REVIEW: Encanto Dolores

DOLOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

It's about time. She should have had a doll when the movie came out. She was definitely an equally important character as the ones that got dolls. 

I saw her on Amazon from a 3rd party seller and bought her. I don't often do that, but she was well worth it. I don't think my stores will get her anytime soon. 

One of her shoes was missing when I opened her. After the debacle with Nicky's delivery yesterday and some other frustrations, it was pretty upsetting, but thankfully it was on the floor.

She is SO CUTE.

Look at those tiny curls!

I've never seen little curls at the hairline on any other doll. 

Her arm does go down but it doesn't quite touch her waist or hip. 

She's a basic doll so I get why there's no articulation and I do like the listening pose. 

Very, very happy with her. She's joined the coffee table favorites group in the living room. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: Ruby Red Fashion Friends Nicky

Ruby Red is a very unusual toy company in that they encourage fans to design their own dolls and then produce some of those. Nicky was one of those fan editions and she was designed by an 11-year-old girl! 

I had a horrible experience with DHL when they failed to get her here yesterday. (I'm not getting into explicit detail, but I'm fairly certain the driver just stopped delivering at 6pm and proceeded to sleep in a parking lot all night and resume delivering in the morning. My distribution center is over 2 hours away and this went back out for delivery at 8:16am and was delivered 45 minutes later, so there's no way it went all the way back to Greensboro. Why the incompetent driver just stopped working 3 hours before the official end of day when he was literally right across the street from me is beyond me. I hate DHL.) 

Nicky is a very pale doll but she also has a pinkish skintone. 

Her fingernails and toenails are painted black. 

She comes with a card, a small notebook, her wig and her outfit. The outfit consists of a t-shirt, pearly white stockings, a short skirt with a long part in the back, black leather gloves, and black boots.

Now bear in mind, this was designed by an 11-year-old. So for all those toy companies out there that babble on about how all kids have to have long hair on their dolls, I give you this doll with short hair. And the same companies insist girls only like pastels, well, *gestures to the photo on the left* Those companies are full of it. 

Nicky is GORGEOUS. I love this facemold and her makeup is fantastic. 

The short skirt is complete. The longer back part is completely separate except where it's attached at the waistband. 

I really love her. Great work by the young designer.

With the bad experience with DHL and my shelves filling up at the same time as I get pickier about designs needing to be really unique, Nicky may be one of my last RRFFs. I'm very pleased with her and I have one was the only older one on my want list on her way, but nothing else they've done recently has appealed to me. The Halloween dolls were cute but kitschy and Elinda was way better. Red-haired Dorothy was cute but I already have 3 redheads and her outfit bored me. The fan club group design doll is a pretty but boring Victorian. I hope they eventually get outside the box and start making more dolls from cultures that aren't European, American or very occasionally East Asian. Then I'd buy some more.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

Bored now.

Is anyone else just plain bored with current playline? I feel like I'm in a rut and I'm not as excited for things as I thought I'd be.

Rainbow/Shadow High is frustrating because the releases suck. They're putting out lame multipacks that nobody needs and their special dolls are bad. One is highly problematic and the other is highly overpriced. The Royal 3 aren't available to order anywhere and only my farthest Walmart had Minnie and Tiara, so I haven't gotten back there to buy them. Tessa is the one I want most and she's nowhere. Hopefully she's joined Minnie and Tiara at that Walmart and they'll be there the next time I go, but I have two big Walmarts close to me, so why don't they have them? Ugh. And I don't understand why only one Costume Ball doll is hard to find. Where is Lola and why was she not ready at the same time as the others? I really want her now that I have the other three. 

Monster High is even worse though. There are way too many initial releases and they're mostly the same characters. They need to slow it down or they'll start struggling before they get to what I think is the main thing people want: more old faces added to the new line. The sports pack I'm so over seeing because it's deadly dull. I'm never a fan of sports lines so I'm glad they're getting it out of the way, but so many of the dolls are just weak. Frankie's shaved side not being flocked is a massive cheap out that Mattel should be better than. I'm not pleased that Ghoulia is skipping her more stylish phase and jumping right into the gory clothes. I do like her top and boots but the rest is bad. The skirt looks so cheap. And her face, while cute, is so big-eyed! Ghoulia had a gorgeous face the first time and now she looks...kinda generic. On one hand, I know I'll be excited for them once they actually become available, but on the other, Mattel is not handling their release well at all. There should be pre-orders available at Amazon, Target, Walmart and Macy's. Right now. Not later. I don't think their Reel Drama release went well either. I have zero interest in those so I didn't look into it, but I did see a lot of people who missed out. I'm not into dolls I have to struggle to get. It would have been nice to get some MH so close to my birthday, but I don't trust them to be anywhere nearby or be available online. Mattel, if you're going to overload us with dolls, you have to make them available to purchase. Seeing them all over online when I can't buy them does not get me excited for the line. It makes me want them less. 

I wish there was something else quality playline to talk about. OMG has never been my big thing. There's really nothing else, which is sad. I'd love to see Hasbro or Jakks or anyone smaller come up with something to compete with the big guys. Not that smaller companies don't have these release issues (looking at you, Far Out Toys), but they seem to fix them faster. 

Hopefully, this phase passes soon, but yeah, right now I'm just bored.

So not surprising.

If I had to give a doll to every person that properly sourced their promo photos, my collection would still be as huge as it is right now.

Furrever Friends

I collected these briefly decades ago in the heyday of my 80s collecting. I saw a couple people after the clip ones recently, so I got those down and then decided to clean these ladies up as well. I briefly entertained thoughts of selling them, but they cleaned up beautifully and I just placed them back in the toy hammock I had them in. Too pretty to sell. 

The purple is Posietail. She has 2 extra tail sections and her bows. The pink patchy one is Rosietail, who only has her main tail. I always wanted the blue and white one, but her prices are ridiculous. And the yellow isn't for sale anywhere! Wouldn't mind adding her to my set, but I can't pay crazy prices.

These are my Clip 'n' Tails. 

This blue one is missing both pink bows. The one on is one that was around Rosietail's tail, but it's not from Rosietail. I thought it might have been from this kitty, but the elastic is a different weave. But she's getting to wear it anyway. I might have a look around and see if I can find the missing tail bows. I'm pretty sure I bought all 3 of these carded so I should have had them at some point.

I forget how cute these are because they're displayed above my head. 

This one is my favorite. One original tail bow. Where's the other? Argh. 

I love her different face. 

I wish this line had done better. I still would love all the different animals they had planned!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

Fairy Tails Tropical

Note to self: Stand that yellow Bushwoolie back up. Poor guy. 

So I've been hard at work reorganizing my toy room closet and setting up the toy room and hallway displays. I have a newly-added smaller set of shelves in the closet that have my collections of My Little Pony, Fairy Tails, Fashion Star Fillies, and Enchanted Kingdom horses on them, as well as some fakies and other random pieces. 

Second note to self: Add my three Sweetie Pups to one of the shelves. I think I know which box they're in. 

It's been fun to clean up and display some pieces that haven't been out since before the hurricane. In the case of my Fairy Tails, it's been even longer. They never made it out on display when I lived in Florida. So these cuties are out for the first time in over 9 years. It's because they were put away so long that I only recently learned I never finished the set! I decided the Tropicals would be really cute on the shelving above the pony shelves, especially because the two without stands can just grab onto the shelving itself. I also decided it was long past time to finish the set, so I found the last two I needed on ebay and as of today, the set is complete. 

I love Fairy Tails. I still have my childhood Tasty Tails and her stand. Might even have her comb somewhere. And I have my neon green jewelry bird as part of my full set of jewelry birds. (They're the mini ones.) I have Tinsel Tails and Huggy Tails (Fuzzy Tummy set) from my adult collection, but I guess I sold off all the others. I might just have to get some of them back. 

The Tropical set is my favorite though with my weakness for neon. 

Tootie Tails is the blue one. She's one of the two I bought recently. 

Sunny Tails is the green. I love that color.

Hula Hula Tails is the yellow in front. I'm missing her stand, which is the one with yellow leaves like Tootie's. 

Pina Colada Tails is the orange one. She's got excellent hair. Most of them have some frizz but her hair is fab. 

Sea Breeze Tails is the bright pink in front. She's the one I just got in the mail today and her hair is lovely. I need her stand, which is the one with green leaves. 

Top Banana Tails is the pinky-purple one. 

I honestly can't pick a favorite. I love them all!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

Spooky ladies!

It's finally spooky season and Scary Godmother is trying to pick a new purse.

So many options!

What should she do?

Take them all, of course!

I haven't had Scary Godmother deboxed since the hurricane, so it's great to finally have her back out again. 

And speaking of ladies I haven't seen in a long time, this is Dark and Defiant Delilah Noir. I bought her when she came out in 2009 but sold her. 

I found this boxed one on ebay and bought her, only for her to arrive dirty, dusty and falling apart. Poor thing!

I had to wash her wig and outfit, and clean dirt/dust from her eye sockets and mouth. 

I touched up the paint on her lipstick. 

And her shoes fell apart, so thankfully she perfectly fits these ones from Little Miss Matched! They look better than her clunky ones anyway. 

I'm glad I have her again, even with the fixer upper work I had to do. I wrote the seller to tell them to please be more descriptive in the future and listed off everything I had to do to fix the doll, but I don't expect I'll hear back. Some people just aren't meant to sell on ebay. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: American Girl Truly Me #109, #110 and #120

American Girl recently dropped not one, not ten, but a whopping 25 new Truly Me dolls! And they brought back the Marie-Grace mold for the first time ever. I am a huge fan of the M-G mold, but sadly, I don't care for any of the new dolls with it. 

Still, they managed to make me want three of the new ones so much that I ordered them within the first hour they were available. 

I didn't take any in box photos, but here are my three new girls. 

This is #109 with the Josefina mold. 

The girls come with different outfits now. This is the "sweet" version. I don't hate it, though I would have preferred it without the leopard print. I think the floral pattern is pretty though. And the shoes are cute. 

I love that she has gray eyes with such dark skin. Excellent and unique combo. 

She has beautiful brown hair with caramel and pink highlights. 

The bangs you can move around and style a bit. I like them mostly swept to the one side. 

So this is Damaris. I got her the old medieval princess costume, because my girl wants to write epic fantasy novels but with more female main characters and more diversity. I may get her a modern outfit eventually, but for now, I like this. She dresses up when she writes. 

Added a little choker after taking that first pic. 

I just need shoes for this dress. I bought some yesterday. 

Here is #110. I never thought I'd see the Jess mold with pale skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and freckles. I LOVE it. 

The part on the wig is a little weird, but that's my only nitpick about her. 

This is the sporty outfit. Love the shoes. The outfit is okay, but I think it would make a better nightshirt than dress. 

She's got the type of AG hair I won't brush. Finger-combing only!

I love the streaks so. 

Redressed, she's even better. I got her Saige's pajama top, which makes a great shirt, and some jeans from an older AG outfit. I forgot what it was called. She's still wearing her own shoes. 

I want to get her a watch and maybe a purse. 

I've named her Jennet. 

And finally, this is #120 with the Nanea mold. 

This is the "strong" outfit. I like this the least of all three that I got. The shoes may be useful down the line though. 

She's a Nanea mold so of course, she's lovely. 

This was absolutely her selling point. This wig. So epic. You want a rainbow wig? This is it. They even included both yellow and orange. Definitely my favorite AG hair ever. 

Like Maritza's hair, I think it could have been a little shorter, but that's just a minor nitpick. 

Alamea is my spooky photographer, so she's a little bit artsy, a little bit gothy. 

She ended up getting a few more pics than the others because my battery was dying earlier.

 

All these pieces are from etsy except the necklace. My Charlie Bears stockist sends free necklaces with bears, so I have a great stash of them. This phoenix is perfect for Alamea. 

Alamea is a relative of Nanea's. I haven't decided the exact relationship yet, but I'm thinking on it. 

All three girls from my earlier photos before I added the necklaces. 

I love how Jennet looks here. The sass.

I'm very happy with these and it's great to have more modern girls for Roslin's crew. 

Definitely also happy AG is making more dolls with colored hair streaks. Some stick in the mud AG fans don't like it, but they've had 36 years of natural hair colors in the majority, so they can shut it. 

I'm so cut off from buying until after vacation! This was my final splurge. But worth it!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: Glo-Up Girls Series 2 Alex

Finally got my Alex! Her estimated date kept changing on Amazon and then at last they wanted my money. 

Outfit: Puffy but not ugly puffy emerald green jacket, slightly weird blue boots, colorful cropped tank over black fishnet tee, sorta vinyl shorts. I'm not sure what to call this material. It's not as leathery as leather or pleather, but it's not as shiny plasticy as what I consider vinyl, but I'm going with vinyl anyway. 

Oh, and her cute earrings. 

Same accessories as the others. 

Sneakers same as the others. I do like that they gave them different star colors, but would it have been hard to change the color of the actual sneakers? Maybe one get black, one pink, one red, etc. 

Unattractive socks. 

Comb. Makeup sponge brush. Sunglasses. Pink purse. 

Lightning bolt earrings. Weird "ring." 

After salon time. 

Her hair is sadly not great. Sigh. Spend less money on gimmicks and more money on hair quality!

She's still really cute though and my favorite. 

Ugly socks. Ugh. 

But the sneakers serve their purpose. They go really well with Series 1 Alex's outfit and she can finally take off those bubblegum lumps she called sneakers before.

The gold earrings are cute, but I like the silver hook ones. 

Sunglasses...no. Maybe on Erin. 

The weird "ring." This is supposed to slide on her hand like this. I checked the pic on the box. What is it? Brass knuckles for dolls? 

Final look. 

But wait, there's more. 

I swear her lips are darker. Some of these color change lip colors just can't be captured with flash pics. 

So Alex continues her trend of being my favorite in the line. Her overall design is kinda crazy and random, but I love her anyway. In both lines. 

Group shot! (With bonus Ty unicorn I need to find a place for.)

I nitpick these dolls but I do love them. I just think they deserve better quality. Skip the gimmicks, add knee articulation and improve the hair quality. Easy peasy. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.