More on the new articulated Steffi Love

Alright, these are my thoughts on the new articulated Steffi Body. I've realized taking clear and informative photos is harder than it seems... These will have to do for now, though (I dumped the rest on my Flickr). Lots of text and photos of naked pink plastic ahead!

Okay, let's get naked! :D

L: articulated Steffi Love, R: Barbie Fashionista 

I may have mentioned that the body skin tone is very pink. I don't know whether it has a name, but I think I'll call it Steffi Pink. The head I hoped would she would match is my Rocker Diva, who is slightly too pink for her Fashionista body, but this body was too pink even for her. Back to the drawing table on that one, I guess.

Steffi and Fashionista in different light

L: old unarticulated Steffi body, R: new articulated body

There's also the fact that Simba haven't updated the neck post for this body, as I was hoping. Super Star has a construction that's basically identical to modern Mattel, with a plate and an anchor (which I cut off so DeeDee's head would fit), but for some reason they kept the old Sindy-style knob + plate for this one. Diva looks like a boa that swallowed a giant rat. Not the look I was going for.

L: Steffi, R: Barbie. I filed down Steffi's plate a bit but it didn't make a difference. 

Maybe not.

Bascially this is a Fashionista with a Liv waist instead of the chest joint. I'm not sure which torso type I prefer: fashionistas can't turn very far due to the shape of the torso, but they look slightly more natural bending forward. The Liv waist can turn 360 degrees, resulting in the familiar body horror. It also makes it a bit more difficult to fit clothes, particularly pants, without them either getting caught in the joint or impeding movement.

I forgot to take a better pic of them doing the front splits, but while Steffi has a bit of trouble getting her leg straight out behind her, she wins the side splits hands down.

L: Fashionista, L: Steffi

Steffi's knee joints don't bend quite 90 degrees like the fashionista, but this is where the hinged ankles come in handy.

L: Steffi, R: Fashionista

I'm beginning to realize how difficult is must be to design hinged feet that look good in any position, both in flats and heels: completely flat feet will look unnatural and stiff in pumps, while feet designed for heels will have the toes pointing heavenward when you put them in sneakers. These feet look best in heels of different heights, but unfortunately they're rather floppy and tend to bend as soon as you put any weight on them, so chances are most of the time she'll look like she was in an accident. It makes posing a bit difficult too. (The Super Star body had slightly floppy ankles too, but at least her feet looked more natural.)

Steffi has slightly shorter arms, but if anything she's a little bit taller than the Fashionista (at least when she's on her tiptoes). Her elbows can bend a bit further than Fashionista's, almost as much as Liv's. She can touch her face without problem! (I forgot to include the Super Model body in the shot, but she's somewhere between Steffi and Fashionista.)

L-R: Steffi, Fashionista, Liv

Her wrists can't bend as far as the Fashionista's, since the edge of the wrist socket is straight. You could probably amend that with a sharp knife, and likewise give the Fashionista a bit more range in her elbows (I haven't tried it yet, though).

I don't think the new articulated Steffi Love has much to offer as an alternative to Fashionista or Liv: skin tone won't match many other dolls - and, more importantly, neither will the neck post. They have basically the same range of articuation, with different pros and cons, except that Steffi's feet are more annoying.

Every. Single. Time.

Personally I like having a bit of variation in body type among my dolls, so for that reason it might still be worth getting one. I think Simba did a much better job with the Super Model body, though. It's very similar in terms of articulation (Fashionista/Liv hybrid), but with a neck connector that's more compatible with other brands, and hands and feet that actually look like hands and feet!

Steffi and Super Model

Since it's in the 25cm range it may not be useful for all rebody projects (and the original head has a pretty flat face sculpt), but at least there are four skin tones to choose from - I only have Bel so far, but I don't think either of the others is Steffi Pink.

L: Steffi, R: Super Model

Lastly, I wanted to try a few less extreme and more natural poses. The redhead is Kevin from the Scary Couple (more about them later).

I was going to say something about the clothes and other stuff that came with her, but it's way past my bedtime over here. :)