Liv'n Travel Set

I got this Liv'n Travel set for free when I purchased the Liv Making Waves Alexis doll. I just love free stuff, don't you? This set of accessories came with a suitcase, shoes, bracelet, earrings, and a doggie hoodie.

Here's a look at the back of the package. 

One of my dolls travels more than all of the rest, and that's Calista. She has been my travel companion on all of my recent trips, so she is the natural choice to receive this set of goodies. Oooooh, she may get to leave the country next year and go on her first cruise!

Calista is extremely excited to have this set and to be able to pack her own bag for the first time!

She opens the suitcase and yep, there's plenty of space for everything that she wants to take on her next trip! Now she has her eyes set on the rest of the accessories.

The shoes are a great fit! She is so glad that she can wear both flat and heeled shoes. She searches the stash of Sparkle Girlz clothes to see if she can find an outfit that matches the shoes.

Ummmmm, she'll have to keep searching. This is not a good look for young Calista. She does love the shoes and bracelet, though.

Since Calista's ears are not pierced and I have no plans to pierce them, she generously gives the earrings to someone who can use them. Sashabella Paws is appreciative of the gift. Meanwhile, Calista found a necklace in the Sparkle Girlz stash that she likes and that looks good with her new bracelet.

Sashabella shows off her new earrings. She'd better enjoy them while she can, because I have a feeling that her head will be swapped soon.

As for the doggie hoodie, there are no Liv dogs here, so Only Hearts Club Briana Joy's dog Longfellow gets this accessory. It's a little too big for him, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Okay, back to the packing. Calista will definitely need a swimsuit for her next trip, so she finds one in the Sparkle Girlz stash.

With everything packed, Calista is ready for her next adventure.

Goodbye for now. Oh wait, don't forget your new shoes, Calista!

As Calista demonstrates below, the handle is adjustable. Calista extends it so that she can easily wheel her luggage as she walks (the wheels don't really work, but that's okay because she doesn't really walk).

Ok, she's really leaving now. Until next time!

Real Masterpiece Kevin Durant

I love finding great deals on dolls, but every now and then, I splurge. For me, Enterbay's Real Masterpiece Kevin Durant figure was a splurge. I tried to talk myself out of wanting him. I tried to let some time pass in the hopes that I would forget that I wanted him. Weeks later, I still wanted him. So, he's mine. I did find him at a slightly discounted price.

The box is large and heavy, which gave me the feeling of anticipation that I was in for a treat.

And I definitely was in for a treat. This figure comes with 2 head sculpts (a serious face and a posing face - both an amazing likeness), a 13" body with 30 points of articulation, 10 interchangeable hands, a Spalding basketball, an NBA MVP trophy, an authentic uniform with socks and sneakers, a pair of basketball tights, and a stand.

Here he is out of the box. My photos do not do him justice. The detail on this figure and his accessories are incredible. His 30 points of articulation allow him to pose very realistically, and he's able to hold his poses well. 

Here's a close-up. The head sculpt is hand-painted with what is described as a newly developed "multi layer" paint application.

Here's a look at his second head sculpt. I was thinking of getting a second tall body for this sculpt, but I don't know if I want a figure to permanently have this expression on his face. On the other hand, I don't really see myself swapping out the head on this figure with any regularity, so I may as well get the extra body so that this head won't go to waste. What do you think?

His upper body has just enough articulation to pose naturally while remaining aesthetically pleasing. His torso has extremely detailed tattoos.

His lower body poses very well. He has double jointed knees and his joints are nice and stiff, so he can really hold a variety of poses very well. He can even hold a squatting position. The appearance of his double jointed knees does not bother me, but if they did I could simply put his basketball tights on him to cover them up.

Here he is holding his trophy. As with all of his accessories, the trophy is very realistic and detailed.

Here he is in a seated position. You can kind of see the NBA logo on one of his socks in this shot. I tried to get a good clear close-up of his socks and shoes, but failed. His shoelaces look real, but they are plastic (which is good for me because the older I get, the less patience I have for tiny doll shoelaces). Both socks have the NBA logo. His black socks have not stained his legs or feet.

Kevin is the tallest of my 1/6 scale guys. It looks to me like Darius Reid is looking a little sad in the photo below. Perhaps it's that he's not used to looking up at someone. Or could it be that he senses that his position as the favored doll in my collection is now tenuous at best?

My tall ladies are thrilled to have another tall guy around (and such a handsome one, at that).

Overall, I am thrilled with this figure. He is sturdy, well-made, realistic, aesthetically pleasing, and basically everything that I want in a doll. The only downside is that I will have to search very hard to find clothes for him to wear. I'll accept that challenge, though.

I am disappointed with my photos for this blog entry. Normally I think that my photos are okay for the purposes of this blog, but I really wish that I could show you the detail that I see when I look at this figure. I don't have the lighting or the equipment (or the skills) necessary to truly capture all of the details and the wonderful quality of this figure.

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.

I Love Valentine's Day

Several years ago, my husband gave me a 2006 I love Valentine's Day Barbie as a Valentine's Day gift. I remember that I was absolutely thrilled to receive her. I think that this is the first doll that he ever purchased for me. After several more Barbie gifts from him, I asked him to stop buying dolls for me. 

She's been out of her box for years, but I saved her box. She came with a teddy bear key chain, a heart shaped purse, a ring (for me), and a hairbrush, all of which have remained attached inside the box. She also came with a cute pair of heart-shaped glasses that I can not locate at the moment. I'm sure they'll turn up when I'm looking for something else.

Back then, I briefly considered leaving her in her box, but decided against it because she did have some qualities that were unique to my collection. She is the only Barbie that I have with the "Hobbit" body.

She has been a single young woman for most of the time that she's been here. She did have a brief relationship with GI Joe (with her short stature, she and Joe looked cute together), but she was never as into him as he was into her.

She has caught the eye of one of my recent arrivals. Fashionistas Ken has arrived.

He has the all too familiar Jamal face, but in a lighter skin tone.

They have been getting to know one another for a couple of months, but Ken has decided to make his move on this special day. He shows up with gifts, ready to impress.

Barbie loves the roses!

Barbie acknowledges her gift with a huge hug. And hugs are not easy for this couple, because they both have straight arms that do not bend.

They can still be very expressive, though. Barbie has clicky knees that bend and allow her to sit. Ken has a slight bend in one of his legs and sits rather awkwardly. 

Since Ken has issues with sitting, they decide to get comfortable the best way that they can.

She can hear his heart racing.

Unfortunately, the back of Ken's head was attached to his packaging, which left 2 tiny holes and what looks like 2 small bald spots on the back of his head. Why oh why did the manufacturer do that? Fortunately, Barbie is too busy gazing into Ken's eyes to notice his baldness in the back.

Ken is relieved to see the huge smile on Barbie's face, and he knows that he has just moved himself out of the friend zone.

It's official, they're a couple!

 Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!