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

Nothing Like a New Outfit

Mr. BTEG and I had to go to Wal-Mart a couple of months ago to pick up something he needed. I of course hung out in the doll aisle while he was shopping, and I found two outfits and an accessories pack that I had to bring home.

Rainbow High fans have been begging MGA for years for separate outfits (for that matter, most doll collectors want these.) What we got, however, was not the same fashionable, detailed looks that Rainbow High was known for, but simple sets that looked one step up from dollar store quality. To my mind, the pajamas set is the pick of the bunch. Meet my model, Priscilla.

 

Are these slippers cute, or nightmare fuel?

 

I got Priscilla for Christmas, but I've been terrible about blogging about my new dolls. I'll talk about what she came dressed in on another post. For now, she's warm and cozy and ready to hit the sack. The set also came with four barrettes, and a hair straightener and curling brush.

The pajamas are adorable, and we don't often see nightwear made for our dolls, so they're nice to have, anyway.

Next is an accessory set for Barbie, that mostly centers around sweets. Barbie chose this sleeveless plaid dress to model. What's up with the shoes, though? They look like you'd wear them with another type of outfit. I was worried Barbie might be as messy with ice cream cones as I am, but she's Barbie. She doesn't get messy. And her hair bow coordinates nicely with her outfit.

Next is a blue Popsicle, with heart-shaped glasses and an ice-cream shaped purse. That's a lot of sweets there, Barbie.

I don't gain weight, either.

The watch looks nice in this picture, but as gravity will have it, the heaviest part of this watch (the face) will slide around to the underside of Barbie's wrist unless she's posed just right.

Lastly is this all-purple beverage, a pink tote with a faux fluffball key chain and a faux cupcake key chain, and a strawberry-shaped wristlet.

 

It's a cute accessories pack, and everything in it is useful except for the watch. I guess the ice cream purse is a bit weird too. It doesn't look like something that you could carry anything in.

A new doll line has been produced, by a company named Far Out Toys. As you might be able to read on the box, the doll line is named LUV, which stands for Limitless Unique Vibrant. I'm guessing that the VP Sharon Zuckerman is probably the same one who used to design for Mattel, so that's interesting. However, the name of the line reminds me way too much of the late lamented LIV doll line. If someone produces a group of dolls named LAF, I'm going to riot.

There are four core dolls, and each also has a separate outfit made for her. At least they have the separate outfits thing going for them. Problem is, despite wanting to go with a fashion forward concept, and having a fashion show where human models showcased all of the outfits in human sizes, some of the concepts are a bit dated and don't always make a cohesive look, in my opinion. My favorite outfit is the one that I bought that was made for the doll named Autumn. I was hoping that my Pullip could pull this outfit off, but instead, the only doll body type I own that can fit into this is Ever After High. Ashlynn Ella is a great model, since she has the same basic coloring as Autumn.

This outfit has a boho feel, which makes sense, since Autumn is "the boho one." It also gives me images of strolling through Rome; perhaps some of that is because of the bag that this outfit came with, and the rose neck accessory. The shoes that were included do not fit Ashlynn, so I tried a couple of EAH shoes with her look.

Bon giorno. Il mio nome è Ashlynn. Mi piacciono le tue scarpe.

I'm impressed by the tulip sleeve in such a tiny blouse, but the (faux) pockets on the boho skirt feel a bit odd.

Her bag looks like a smaller version of a market bag. It's cute, even though her arm has to be posed rather high to keep it from falling off.

The shoes that came with this outfit do fit Barbie, even though they are a bit big for her.  I don't know how I would like them with the other pieces in this look. What do you think?

Do you have a favorite from my three new sets? I'm happy with all of them, even if I don't find every piece useful. Isn't that always the way? I'd like to get some sewing for dolls done this year and create my own things. The hottest days of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32C) this summer have really been tiring me out. Thank goodness for air conditioning, and that the temps haven't been even higher.

Rainbow High Color & Create Fair Skin

This Color & Create doll was one of the ones that I received for Christmas. The idea behind this wave was that the doll owner can customize the outfit and hair with the included washable markers, wash the color out, and make a new design. In practice, I've heard that the marker doesn't complete wash out of the hair. There were three dolls in this wave, with three different skin tones and eye colors.

In keeping with the plain white of their attire and hair, the dolls don't have any makeup on. A lot of people liked this aesthetic. I do as well. Her hands are also plain, with no long nails or nail polish. You'll see the difference between this, and some of the other dolls, in upcoming reviews.

Here's how she looked in the box. The section where her hair is flattened out to show a rainbow design (plastic over the hair) is gelled stiff, so she definitely needs a hair wash. I decided to photograph her as she came, though.

Her jeans have real front pockets, and Rainbow High on one leg, in white. I wasn't planning on dying any of the clothes that she came with, but I may dye the jeans. The white pants are a little too see-through to me.

This is her second top, and the second pair of shoes. The white heels are pretty bland. The tennis shoes have detail on the front and back. I like her white scrunchie. I wish I had more of those.

In my opinion, she's a very pretty doll. She's a fun contrast from other Rainbow High dolls, and basic clothes are always useful if you're going for modern styles. A lot of collectors are having fun dying this wave of dolls' hair and clothes, although collectors having been changing hair colors with their other dolls who came with a hair color, and dying clothes too. I've been hesitant to dye anything on my dolls before because I've never dyed anything at all, so I don't have any experience. I'm afraid I would mess something up. Still, as I said, I think I will dye her jeans.

By the way, her name is now Cecilia. 

Total dolls: 87

Early Birthday Dolls

 

 

Technically, these aren't birthday gifts, since I bought them all myself. However, it was serendipitous that the Pullip doll arrived today. I would have preferred her to arrive earlier, since I pre-ordered her in March, but shipping has been an issue with Pullips for a while now. Avery and Natasha were on sale for good prices during Amazon Prime days. Natasha has been on my wishlist, but I only bought Avery for all the extra clothes and accessories. Once I sell Avery, I should make most of the money back that I spent on the set. I have a lot of new doll reviews to do now, and maybe more after my birthday tomorrow! :) I went through some difficult times recently, so I wasn't interested in doing any doll dioramas or crafting, but I find new doll reviews easier to do.

Rainbow High Emi Vanda

This doll was my Mother's Day gift from the Dancer. I don't have many pictures of her. The lighting was weird, and honestly I'm not quite feeling this doll. She needs a lip repaint (I hate lips lined in a different color from the lip color.) She also has some body stains from her black top, and a pink stain on her leg, which is a little more of a mystery. I like her eyes, and I like her hair, so maybe with new lips and re-dressed, she will really grow on me.

She stands quite well in those boots on a regular surface. On the cardboard this room box is made out of, it was a bit more of a chore. There are still some of those little stupid plastic ties on her top, but I didn't bother to cut them off, since I took this top off of her immediately after the pictures.

And her skirt hangs kind of funny because... there's a mistake where the yoke is stitched to the pleated skirt. In this picture, she's wearing a crop top that came with her second outfit.

Here she is wearing the crop top and skirt of her second outfit. She's barefoot, because her second pair of shoes is awkward to put on, so I just skipped it. The shoes came with socks, which is just weird, but there are several cases in Rainbow High dolls where high heels come with socks. Maybe it's the latest style for teens? I also notice many of the RH jackets have a slit or cut out area on the arms. I really like her second skirt. Maybe because it has a sort of 80s vibe?

Her other shoe has an R as the heel, of course.

She came with a short sleeved hoodie to wear over the crop top, and two hangers, which was a feature with newer dolls. I tried to put the hoodie on over her top, but, remember when you were a little girl and your mom was putting your coat on over a long sleeved top, and you held your sleeves down with your fingers so the sleeves didn't ride up? Yeah, only Emi can't hold her sleeves for me. And I knew she wasn't going to wear the outfit for long, since she needs to have her stains treated. I also have a poor Kurhn head on a Liv body that needs to have her time on this blog, who still has a stain that needs more treatment. Time to get out the Clearasil and get serious.

 

Total dolls: 86

I should add that Emi was one of the dolls on my wish list, so I did want her. I still like her; she just needs a little more work than the other Rainbow High dolls I have.