And The Winner Is...

Dragon Jennifer has been giving me the evil eye for the past few months for not officially announcing the winner of the Final Challenge - Yoga Poses.  Well, Jennifer finally gets her day in the spotlight!

The readers of this blog have voted and the winner of the Final Challenge - Yoga is Dragon Jennifer!

The readers have spoken, and Jennifer has blown away the competition with her awesome moves.  She is durable, she is flexible, and she can hold a pose like no other.

Jennifer is presented with a bouquet of roses while her fellow finalists and others join in congratulating her on her well-deserved victory.

Second place goes to Alvin Ailey Barbie!

She is graceful, beautiful, and flexible, and the readers were impressed with how well she posed against the fierce competition of the action figures.

Triad Alpha seemed visibly upset when second place was announced.  She was later heard exclaiming "I was ROBBED!"

 Jennifer's speech:  "Thank you all very much for your votes.  I am aware that I do not embody glamour and beauty the way that other dolls do, and some may even find me unattractive. For that reason, I am relegated to the background most of the time. Thank you for recognizing my strengths and for allowing me to have this moment to stand out from the crowd."

Jennifer has become much more popular with the male figures here, which she appreciates.  But right now, she really just wants to snatch off that wig, wash off the make-up, and put on some comfortable clothes and shoes.  Yes, the outfit was my idea.  Forgive me, Jennifer, and congratulations once again!

The Final Challenge: Yoga

It's time to choose the best of the best!  In this final set of figure comparisons, our finalists really show you what they can do in this series of Yoga poses.  From left to right, they are:  LIV Alexis body with Hadley head, Triad Alpha African, action figure body similar to Takara with Opal head, Monsieur Z Wild, Dragon Jennifer (Special Version), and Alvin Ailey Barbie.

Seated & Twist:
Hero - Jennifer does this the best, followed closely by Hadley.


Cow Face - both Jennifer and Alpha can do this pose, but Jennifer does it best and is able to clasp her hands behind her back.  To be fair, Alpha and Opal would probably be able to clasp their hands also if I had put their alternate hands on.


Standing:
Tree - Wow.  How about a round of applause for Jennifer for balancing on one foot unassisted!  I was able to get Alpha and Opal to balance on one foot for a few seconds, but not long enough to snap the photo.  Jennifer was steady on that one foot and stayed that way until I moved her again.


Downward-Facing Dog - Jennifer does this the best.  Hadley also does this really well.  I like Barbie's form, and if she had been able to do this pose with flat feet, I probably would have felt that she did this the best.


Arm Balance:
Side Plank - there's not a clear winner for me here.  Hadley, Alpha, Opal, and Jennifer all do this pose well.  Who do you think looks the best?  Neither Monsieur Z Wild nor Barbie could hold their weight on one arm.


Wild Thing - the dolls with double torso articulation really excel in this pose, which requires a torso twist as well as a backwards arch (not to mention arms strong enough to support the weight of the doll).  I had a hard time deciding who does this pose the best between Alpha and Jennifer.  I think that the Alpha looks more natural in her execution of this pose, but Jennifer just nails it.  Jennifer does this the best.


Core:
Cat - this pose requires arching the back upwards.  Opal does this the best.  Alpha gets a pretty good back arch, but it looks like she has a hump on her back when she does it.


Side-Reclining Leg Lift - I have a tough time deciding between Jennifer and Barbie here.  Jennifer arguably has the best form, but Barbie is able to lift her leg the highest.  Who do you think does this the best?  I'm going to go with Barbie here.


Backbend:
Bow - Jennifer does this the best. Perhaps if I had used the alternate hands for Alpha and Opal and they had been able to grab their ankles, they would have done better here.  The Alpha has a good back arch.


Cobra - all of the dolls do this well except for Monsieur Z Wild.  This is a tough decision, but I think that Barbie does this the best.  What do you think?


Inversions:
Supported Headstand - I should have probably gone with just a plain headstand here and the dolls would have had more success.  Since the supported headstand requires elbows down, Opal does this the best.


Plow - Opal does this the best, and also looks the most natural.


That does it for the Yoga poses.  Here is one more bonus pose.  The ladies were asked to do one final pose that displays their strongest abilities and sets them apart from the others, and this is what they came up with.

So there you have it.  Who do you think is the best?  Please vote on the poll.  Does the doll that you consider to be the best differ from the one that is your favorite?  If so, why?

I have to say that I highly recommend Yoga as great exercise and a great way to relax and relieve stress also.  It builds strength, balance, flexibility, and can be a great aerobic activity (sun salutations anyone?).  For more information about Yoga, check out http://www.yogajournal.com/.

The Finalists

Thank you for helping me choose the finalists in this posing competition!

Here are the finalists:

Group 1:  LIV Alexis body (Hadley head)

Group 2:  Triad Alpha

Group 3:  Opal head on action figure body (similar to Takara) - this was a landslide victory!

Group 4:  Monsieur Z Wild (really???)

Group 5:  Neither.  Happy Family Grandma had 1 more vote than Bessie Coleman, and just as many people voted for Neither as they did for Grandma.  I'm going with neither.  I'm substituting Dragon Jennifer here.  Sorry Grandma!

Group 6:  Alvin Ailey Barbie won by 1 vote.

Coming up next:  the final poses!

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?

Mass Blogger Interview Answers

Here are my answers to Ms. Leo's Mass Blogger Interview questions.

When did you start collecting dolls?
It depends on how many dolls make up a collection.  :)  I had dolls as a child and loved them, but unfortunately none of my childhood dolls made it into adulthood with me.  I had a rough brother, nephew, and niece who pretty much destroyed most of my dolls, and my mother would sometimes donate my old toys to the Children's Medical Center.  I bought my first doll as an adult in 1989 when I was 19 years old.  That doll remained on my shelf alone until around 1994.  After 1996, I really started to have a little bit of a collection.  In 1998, I started ordering dolls on the internet.  In 2005, I started ordering on eBay, and that's when things really took off.

What was your first purchase as a collector?
My first doll purchase as an adult was Fun-To-Dress Barbie 1988.  I bought her at a local TG&Y store while shopping for picture frames.  It was a few years before she even had clothes to wear, so I didn't even know if her name was accurate for a while (and it was).  A couple of years ago, she got a new(er) body.

My next purchase as an adult was Menelik from Olmec Toys.

After that, I purchased 1996 Holiday Season Barbie (Special Edition).

She has a different hairstyle these days and she is redressed for most of the year, but she still dons her original attire around the holidays.

And then of course I had to get a male friend for her, but I purchased another Barbie at that time also.  So I had to go back and get another Ken.  And then I saw an articulated Barbie that I had to have.  So I had to get her a male doll with some articulation, and I made my first action figure purchase on Amazon.com.  And I just kept going and going and going.

How many dolls do you own?
Today I counted just so that I could more accurately answer this question.  I have 277 dolls give or take (more like give, because I may have missed some of my smaller dolls).

What is your favorite doll and why?
My favorite doll is probably High and Mighty Darius Reid.

I don't even have any photos that truly do him justice.  He's just a good looking doll with great clothing and accessories, and he has articulation!

I watched him and bid for him unsuccessfully for over a year on eBay auctions before I finally won him.  By that time, I had become a little eBay savvy and I had decided to wait until the last few seconds of the auction to place my bid.  So I did, and I was thrilled to win!  I looked at the bidding history and saw that I had won by 2 cents!  Another bidder had entered a bid in the last few seconds also, and my max bid was only 2 cents higher than theirs.  I was thrilled to finally have this doll at a price that I was willing to pay, and I was even more thrilled when he arrived at my home in perfect condition (brand new in his shipper, never removed from box).  I kept him put away for a while and did not remove him from his box, but that didn't last long.

What doll or dolls are not your favorites and why?
I'm not crazy about reborn dolls because some of them make me shudder when I look at them.  They look so life-like, and yet they have no life >>shudder<<.  I'm not crazy about most big-headed dolls, but I do have a few in my collection.  I'm not really a fan of dolls that are easily breakable (I had enough broken dolls in my childhood to last me a lifetime).

What is the biggest challenge about collecting dolls?
I don't have enough space to display them all the way that I want to.

How do you display or store your dolls?
Several of my dolls are posed and displayed on shelves in my home.  I need to buy a curio or some sort of display case (maybe if I'd quit buying dolls, I could buy a curio).  I have a few dolls at work on my desk.  Most of my dolls are currently stored in an armoire in my bedroom.

Here are some photos from back in the day of some of my dolls on shelves.

Have you ever been to a doll show?
No, but I would love to go.

When you travel, do you look for dolls?
Always.  I have dolls from the majority of places that I've visited as an adult.

What is your latest purchase?
A Ken clothing pack.

What doll is on your wish list now?
Back to Brooklyn Remi.

And a bunch of expensive Hot Toys figures.

What do you wish you didn’t purchase?
Hmmmm, I pretty much like all of my dolls to some extent.  I did purchase an Afro Samurai figure (bloody version) for my husband that I'm not fond of.  But he likes it, so I don't even regret this purchase.

What is your favorite doll related item?
I have a white couch that pops up in my photos time and time again.

How often do you photo your dolls and what doll is the most photographed 
and/or photogenic?
I try to take photos of my dolls as soon as I receive them, and I take photos of my older dolls sporadically.  I've probably photographed my Calista doll more frequently than any other.

Do you talk to other collectors in person or just on the web?
Just on the web.

If you had the chance to speak to Mattel or other toy makers, what 
would you say?
Someone please make some articulated chubby dolls (all ages, male and female).

What doll do you wish would be reissued? 
The Boy Scout dolls (Bob Scout, Dave Cub Scout, and their friends).

What two dolls would you combine and how would you want them 
combined? (Muff style question)
I would combine my Booty Babe statue with a Triad Alpha.  I would love to have a doll with the body, looks, and hair of the Booty Babe with the articulation of the Triad Alpha.

 

If there is something I didn't ask that you would like to say, you can put 
that in too.
Do you have any dolls with a face that only a mother could love?  Yes, Dragon Jennifer.

Which doll looks the most like you?  I don't know.  My husband says it's the Booty Babe, but my mother-in-law recently said it's Dasia.  I guess I look more like Dasia with Booty Babe's hair.

Are there any upcoming doll releases that you are looking forward to?  Yes, Enterbay and Dragon are both releasing Men in Black 3 Will Smith figures.  Decisions, decisions!