Articulation for Amber + WIB

As promised...a post of what I bought on my recent visits to Toys R Us.

Barbie Style Nikki & Teresa

A little background 1st: I needed an articulated body for Amber (Barbie Look Gold Gown). I'd considered coughing up the cash to buy an Artsy body off Amazon or eBay, but while playing with Mara one evening, I noticed that Life in the Dreamhouse Nikki (being MUCH lighter than Nikki from the webisodes) was a good complexion match as well. I happen to like my Dreamhouse Nikki doll too much to bodysnatch her, so I knew I would have to buy another doll. I bought Dreamhouse Nikki from Barbie Collector for $9.99. Since she's still available at that price, I considered ordering another from BC, but their shipping and handling is just too high for small orders. Then I got to wondering if Barbie Style Nikki might work just as well. I was never particularly fond of the way they styled her, so I would have no problems beheading her and repurposing her clothes for another doll. Her look just screamed “girl from the hood” to me. Case in point- when my husband saw her, he asked why she was wearing a lace front wig! Toys R Us is/was having a Buy One Get One 40% Off sale on all Barbie and Monster High, so I was able to get Nikki for $19.99 and the last Teresa (who’s been on my wish list since I first saw her) for $11.99. At $15.99, she’s about half the price of the Artsy dolls I saw on Amazon and eBay, plus she can pose more naturally.

 

I decided to forgo the heat this time when removing Amber’s head. I was not willing to risk losing her rooted lashes or damaging her hair or face. It took quite a bit of patience, but in the end I got her head off with no damage to either part. 

Since I had no plans to keep Nikki’s head, I just sliced right up the back of her neck and slowly worked her head off the neck knob. Thanks for these suggestions, Muff!

Ta da! Amber is rebodied. I’m loving these gold earrings on her, but about half of this outfit is being given to Marisa. And you can see from the photo that I wasted no time peeling that tacky sticker off her handbag.

Here’s a final photo of Amber sitting on the floor reading a book to her twin girls.

Moving On Kenya

I can’t remember whose blog I was reading when I was first introduced to the Kenya line of dolls. I was immediately taken with Movin On Kenya’s funky glasses, leopard print clothing items, and textured afro ponytail. When I saw Family Dollar marking these dolls down to $10, I checked half a dozen Atlanta-area Family Dollar stores for this doll. When I tell you I found every version except for this one, I am not kidding. Movin On Kenya’s outfit was my favorite of the bunch, so I went home empty handed time and time again. Well, on a recent trip to Toys R Us, I was thrilled to find a single Movin On Kenya doll on the shelf. My local TRU stores haven’t had Kenya dolls in months. They must be restocking for the holiday shopping season. I was finally able to cross this spunky lady off my list. Kenya will keep her body, but maybe not her clothes, and will join the Dollton community as a fashion blogger.

The Malibu Mall Plus More New Stuff

I’ve been in and out of Walmart and Target quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. So, I thought I’d share the new products that caught my eye.

Target

I got to see the new Day to Night Trichelle and Grace dolls in person. This new version of Grace has a really young face. She could probably be the younger sister of some of the earlier Grace dolls. I like her extra fashion, but I cannot get over those teeth. Check out the close ups. WTH?! The teeth were like that on every single doll.

They also had two Barbie Style dolls I hadn’t seen previously. I want those printed pants and that floral jacket.

Toys ‘R Us

I first saw the new Malibu Mall online two days ago. It was $89.99 with free in-store pickup. I went to the store to see it in person. The mall has an ATM, a food court, a fashion boutique, a working escalator, and a movie theater that plays movies from your smart phone. I really like the idea of this, but I’m not sure if we need it or not. And I just noticed that they’ve raised the price ten dollars online…smh.

Photo from Toys R Us.com

I also wanted to see if my local store had the new Kenya dolls I read about here. I didn’t see any boxes marked 2014, but there were several dated 2013 that I hadn’t seen before. Here are the more recent versions alongside the 2012 versions. All of the newer girls have articulated knees, but not wrists or elbows.

Walmart

These Sparkle Girlz fashion dolls are priced at $8.97 and have some cute themed accessories. Muff posted about these as well, and she had different dolls available in her store.

Notice anything strange about this one? 

Yep, that’s Fashionistas Ryan in a Monster High box. Some joker apparently bought the MH doll, swapped it for Ryan, and then returned it to the store for a refund...smh again. Funny thing is, I considered bringing him home. He was in mint condition. Ryan is on Mara’s wish list, and this would have allowed me to get him for cheaper than what I’ve been seeing online ; )

Yes, I did buy some things. But that will have to wait for another post...I'm beat.

Stardoll + Liv Hayden = My First Hybrid

During a recent visit to a local antique mart, a selection of Barbie Stardolls caught my eye. Since the store doesn’t offer returns, I decided to do a little homework before purchasing. Some research led me to conclude that Stardolls are basically 3-D paper dolls best suited for dressing and displaying, NOT for playing. So, I decided to hang on to my cash.  

I’ve had a Liv Hayden doll lying around for months. During TRU’s summer clearance sale, I bought the Liv Hayden doll and house set for $7.50. I only wanted the house and the cute dress, so the doll was tossed in the donation box, especially after I discovered she literally had two left feet. I don’t remember when it dawned on me that Hayden’s fair complexion might be a perfect match for one of the dolls I’d admired at the store, but I decided to take her along on my next visit to the antique mart to check. Sure enough, she was a perfect match for the Scarlet Stardoll. This time I brought Scarlet home for $12.95.

After reading Roxanne’s post about doll head removal, I decided to practice on a few Barbies lying around waiting to be donated. Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy. Full of confidence from my practice session, I proceeded to behead Hayden. That went off without a hitch, so on to Scarlet. 

Wellll, that’s where things got tricky. I heated then tugged, then heated some more and tugged some more, and on and on and on, until finally the head was off. Look at this freaky neck nob that was in there! No wonder I had such a hard time. I was not expecting that! 

Then I looked at her face and to my horror, I realized that with all that tugging somehow the rooted eyelashes had come out on one side. Oh no! The eyelashes were one of my favorite things about her. After swearing under my breath, I concluded that the only thing to do (for a novice like me anyways) was to remove the rooted lashes from the other side as well. To make matters worse, her fair skin was stained from the cloth I’d wrapped around her head to protect it from the heat. Double oh no! After placing her head on her new body (at least that part was easy), Scarlet (renamed Jolie) was immediately given an Oxy10 face mask and allowed to lie in the hot Georgia sun for a few hours. Here she is redressed in her original dress and shoes. Black rubber bands are preventing her fingerless gloves from slipping off. 

Jolie is the new make-up artist at Raquelle’s salon. She reminds me of the flamboyant types who work the MAC cosmetics counter at one of our local Macy’s department stores. Obviously, that red dress isn’t appropriate attire for working in a salon, so I went searching for some of the edgier Sparkle girlz fashions today. I found a dress that suits her quite well.

MyFaves- Dollton Couples

I think my success rate as a doll match maker is pretty good. There have been only two flops out of ten so far. Today, I want to show case my five favorite couples living in Dollton.

Darren and Grace Davis

Darren is a web designer. Grace is a florist and the owner of Bloom Service, a local flower shop. These two were made for each other…literally. Mattel created the Darren character to be Grace’s boyfriend, so naturally they make the perfect couple. Darren and Grace have one child- a son named Julian (age 5). Here Grace models one of the fashions from that combo pack I mentioned in my last post. I took two pictures, so you could see it with and without the jacket. The tee says LOVE and is a separate piece from the skirt.

Matthew and Tory Amber Foreman

Dr. Matthew Foreman is an orthopedic specialist in sports medicine. He is one of the team physicians for the Atlanta Hawks. His wife, Tory Amber, writes a column for the Arts & Entertainment section of the newspaper. She is also on the charity board for a local nonprofit. They have twin daughters, Macee and  Makenna (age 6).

*Tory Amber was an early birthday gift from the hubby. Squee! I need to find her an articulated body.

Thomas and Camille Edwards

Dr. Edwards has his own practice, Dollton Family Medicine. Camille, a former accountant, is now a SAHM and PTA treasurer for their daughter’s elementary school. They have two children, Serena (age 6) and Thomas Junior, better known as Tommy (age 3). Camille is Grace’s older sister.

My first flop as a match maker was my attempt to pair Dr. Edwards with Baby Phat Chandra. There was NO chemistry whatsoever. Who knew such a thing was even possible? This was how I learned that just because I have two dolls paired in my mind, it’s no guarantee that it will work out in real (well, not quite real, but you know what I mean) life.

Jamal and Lena Joyner

Jamal is the pastor of the local church.  His wife Lena used to be a teacher. Now she oversees the youth ministry and counsels victims of domestic violence. They have four children.

Marisa de la Cruz and Stanley Kirk

Marisa is a celebrity singer/songwriter who grew up in Dollton. She now resides in Atlanta. Since, Dollton is just outside of metro Atlanta, she visits whenever she can. Stanley, a music producer, worked with Marisa on her first two albums. The couple has been dating for almost a year.