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...

Disney Descendants Audrey Swap

Last year I purchased a Disney Descendants Audrey doll.

Quoted from her box:

"Daughter of Sleeping Beauty. Waking her inner beauty."

She caught my eye because of her articulation, so she didn't spend much time in her box. Here is a closeup. She is a cute doll, though her head is large.

She poses fairly well. She has articulation at her elbows, knees, and wrists.

Here she is posing with some of her new friends. Uh-oh, I see the way that Raven is looking at her. I know that look.

And here she is posing with new friends that also have large heads.

But ultimately, she lost her head, and became my first head swap of this year (back in January).

Raven got her body, which is more appropriate for her, since she represents a teen in my collection. The body is a little lighter than Raven's head, but it's close enough for me. It bothers me only a little bit.

Here's a look at her articulation.

The new Raven fits right in with other teen dolls in my collection.

She can share clothes with many of the dolls here, and she can wear Bratzillaz Sashabella Paws' boots. Her shoes are too large for Sashabella.

I think that she looks better in tops that cover her neck, so that the skin tone difference between her head and body are not as readily apparent.

Raven is just as popular as ever with the teen boys in my collection.

So in conclusion, I like Audrey, but I like Raven on Audrey's body much better.

Trendy and Bendy: More Fashion Doll Comparisons

Happy Easter, Everyone!  This is not an Easter themed post, but feel free to check out my Easter Parade video from last year.

Here is my next group of fashion dolls for comparison.  They are posed similarly to my previous comparisons.  They are from left to right:  Winx Club Layla, Howleen Wolf, Isla head on Clawdeen Wolf body, V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna, Fashion Royalty Monsieur Z. Wild, and Dance 'N Flex Christie.

None of them can stand on their own.  Layla has bendy arms and legs, and Christie is entirely bendy.  The rest are articulated.  

They can all cross their arms somewhat.  They all have high-heeled feet.  Monsieur Z. Wild and Christie can share shoes.

Here they are doing a side stretch.  Layla, Howleen, and the Clawdeen Wolf body do not have torso articulation.  Chyna and Monsieur Z. Wild have upper torso articulation and do a decent job of stretching to the side.  Christie with her bendy torso does this better than all of them.

Here they are "walking like an Egyptian".  Chyna has no wrist articulation and Layla can not bend at the wrist.

Here they are doing kneeling back bends.  Christie can arch her back quite a bit.

Here they are showing off their hands.  All of them have weird hands that are not useful for holding objects.

Here they are attempting to sit cross-legged. Christie comes the closest, but it looks like I tried to tie her legs in a knot.

 Here they are attempting to do middle splits.  None of them are successful at this, least of all Layla.

Here they are doing front splits.  The Wolf sisters do this the best.

Here they are doing a leg lift.  The Wolf sisters and Monsieur Z. Wild do this the best.

 Here they are seated.  Layla can cross her legs, but she has issues with sitting straight up.  I think that Christie does the best job of crossing her legs.

Do you prefer bendy dolls or articulated dolls?  Do you have a favorite among these dolls?  Which ones look the best in their poses?

V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna

The second doll to arrive at my house after my recent hiatus was V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna.  I read about this one on Black Doll Collecting and I thought that she was cute, but did not order her at the time.  Last week, I decided that it was time to bring this one home.

Here she is released from the box.

I love that she is somewhat articulated, and I'm really glad that she can stand on her own in her boots.  Here she is with some friends that she's made here.

And here she is with more friends.

 This is a purchase that I am really happy with.