Pony World doll + outfit

Since I can't take any new photos, this might be a good time to post a few old ones I never got around to show you. This was a complete impulse buy from a tiny online shop/cheap toy outlet barn I stumbled across while googling for some doll or other. Pony World jointed female western riding doll + male doll riding outfit. I've never heard of the brand before and google only turned up a couple of hits - a good reason to blog about it, I thought.
(These are just the pics I took while deboxing. A couple more can be found at my flickr.)

YEEE-HAH!

Back of the box. I think the guy in the cab is wearing this outfit.

Male rider outfit, sans packaging material

They were really cheap even with shipping, so I got two of each just in case. The outfits had some interesting details, and I wanted to see what the joints on the dolls were like. And of course I always find a non-smiling facemold worth adding to the collection. Maybe it's because I grew up in the '80s, when the Superstar mold and big toothy grins were the norm, but I usually prefer the more serious-looking faces. I think I've mentioned Diva was my favorite doll as a kid: she had that almost-smile that made her look thoughtful, almost melancholy, and set her apart from the others.

Looks ok, right? Well, unfortunately that's just the lighting...

...THIS is what they really look like.

 

Anyway, getting back to the present: I don't think I realized from the pictures how ORANGE these dolls are. Steffi Love and Teen Betty have nothing on the cowgirl twins here. The body is basically a gymnast Barbie clone, but with slightly smaller flat feet plus the hands are made for holding stuff, like reins or the riding crop that came with the outfit. The material is shiny hard plastic, except for the forearms. (It's all the same shade of bright orange, though.) So yeah, rather cheap and awful bodies, unfortunately, but they do look like they could look fairly realistic on horseback, so there's that. (I haven't bothered to dig up my Barbie horses to try it.)

Boots and men's jodhpurs modeled by Liv

Both the female dolls and the male outfit came with the same boots. I now have 4 pairs of these. God knows when I'll use them. They're made of that thin, stiff plastic and fairly ugly. They're too small for all my male dolls, but the more big-footed girls like Liv and the Super Models can wear them and have plenty of room to tuck in the legs of the pants. Annoyingly enough, the real gymnast Barbie body's feet are too long to get through the

The girls came in a western outfit. The jeans are a pretty loose fit and unfortunately full of surplus dye, so I don't think I'll risk using them very much. Too bad, since my dolls have way too few jeans.
Both outfits come with chaps of different types. I don't know how authentic they are, but they look pretty cool. They're pretty simple, made of a slightly stiff fabric that I guess is meant to be imitating suede.

 

 

The shirt (which is attached to the underwear to form that special type of riding garment, the name of which I haven't been bothered to google) is perhaps my favorite part of the female outfit, although it could be a bit smaller. Most female dolls drown in it, but it's big enough for the more generously endowed Volks EB-Beauty E-type. It aaaalmost fits Ken too (but doesn't quite close in the back of the neck), in case he needs to dress up for some reason. The red ...thingy is made of the same suede imitation fabric as the chaps and looks like it might stain, so I'll snip it off in case I wash the shirt.



Oh, and of course there's the hats! Riding helmets for the gentlemen, classic cowboy hats for the ladies. They're flocked black plastic and pretty big, a good size for Ken or girls with lots of hair. Nothing special perhaps, but a pretty cool accessory (Gangnam Style, anyone?).

 

The men's outfit fits Ken, or at least my cheap unarticulated Shaving Fun Ken. It's a bit small for Simba's Kevin. I had high hopes for the jacket as the most useful piece. It's pretty thick cotton and contained a surprising amount of tan dye. Unfortunately it tends to fray at the seams, or at least it did after I washed it rather carelessly. It's a bit tight on Ken, and the sleeves are too short. Isn't that often the case with cheap doll clothes? I haven't seen a good picture of the male dolls from Pony World, so I don't know how it looks on them.

 

Flexible riding crop! Not much else to say about that. (Except possibly YEEE-HAH!)

So, there you have it. If for some reason you come across these exact toys, you are now in a better position to make an informed decision as a consumer.

Janet (on a Liv body) wore it best.

Rockers DeeDee, All American Barbie (thrift store finds)

Monday's find turned out to be quite a mystery. No luck with ID'ing her so far. In the meantime I'll post about my other finds.

Yesterday I had to go into town again, and took the chance to have a second look at two Barbies I passed on last time. What makes thrift store shopping so exciting (and frustrating) is you never know what you'll find, and you don't know if it'll still be there when you come back, but yesterday I was in luck. (Warning: terrible photos ahead.)

 

I thought her big hair and lime green eye-shadow seemed familiar, and I was right: she's a second edition Rockers DeeDee from 1986 (known as Rock Stars in Europe). I've had Diva for 25 years so this will be a long awaited reunion. Her face mold is the Spanish Barbie mold from 1983 (inner rim says 1982). She's quite unique, a bit like a mix between the Steffie and Teresa head molds.

Head and hair is in pretty good shape, but the legs are sticky and horrible. Probably just as well nobody bought it for their kid. My new project is hunting down an articulated AA body for her. Unfortunately the only one sold here afaik is Fashionistas Artsy/Nikki, and I'm not sure she's a match. (Yes, I'm bringing DeeDee's disembodied head with me for comparison next time I'm at the mall.)

As we speak I'm about half-way through disentangling the hair - it's in good shape and I'm sure it'll look great when it's finished. I'm using lots of conditioner - some warn against it and recommend fabric softener, some say the opposite. I figure you can't do much harm to a 25 year old doll and go with the one that doesn't require gloves.

This one still has her original jewellery - just look at it, it's so 90s! The hair looked like it could be fun too. I'm pretty bad at telling hair fibres apart, but at least I'm sure it's not nylon. It's light and fluffy, more dull than shiny and almost wool-like. Well-worn kanekalon? I'll go easy with the hot water to be on the safe side.

I figured googling "barbie earrings pink triangles" would be the easiest way to ID her, but before I even got the chance to do that, I managed to stumble across these photos of a Teresa wearing some very familiar looking earrings. All American Barbie! The home-made dress is pretty cool too, but I still wish I had some stone-washed jeans for her...