Nelson Mandela Action Figure

This doll has been in my collection for a number of years and has rarely ever left his box. He is the talking Nelson Mandela action figure from Timecapsule Toys.

Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected president of South Africa. This action figure speaks 23 unique phrases.

Here's a close-up. It's a decent likeness to the real Mandela, but he looks more like Morgan Freeman to me.

He is a fully articulated action figure. He wears a very nice 3 piece suit with a lined jacket and vest. He wears socks and he has on boxer shorts under his suit. I love the detail of the handkerchief in his pocket, and he has a nice tie. He can pose very easily and naturally. Here he is seated.

Here's a quick comparison with other action figures. They are from left to right: Tobias Alsford, Samuel Wilson, Nelson Mandela, Curtis, and President Palmer.

Mandela had a lot to say upon being released from his box again, so he borrowed MLK's podium.

Here he is on a previous occasion where he was released from his box, posing with other Presidents (real and fictional) and baby Krissy.

He comes with a stand, and a biographical pamphlet covering President Mandela's life before and during his presidency. He also comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Overall, he's an extremely nice action figure, and I love the company's emphasis on education and discovery of the world's greatest contributors. I love having a male doll that represents an age that is older than most of my dolls. He doesn't leave his box much, and I suppose that's because of the historical significance of the person that he represents. He doesn't look much like the real Mandela, so I suppose I could include him in doll play a little more frequently. On the other hand, he and my Harriet Tubman doll may stay in their boxes watching from the sidelines as my other dolls have all the fun.

***Edited to add this photo showing his articulation. These are the boxers that he comes with. There is a speaker on his chest, and a button to push to hear him speak. He speaks in the real voice of Nelson Mandela. The battery compartment is on his back.

Remembering Michael

It's been 7 years ago today since Michael Jackson died. I will remember him always.

LJN Michael Jackson

Playmates Toys Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson with the LJN doll in his likeness

 Calista saw a performance of MJ Live while in Las Vegas and met the lead performer. I suppose it's the closest she'll ever come to seeing Michael Jackson live in concert.

Lammily Photographer

My Lammily Photographer doll arrived last week and I released her from her box the other day.

I've added photos of her box below. The box has lovely artwork.

Here's a look at the box and the pamphlet that came with the doll.

I was impressed by my first glimpse of Lammily. She looks better than the prototype photos. Here are a couple of shots of her still in the box with the pamphlet containing the story of how she got started with photography.

And here is a full shot of her inside the box.

Even the inside of the box contained lovely artwork. Here she is with her camera, ready to take some photos. My Lammily has a slight black stain on the back of her right hand from the camera strap.

Here she is out of the box! Lammily can stand unassisted (for a short amount of time), but I found it a challenge to balance her in her original shoes. Her outfit is not that impressive, but not too bad. I like the clips in her hair. She has densely rooted curly hair. Her articulation is limited.

She has articulation at her wrists and ankles. Her elbows and knees bend slightly (one click at the knees, two clicks at the elbows).

I am thrilled to have diversity in my doll collection in terms of size and shape. Here are some of my other dolls that are a little larger than the average female doll. From left to right they are: Dominique, Dasia, Lammily, Curvy Barbie (released from her package the same day as Lammily), and Bessie.

Warning: naked plastic ahead. Here's a look at Lammily's body. She has a rather long torso and rather short legs. She wears molded on flesh colored panties. Her ankle articulation allows her to stand in heels of various heights, in flats, and barefooted.

Lammily can fit into Dominique's clothes, although the jeans are rather short on Lammily. Dominique looks good in Lammily's clothes, but Lammily's shoes will not fit on Dominique. Lammily can wear Dominique's shoes and stand in them.

The size of Lammily's upper arms and thighs is comparable to some of my action figure ladies, but Lammily is much thicker in the middle. Below, she is barely squeezing into exercise attire from a BBI Perfect Body action figure.

Lammily can squeeze into some of the larger and stretchier Sparkle Girlz attire. She is wearing a Sparkle Girlz top below. One of the details that I like about Lammily is that her palms and the soles of her feet are a lighter color. I only have one other doll with this realistic detail, and that's Eddie Strong (pictured with Lammily below). Only the palms of Eddie's hands are lighter, not the soles of his feet.

Lammily can squeeze into the jacket and skirt of this Beverly Hills Kenya fashion. She can wear shoes made for action figures. Below, she is wearing Triad Alpha shoes. She can stand unassisted in them, but not while wearing this tight skirt.

Some of my larger action figure guys have been forced to wear these mom jeans in the past, and they are glad to hand these over to Lammily (though they will find themselves sharing these with her sometimes). She also wears JLS Marvin's shirt. I like it better on her than I do on him.

Tracy Turnblad's dress is large on Lammily, but I think she looks pretty good in it.

Dasia's dress is way too big on Lammily.

I was happy find that Lammily can fit the pants that she wears below, because none of my other ladies can wear them, and my guys balk at the very idea of me putting these on them (except Dennis Rodman - he did not object). I think the shirt is a Ken tee. She is wearing female action figure shoes from OJI Toys.

Lammily does not sit very elegantly. Her knees barely bend, and she sits with her legs open.

 Lammily poses below with my Booty Babe statue.

 And here's one last group shot. In addition to the dolls mentioned above, there's Mammy on the left of Lammily and Tracy Turnblad on the right. Lammily could not fit the pants of the purple tracksuit or Curvy Barbie's denim dress below (but she could wear the white lace top).

Overall, I like the Lammily Photographer doll very much. I love her hair. It would be nice if her ankle joints were tighter so that she could stand better, and I'd love to see some improvement in her articulation overall. She has plenty of options for clothes and shoes. I love having another doll to represent a larger size and a different shape.

Evidence

Today my husband and I were in the car together after I got off from work, and he asked about my Venus Williams doll. I left Venus on my bookshelf above my desk yesterday after shooting some photos (I'm way behind on my blogging, but the Venus photos are coming soon, along with others). I told my husband that I was surprised that he recognized Venus. He said "What? I watch ESPN!" I told him that the doll represents Venus in 2000 when she was only about 20 years old, and I told him that I was impressed that he recognized her. He said that she was fairly easy to recognize, since she had on her tennis outfit.

When we finally made it home, I noticed that my dolls that I'd left out had been re-positioned. The way that I left them, Venus was sitting alone, and Buckwheat was standing by Addy. So check out the photograph below for evidence of my husband's doll play (a rarity indeed). Venus is now holding Buckwheat on her lap, and she has her arm around Addy. When I saw this, I couldn't help but to say "Awwwwwwwwww!"

That's The Time I Feel Like Swapping Heads

I had been wanting my Brandy doll to have an articulated body for a while, but none of my articulated dolls seemed to be quite the right color for a match. But then I saw this post from Muff, and I saw that the Artsy Fashionista Barbie's body would be a good match. And I figured I'd swap Dance ‘N Flex Christie's head also just for the heck of it.

From left to right, here are Dance ‘N Flex Christie, Brandy (I don't know which version), and Artsy Fashionista Barbie (the first wave).

I wanted Brandy to have an articulated body because her face is unique in the Barbie world. I have other versions of dolls with the other two heads. I have a bunch of dolls using the Asha sculpt and another doll (Nikki) that uses the Desiree/Adria sculpt that is articulated. She's still in her package for now.

So, off with their heads. I followed my own instructions for head removal.

Nothing too unusual with the removal of the heads. The Dance ‘N Flex Christie doll had a little piece of paper in her head. Hmmmmm, could this be the code to unlock some great Barbie mystery? I don't know, so I put the piece of paper safely back into her head for now. I've made a mental note not to wash or boil perm her hair.

So here are the results. The Dance 'N Flex Christie head is not at all thrilled to be on the non-articulated body. The Artsy Fashionista head is having fun with her new bendy body. And Brandy is thrilled to finally have the articulated body that she's yearned for. She's singing, she's dancing, she's performing like never before!