Small Scale Articulation

I purchased an articulated Blythe doll body (the dark skin version).

My apologies to all of you Blythe lovers out there, but I do not know much about Blythe. I think that Takara manufactures this body, but I'm not sure. There are no markings on the body. I tried to do some research to find out more, but I got bored and my eyes started to glaze over after just a little while.  I don't know if this is an Azone or Pure Neemo or what, I just know that I wanted this articulated body. I don't want the huge Blythe head. Another one of my dolls will use this body. 

When removing this doll from the box, I was very glad to see that the skin tone is pretty much exactly what I expected from the photos on the advertisements. I was especially pleased after recent purchases where the figure that I received was not as dark as advertised.

I was also glad to see that the dark skin tone would match several of the dolls in my collection. The body feels very sturdy and is heavier than other dolls this size. She is a little bit taller than Juku Couture dolls, and about the same height as Wee Three Friends dolls.

Because of the immobility of the neck connector, any head that I put on this body will be able to move side to side, but not up and down. She has good mobility in her arms and shoulders. Her range of motion is somewhat limited at the elbows. Her upper arms swivel. Her hands rotate. There are several sets of hands that can be purchased for this doll, but I'm not interested in the various hand gestures. It would be nice to have a relaxed set of hands, though.

Her waist twists from side to side. Her legs will part slightly. Her legs rotate at the upper thigh. The range of motion at her knees is somewhat limited. Because of her ankle articulation, she can wear flat shoes, or shoes with a slight heel. She can kneel. She can also sit flat on the floor. She looks good posing in a seated position, and she can cross her lower legs.

This doll is small in stature, so I definitely wanted to give her a head with a youthful appearance. I have an extra Juku Couture Kana head, but the head has a tiny hole for the neck connector and would not fit without permanent modification. The neck connector for the Blythe body is Barbie sized.

The closest skin tone match to the Blythe body is probably my tan Momoko doll.  Momoko already has an articulated body and she's adorable on that body, so I was not about to rebody her. If I'm ever in possession of another tan Momoko head though, I'll probably put that head on this body.

I purchased this body hoping that it would be a good match for my Barbie Crazy for Coral Petite Fashionistas doll. My petite doll was not thrilled about that idea. She wasn't sure if she wanted to give up what height she does have in favor of articulation.

She's a decent skin tone match. My petite doll started to warm up to the idea.

It's a done deal. My petite doll is now more petite than ever! Her head looks slightly oversized on this body, though.

But she is thrilled with her ability to strike different poses!

Even though she is now the same height as the tweens and young teens in my collection, she is quick to remind them that she is actually a little older than they are.

She still likes hanging out with her old friends.

 The teen guys all still think she's cute.

My overall impression is that this is a good quality doll at a reasonable price. The joints are not very attractive, though. It's particularly noticeable and not aesthetically pleasing to me when I rotate her arms or legs, and the parts above and below the point of articulation do not appear to line up properly. I will find this doll something to wear that covers her body more.

I am very happy with this purchase, and look forward to posing her for many years to come.

Here is my video review of this body.

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!