Dissatisfaction

Top Model Nikki has felt dissatisfaction over the past week that she's had Opal's old body.  She's been looking around for a new one.  And that's when she became very friendly with Monsieur Z Wild.

In the photo above, on the left is Top Model Nikki's head on Mixis Opal's body, and on the right is Monsieur Z wild.

After the swap:  Monsieur Z Wild's head on Mixis Opal's body, Top Model Nikki's head on Monsieur Z Wild's body.

I like Nikki's head much better on the Integrity body, and I think that the Monsieur Z Wild head looks good on Opal's body.  I feel satisfied with this swap.

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!

Who's the Best?

You've seen the figure comparisons featuring some of my articulated dolls, and now I will let you vote on who is the best of the best.  But first, I would like to get your help in choosing the dolls that will go on to the final round, where I will pose them in yoga poses.  I have chosen 2 dolls from each group that I thought posed the best and that were the most popular based on the comments, so let me know which one from each group that you would like to see move on.

Group 1 - Articulated Fashion Dolls

LIV Alexis body (Hadley head) vs. Artsy Fashionista

Group 2 - Action Figure Ladies

Dragon Jennifer (Special Version) vs. Triad Alpha (African)

Group 3 - Blurring the Lines

Dragon Linh vs. action figure body (similar to Takara with Opal head)

Group 4 - Trendy and Bendy
Dance 'N Flex Christie vs. Monsieur Z. Wild

Group 5 - Large and Lovely

Girls Explore Bessie Coleman vs. Happy Family Grandma (or neither)

Group 6 - Fragile and Fabulous
AA Nutcracker Barbie vs. Alvin Ailey Barbie

(As shown in the photo, Nutcracker Barbie can stand on her own after all).

Do you have a favorite that did not make the cut?  If so, let me know and I will consider moving that one to the final round instead of Bessie or Grandma.  Also, let me know if there are any specific yoga poses that you would like to see.

More Female Figure Comparisons

There are some figures that blur the line between fashion doll and action figure.  What happens when you have a fashion doll that appeals to action figure collectors because of her articulation?  Or when you have an action figure that is adorably cute and looks good in most fashion doll outfits?  Or when you have an action figure with a fashion doll head (is it an action figure, a fashion doll, or some bizarre hybrid)?  Or what about action figures that are marketed towards girls?

Here's my next group of dolls for comparison.  I have posed them similarly to my previous comparisons.  They are from left to right:  Momoko, Dragon Linh, Martha Jones, Mixis Opal head on an action figure body, a 1988 Fun to Dress Barbie head on a Dragon Amy body, and Get Real Girl Basketball Nakia.

They can all stand on their own.  Martha Jones, Opal, and Barbie all have double-jointed elbows for extra flexibility.

Most of them can fold their arms to some degree, but Momoko and Nakia can not.  Their feet vary in size, but they all have friends with similarly sized feet that they can share shoes with.  Martha Jones has no feet.  Her boots pop off, similar to Bratz dolls.  She can share shoes with Hottiez Kiara.  I have a future project in mind that will give Martha the feet that she deserves.

Here they are doing side stretches.  It looks like Opal has the best range of motion here.

Here they are walking "like an Egyptian" to show off their arm, wrist, and knee articulation.  Who do you think does it the best?

Here they are doing kneeling back stretches.  I think that Opal has the best arch.

Here they are showing off their hands.  They can all hold onto items somewhat.  Nakia has a magnet in one of her hands to help her hold onto her basketball.  Out of these, Martha Jones' hands are my favorite.

Here they are sitting cross-legged on the floor.  Momoko and Nakia can not do this at all.

Here they are doing middle splits.  Again, Momoko and Nakia have challenges.

Here they are doing front splits.  They all do this well, with the exception of Nakia.

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

And here they are seated.  I think that they all look good in a seated position, even though some cannot cross their legs.

So are any of your favorites among these dolls?  Would you characterize these as dolls or action figures?  Which ones have the best articulation?  Which ones are the most attractive?  Which ones are the most realistic?

Opal is Graduating

They grow up so fast!  Well, they don't all grow up, but Opal has grown up and it is time for her to graduate from High School.

It seems like just yesterday that she entered high school.

She gained quite a bit of weight during her Freshman and Sophomore years.

She worked hard to take off the pounds, and by her Senior year a great womanly figure emerged.

She has changed a lot on the inside also over the years.  In her early years in High School, she hung out mostly with the same group of girls (Raven, Nakia, and Brandy).  She was perceived as being somewhat of a snob, but she was mostly just shy.

 She eventually gained confidence and found her voice, and learned that she could communicate and relate to just about anyone.  She had a natural way of getting people to feel comfortable enough to open up to her. She knew early on what she wanted to do in her career, and she felt that working at the radio station was a step in the right direction.  She was hired as an office assistant and worked after school.  One of the DJ's allowed her to go on the air one day, taking a few calls from kids and offering advice.  That's when things really took off.  The local kids began to call in asking for Opal, and she was given her own 1 hour segment which aired after school during the week.  One of the producers had some connections, and before long Opal had her own local talk show on cable access television.  She even had a celebrity on her show.  She is the youngest person in Roxville's history to have her own talk show.

Opal got accepted to all 3 colleges that she applied to, and she selected a nearby university with a great journalism program.  Her goal is to have her own nationally syndicated talk show.  Going to college nearby will allow her to keep her local talk show, but she still feels like college will be a world away from her friends and from her boyfriend.

She has been dating Tre for a year, and now their relationship is at a crossroads.  Opal is going away to college in the fall, and Tre will still be in high school.  Sometimes she wishes that she had not fallen in love with a younger guy, but she is happy to have had Tre in her life.  No matter what happens, he will always be her first love.

She is wondering what she should do now.  She loves him, and she does not want to let him go.  At the same time, she is anxious to move on in her life, and she wants to open herself up to new experiences.  And they say that long-distance relationships don't work.  Could she and Tre really make it work?  Or will he go back to his old girlfriend Kiyoni Brown as soon as she's out of town?  If they are going to break up, should they do it now, or spend one last summer together?  There are so many conflicting thoughts, feelings, and emotions swirling around all at once.  Opal feels joyful to move on in her life, but devastated to leave the ones that she loves behind.

Opal Has Changed

I got an articulated female figure body from eBay and Opal is the closest color match. I had mixed feelings about switching Opal's head to the new body because I like Opals old body and the fact that she's thicker than other dolls. But articulation wins! So here's the new Opal:

Opal's original dress and panties fit the new figure. Her shoes are slightly too small (but she's working them anyway).

She is so much fun to pose.

Luckily, I managed to get Opal's head off without ruining her old body, so if I want to switch her back at some point, I can. I did not make any permanent modifications in order to get her head to fit her new body.