And Then There Were 3

I have previously shared the story about how my husband acquired his first Barbie doll. Now I will share the story of how he got his second and third Barbies.

Last week, I had asked my husband to look for the cornrows Fashionistas Ken at Walmart for me. I even texted him a photo and everything. Walmart did not have the Ken that I was looking for. So, I ordered Ken online. He has not arrived yet.

This evening my husband came home, Walmart bag in hand, and said that if I don't want both items in the bag, he would take the one that I don't want. I saw a Barbie box peeking out of the bag, and started clapping. He took the dolls out of the bag, and he had purchased the cornrows Ken and Zig & Zag Barbie Fashionistas.

I told him that I had ordered the Ken online and that the doll was on the way, and that I already own Zig & Zag. He told me "Well, that means I get to keep both of them then." I agreed. He said "That means that they stay in the box." I agreed again. So now my husband has a collection of 3 Mattel dolls, in addition to his Ripcord action figure. His doll collection is becoming quite impressive indeed.

A couple of days ago, I made a slight modification to my Zig & Zag doll. I removed her pink lip color and gave her a more neutral lip color. 

I removed the pink lips with acetone, put lipstick on her, and used top coat nail polish on top of that.

While I had the acetone and clear polish out, I decide to tackle a couple of other small projects that I'd been meaning to get around to. 

The black frames of Calista's glasses had faded and chipped over time. I repainted them with black nail polish and painted over that with clear polish. They look better, but not satisfactory to me. One day (when I finally buy some acrylic paint), I will completely remove all of the nail polish and paint and do a proper repaint of her glasses.

For my Bessie Coleman doll, I did the same thing that I did for Zig & Zag to replace her lip color.

Here is what Bessie looked like before.

 I showed my husband my altered Zig & Zag doll. He was unimpressed. Maybe he prefers his own Zig & Zag doll. I do appreciate him bringing dolls home "for me" tonight, though. That brought a huge smile to my face.

Curvy Fun

My two curvy Barbies - Emoji Fun on the left, and Dolled up Denim on the right.

Dolled Up Denim arrived several weeks ago.

Here she is out of her package. She can stand unassisted in her shoes. 

Emoji Fun arrived this week. She comes with a couple of extra outfits, and an extra handbag and shoes. 

Here she is out of her package. My doll came with hair that is much straighter than the photos on the packaging. She can stand unassisted in both pairs of her shoes.

And here she is close up. Her glasses have made small indentations below her eyes. I like her in her glasses and intend to keep them on her. I wish that the glasses had lenses.

Brace yourself for upcoming plastic nudity. Here is a look at the curvy bodies. They both wear molded on flesh colored panties. Their arms can raise up and out. Their legs can move back and forth, and can open a little. There is no articulation at the elbows or knees.

The dolls can wear Barbie bras and negligees, but they can't wear Barbie panties. Below, Emoji Fun wears a pair of Mixis Opal panties, and Dolled Up Denim wears a pair of action figure panties.

Here they are in Emoji Fun's extra outfits.

Here they are in action figure active wear, compared to other dolls with curves. The dolls are from left to right: Dasia, Hot Toys TrueType Cuban American, Emoji Fun, Dolled Up Denim, Happy Family Grandma, and Lammily.

And here they are with more dolls with curves. The dolls are from left to right: Tracy Turnblad, Dominique, Emoji Fun, Dolled Up Denim, Opal body with Monsieur Z Wild head, and Bessie Coleman.

They can share clothes with my action figure ladies. Below, the suits that they wear fit tightly, and the skirts fit high on their waists, making the length of the skirts appear shorter. My action figure ladies are thrilled with the clothing options that their new curvy friends have provided. The dolls below are from left to right: Opal head on a Takara clone body, Sheva Alomar head on a Triad Alpha small bust body, Emoji fun, Dolled Up Denim, Triad Alpha (dark skin version), and Hot Toys TrueType Cuban American.

The purple dress below is usually worn by my Happy Family Grandma or one of my action figure ladies because it is slightly too large for Barbie. My new curvy ladies can wear it, too. Below on the right, Dolled Up Denim is wearing Grandma's original clothing. The top and sweater fit (although the top is a little short), but the pants will not close in the back. Grandma looks good in Emoji Fun's dress and shoes. Grandma can not stand unassisted in their shoes, and they can not stand unassisted in Grandma's shoes.

 On the left, Emoji Fun wears Dominique's clothes. The turtleneck and coat fit, but the jeans are way too short. On the right, Dolled Up Denim wears Opal's original dress, which fits fine. She can put on and stand unassisted in Momoko's boots, but they gape open in the back.

They are wearing Sparkle Girlz clothing below.

They are posing with Mammy below because Mammy did not want to be left out of any post featuring curvy ladies. Both curvy Barbies are wearing boy jeans. Emoji Fun wears a pair of glittery jeans that none of my guys would wear, and a Sparkle Girlz top. Dolled Up Denim wears a pair of action figure jeans and a guy's T-shirt. The jeans are too long for her. 

Overall, I love these dolls. I love the size diversity that Mattel has introduced in the new line of dolls, but the size difference isn't huge so they still have plenty of clothing options. I wish that these dolls had articulation. I see in Mattel's promo pics that there are curvy dolls with articulation, so I really hope that those dolls will be released.

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.

Large and Lovely Doll Comparisons

Not all dolls are skinny.  I like having 1:6 scale dolls of all shapes and sizes.  This post features some of my larger than average dolls.  They are from left to right:  American Teen Dominique, Gone with the Wind Mammy (with Jazz Diva Barbie wig), singing Tracy Turnblad, Happy Family Grandma, Girls Explore Bessie Coleman, and Big Beautiful Dolls Dasia.

They all have very limited articulation.  Dominique swivels at her upper arms and thighs, and bends slightly at the elbows, knees, and ankles.  Mammy's body is stuffed and has no articulation.  Tracy's arms move forward and back.  Grandma has joined elbows and clicky knees.  Bessie has a stuffed body, her arms and legs are made of soft vinyl and they bend slightly.  Dasia's arms and legs move back and forth.

They have feet of various sizes, and most can share shoes with other dolls.  Dominique can wear flat shoes or shoes with a slight heel, since she has clicky joints in her ankles.  Mammy has molded on shoes.  None of them can cross their arms, but Grandma and Bessie come the closest.

Dominique and Mammy can stand on their own, the others can not.  Bessie is the only one that can bend to the side, and she can also arch her back slightly.  None of them can kneel.

 Here they are showing off their hands.  Bessie is the only one that can grip objects in her hands.

Here they are attempting to do splits, any way that they can.

 Here they are doing a let lift.  Grandma and Bessie do this the best.

Tracy, Mammy, and Dasia do not have knees that bend, so they do not look good sitting on furniture. Dominique's knees bend only slightly.  Grandma and Bessie look good seated on furniture.

Honorable Mentions

My Booty Babe statue is not really a doll had has zero articulation, but I wanted to mention her here anyway. 

 

 

I also wanted to mention Sideshow Mandy's fat suit, which has allowed me to have plus sized dolls with articulation.  The suit is made for a male action figure, so the suit looks better on taller figures.  Here is Sideshow Jinx showing off part of Mandy's fat suit.

 

The suit has 2 pieces.  Here is Jinx showing off the full fat suit.

And here, Jinx shows off the full fat suit while wearing Mammy's dress.

Which plus size dolls are your favorites (whether they are featured here or not)?  Are you aware of any plus size dolls with articulation?  Would you like to see manufacturers make more larger than average dolls?

**4/26/2017 Edit**
This post continues to receive numerous reads, so I wanted to add an update that includes other Large and Lovely dolls - including Martini Beach Monica, Madam LaVinia Curvy Barbie, and Lammily Photographer. See my video below.