V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna

The second doll to arrive at my house after my recent hiatus was V.I.P. A.N.T. Farm Chyna.  I read about this one on Black Doll Collecting and I thought that she was cute, but did not order her at the time.  Last week, I decided that it was time to bring this one home.

Here she is released from the box.

I love that she is somewhat articulated, and I'm really glad that she can stand on her own in her boots.  Here she is with some friends that she's made here.

And here she is with more friends.

 This is a purchase that I am really happy with.

Dance Class Howleen Wolf

Dance Class Howleen Wolf was the first new doll to arrive at my house in months.  There was another doll that I tried to buy first, but I had some difficulties (more on that in a future blog post).

I had wanted Howleen since she came out in a Target exclusive sister pack with her sister Clawdeen earlier this year.  All of my local Target stores sold out, and that set was selling for outrageous (for me) prices on eBay.  I just waited and hoped that Howleen would be popular enough to be released on her own.  I'm glad that I waited.

I think that she's cute with her pink hair and attitude. Okay granted, I did have a failure to bond with Clawdeen, and it will probably be the same with this one, but I'm hoping to find a use for her.  I had something specific in mind when I bought her, but I don't know if that's going to work out.

And the ears on this one...  I had a puppy once that was a German Shepherd mix.  She had floppy ears when she was very young, but gradually over time, her ears began to straighten out.  Around the time of her first heat, she had one straight ear and one ear that was still a little floppy, just like Howleen.  I'm a little grossed out that this doll with her human characteristics reminds me of my puppy.  I'm kind of amused by it, also.

Awwwww, the happy family together at last.  Clawd Wolf was freed from his cardboard prison the same day as Howleen, and Clawdeen's head was reunited with her body long enough to take a few family photos.

 Howleen's body is shorter than Clawdeen's, and shaped a little differently.

Check out this video review of Howleen and her siblings.

More Stuff...

Here is more stuff that arrived between May - July that I'm just now photographing:

Justin Bieber gear - for one of my teen guys.

Build A Bear Fashions - after visiting Roville's Blog, I went to BABW seeking fashions that would fit my curvaceous Dasia doll.  I asked the workers if they had fashions from the Friends2B line, and they told me no and that the line had been discontinued.  I bought some fashions anyway, hoping they would fit Dasia.  No such luck.  They are way too big.  Oh well, I'm sure I have some bears somewhere that can fit these.  The good news is that they told me that I could take as many of these ribbons as I wanted for free, so I grabbed a big handful.

Clawd Wolf - what more can I say.  He even has a fashion and some jewelry for a lucky someone.

Fashion Doll Head - a very nice friend sent this to me.  I will practice repainting and re-rooting on her.

Ken Doll Fashion - my action figure guys are looking at me nervously, wondering if they will be the recipient of this fashion.  I think that they can relax, as I'm sure I have an old Ken doll that would love to wear this.

JLS Celebz Mini Marvin - I blame... I mean I credit D7ana for this purchase.  I was never able to find any of the JLS dolls for a price that I was willing to pay, but this little guy was cheap.

Back to Brooklyn Remi - I came close to missing out on him AGAIN this year.  Back in Spring, I went down the list of Integrity Toys dealers until I finally found one who was still taking pre-orders.  I was nervous because I knew that there was no way that I would be able to buy him on the secondary market.  I waited and waited and my Remi finally arrived!

Tomorrow I will start writing about my recent arrivals.  And the deboxing has begun!

It's Been A While

Over the past several months, my husband has asked me from time to time why I haven't used the camera that he bought me for my birthday yet.  My birthday was at the end of May.  I tried to keep the excuses fresh and relevant:
"It's too hot." - this one was my favorite for a while.
"I don't know how to use it yet."
"You're always asleep during the day and I take the best photos during daylight hours." - he works nights.
"I did use it, didn't I?" - ummmm, no I didn't.
"I plan on using it soon." - this was my second favorite.

The truth is, I lost most of the enjoyment that I get from dolls for a while.  I was going through something that felt overwhelming to me, and I even thought about selling some of my dolls.  The thought of selling my dolls was depressing, so I tried my best not to think about it.  So I barely looked at my dolls, because looking at them reminded me that I could be losing some of them soon.  The doll buying ceased for a few months.

Well, the doll-buying bug must have bitten me again, because I've bought 3 dolls in the past week.  I'll write about those soon, but first I want to catch up a little.  Here are photos that I took today of some dolls that I acquired back in June or July (they are still in the box - you know that's not like me at all).

Mattel's Die Another Day Jinx doll -  I'd been wanting this one for a while, and I was finally able to find her for a price I was willing to pay.

Bratz Catz Sasha doll - a head swap is coming her way.

Making Waves Alexis doll - a head swap is coming her way, also.

LIV Accessories - came free with the doll.  I don't have a LIV dog, so Only Hearts Club Briana Joy's dog Longfellow will receive the doggie fashion.

 Only Hearts Club Big Sister Kayla Rae and Sydney dolls - I already had a Kayla Rae, but I wanted Sydney also.  I think that I should open this one and leave my other Kayla Rae boxed.  My husband thinks that I should open the other one and leave this one boxed.  What do you think?

So these are the first images that I have taken with my "new" camera.  I need practice.  All of the close-ups that I tried to take came out blurry.  I have more photos that I took today, but I will share those at another time.  I have more boxed dolls to share!  And then, let the deboxing commence!

Cute Shoes for Big Feet

Here are my Triad ladies showing off their Triad shoes.  The set came with low, medium, and high heeled shoes.

It's a Small World

Here are some of my mini Barbies representing countries from around the world.

Phicen vs. Phicen

I recently purchased another Phicen brown body figure.  I have previously discussed my older Phicen figure and demonstrated some of her poseability, so in this post I'm going to mainly discuss the differences between the older and the newer figure.

 Here is a close-up of the newer figure.  This is the small bust version.  She has a different headsculpt that I don't much care for (but I didn't really care much for the old one, either).  The large bust version has a different headsculpt (I did not purchase the large bust version and the photo at that link is not mine).  I do like the hair on both versions of the newer Phicens.  I will re-paint her eyes one of these days.

Here's a side-by-side comparison with the older Phicen on the left and the newer one on the right.  Overall, the newer figure looks better to me.  The old one kind of looks like a girl in a rubber suit.  The newer one looks a bit more natural.  The skin color is slightly different.  There have been refinements that I can see at the shoulders, arms, waist, and knees. There's not as much bunching of the rubber skin under the armpits on the newer figure, and it is not as much of a dust and lint magnet as the older figure.  The new one came with this bikini, which I like because the old one came naked.

 The new one looks slightly slimmer.  But don't worry, she still has her booty.  As you can see, the rubber still bunches up in certain poses.

 Here they are from the side.  The shoulders, arms, and elbows look better on the new one.  The hands and feet are exactly the same.

 And here they are seated.  My older Phicen will never sit like she used to because I broke her hip.  You may recall my previous warning that you must be careful with these, because with the rubber skin you can't see the joints, and it's fairly easy to break the figure.  Yep, that's what happened.  And it's impossible to fix unless I somehow destroy the rubber skin to get to the hip joint.  So I'm afraid to move the new one much.  I'll pose her next to my other doll at high risk for breakage and call it a day.

I'm truly thrilled that this company has come out with these dolls in a brown skin tone, and I'm glad that I have these.  But I will probably not buy another one unless they come with a skeleton that is less breakable.  What fun is it to have a poseable figure if you're afraid to pose it.

My Husband's Barbie

If any of you remember my previous stories about my husband, you may remember that he thinks that dolls should be left in boxes.  Of course, I'm the opposite.  One day (years ago), my husband came home from the flea market with a gift "for me".

He told me that he would only give her to me, though, if I would promise to keep her in the box.  I told him that I couldn't make that promise.  I told him that once he gives me a gift, it's mine to do whatever I want.  He told me fine, he would keep it for himself.  I told him that was fine with me.  So here she is, my husband's one and only Barbie doll.

Girls Explore Bessie Coleman

A few weeks ago, I purchased a Girls Explore Bessie Coleman doll.  Here she is in her box.

She comes with a biography and a pilot log.  Her box was slightly damaged, but the doll is in good shape.

And here she is out of the box.  Her arms and legs are made of soft vinyl and they bend slightly.  Her body is stuffed.

Here's a close-up.  Oh my.  I'm going to have to repaint her lips one of these days.

Here she is hanging out with Harriet Tubman, another Girls Explore doll that I purchased some years ago.  Both Bessie and Harriet are on sale on Amazon.com for $19.99 right now.

So I recently watched the movie In Time, where no one ages past the age of 25.  There was one scene where a man introduces his wife, his daughter, and his mother-in-law, and they all look the same age.  It would be like that in my dolls' world if I made families with most of them.  Well the kids all have parents, but the adults tend to not have parents (Alan and Midge are lucky) because they would look about the same age as their parents.  So I like to buy more mature looking dolls when I can.  And I've decided that Bessie is going to get redressed, and she will get to take photographs and be involved in some of the stories.  Harriet might join in one day, also.  Right now she's back in her box.

Here's Bessie redressed.  She will not stay in this outfit (Happy Family Grandma needs her clothes back).

So which one of my dolls do you think should get Bessie as a mother?  Does she resemble anyone in particular to you?

****Edited to add more photos****

So here are a few more photos to show Bessie's body and her poseability.  Here she is standing with her arms bent.  Her arms will move up and down to the front and back.  They will not stay posed out to the side.

She can sit down.

Here she's seated on the floor, with her arms out as far as I could get them, and the floor holding them in place.

Could You Lend Jinx A Hand?

Jinx has been content to spend the past few years in her "leather" outfit with boots and gloves.  Unfortunately, her outfit has begun to deteriorate.  It started with one little crack, and then in a short period of time there were cracks all over.  So I've decided to put this outfit away and only let her wear it for special occasions.

That means that Jinx needs some actual hands, since these gloves will not look good with most outfits.  Luckily, my Triad Hispanic Alpha was more than willing to lend Jinx a hand (or 2).  These are the Alpha's spare hands.