A New Barbie Fashionistas Girl

When I saw this new set of Fashionistas on Amazon.com, I knew I wanted to add Summer to my collection and eventually change her to an articulated body.

I finally got her last week and she's even lovelier in person.

Her packaging was easy to open, as it was held closed with plastic tabs:

There were no wires, but these plastic tags (I think they're called Kimble Tags). I have always dreaded having to cut off the ones at the back of dolls'  heads, as I am scared of damaging the doll's hair.   The ones at the back of the box were not difficult to cut, though.

After carefully cutting off her head tag, here she is, out of her box,  and I didn't damage her  lovely hair.

I saw this line on her skirt and thought that the top was stitched incorrectly to the skirt.  It turned out that it was just the impression of the plastic tie that was across the doll's midsection that created a crease.

These are the shoes that she came with.  I don't really like their bulky appearance:

 Plus, her left shoe is slack and keeps falling off.

So, I switched to the shoes that came with the University Cheerleader dolls.  They are neater looking and a much better fit.

I was enjoying her so much that I almost forgot that she had a pair of sunglasses on her head; and, horror of horrors, it was secured with a tag!  It was secured very close to her head,  so there was the risk of damaging the lens of the sunglasses and her hair.

 Even after I had cut off the horizontal piece of the tag, the sunglasses still wouldn't budge and I couldn't see what was keeping it so secured to her head.  Me and my aging eyes.

After parting her hair bit by bit, I saw the clear plastic band looped around the nose of the sunglasses and around the doll's head.  Good grief, why didn't I see it before?

At last!  Or so I thought, as my relief was short-lived. I still couldn't get the sunglasses to disengage from her head.  Instead of being able to pull the sunglasses over her head and pull her hair through the loop of the band at the base of her neck, the band just wouldn't come out from under her hair. 

It was tangled in the hair at the back of her neck.  I wondered if I had inadvertently tangled it, but I didn't twist and turn the band or her head.

I turned her upside down to get a better look at what I was dealing with and found a mess of tangled hair.  I didn't want to pull at her hair and make it worse, so I cut the band.

The last row of hair plugs at the base of her neck had wavy, tangled, frizzy strands, unlike the straighter, smooth hair on the rest of her head.

There were also several strands of hair coming out of the base of her head at the back of her neck.  Eeeek!

I just don't know what to say.

 Neither does Summer.

Despite her issue, which she has successfully hidden, she has settled in with her new family, after being warmly welcomed by (self-proclaimed) Princess Stardoll Kayla (a Barbie Basics Model #5, collection 002 on a pivotal body) on the left and Lea (a 2012 Ballerina Barbie on a Liv body) on the right.

Sisters Three.

New Bodies in da House

Raquelle: "Look what came today! An EMS package from Japan!"

Raquelle: Let's see who it's from.  Hobby Search? Are you expecting this?

Me: "Why, yes I am! I didn't expect it so soon, though.  This package took five days to get to Trinidad.  It spent one day in customs and it took three days to be processed at the Post Office and for notification to be sent out. That was fast!"

Raquelle: "Let's see what the Customs Declaration says.  Hmmmm. 'Detailed description of contents: Doll'.  'Number of items contained: 2".  

Raquelle: "Really? More dollie friends to play with!"

Raquelle: "Ooooooh! 'Inspected by Customs'!"

Raquelle: "What's this?  Oooooh an invoice!"

Raquelle: "Pure Neemo? What's a Pure Neemo?"

Me: "It's a type of doll."

Raquelle: "Oh my goodness! So much paper!"

Me: "Take your time. I'll help you; just pass it to me."

Raquelle: "I can see something!"

Me: "Careful now, you don't want to fall."

Raquelle: "Here take this paper!"

Me: "Okay, okay, slow down."

Raquelle (sobbing): "OMG! How cute! Take it out.  I want to play with it."

Me: "Not yet. Let's take a photo of the two of them in their packaging first."

Raquelle: "Ladies and gents, I present Pure Neemo Flection Small and Medium." 

Me: Thank you, Raquelle. I need some room to remove them from their packaging so we can have a closer look.  Go over there and wait with your sister."

Raquelle to Raquelle: "Boohoo! They're so cute.  I just want to eat them up."

Raquelle to Raquelle: "Okay, dear.  Take a deep breath."

Raquelle (after much deep breathing): "Hi, I'm Raquelle, what are your names?"

Pure Neemos in unison: "Hi.  We have no names yet. We don't even have heads!"

Raquelle (scooping them up in her arms): "Teehee.  You're still so cute and heavy!"

Pure Neemos in unison: "Wait 'til you see us with heads. Um, you can let us go now."

Raquelle to Raquelle: "Yeah, sis. Let's give them some space."

Raquelle to Raquelle: "But they're new here and probably feel scared. I want them to feel at home."

Pure Neemos in unison: "We're fine. We're fine.  We do feel at home. Thank you so much for caring.  You can let us go now."

Raquelle to Raquelle: "Let's go shopping and we can get ice cream after."
Raquelle to Raquelle: "But, but....
Pure Neemos in unison: "Bye!  Nice to meet you! See you later!

Pure Neemo S to Pure Neemo M: "She's super friendly."
Pure Neemo M to Pure Neemo S: "She's scary, if you ask me."

Me: "Okay.  Everybody line up, line up!"

Now to assign heads (all Obitsus) to bodies (three Obitsu's on the left and the two Pure Neemos on the right).

Dolly Wheels

I've collected several modes of transport for my dollies over the years and haven't really played with them. In gathering them together, I realise that I own more bikes than cars.

I like unusual vintage things and found this decorative piece at a local store in 2011.  It is made entirely of metal pieces that have been welded together. 

For months I would see it at the store and wish I could afford to buy it.  Fortunately, my luck changed during the Christmas season that year, when the price was reduced.  Of course, I snapped it up. 

The manufacturer,  Jayland Products (Dalian) Company,  specialises in producing "handmade antique metal home decorations, such as antique style model cars, airplanes, and motorcycles".

I was only able to find this reference to it online from tootoo.com.  So, it seems to be an imitation Harley Davidson from 1956.   Amazon marketplace has some other cool Jayland products.

Tonner's Precarious thinks it's a cool accessory.

This bicycle came with a Famosa Nancy doll that I purchased from Amazon.com.  I got the bike for my BFC Ink large dolls but wanted to check the fit with a Tonner doll.  Yoshio was kind enough to offer his services.

It seems a bit clunky, but could pass as the appropriate size. 

"Yeah. I'm comfortable with my inner child and my feminine side."

In the 1:6 scale size, I have a silver My Scene Masquerade Madness convertible.  I can't remember if I bought this locally or not.

Chelsea and Ken love it!

I bought this red Scooter around 2009, from a local toy shop that had it on its shelves for a while.  The box was coming apart and had a lot of wear, so I asked for a discount and got it!  It came with a red helmet.

Last Christmas, I got this battery-operated bicycle at a local drug store.  It came with its own doll attached.  Sometimes it seems too large for 1:6 scale dolls, but I like the colour and how realistic it looks.  The container at the back is for the batteries. The 'training wheels' allow the bike to stand upright.

I found this Honda on Amazon.com.  I haven't taken it out of it's packaging yet, even though I've had it since March 2013.

I purchased these 1:18 scale Vespas,  Ducati Sport 100 (top) and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R (bottom) motorcycles at a local toy store in 2011.

 
The tiny bike is one that I bought for my now 29 year old son when he was quite young. He preferred cars, so I kept the bike for myself.  My mini Lalaloopsy has now claimed it.

Earlier this year, I bought this mini van which originally contained candy and is labelled 'Happy Van'.  My Mini Bs are anxious to show their display and presentation skills at a car show.

Shoes!

It's really hard keeping shoes organised.  

I need to find a way to keep track of what shoes fit what dolls.

My doll collection is so varied.  Some shoes fit multiple dolls.  Some male shoes fit some female dolls.  Aaaaaargh!

I tried keeping shoes for one type of doll separate from the others, only to find that they fit other dolls too. 

I'd love to know how others keep track of what shoes fit what doll.