Bobeck's back!

Here's something surprising I discovered last week: apparently Mimi Bobeck dolls have become popular! Not because a new generation discovered The Drew Carey Show, but because doll collectors use her as body donor for Blythe. I'm not really into Blythe so this was all news to me, but from what I understand the trend started about a year ago. If you google or search on flickr you can find lots of blog posts and photos, and laments that the prices on Ebay have gone up (although I checked and most listings weren't all that outrageous, so maybe that was temporary). I have to agree it's a good idea: the result looks a lot like a regular old-fashioned fat babydoll, and the huge Blythe head looks a lot more proportional on Mimi's body than on a regular skinnier doll.

It seems people have encountered the same problem as I did when I bought my NRFB Mimi a few years ago, which is staining. She has a row of purple spots on her thighs from the elastic in her pants. Personally I've just decided they're varicose veins. The bright green staining from her shoes is more difficult to explain away (smelly feet?). Luckily, she didn't have stains around her neck like Drew himself (he wore a black suit jacket which gave him a big black mark on his neck - hmm, street brawl?).

As usual, shoes are the big problem. Mimi has tiny, absolutely flat feet, and most doll shoes have at least a little bit of a heel. That may not be a problem as long as she's sitting down, although she doesn't do that very well either so I prefer to try and make her balance. So far I've only found a few pairs that sort-of work: a pair of Liv sneakers that look pretty oversized on her, a pair of vintage Barbie shoes that I had to carve out the inside of because they were made for high-heel feet, and the black slippers from the new cat themed Barbie accessory set I bought recently. They have a bit of heel, so she can't stand in them, but they're close enough to fitting that I'm counting them anyway.

Barbie 2015 slippers on Mimi Bobeck doll

There's also the single red vintage ballet flat that is almost perfect for her, but I'm not sure what doll it belonged to: it could be Skipper, but her shoes are usually too long and narrow for Mimi, or it could be Francie, but doesn't her shoes usually have a bit of a heel? Anyway, I only have the one, but at least I know they're out there...

Of course, if you prefer the typical Blythe style with big shoes it's easier: you can just fill them out with socks!

Britney the doll has... dandruff?!

(A short post in which I contemplate what to do with a thrift store doll. Also complaining. As usual.)

A while ago I got this Britney Spears doll from the thrift store. I've always regretted not buying one when I found them at a surplus store years ago. This one had none of her original clothes and was in a pretty sorry state, but she was cheap and you can always use another unique face mold. Or at least that's what I tell myself to justify these little purchases. 

Anyway, that sorry state I mentioned proved harder to amend than anticipated. Her face was covered in some sort of dried glittery ...stuff. I managed to get most of if off with the Twin Pines stuff, but there's still some in the harder-to-reach areas, like behind the ears and around the nose and eyes (se pic). 

I could probably get that out if I gave it another go with something small and pointy, but the real problem is her scalp. Not only does the face goo continue up in the hair, getting stuck in and between the plugs, but there's also a bunch of weird black stuff stuck to her head that reminds me of cigarette ashes or fragments of dirt.

Ew.

I'm not sure what happened too her. Maybe some kid buried her in the garden? It's not stuck very hard to the plastic - you can just scrape it off with the fingernail - but the hair plugs are in the way and prevents you from cleaning it out completely. 

I should probably cut her hair off, but the thing is I like it. It's just thin, coarse nylon in a pretty boring (possibly home made) haircut, but that's pretty much my favorite kind of doll hair. Big fantasy hair is just unrealistic and annoying in my opinion - plus it throws off the doll's balance completely. And I don't have any suitable hair to reroot with, so she'll just go on the neverending reroot list (which is just as much of a dead end as the neverending repaint list by now) until I feel like I can afford to order some. 

For example, poor Lelia here has been bald for like two years now.

I don't know. At this point I'm leaning towards cutting it off anyway, if only to see if I can figure out what the heck that stuff is. 

Britney with her two daugthers, not!Taylor Swift and Nose Stain Skipper.