fashionista Barbie, Mixis Opal body with Monsieur Z Wild head, Lena, Jakks Pacific Lola, and a Kenya body with a Barbie head. 

Here are some comparison photos with some of my action figure ladies.  They are from left to right:  Hot Toys True Type Cuban American, action figure body similar to Takara with Opal head, Lena, BBI Perfect Body, and Triad Alpha African.

So let's talk about shoes and fashions.  Lena can share shoes with Mixis and Jakks Pacific dolls.  She can balance (quite precariously) in Jakks Pacific shoes, as seen below.  Mixis dolls can balance in her shoes.

She can balance very well in Mixis shoes, as seen below.

She looks good in a Mixis fashion, also.  Below, Lena is wearing Mixis Opal's dress and shoes.

Because Lena has a larger bottom compared to Mattel and some other fashion dolls, there may be an issue in finding fashions that fit her just right.  She is smaller on the top, so she shouldn't have an issue wearing most Barbie blouses, but pants and dresses may be another story.  Below, Lena wears a Barbie (Model Muse) top and some Barbie pants.  The pants stretch a little, which is why they fit Lena so well.  She is wearing Sashabella Paws' black boots and she is able to balance in them.  Lena can also wear Howleen Wolf's sneakers, but she can not balance in them.

Here she is wearing another Barbie fashion.  This dress stretches a little, so Lena wears it well.  She is wearing Super Model Bel's shoes and she can balance somewhat in them.

My overall impression is that this is a good quality doll that is well worth the money.  I love her features, her figure, her jewelry, and that her hair is well rooted.  I wish that she had better articulation, no molded on panties, and that her arms would rest against her body.

Lena will fit in quite nicely here, and she is making new friends already. 

My Lena Video