Quest for Brown Bodies

In my search for action figures with brown bodies, the following two figures caught my attention.

The female figure is a Tianyimei action figure, and the male is a Wamami action figure. Both were advertised as brown, and the photos in the advertisements looked brown to me. So I purchased both.

The Tianyimei figure is nowhere near as dark as she looked in the photos that I saw, but she is darker than some other action figures that have been advertised as "brown". Below, she's pictured with a Jiaou doll brown on the left, and a Phicen brown on the right. She is darker than both.

Her skin tone is close to both the Triad Hispanic figure, and the knock-off Takara body.

My Hot Toys Sheva Alomar head is the closest match to this body. I like Sheva on her current body though, so I will not be making that switch.

Mixis Opal's head is a little bit darker than this body, but comes somewhat close. I like Opal on her current body, and will not be making a switch.

Sheva and Opal are the only two dolls or action figures in my collection that are anywhere near the skin tone of this figure, so she remains headless for now.

She came with an extra set of hands, an extra set of feet, and 4 extra pegs. 

She is a small female figure. She will not have a problem wearing most Barbie or Sparkle Girlz clothes.

She has great flexibility, she's easy to pose, and she holds her poses very well. Her torso is covered with a somewhat soft rubbery material.

Here is my video comparison and review of the Tianyimei figure.

The Wamami figure is also not as dark as he appeared in photo advertisements. By the way, the head was an unexpected surprise. I purchased the body and hands only, so I appreciate the bonus head.

When I saw the photo advertisements for this figure, I had hoped that he would be a close match for Hip Hoodie Ken. As soon as I opened the box, I saw that he was way too pale, so then I hoped that he would match Fashionistas Ken. He is darker than Fashionistas Ken.

He has about the same skin tone as the TTL brown body that came out years ago (pictured below on the left).

This was a very inexpensive action figure body. He's not a bad buy for the money. He is fully articulated and holds his poses well for the most part. He does have one wobbly foot, so it's harder for him to balance on his feet. It appears that the manufacturer wanted to make it look like the figure has double jointed knees, but he does not. 

He's somewhat short compared to other action figures. He is shorter than Ken, and his body is about the same height as GI Joe (although he's taller than GI Joe with his head). Becky (pictured below) is relieved that he is taller than she is.

Here's my video comparison and review of the Wamami figure.

JLS Dolls

My teen female dolls are extremely exited that the boy band JLS has joined the collection.

I had previously purchased Marvin and posted photos, but decided to purchase this one also so that I would have the entire matching set. The other Marvin will probably undergo a major change in his appearance and represent a different teen male in my collection.

I think that some of the girls may fight over JB.

Oritsé is cute, too.

And last but not least, here's Aston.

I definitely plan to debox these (I got a discount because of the bad state of the boxes), but deboxing will wait. I'm sure that the guys can't wait to get out and play with the instruments here and collaborate with other musicians and singers that I have in my collection. They will represent teens in my collection. These new additions will help my teen male to female ratio reach a closer balance.

Walking Barbie and Baby Krissy

Hello everyone! Today is a bit of a throwback. I'm showing you my Walking Barbie and New Baby Sister Krissy set - the African American version. This set was released in 1999 and I bought it brand new, so these dolls have been in my collection for about 18 years now. In fact, these are among the first dolls in my collection, and Krissy was the first baby in my collection.

These dolls are dressed in their original outfits. The set came with the dolls, the stroller, and the baby bag which contains a bottle, baby powder, a sippy cup, and a rattle. Walking Barbie really does walk when pushing the stroller, and Krissy makes adorable cooing, giggling, and singing sounds when she's laid in her stroller (it's actually the stroller making the sounds). All these years later, and Krissy is still cooing like a champ! Those must be some super duper batteries!

Since this Barbie was one of the earlier dolls in my collection, she has been subjected to more of my handling than my other dolls, and her outfit and hair shows it. She came with her hair in two braids, parted down the middle. Her arms are permanently bent and she looks like she's ready to do some Karate chops. Her legs are straight and do not bend.

This is not my photo

So about Krissy's adorable baby sounds... When you lay Krissy's head down, the sounds come from a speaker in the stroller. Awwwwwww! That cooing sound must be like the Wilhelm Scream of baby noises in movies and TV, because I've heard that exact same sound literally dozens of times over the years in movies and on TV shows. In fact, while taking these photos, I heard this cooing on a show that my husband was watching in the other room (The Musketeers series). I'm so impressed that the sounds still work after all these years, because I've never changed the battery!

Walking Barbie's arms attach to the stroller, and when you push the stroller she walks.

The basket detaches from the stroller and allows for Barbie to easily carry Krissy.

 Barbie is a great big sister, and takes such good care of Krissy!

 Krissy is such a happy and well cared for baby girl!

 

Here's my video of this set, where you can hear the cooing and see the walking in action.

Caturday

Men spending time on a Saturday playing with cats.

Boys like cats, too.

Thank you Dee Mahogany Dee for telling me about these cats!

 The cats are adorable, and the dolls and action figures in my collection love them!

Hip Hoodie Ken

Hip Hoodie Ken was my first doll purchase of 2017 (yes, others soon followed).

Here he is out of his packaging. He has a nice looking face and body, and a decent outfit.

Here's a close-up. I'm so happy to see a different AA face mold for Ken, and one that doesn't feature a broad grin.

His hoodie covers his tall hair. His hoodie and shirt are one piece.

Here's a view from the back. His hoodie top attaches with Velcro in the back, and there's a gap at the top. 

This guy can stand around looking handsome, but he can't do much else. His arms and legs can be moved back and forth. Below, I have his arms and legs spread to the side as far as they will go.

I've posed him below in some action figure undies to show a better view of his body. The sculpting of his hollow body is attractive, but it is fairly useless for me without articulation. I hope that Mattel makes more dolls with this sculpt, but with articulation. That would be nice.

Without the ability to bend his knees, it is difficult for him to sit down.

My overall impression is that I'm glad to see a new attractive Ken sculpt, however I'm disappointed in the body. The outfit and shoes are about standard for a Ken fashion. I will be looking for an articulated body for this guy.