Thursday, May 25, 2017

Dolls For My Birthday

Today is my birthday! I've been blessed with another year of life, and I am extremely grateful to be here!

While I'm here, I'm going to celebrate!

I'm going to enjoy all of the gifts that this life has to offer!

And I'm going to treat myself to stuff that I want!

Well, I want a lot of things, but I'll stay on topic here and limit this post to dolls. I've ordered several, hoping that some would arrive on my special day, and they did, so I've had a good time opening my gifts from me to me. Here are my recent arrivals.

A couple of new guys arrived nude - a Ken and an action figure guy. I'll probably attempt my first Ken head swap soon.

American Teen Anthoney has arrived. I already have two American Teen dolls (Benjamin and Dominique), but I wanted Anthoney for his locs. 

American Teen Tara has also arrived.

 I never noticed until recently (or at least I didn't remember) that Tara has a darker skin tone than Dominique. I didn't purchase Anthoney and Tara years ago when I purchased the others because they are so similar, but now I've decided that there is enough of a difference to warrant adding them to my collection. 
 Here, Benjamin and a redressed Dominique pose with the new arrivals. Anthoney and Tara will stay in their boxes for now.

Hasbro and Disney Moanas have arrived. The gift bag is from my husband (it contains non doll related gifts). He didn't know I was getting Moana dolls, and I didn't know about this Moana gift bag, so this was quite a coincidence.

American Girl mini Gabriela has arrived.

Gone With The Wind Prissy has arrived. She will be receiving a new body (one of these days).

Some fashions also arrived. Thank you Black Doll Enthusiast for letting me know that Teen Trends fashions would probably fit Dasia and friends.

Monica loves the outfit, necklace, purse, and drink. Moana loves the shoes. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to ever find any shoes for Moana, so I was relieved to see these cute big shoes in this fashion pack. Moana is wearing a Curvy Barbie fashion below. I don't think that any of my dolls can wear the earrings,

I saw these cute dresses that come with necklaces and purses (all handmade) while searching for Teen Trends fashions on eBay. The seller was having a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale, so that's what I did. Winx Club Layla (in the middle) only had one dress, so I decided that she needed a new one.


You'll be seeing all of the new doll arrivals again soon...

Thursday, May 18, 2017

More Fashions for the Larger Ladies

The two Dasias and Monica are feeling fancy in their new Friends 2B Made dresses.

The gold dress will not close in the back for Dasia or Monica. The pink and the red dresses fit great (although the red dress is really long). The pink dress also fits Tracy Turnblad.

They also got a new pair of pink panties. Dasia got a couple of new pairs of white shoes that she can stand in (they are NOT Friends 2B shoes). I will paint one of the pairs of shoes a different color (eventually).

Here's a closer look at Dasia's shoes.

 Here are 3 more Friends 2B Made fashions. Dasia, Monica, and Tracy can all fit all 3 fashions. The white tee shirt that Tracy wears is from Ken.

Most of the Friend 2B Made fashions have a tag on the outside, which I find annoying.

Here is Dasia styling in the denim and pink ruffled ensemble. 


This ensemble also came with a pair of pants that can be worn instead of the skirt. Unfortunately, none of these dolls can wear the pants because they are too long and too narrow. Below, Kevin Durant models the pants just so that you can see what they look like (sorry Kevin).

I saw an indicator that folks who looked at Friends 2B clothes also looked at Groovy Girls clothes, so I decided to purchase one of those outfits, as well.

Dasia can wear the blouse, but I can not pull the pants up on her legs.

I can pull the pants up on Monica's legs, but not her hips. Monica does not approve of this outfit at all.

I'm glad that there are more fashion options out there for these ladies. Now, to get rid of those tags...

Monday, May 15, 2017

Sheva Alomar Head Swaps and More

I recently purchased the Crazy Toys Sheva Alomar figure.

I had been seeing this figure on ebay and other sites being sold for $40+ dollars, but that was more money than I wanted to pay for this Hot Toys Sheva Alomar look-alike. But I kept watching, because I wanted to see if the Crazy Toys figure had anything that I could use with my hybrid Sheva Alomar (Hot Toys head on a Triad Alpha body). I was especially hoping that I could use the Crazy Toys Sheva Alomar blouse with my figure.

I saw the Crazy Toys figure being sold on ebay for $9.95 plus shipping and I did not hesitate to purchase it. 
My hybrid Sheva Alomar checking out the new arrival

Here she is out of the box. She comes with a spare set of gloved hands, a radio with earpiece, and a stand.

Another reason for me purchasing this figure is that I wanted to see if I could use the Crazy Toys head on my recently purchased Tianyimei action figure body, and I can. The head is not a perfect fit and it is not a perfect skin tone match, but close enough (especially since I have no other head options for the Tianyimei body).

I was thrilled that I was able to get the Sheva Alomar blouse off of the Crazy Toys body and onto my hybrid Hot Toys/Triad Sheva! 

Here are my two head swapped Shevas together. The Tianyimei body is shorter and slimmer than the Triad body. The Crazy Toys head is smaller than the Hot Toys head. I've decided that these two will be sisters here in my collection. So I need to come up with a name for little Sheva (other than Little Sheva). How about Sheena?

Here's a closer look at the pair. Of course, the Hot Toys head is much better in quality than the Crazy Toys head. I would consider repainting the Crazy Toys head one of these days, if I can get my painting skills up to par. I'll probably at least line her eyes and paint her eyebrows and lips (eventually).

Awwwww, sisterly affection!

I dressed Sheena in a Barbie shirt. She has a long neck with the Tianyimei body, and I also wanted her to be able to show of her rubbery torso. The pants are from Integrity Toys Janay, and the shoes belong to Only Hearts Club Briana Joy. Sheva is enjoying her new radio and earpiece while wearing the Crazy Toys Sheva Alomar blouse, a pair of tan Ken pants, and some Triad heels.

Here they are with the Crazy Toys stand. The Crazy Toys figure needs the stand in order to stand.

What will become of the Crazy Toys body? I don't know. I have a few Liv doll heads, or I'll pick something else from my Bin of Forgotten Heads. I'll stand the knife-wielding Crazy Toys body with sweet doll head somewhere in the back once I finally get all of my dolls displayed.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this purchase. No, the Crazy Toys figure is not high quality, but look at this. My Sheva Alomar finally has her blouse! And my Tianyimei body now has a head! All for one low price. Now that's what I call money well spent.

Here is my video review of the Crazy Toys Sheva Alomar figure.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Gabby Douglas Barbie

Here is my video review of the Gabby Douglas Barbie doll.

Gabby displays beautifully in her box. I got so excited creating the video that I forgot to take a photo of her while she was still in the box. But, the video captures those images.

Gabby is a beautiful, fully articulated doll. The doll bears a strong resemblance to the real Gabby Douglas. Here's a closeup.

I am thrilled that Mattel has chosen to honor Gabby Douglas by creating a doll in her likeness. Gabby shares some inspiring words on the back of the doll box.

Gabby uses the same body as Made to Move Barbie. Her articulation is great, and she poses easily and smoothly, and is able to hold her poses. She can stand without assistance, even without her shoes.

Gabby wears her signature stars and stripes leotard under a Nike warm-up suit with sneakers. She also comes with a doll stand.

With elbows and knees that are double jointed, she is able to strike some impressive poses.

I love the fact that she can wear flat shoes or shoes with heels.

Gabby is a beautiful collectible doll, but she is sturdy enough to withstand child's play as well. She is great for both children and adults alike.

Here she is with some of her new friends.

Gabby is the first one of my dolls to drive this car that my sister gave to me.

Overall, I am very impressed with the Gabby Douglas Barbie doll. One thing that I found very noticeable is that her head is lighter than her body. Also, her hair has a crimped appearance except for one small section in the back of her head. I find these things a little distracting, but I'm still very happy with the doll.

I viewed this doll on Target's website, and is it just me or does that one look slightly different than this one? And it doesn't appear to have the lighter colored head. I wonder if there is a difference?
 Good-bye for now!