That's The Time I Feel Like Swapping Heads

I had been wanting my Brandy doll to have an articulated body for a while, but none of my articulated dolls seemed to be quite the right color for a match. But then I saw this post from Muff, and I saw that the Artsy Fashionista Barbie's body would be a good match. And I figured I'd swap Dance ‘N Flex Christie's head also just for the heck of it.

From left to right, here are Dance ‘N Flex Christie, Brandy (I don't know which version), and Artsy Fashionista Barbie (the first wave).

I wanted Brandy to have an articulated body because her face is unique in the Barbie world. I have other versions of dolls with the other two heads. I have a bunch of dolls using the Asha sculpt and another doll (Nikki) that uses the Desiree/Adria sculpt that is articulated. She's still in her package for now.

So, off with their heads. I followed my own instructions for head removal.

Nothing too unusual with the removal of the heads. The Dance ‘N Flex Christie doll had a little piece of paper in her head. Hmmmmm, could this be the code to unlock some great Barbie mystery? I don't know, so I put the piece of paper safely back into her head for now. I've made a mental note not to wash or boil perm her hair.

So here are the results. The Dance 'N Flex Christie head is not at all thrilled to be on the non-articulated body. The Artsy Fashionista head is having fun with her new bendy body. And Brandy is thrilled to finally have the articulated body that she's yearned for. She's singing, she's dancing, she's performing like never before!

Special Day Keyshia

Of the dolls from my previous post, I decided to open Special Day Keyshia first (thanks to some good advice and quality concerns).

She came with no socks and no earrings (sigh).  Otherwise, she's in good condition.  Here's a close-up.

And here's a full shot.

Thanks to posts on I-Luv-Dolls and Black Doll Collecting blogs, I expected there to be differences between this Keyshia and my Weekend Fun Keyshia, and there are.  They are both cute, though.

Check out my Weekend Fun Keyshia post for a more detailed review of the Keyshia doll in general, and my Small Girl Dolls Comparisons post to check out how Keyshia's articulation compares to other dolls.

Here are Kenya (rebodied), TJ, and the two Keyshia's.

So guess what happens next?

That's right!  It's head swappin' time!  In today's head swap, AA Todd grows a bit, while Special Day Keyshia shrinks.  Todd's head fits well on Keyshia's body, but Keyshia's head is a little loose on Janet's body (yep, Todd was using Jane'ts articulated body prior to this).  I know that Keyshia's head is too big for this body, but she will have to deal with it until the next swap.  I like Todd's head better on this body than I did on his original stiff body or Janet's articulated body.

 Here's the new Todd compared to some of my other teen and tween boys. 

I'll have to give short Keyshia a new name.  I'm thinking about Keylee.  What do you think?  Here's Keylee and Janet becoming acquainted, Todd Brown and Todd White are about to play ball (although Todd Brown now has an unfair advantage), and others just hanging out.

Head Swap-A-Rama

Lately I've been busy swapping doll heads around.

"Oh yeah, Sasha, it's about to go down."

The photo above is of Bratz Sasha (left) and Hottiez Kiara (right) before the swap.  The photo below is of Kiara's head on Sasha's body.  Sadly, this has resulted in a doll casualty.  I have caused irreparable damage to Kiara's original body.  I like Kiara's head on Sasha's body, though.

I saw this mermaid doll in the store and thought that she was cute, and she was cheap so I bought her.  I have no use for her mermaid's body.

I thought that she would look cute with Juku Couture Kana's body.

Success!  The head fits and the skin tone is a close match.  The head is just a little loose, but holds poses well.

Opal has had her current action figure body for quite some time now, but her original body had been languishing in my bin of forgotten dolls until recently.  Well, a fellow collector sent me a Top Model Nikki head which has found a home (for now) on Opal's old body.

I purchased Making Waves Alexis (pictured below on the right) for the sole purpose of swapping her head for one more proportionate to her body, and to give one of my other dolls more articulation.  Well today is Mattel High School Musical Taylor's (pictured below on the left) lucky day.

Success!  Taylor's head fits perfectly on the Liv Alexis body, and the skin tone is a close match.  I am thrilled with this swap.

Speaking of Alexis, I rebodied Isla again from the Monster High Clawdeen body that she had been occupying to an Alexis body.  Her body now matches her twin sister Hadley's body again, and the twins are much happier now with their articulated bodies.

Todd has long envied Janet's articulated body, wishing that he could move like her.

Well, today a little boy's wish came true!

Pictured below are some of my happy head swap recipients.