Falling For Dolls

*For the love of dolls. I was rushing to work one Friday and backing my car out of the garage when I saw a package that I was expecting on my front porch. I got out of my car and made a quick decision to put the package in the garage. I picked up the package and spun around a little too quickly and fell off of the porch (I'm okay, the package is okay).

When I got to work, I texted my husband that I had fallen off of the porch. He called me later to make sure that I was okay. Then he asked me what I was doing on the porch. I said "Nuthin'... just chillin'" like Bruh' Man from Martin. He became suspicious due to my evasive response and asked me if a package had come today. I said "Could be, could be not" like Mister from The Color Purple. Later he texted me a photo of the rose bushes planted in front of our home with the message "I see where you fell." I texted him back "I beg your pardon, I did not fall into a rose garden."

Later when I got home from work, I retrieved my package from the garage and came into the house, where my husband was waiting for me. He asked me "Is this the package that you fell for?" He opened my package for me, questioned me about the cost (and I happily told him since I got a good deal), and didn't give me nearly enough sympathy for my bumps and bruises in my humble opinion.

Here are the dolls that I fell for: the Imani and Menelik African Wedding set.

I had never noticed until recently that Olmec's Menelik and Imani came in a couple of different shades. I saw this adorable wedding set with Menelik and Imani with a lighter skin tone than the ones that I currently own. The description read "NIB" so my original plan was to leave this set in the box. When I inspected the box, I saw that the original tape had been cut, so I removed the dolls and I could tell that they had definitely been removed from the box before. However, everything was put back in place, no items are missing, and the dolls are in really good condition, so I'm pleased.

I love their adorable cake and AA couple cake topper.

Also enclosed in the box is a wedding invitation, a booklet explaining the African American custom of jumping the broom, and a decorated cardboard broom.

Inside the box are cardboard cutouts with gifts, wedding bells, rings on a pillow, and a car that is obviously far too small to be an actual vehicle for the newly wedded couple.

 Todd and Stacie were already dressed for the occasion, so they've joined the happy couple here.

 Here are the happily wedded Menelik and Imani on the left, my original Menelik, and my newly purchased Music Video Imani.

Perhaps one of these days, I will throw a lavish wedding ceremony for Menelik and Imani. In the meantime, they have been placed back in their box along with all of their accessories.

*I had previously told the story of me falling off of my porch on Black Doll Enthusiast's We Love Black Dolls Anew Facebook group.

Music Video Imani

My Menelik doll, purchased sometime in the early 90's, was my first African American doll as an adult collector. Recently it occurred to me that I had never purchased his girlfriend/wife Imani. I went searching and found one that I absolutely love for an extremely reasonable price (less than her original retail price).

She was described as NRFB, so prior to her arrival, I had been trying to talk myself into not opening the box. When she arrived, I saw that the original tape on the box had been cut, so I believe that she had been removed from her box previously. That gave me all the incentive that I needed to remove her. She had never been removed from her packaging, though, so she remains secured and in wonderful condition, and I've returned her to her box. I am so tempted to play with this one, though. Her wigs are just too tempting for me. I would love to create a music video starring Imani and Menelik!

Here is a closeup of the lovely Imani. She is wearing a jeweled dress with cut-away shoulders, and she has short cropped hair. This set comes with a hooded cape, a cap with braids and beads, a crimped weave wig, short red bob wig, camcorder, camera, microphone, and hairbrush. She has gold earrings, a ring, and gold shoes. She has a "You Can Be What You Wanna Be" booklet and cut-out cover, a diary, dictionary, and cut-out poster.

She also comes with a cardboard cut-out makeup case, and cardboard cut-out makeup.

Menelik is thrilled to have his beloved Imani with him at long last.

I don't think that Imani will stay secured to her packaging for long. I'll need to think of a song that I... I mean that Imani will sing for her upcoming music video.

I remember reading the Olmec story on the side of Menelik's box all those years ago when I purchased him, and I was touched by it. I remember that I was so happy to see a Black doll on the shelves, especially a male doll. The side of Imani's box has the Olmec story.

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!