Barbie Basics 04 Red-haired Doll Review

It's nice to see Mattel bring back basic dolls of nicer quality than the Fashionistas. I also am happy to see these dolls with the Made to Move bodies, even if some old time collectors aren't. At the same time, I don't really need too many new Barbies, so I decided to get only one, the petite doll with red hair. I'm not too sure how I feel about her face, though, now that she is live in the vinyl. This is how I see this doll, as a hostess at an vintage cocktail party. She looks almost sly to me. I can picture something... interesting, happening that evening. Spilled secrets? Poisoned glass? A knife in the back?

So glad you could join us, my dear.

This is our petite lady standing next to an older Barbie head on a Made to Move Barbie body. Quite a difference, I think. Petite's dress is fairly nice quality. It's a stretch swimsuit type material.

On Facebook, I found the interesting tidbit that newer shoes with the B initial on the bottom will work with regular and petite bodies, while shoes with the Barbie ponytail silhouette will fit curvy and tall dolls. I tried this with a newer pair of shoes with the B on the bottom. Sorry that the camera focused on the wrong part of the shoe. Regular on the left, petite on the right.

This is what the Barbie silhouette looks like. The only curvy shoe I could get my hands on without going on a massive search was black on black, but I hope you can make it out.

 

Looking at how small and slender Petite Barbie is, I was hoping that she could fit into some clothes made for other dolls. What I did not realize looking at that sleek black dress, is that our girl is relatively hippy. Here she is wearing a vintage Teen Skipper outfit. The top fits perfectly, but the capris can barely fasten in the back. Next is a dress that I normally have a doll with the old school hands to side Barbie body wearing. Besides being a bit too long, although she is barefoot in this picture, it looks okay. It is a bit loose, but that's not terribly noticeable. However, the pink and white shorts made for the modern Barbie figure are definitely too big. There is a major gap in the back, and room at the sides too. Lastly, Petite Barbie tries on the outfit that her regular counterpart was wearing. The skirt fits, but it flares out so far that it almost look like she's wearing a cupcake. The top is alright, but paired with the skirt, it gets pushed up above Petite's shoulders. By itself it's acceptable. I guess the moral of the story here is that if you have any spare tops or stretchy dresses lying around, they might work.

Shoes made for other size Barbie family dolls did not work. The green Teen Skipper slides look okay-ish, but they're rather loose in person. Modern Teen Skipper shoes are too long. High School Musical shoes, which work on my J-Dolls, don't look right on her. The only shoes that could pass muster were some pink pumps with a kitten heel, made for Momoko dolls. They also were a bit loose, but it's not obvious. I also have one of my J-Dolls wearing these, normally. The difference between Petite and my J-dolls is that the J-Dolls' feet get wider as they move towards the toe, while Petite Barbie's feet are the same width for the whole of the foot.

 

This is one of the negative things about Petite Barbie, that she will be difficult to find clothes for. Mattel, surprising no one, reaped the positive press from the new bodies, made a few outfit packs for the different size bodies, then contented itself with offering stretchy clothes that will fit multiple bodies. This is why I personally hate the different body types trend, because doll companies hate making clothing packs to begin with, never mind multiple clothing packs for multiple body types. And while you can pass stretchy clothes between dolls, I'm afraid a larger doll wearing something will stretch it and make it too baggy for Miss Petite to wear it again. Plus, why should Petite not have clothes to wear that aren't made with spandex? At least she can share flats with regular Barbie. I forgot to check and see how her feet would fit in shoes made for arched feet, but I'm guessing they wouldn't look great.

I do like Petite in the brown top. When I was picturing in my mind what she would look better (to me) in than that black dress, I saw a country girl type of look. Her hair isn't giving off country girl, though, and the parted sides are pulled together in the back and cut rather short. Maybe I could take them apart and reattach in the back of her head. Sixties might work if I cut off most of her curls, but I don't want to do that, and I don't know that I want to dress her in sixties things anyway, even if I'm realizing that the kitten heeled pumps would also fit that vibe. Urgh.

Although I said above that I like Made to Move bodies, I wish Mattel could have proportioned the petite body's joints a bit better, especially in the knees. Of course, I do find the knees the ugliest joint in all the Made to Move sizes.

Lastly, these new Barbie Basics dolls come with a plastic circle underneath the earrings. Is that to prevent green ear, or any damage to Barbie's ears? I find them unsightly and green ear or not, I think they're going to have to go. 

 

I'd like to know if anybody sees my Petite Barbie differently than I do. Actually, I'm almost certain some of you will, beauty being in the eye of the beholder and all that. I'm not going to get rid of her anytime soon, I don't think. I'll give her time to grow on me, and maybe try to make her some outfits of her own. It's a shame that she's hard to dress, or I might enjoy having her in my collection more already.

Total dolls: 92

My Collection Part Four: J-Dolls, Part Two

Here are the other half of the J-Dolls in my collection. From left to right, we have Mari, Melanie, Adelheid, Steffi and Holly.

None of these dolls are in their original clothes. Mari wears an outfit I bought from Etsy. Melanie wears a Mattel top and shorts. Adelheid wears an Only Hearts Club top, and a Shibajuku Girls skirt. Steffi's clothes are all Shibajuku Girls. And Holly wears a Barbie dress. And the shoes are, from left to right, Mattel High School Musical, Re-Ment, Momoko, and the last two are both Mattel High School Musical.

Mari

Melanie

 

 

Adelheid

 

 

 

 Steffi

 

 

 

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Total dolls: 20

Holly's face seems to resemble some Korean models that I have seen online.

My Collection Part Three: J-Dolls

Well, here we are again, finally! J-Dolls are discontinued now, but they were made by the same company that makes Pullip dolls. They have the same bodies as the Pullip #3 and #4 types. J-Dolls are 27cm tall, and I find them to resemble Momoko dolls the most in the doll world. These are only four out of my collection; the rest will get photographed at a later date. They're all wearing their original dresses, except for Lindsay, who I bought nude. Lindsay also has a new wig, because hers was pretty dry. Lindsay and Anni's shoes are both from Momoko's line.

Lindsay

Anni

Sophie

Rachel

I printed out the new walls and floor with the new color printer that Mr. BTEG bought me as a birthday present. Do your loved ones find you hard to buy gifts for? Mr. BTEG and my daughters feel that way about me.

Total dolls: 15

J-Dolls and Sekiguchi Boots

While looking around online to see what kinds of shoes/clothes I could find for my J-Dolls, I found some Victorian high-button boots made by Sekiguchi that I absolutely fell in love with. Not surprising given my interest in Victorian-era clothes! But I wasn't going to pay over $20 for molded plastic shoes that are less than 2" tall. Then, while getting myself in trouble surfing eBay, I suddenly found a store that had them on sale, at a price I was willing to pay. Not only that, but the store is located right here in Cleveland (although I don't think they have a physical storefront), so I got the shoes the day after I bought them. On the downside, I did have to pay sales tax. But I managed to pick them up after all!

Sekiguchi is the company that currently makes Momoko dolls. I've put in a link to the website, although it is all in Japanese. There is a link there, however, to global shopping at the Petworks store, which is in English. The boots apparently were part of a line which is called Sekiguchi The Other Channel, or STOC. I found it interesting that the name and the acronym are in English (it's also referred to on the package as the STOC Market.) Perhaps they are called something else in Japanese. I was surprised that some Japanese doll manufacturers sell so many separates, everything from shoes to tops to tights, because in the past I've read other companies, such as Tonner, can't really make enough of a profit with outfits alone to justify adding more into the lineup. Dressed dolls have been where the money's at. Madame Alexander has also reportedly turned down consumer requests for more separates for Cissy, for example. I know people seem to go nuts for extra clothes and accessories for ball-jointed dolls too, so who knows? Maybe selling separates instead of entire outfits is the draw? Or maybe it's just a difference in collectors? While the prices at the Petworks store are much more reasonable, at least for shoes, to what I've seen at places like eBay and even other Japanese outlets, many people seem willing to pay big bucks for dolls like Momoko, Azone and Pullip, and what they wear. Hey, as long as it's not coming out of the grocery money, whatever. Still not paying over $20 for molded plastic shoes, myself. :)

The boots work pretty well with J-Doll, although the white boots were such stiff plastic that I had a hard time getting them off of Melanie, my model. The poor girl even lost her lower leg at one point! :O I don't think there was any permanent damage, although I did see little bits of flash on the table. She did stand by herself wonderfully in those, though. The black boots were much softer plastic on top, almost rubbery, and didn't support Melanie at all, plus they were frustrating to photograph. And I know you want to see the photos, so I'll finally move on to those!

They kind of make Melanie's feet look too big, but they're not horrible

My shaky hands did not help detail on these boots come out well, either.

Surprisingly, Melanie rocks the black boots even with the light outfit. I think the black polka dots and the fact that the outfit looks Victorian inspired both help.

I have to admit, the extra detailing on the back of these boots is nice.

Here's a picture of their height. Even though the metric numbers are backwards for those of you use them.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. I'll definitely be extra careful with the white boots, and the black ones, I just hope those don't stain. The Petworks site does warn that some of their shoes might do that. Maybe if I get solid tights instead of lace ones it would protect the feet and legs?

So do you like to buy different outfits for your dolls? Do you change their clothes often? Do you buy direct from manufacturers, or from individuals on places like Etsy?