Everybody loves Mattel's greasy glue

And when I say "loves", I mean "googles solutions for".

As I was looking at my blogstats the other day I noticed my post about Mattel's greasy hair problem topping the list of daily pageviews yet again. This has been happening a lot recently, so I thought I'd check the pageviews for all time. I found something pretty interesting:

Those are my top five most popular posts ever, with Mattel and their godawful glue as the undisputed winners.

They show up in the search strings as well: 

In the all time top keywords...

...and top keywords for the last month.

Congrats, Mattel! You win everlasting shame and dishonor.

Every time I see this post at the top of my weekly visitors count, I'm reminded that I don't actually have a good way of dealing with the head glue, and that I don't know what's in it or whether it's a health hazard or not. It's a source of worry that's taken a lot of the fun out of buying new Mattel dolls, and frankly I'm feeling less and less inclined to do so.

In the last year or so, almost all new Barbies I've bought have been body donors for older, glue-less heads (and sometimes I've still had to scrub glue off the neck disk). There are some great faces in the 2015 lineup, but from what I heard the glue is still in there (although I think I read somewhere that it's a new type that's slightly less likely to seep out?) and I'm not sure I want to buy the undercut flocking girl or "albino Artsy" with her big curly hair, only to dread the day the stickiness will inevitably appear and ruin the hair.

I'm not swearing off modern Mattel dolls forever, but... a hobby is supposed to be fun. Sticky glue head syndrome isn't.

In case you're wondering where I've gone...

...well, I haven't gone anywhere, really. I've just not been in the mood for writing long blog posts lately, but even when I'm not blogging I'm still taking way too many photos and putting them on Flickr. So if, for some reason, you're dying to know what my latest goodwill find is, that's the place to look. :)

myIDolls

This blog has gone sadly neglected lately, and I can only blame summer. (The internet tells me some traditions count June 20 as the first day of summer, but up here we're officially halfway trough already.)

Anyway, I just remembered I found these dolls on Facebook a while ago that I've been meaning to post about:

Meet myIDolls:

Photo by Jesper Persson (c) myIDolls, used with permission

MyIDolls were conceived by a Swedish mum as an attempt to offer more diversity than Barbie does, in terms of ethnicity, body type and gender expression, among other things. Check out their Facebook page or website (for English version, scroll waaaaay up and then click on the EN link in the right hand corner). They're still on the prototype stage, but you can sign up for updates on the homepage.

(behind a cut for anatomically correct doll nudity, just to be on the safe side)

Lottie reviews (link)

In case you're curious about the new 2015 Lottie dolls, Confessions of a Doll Collector's Daughter is reviewing one each day of this week (or something like that). Finn still looks like a troll, but there's an adorable '50s inspired Lottie I hadn't seen before, so go check'em out!

Mixis Rosa, Zica Yvonne 1/8, and a new wooden bjd project!

Funny thing is, the reason I've been nonblogging lately is I've got too much I want to write about and can't decide where to start! As usual, I've dumped all my un-blogged-about photos on Flickr, so if you follow me there you're all caught up on my doll escapades.

This got a bit long so I'm putting it behind a cut.

Return of the Repaint! (aka a bunch of WIPs)

It must be spring, because I suddenly found the energy to work on my repaints again. One of my two Bratz practice heads now has a finished face that I'm planning to keep at least for the time being. I sealed it with two coats of Liquitex Matte Varnish (brush-on, but I'm getting a bit better at avoiding leaving brushmarks) and then Gloss Varnish on the eyes and lips. I think I overdid it a bit - maybe the entire eye doesn't need to be completely shiny? Next time I'll either try to lay it on a bit thinner, or buy a bottle of semi-matte (semi-gloss?) varnish instead.

Guess who's got painted AND real highlights??