American Champions Venus Williams

I purchased American Champions Serena and Venus Williams dolls several years ago. They remained in their boxes for years, but I purchased them with the intention to release them from their boxes one of these days.

Last year, I was able to get a Sideshow Art S. Buck figure for a price that I was willing to pay.

I wondered if the Art S. Buck body would be a good match for Venus. So finally I released Venus from her box to find out.

The Art S. Buck body was a little darker than the Venus head, and rather skinny, but I did love the articulation. Venus finally had fun playing with all of her gear.

Venus came with a tennis racket, sun visor, athletic bag, tennis balls, trading card, trophy, and water bottle (not to mention her tennis outfit, sneakers, watch, bracelet, necklace, and beads in her partially braided hair).

Her new body made it possible to grasp all of the items that came with her.

Venus was happy to be released from her box, but wanted her sister Serena to be released, as well. I didn't want to put Serena on an Art S. Buck body. In fact, I wasn't entirely satisfied with Venus being on the Art S, Buck body. I looked around to see if I had any other action figure bodies that may be a better match for Serena.

I think that the body of the Triad Alpha figure would be a good body match for Serena, but it is not a good skin tone match. So, Serena stays in her box for now.

I became aware of some Sims dolls being sold on eBay for a great price (thanks Dawn!), so I purchased a couple. These dolls use Herobuilders action figure bodies. I thought that this body might be a better match for Venus.

And I was right. Venus looks much better on the Herobuilders body. The skin tone is a much better match, and the body looks more athletic. Also, both hands are able to grip items of various sizes.

I was glad to see that Venus' outfit is stretchy enough to fit on the larger Herobuilders body. 

Now Venus is ready to be the champion that she is, and play to her fullest potential! 

I'm not entirely satisfied with the Herobuilders body. It has weird elbow and knee joints, and something just looks a little off about it. But this is a better choice than Venus' other two bodies. Serena is still in her box for now. I want her to have a different body than Venus, so I'm going to wait until another option comes along for her.

In The Minority

My collection consists mostly of Black dolls. In a previous post, I highlighted my Hispanic/Latino dolls. In this post, I highlight my non-Black and non-Hispanic/Latino dolls.

40th Anniversary Ken	Babydoll knock-off on Phicen S02A	Mattel Becky
Talking Presidents William J. Clinton	Liv Daniela	Dollar Store Guy
Fun To Dress Barbie 1988 on DML Amy	Mattel Harry Potter on Obitsu	Happy Family Grandma
Takara Jenny R&B Calendar Girl	Justin Bieber	Mattel Kevin
Phicen PLLB2014-S08 Large Bust Tan	Flavas Liam	Dragon Linh
Momoko	My Scene Kennedy	High School Musical Sharpay
Sideshow Mandy	Star Trek Barbie	Star Trek Ken
Mattel Todd	Ken	Hairspray Tracy Turnblad

 Here is a group photo.

And here is the complete Star Trek set.

Having these dolls out reminded me of something that I've been meaning to do for a while.

I got Liv Daniela from the thrift store last year with one purpose in mind: to give one of my dolls an articulated body. Now Sharpay is posing much better!

Justin Bieber approves of Sharpay's transformation. I think that these two are going to be singing a lot of duets together.

Jinx vs. Jinx vs. Phicen

The character Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson - portrayed by Halle Berry in the James Bond movie Die Another Day, has made a big impression in the doll and action figure world.  So much so that there are now at least 3 playscale dolls portraying this character and in Halle Berry's likeness.

The first Jinx to arrive here is from Sideshow Collectibles. Here is Sideshow Jinx posing with the front of her box.  Other than clothing her in this bikini instead of the red "leather" outfit in which she arrived, the only modification to her is that I swapped out her black gloved hands with Triad Hispanic Alpha's hands.  She looks good in her "leather" outfit, but having her 30+ points of articulation visible and on display in this bikini is visually a bit jarring.

And here she is with the open box.  She came with a gun with a silencer that is removable, 6 throwing knives, a belt with throwing knife sheaths, and a stand.  The weapons and stand all remained boxed until today (well, the stand is still boxed).  The paint job is lacking on this figure compared to the photos of the figure on the box.

Here is Sideshow Jinx posing with the back of her box.

Here is Sideshow Jinx in her original outfit with her original gloved hands.  Her "leather" outfit has since begun to deteriorate rapidly.

Here is a close-up of Sideshow Jinx.  She has sculpted hair.  Her head is on the large side.  She does bear a slight resemblance to Halle Berry.

See more Sideshow Jinx poses on my Action Figure Ladies Comparison post.

Next let's take a closer look at Mattel's version of Jinx.  I have had this figure in my possession since 2012 and she has remained NRFB until now.  When my husband first saw the Mattel Jinx doll, he said "Oh, no" with a pained expression on his face.  I asked him what was wrong and he said "That is NOT Halle Berry's body!"  My husband felt that the doll is far too skinny.  After looking at the photo of Halle Berry on the box and comparing the doll, I had to agree that the doll looks emaciated compared to the photo.

My husband went on for a couple of minutes about how skinny this doll is.  I said that at least she had a pretty face and looked like Halle.  He agreed and actually asked me if I could put the head on another figure's body.  Wait, what???  Is this the same man who has been telling me for years that I should leave dolls in their boxes?  That really showed me how strongly he felt that this doll is not an accurate reflection of the actress who plays Jinx.  I told him that I did not have any dolls that would be a good fit for that head.  He asked me if I could put this Jinx's head on Sideshow Jinx's body.  I rejected that idea.  I told him that Sideshow Jinx is not a good enough skin tone match.  I assured him that I would be on the lookout for a more voluptuous body for this lovely head.

Here is Mattel's Jinx posing with the back of her box, followed by a close-up of her face.

Lastly, let's take a look at Phicen's new seamless figure that they are NOT calling Jinx.  Here she is still in the box, followed by a photo of her removed from the box but still in some packaging.  The back of the box shows the locations of her 33 points of articulation.  She comes with 2 extra sets of hands.

The first thing that I noticed about her upon removing her from the box is that her "skin" is soft - much softer than my previous Phicens.  I don't generally care for sculpted hair, but the hair on this figure looks pretty good.  The face is attractive and bears a slight resemblance to Halle Berry.

My husband and I disagree on which face looks the most like Halle Berry between this version and the Mattel version.  I think that the Mattel version does, but my husband thinks it's this version.  Which version would you choose (or would you pick the Sideshow version...ha)?

My husband and I agree that the body on this figure resembles Halle Berry's body more than the other two.  What do you think?  The belt shown below is from the Mattel Jinx and does not fit around the Phicen figure's hips as it should.  It fits tightly around her waist.

Halle Berry photo from jamesbond007.net

I am hesitant to pose the new Phicen much because prior versions have been highly breakable (I have broken both of mine).  Since the figure is covered with rubber "skin", it can be difficult to locate the joints.  It is quite easy to break the plastic endoskeleton by attempting to bend the figure where it's not meant to be bent.  Check out my Phicen Vs. Dance 'n Flex Christie, Phicen vs. Phicen, and Fragile and Fabulous Figure Comparisons posts to see more Phicen poseability.

Here are all 3 of my Phicens together.  This new version is an improvement both aesthetically and in functionality.

The neck can move from front to back, and also side to side.  The head also turns from side to side.

Here are the 3 Jinx figures posing together.  They pose in a similar way so as not to make the Mattel Jinx feel bad about her posing limitations (she has a Model Muse body).

And here they are seated.  Sitting is a challenge for the Mattel Jinx, since her legs do not bend.  Her feet are not touching the floor in this photo.

The Phicen figure came with no gear of her own, so she quickly showed an interest in the weapons of the others.  She is pictured below with Mattel Jinx's knife.

Soon she was ready to try out Sideshow Jinx's gun.  I was able to easily remove her relaxed hand and replace it with a trigger hand.

See, this is why I don't allow my figures to have weapons.  

Things came to a peaceful resolution when Mattel Jinx suggested that they try on different outfits and hang out with the men.

 Maybe the others shouldn't have turned their backs on the new Jinx in town.  This one is a sneaky one.

Here is how I would compare these 3 figures (I placed an X in the column for the figure that I feel ranks highest in that category):

	Sideshow	Mattel	Phicen
Face		X
Body			X
Articulation	X
Hair		X
Gear	X
Box	X
Halle Berry Likeness		X
Realism			X
Aesthetics			X

So which one is my overall pick?  I choose the Phicen (but I'm glad that I have all 3).  Which one would you pick?