Shopping

I was going to write about some of the things I've seen in the doll aisles while out shopping, and also about some of the furniture and accessory purchases that I've made recently. I really have been concentrating more on that kind of thing, and not just buying Ever After High dolls! :) However, I realized I have a lot of pictures of things I've bought recently, so I decided for this post, to focus on things I've seen while I've been out, and a head swap I did between two Ashlynn Ella dolls. My post about things I've bought will be my last post for April.

In case you haven't seen her for yourself yet, here's a picture of the new Wonder Woman doll by Mattel. Her face sculpt is great. Honestly, I think Mattel does the best overall job of translating the appearance of real people into doll sculpts. But wow, is she expensive!

At Michael's last week, I saw some items that might be nice if you are planning a garden for your dolls this spring. I especially like the lantern, although I'd want to get it off of the shepherd's crook it's on. And also spray paint it black. Two of those evergreens in pots would look good on either side of the front entrance of a dolly home.

I've been to TRU since last time I talked about the Bratz dolls and verified that everything is on sale except for the new metallic wave. However, no Bratz stuff seemed to be on sale at WalMart or Target. The Bratz section is smaller than it has been before at Target, since the new DC Super Hero Girl line has been added to that aisle. However, the large Customize Your Own Bratz display is still up, although most of it seems to be sold out.

Last time I posted, I talked about a Mirror Beach Ashlynn Ella I'd bought who had a bad case of glue head. Since then, I decided to grab one of budget Ashlynn dolls and try a little head swap. For only $8, I thought just the tiara, necklace and shoes were practically worth that. Budget Ashlynn's hair is not perfect, but it's better than her Mirror Beach counterpart.

Here's budget Ashlynn before she lost her head. :) As you can see, she has a molded-on bathing suit, and straight arms. I forgot to get a picture of her wearing her tiara, but you can see her necklace and shoes. I think I'm going to try to perk up all of those pieces with a little bit of paint.

Mirror Beach Ashlynn's neck post had quite a bit of glue on it, hardly surprising. It was also more "complex" than the budget doll. Budget A's head was on a straight post with no prongs. Please excuse the bad lighting in my bathroom. :)

As you can see, the two Ashlynn heads are pretty much identical. Neither doll is from one of the more deluxe lines. Mirror Beach is on the left; budget on the right. Their heads are wet because I kept both of the dolls in hot water for a brief time, to loosen up the vinyl and make the heads easier to pull off.

I now have an articulated Ashlynn with better hair, so I'm thinking about what I will do with my "spare" head. I'm tempted to try a re-root just for the fun of it, to see if I can actually do it. I'm also wondering if I might find some EAH dolls in less than perfect condition at garage sales this summer, and do some Frankendolly stuff with those. I'm looking forward to seeing what I might get.

Shopping: Ever After High, Glue Head, Bratz

I've been wanting to post for a while, but I haven't known where to start. Hmm. Well, remember when I said I was buying Ever After High's Ashlynn Ella and Hunter Huntsman, back in January? I'm now up to ten Ever After High dolls in my collection. I've gotten really good deals on all of them, at least. Thanks to Tam's enabling, for example, my most recent purchases included Hat-tastic Cerise Hood for only 9.99 at Tuesday Morning. I also found some Nanotech blocks that I've wanted for a very long time, but wasn't sure where to find. I'll do a separate post about those, after I get some pictures taken.

At Toys R Us, I bought a Mirror Beach Ashlynn Ella. I love the doll, but she has an awful case of glue hair, the worst I've seen of the dolls I have. I've tried Dawn dishwashing detergent, tea tree shampoo, and baby powder. The baby powder seemed to help, but I wanted to wash it out, which made the hair feel greasy again. I very likely used too much baby powder. I'm tempted just to fix it with a re-root, but I'm nervous about doing it myself because of the tiny holes, and it's costly to have it done, not surprising when you look at the time involved. I'm just glad I got Ashlynn for half off. Not that I think she was worth her original price, what with no stand, not a lot of jewelry, and a simple bathing suit/skirt costume.

Speaking of quality and pricing, pictures are leaking of the new EAH dolls that are being produced this year. Maybe the reason they weren't at Toy Fair is because the quality has dropped in a big way. Darling Charming, for example, a major character whom collectors have eagerly awaited, has molded hair, and painted on pants and shoes. This also means his knees don't bend. Ugh! Several of the new dolls in the Epic Winter movie line also have painted on leggings. I read somewhere a suggestion that Mattel may be trying to fill in its range of toys for littler girls, now that the Disney Princess line has been lost, with EAH and MH. Thus, the more smiling faces, and fewer small clothing pieces to deal with. Not a good plan if true, Mattel. Get your creative team to be creative!

Although I was uncertain for a long time about getting Ever After High dolls, I'm happy now about getting into the line. I love bright colors, and EAH has those in abundance. The shelf these dolls are on really stands out among some of the other groups of dolls that I have. I'm trying to move my dolls around so they can be on a shelf where I can see them better. I'm actually kind of having fun with the overhaul of my sewing/books/dolls area. I guess that's good.

Oh, and I also wanted to mention that TRU seemed to have all its Bratz merchandise marked down and piled in a big bin in the middle of an aisle. That doesn't seem to be a good sign, but I don't follow the Bratz market. Toy drama everywhere! :)