2015-02-10

Doll talk: news, stuff I'd buy, frankendolly plans...

Some stuff I'd want to know if I didn't, about dolls I'd buy if I didn't already have them/weren't broke/saving for something else:

Cedar Wood just dropped to £9.18 on amazon.co.uk, in case you're in the EU. I'm tempted to get another one in and see if the mold seams are as bad on all of them, but I'm done with doll shopping for this month.

I hadn't realized that Grace and Nikki are the next generation of Style dolls - with articulated ankles! As expected the flat shoes are the same as the one in the cat themed accessory pack. Not a fan of the clothes on either, unless Grace's top is in two pieces.


Re articulated Nikki: I recently got an articulated Cali Girl and someone suggested frankendollying the legs onto an early Fashionista Nikki (the ones with hinged knees and legs held on with elastic) to get an even better articulated "bigfoot" doll. So that's what I'm on the lookout for now when I go thrifting - ironic, since I never liked the old style knees and may have passed on one or two in the past... Anyway, last week I found a hybrid body I've never seen before: torso joint, new pivotal knees AND rubber band hip joints. I thought the knees were changed before the hip joints? Although from what I understand, Mattel have always been in the habit of throwing dolls together from whatever parts are laying around. Finding unexpected combinations shouldn't be a surprise - plus you get to feel like an archaeologist once in a while! Of course this one had to be a Barbie and too pale for cali girl/Nikki, but those legs might come in handy sooner or later.


2015-02-05

Dollmore free shipping February

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I just found out completely unexpectedly that Dollmore are offering free shipping this month. As you may know, ABJDs aren't my cup of tea - BUT this company also makes a relatively affordable 12'' doll in ABS plastic which has more fashion doll-like properties, except ball-jointed, and which has been on my imaginary wish list for the last year or so. I figure at some point I should probably own a proper ball-jointed doll, to see how they work and learn about stringing and things, and this one seems like a good 1/6 option.

I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to squeeze this into my doll budget (excluding pretty much everything else) before the month ends, but I hope so. You can get the body without a head too, so I'll probably do that and maybe keep an eye out for future promoes in case I decide I really want the head. Otherwise I'll try to find another head for it, although I'm not sure how the connector would work or if any of my floating heads would fit the style, not to mention the complexion. Trying to match skin tones from various photos is really frustrating, and with an investment like that I don't want to guess, so I decided to be clever and order two pairs of flat feet - which I'll need anyway - in each skin tone. Of course I'll end up with a pair of feet I don't need, but it's better than picking one blindly. Plus I ordered a bunch of tiny S-hooks which I haven't been able to find in hardware stores and which I'm certainly not going to pay x10 times their price in shipping for.

ETA: found some comparison pics of the 12'' Gem doll and Barbie. I'm not sure, but going by the outfit she comes in I think that's the doll with the darker skin tone (which is considerably lighter than most Barbies, like with Obitsu).