Disney Star Wars Elite Forces Premium Action Figures

I got these 10” action figures (on sale) from disneystore.com, after checking out several reviews on YouTube.  

Of course, our local customs had to put their own (higher) value and ignore the invoice that was included in the box.

I have not seen any of the newer Star Wars movies, so I’m not familiar with these characters.

Here are: Director Krennic, Jyn Eros and Rey.

I like that their clothes are not molded on and some of their accessories look really cool.  

Look at this bag!

I’m anxious to see their articulation.  I’ll open them up and share my findings.

1997 Barbie Rapunzel

I've have had my blonde Barbie Rapunzel since the '90s and have kept her because of her lovely face.  

A few years ago, I swapped her head to a Twirling Ballerina Teresa body and imagined her as a ballet dancer/teacher. 

Earlier this year, I swapped her to a Made To Move body and put Teresa back on her ballerina body.

Last month, I ordered a secondhand AA version of Rapunzel on Amazon.com. 

She is as beautiful as I thought she would be.

I had a little fun playing 'Franken-Rapunzel' with her crown.  It was secured to her head with pegs that I had to cut off to remove the crown.

The colour difference between her head and her body is noticeable in this photo.

Now that I had her, it was time to search for a matching articulated body.

Comparing her body to the dolls that I had, yellow MTM and Lt. Uhura were too light.  My curvy  Barbie The Look, just looking at her face, also looked too light.  My other options that were a close match to Rapunzel's body were:

From left to right - MH Clawdia (with another doll's head), 
Disney Classic Princess Tiana (with EAH Justine Dancer head), 
DC Super Hero Bumble Bee and So In Style Baby Phat Kara.

I found that I didn't like Clawdia's and Bumble Bee's body proportions for Rapunzel and Clawdia seemed too dark anyway; Tiana's knees and ankles are not stable; Kara is currently too elusive/expensive.

I really didn't want to use Bumble Bee's body, so I took another look at my curvy The Look girl.  I took a photo with flash to show the differences in the skin tones of Bumble Bee, Rapunzel and The Look. 

Bumble Bee looked too dark, so I definitely wasn't going to use her.  The Look's head appeared to be lighter than her body, but her body matched perfectly with Rapunzel's head. 

So here she is. My curvy Rapunzel.

I wouldn't have thought that the same body would look so good with different heads.

Ken Body Swap

When Princess Power Reporter Ken first came out in 2014, I ordered him right away.  He is the only Ken I've purchased, I think, since 1997.  I liked his look (the spectacles and shirt and tie outfit) but not his stiff body.

I've swapped heads on lots of barbies but never tried it with Ken, because of his neck.   I already had the Divergent and Hunger Games guys, so I knew I could use their articulated bodies,  but I wasn't ready to take the chance until two months ago.   After confirming that Finnick's skin tone matched Ken's, I got another Finnick.  I didn't build up the courage to do the swap until last week, though.

Finnick is now wearing Ken's body.  His head is loose, but Ken's head sits firmly and doesn't move up and down.  He is taller.

"Hello!"

I'm happy with him. I wish more articulated bodies were available in other skin tones.

World Doll Day Tag

I am truly sorry that I did not have this post ready sooner, since World Doll Day was celebrated on Saturday 13th June.  

I was tagged by D7ana (thanks for thinking of me) to participate and didn't realise it until late June.  I started this post and am only now completing it.  Bad me.  :(   D7ana even left a comment for me in my last post, to let me know I was tagged.   I didn't receive Blogger's email notification of D7ana's comment until earlier this month, when I was going through my Junk mail folder!  Thanks gmail!

I know it's lame, but here goes:


1. 2014 Favorite Dolls (and/or Action Figures)

•      Barbie Fashionistas Summer (such a pretty face).

• Princess Power Reporter Ken (the glasses, shirt and tie got me).

• Cradle of Waves - Surf Momoko (I wish I could get my hands on all the tan Momokos ever produced).

• Barbie and her Style Friends with their flat feet!

2. 2015 Wish List Dolls (and/or Action Figures)

•     Any Ruruko doll (cuteness galore - but oh so expensive)
•     IT Hanne Erikson After Hours (such a beauty)
•     IT Shades of Grey Hanne Erikson (she's so intriguing with black hair)

3. Tag 5 people to do as I have done. 
   Since I'm so late, I won't tag anyone.   :)

Dolly Props and BFFs

On a recent trip to a variety store, I found these cute props:

A gas tank, two pairs of slippers and a phone!

The tank and the slippers are pencil sharpeners and the phone is an eraser.

The dolls with the largest feet are my two BFC Ink dolls, so I tried the slippers on Calista.

She didn't mind that they were a tad larger than her feet and happily showed them off.

While Calista was off the shelf, she met one of my four (they were inexpensive on Amazon) Disney V.I.P. Chyna Parks and they bonded instantly.

IT Dynamite Girls

Out of all of my Dynamite Girls, my favourite is Electro Pop Jasper.  I liked her so much, I got myself two.

The other Girls closely resemble each other and seem to have the same 'turned-up' nose.
 

I've redressed all the other Girls, but couldn't bear to undress one of my Jaspers.  So, she's been in the same outfit for the last four years! Eeeek!  I'm sure she must have some sort of staining by now.

I think her colourful, funky clothes and accessories are really cool.   Her hairstyle? I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I removed the hair from the one on the left to try to give her a different look.  She's actually wearing a woogie! She really needs dark eyebrows and a dark wig!

When the Integrity Toys' Victoire Roux line came out, I couldn't figure out why I liked the faces of some of the dolls.  Then I figured it out -  Victoire looks like Jasper!  I compared her with Depart Pour l'Orient on the Integrity Toy's website and definitely saw a resemblance.  Sigh..  How I wish I had repainting skills.

Disney Descendant Dolls From Hasbro!

The dolls are based on an upcoming Disney Channel movie.  I like their articulation and their varied face molds.

Here are first looks:
Inside the Magic's video from Toy Fair 2015.
Stitchkingdom.com's FIRST LOOK: Disney ‘Descendants’ Line of Dolls from Hasbro

Some Re-bodied Girls

I am thankful for Amazon's Christmas/Year-end sales.  It's when I get most of my articulated dolly bodies. I also got some of the Barbie Style new fashion packs.

Here are Barbie as Maria in Sound of Music and Twirling Ballerina Teresa, both from 1995.  I found this pink fashion most appropriate for Maria - she's just missing her hat and guitar.

Also getting new bodies were my University Cheerleader dolls  -Tennessee and Oklahoma.

My poor cheerleader girls have glue heads and oily hair.  I used baby powder on Tennessee (she had the worst hair of the two) over a few days, then washed her hair with shampoo and it looked much better.  I'm sure I'll have to repeat this treatment as more glue seeps out. :(

Alazne Barbie

I recently got an Alazne Barbie from barbiecollector.com, when there was a discount, on top of her already reduced price,  plus free shipping.  Of course, I got her with the intention of unboxing and undressing her. 

She was so nicely boxed, I almost felt guilty taking her out.

 While looking for a way to remove her headpiece, I noticed a clear liquid at the top of her right ear.

 It was also coming out of the back of her head.

Getting off her headpiece was difficult (I found out later that there is a peg in the headpiece that fits into a hole at the top of her head).   It required that I firmly hold her head, while twisting and pulling the headpiece in the opposite direction.  Because I had to squeeze her head, more liquid leaked out.

I had a closer look at her head and noticed that it was actually in two pieces. 

The dark area, with the hole at the top, was a separate piece and the liquid oozed from the seam where the two pieces met.

I also had to deal with the tape that was used to hold the dress in place.

I rubbed off what I could with my fingers, then applied talcum powder and rubbed some more.

After cleaning her up, I redressed her in one of my handmade tube dresses.  She is such a beauty, even without hair. 

But, I wondered how she would look with hair, so I had a little fun trying on some of my Kemper wigs.

  size: 3 / 4

 size: 3 / 4

 This silver one looks nice.

size: 3 / 4

 size: 4 / 5

I

 size: 4 / 5

 I think think I like this one the best.

size: 4 / 5

I also got Fan Bing Bing in the same order.  Because her packaging is so pretty, I think I'll wait a bit before I unbox her.