Hispanic/Latino Dolls and Action Figures

This is in response to D7ana's recent blog post featuring a list of Hispanic and Latino dolls and action figures. I have several dolls from her list.

Hispanic everGirl	High School Musical Gabriella	Shindana Disco Juanita
Mattel Kayla	Jakks Pacific Lola	BBi Perfect Body Hispanic
Triad Alpha Hispanic	Hot Toys TrueType  Cuban American	Jakks Pacific Josie and the Pussycats Valerie

The dolls below did not make the list, but could they be?

Unknown Action Figure Guy	Mattel Prince Aidan	Dollar Store Guy
Mattel Mermaid  (with Juku Couture Body)	Flavas Tika	GI Joe Helicopter Pilot

I'm pretty sure that this GI Joe Helicopter Pilot is. 

In my doll world, Kayla is Jenna's mother, so if Kayla is Hispanic, then so is Jenna. 

One final group shot.

Fragile and Fabulous Figure Comparisons

They are not all fragile.  Some are dainty but sturdy.  Some are hefty but breakable.  Some I talked myself out of posing, but then talked myself back into it.  Here are more ladies ready for another round of figure comparisons.

From left to right:  Triad Otaku Tan, Phicen "Hindu", CY Girl Ebony, AA Nutcracker Barbie, Fashion Royalty Adele, and Alvin Ailey Barbie.

I must tell you that 3 of these figures have issues.  The Otaku has a broken left arm which no longer rotates (because I glued it back in place).  The Phicen has a broken left hip.  The Nutcracker Barbie was my first doll that is jointed at both the elbows and knees, and she was my only jointed doll for years, so she has been posed A LOT over the years.  As a result, her knees are very floppy.  But these ladies are all troopers and they are ready to pose.  Just keep in mind that these 3 would pose a lot better if they were not damaged.

The Otaku, Phicen, and Ebony can all stand on their own.  Perhaps I could get Nutcracker Barbie to stand on her own if her knees weren't so loose.

Here they are showing their elbow articulation.  The Otaku has double-joined elbows, and therefore has the best range of motion here.  I have to tell you, I was sweating bullets when posing the Otaku.  Before posing her, I got out my hairdryer and heated her joints for about 60 seconds to loosen them.  I have had her for years, but after breaking her and reading about the breakage problems that others have had, I have had her sitting on a shelf most of the time.  At this point, she moves really well at the elbows and knees, but her shoulders and hips are still a little stiff, and I hesitate to do much posing that would put these areas at risk for breakage.

The Otaku and Phicen figures have standard size action figure feet.  Ebony has boot feet.  I would have to unscrew her boots at the bottom in order to get them off, and I think that I would be left with these big white things at the end of her legs that have little resemblance to actual feet.  I probably have some other action figure feet around here somewhere that would be a close enough skin tone match for her, but that's a project for another day.  For now, she keeps her boots.  The Nutcracker Barbie has molded-on ballet slippers, but I sometimes put other shoes on her.  Adele has standard size doll feet for Fashion Royalty and Barbie dolls.  The Alvin Ailey Barbie has hyper extended pointy feet and can not wear all Barbie shoes.  She crosses her arms the best.

 Here they are doing a side stretch.  The Otaku has no torso articulation, but the others all do.  Nutcracker Barbie has the best range of motion here, but the Phicen looks the best.

Here they are walking like an Egyptian.  Nutcracker Barbie has no wrist articulation, and can not support her own weight with bended knees at this point.

  Here they are doing kneeling back bends.  The Barbies do this the best.

Here they are showing off their hands. The Otaku, Phicen, and Ebony are all shown with relaxed hands, but they all came with extra hands that are able to grip objects.

Here they are attempting to sit cross-legged on the floor.  Alvin Ailey Barbie comes the closest.

Here they are attempting to do middle splits.  Alvin Ailey Barbie does this the best.  Click here to see the Phicen doll attempting this pose before I broke her hip.

Here they are attempting to do front splits.  Nutcracker Barbie does this the best.

 Here they are doing a leg lift.  Nutcracker Barbie does this the best.

 Here they are sitting down.  I think that Alvin Ailey Barbie looks the best in a seated position.  Click here to see the Phicen doll in a seated position prior to me breaking her hip.

Do you have a favorite among these dolls?  Which dolls pose the best?  Which dolls look the best?  Which dolls are the most realistic?

Action Figure Ladies Comparison

So I know that there's really no difference between dolls and action figures.  They're all dolls to me.  It's just that, well, some of my dolls have angry expressions on their faces.  Some of them favor articulation over aesthetics.  Some of them arrived with guns and knives, military equipment, and/or leather apparel.  Some of them seem to be marketed more towards boys and men than towards girls and women.  This post features a few of those ladies of action.  I will pose them similarly to my previous comparison of articulated fashion dolls.

From left to right, here are Triad Alpha AA, Dragon Jennifer (Special Version), GI Joe Helicopter Pilot, Hot Toys True Type Cuban American, BBI Perfect Body AA, and Sideshow Jinx with Triad Hispanic Alpha hands.

They can all stand on their own, even in heels. Most came with extra sets of hands, and some with extra feet.

Most of them have double jointed-elbows, which allows more flexibility.

 Here they are seated with arms crossed.  Their feet are similarly sized, so they can share most shoes.

 Here they are stretching to the side.  The Triad Alpha has much more range of motion here.

Here they are walking like an Egyptian.  Who does it the best?  You be the judge.

 Here they are doing kneeling back stretches.  Jennifer and Jinx do this the best, but I think that the Alpha has a great arch to her back.

 Here they are showing off their hands.  Action figure ladies typically have hands that can do stuff.  Many times, they come with a set of relaxed hands, and a set of hands that can grip.  Out of these, the Triad Alpha hands on Jinx are by far my favorite.  They are functional without being huge.

 Here they are sitting on the floor cross-legged.  They can all do it to some extent, but Jennifer and Jinx do it the best.

 Here they are doing middle splits.  GI Jane is the only one who can go all the way down.

 Here they are doing front splits.  I can't believe it, but most of the articulated fashion dolls can do this better than these ladies.  Again, GI Jane does this the best.

 Here they are doing a leg lift.  It looks like GI Jane does this the best.

 Here they are sitting.  They can all cross their legs somewhat.  The Hot Toys TT Cuban American can not close her legs.

So which female action figures are your favorites (even if they are not featured here)?  Which ones have the best articulation?  Which ones are the most attractive?  Which ones are the most realistic?

Ford Fiesta

I've kind of been wanting to purchase a car for my dolls, but I am way too cheap.  But at Family Dollar, there was a vehicle that I could not pass up.  I purchased a Ford Fiesta, and it was during the half price sale last month, so I only paid $2.50.

The box says that it "fits 11.5" fashion doll", but it is small and not at all 1/6 scale.  I wanted to have Kenya try it out, but I had difficulty fitting her into the vehicle.  I needed a doll with more flexibility.  Here, my BBi Perfect Body AA figure poses with the car and takes it for a spin.

Yes! She actually does fit inside the car.

Here, Tariq joins in the fun.  As you can see, it is a tight fit.  Tariq is too big to fit comfortably in this vehicle, and he is one of my smaller male dolls.

Tariq paid a high price for his involvement in this photo shoot.  While I was trying to jam him into this vehicle, one of his legs broke off at the knee.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that it was much easier to fit him inside the car with his one leg.