Today I took myself shopping and I was bad. Very bad. Fashionista Ken #167 Wheelchair Ken was on sale, so I did something I’ve been thinking about for weeks. I bought two, and two more dolls – Fashionistas #163 and 60 Years of Ken 1961 Original Ken – to body swap. I figure it may be ages before we get Made to Move Ken dolls here again, and before they start turning up in op shops, so I might as well take the opportunity to add some more articulated Ken’s to my shelves. I love the results. #163 is an almost perfect match, and although when I first saw him, I didn’t like him, he’s grown on me, and looks much better on the new body. His shorts won’t fit however, he was originally on a petite body, so he’s wearing #167’s shorts. 60 YOK is a good match too, although his vinyl colour isn’t quite as orange hued as the body. It’s barely noticeable though, and he looks fabulous! Now, no more doll buying. My budget is well and truly blown!
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(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.
Recently I’ve done a lot of doll body swapping. I’ve had a small stash of dolls, mostly with head moulds not already in my collection, waiting for articulated bodies. There were also a couple that I had re-bodied, but their new body wasn’t a great match. So when the articulated Tokyo Olympics/ Wellness/Extra and Made to Move dolls appeared here, I took the opportunity to finally articulate these dolls. I don’t normally like buying new dolls for body swapping, I much prefer finding second hand dolls at op shops and doll sales, but the dolls I had were either black or very pale and the odds of finding suitable bodies for them second hand were Buckley’s and none, so I splurged and bought dolls new.
Four dolls were swapped onto the new articulated body used on the Tokyo Olympic, Barbie Extra and Wellness dolls. These were Fashionistas #57 Zig and Zag and #110 Sporty Shine, Princess Adventure Nikki and an older Fashionista with the Desiree head mould. Zig and Zag and Nikki got Extra bodies, Desiree got a curvy Olympic body and Sporty Shine got a Wellness body.
These bodies while articulated aren’t as poseable as the Made to Move bodies. To me they’re an update of the older articulated Fashionista dolls available around 2010-11. In fact, the hands on the standard dolls look almost the same as these older dolls. The curvy doll hands look similar to the collector curvy doll hands. They have bendable elbows, wrists and knees and come with either high heeled or flat feet. The flat feet on the standard dolls aren’t really a problem, there are lots of shoes for the flat footed Fashionistas that fit them, but the curvy flat feet – like most of the curvy dolls – are really hard to find shoes for. Rating these bodies using my previous criteria – how well they can touch they’re head/face, kneel and sit on the floor – I’d give this body a 6/10. They can touch their heads but not their faces, can kneel, but not well, and sitting on the floor may require a cushion or two. Still, it’s better than having a stiff static body.
The Extra body is an almost exact colour match for Nikki, but Zig and Zag is not quite perfect. Her vinyl is a more red hue and a slightly darker shade, but its close enough that it’s not really noticeable. She was originally on a curvy body, but I prefer the leaner Extra body. Desiree’s Olympic body is also almost a perfect colour match and while I liked her original tall slim body, I think this curvy build suits her more. I originally swapped Sporty Shine onto a Liv body (and I forgot to photograph her NRFB), but I was never happy with it. The colour was slightly off, but also the build just didn’t look right for her. She was originally on a tall body and she needed a longer leaner look. While the Wellness body is not tall, it’s the standard Barbie height, it’s a much better build for her.
Desiree’s original dress doesn’t fit her new body and Sporty Shine’s shoes are not a good fit for her new flat feet.
Next were Fashionista #80 Cheerful Check and a standard $5 Barbie doll. I had swapped Cheerful Check onto an older articulated Fashionista body, but the colour was a shade or two too light. I had bought the standard doll loose at a doll club meeting and at first I thought she was a re-bodied Polka Dot Fun Fashionista. I had swapped her to a Liv body, but her vinyl is a very yellow hued, pale colour and it wasn’t a good match. I also wasn’t really happy with the build. She has the face mould usually used on curvy dolls and I think the curvy build is a better match. One of the new Made to Move dolls is a perfect colour match and curvy to boot, so I had to grab it. I thought the black M2M would be perfect for Cheerful Check and while it’s very close, it’s a slightly redder hue. It’s so close, I think it will have to do. She was originally on a petite body, and I’d have loved a petite M2M body for her, but they’ve only been used for the BMR1959 range so far. Fashionista #167 Wheelchair Ken is available here again, so I couldn’t resist buying another and body swapping with Fashionista #138. It’s a match made in heaven and I love #138’s face and the fact he has rooted hair.
Finally, two problem children – Barbie Crayola Colour Stamp Fashions AA and Fashionista #147. I won the Crayola doll at a doll club meeting and although she has a face mould not yet in my collection, she sat on my sales table for a while as I couldn’t find a body colour match for her (I also forgot to photograph her NRFB). Then a friend was selling a nude The Barbie Look Night Time Glamour doll, so I bought it hoping it would be the right colour. It’s not. Crayola is a slightly more orange hue and a shade too light, but it will do for now. I like her as a curvy doll too. I haven’t found a perfect match for #147 either. I’ve tried her on an old articulated Fashionista and currently have her on a (aqua top) Made to Move body that I found for $1, but the colour isn’t right, she’s a more orange hue. The curvy M2M seems to be too orange and I don’t really think she’ll look right on a curvy body. I think one of the BMR1959 bodies may be a good match but they weren’t released here and are expensive to buy from overseas. The Barbie Extra #4 may also match, but again it’s curvy. The Olympic Karate doll may also match and despite the flat feet, may be an option if I come across one second hand. For now, she’ll have to do until a better match comes along. So, it’s been a little expensive, but it’s so nice to have dolls that can move and pose.
See the following update for more body swapping!
Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld. There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.
(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.
When photos of the Barbie Extra dolls appeared, it was clear that doll #1 was the stand out of the bunch, with her big fluffy pigtails and her rainbow coloured coat. The other dolls while great, just don’t quite have the same impact. There are five dolls in the series: #2 is pale curvy doll with Asian features and pink and purple hair, wearing a shimmery dress over cloud print top; #3 has blonde hair with pink streaks, 80’s inspired pale printed pattern jeans and pink faux fur coat; #4 is a curvy doll with curly blue hair and freckles, wearing a tie dye shirt, white shorts and blue bomber jacket; and #5 has multi-coloured hair in plaits, denim shorts and fringed jacket with printed tee shirt. Each doll comes with lots of jewellery and accessories as well as a pet, and while each doll is stylish in their own way, as a group, there is one clear diva and it’s # 1.
When I saw the photos, I loved #1’s fashion, and quite liked the doll too, but more importantly, she was articulated and her vinyl colour looked a good match for two dolls I wanted to re-body. Of course, I didn’t really hold any hopes of these dolls being available here in Australia and I wasn’t the only collector happily surprised at them turning up first at one discount department store, quickly followed by another. Unfortunately, my stores had sold out of this doll before I could get my hands on her, but a couple of friends were selling her nude. Finding black articulated dolls here is almost impossible, so I snapped them up, even though I was disappointed at not getting that amazing fashion. Once I got the dolls, I realised I didn’t like the face as much as the promo pics so decided to use both to re-body the dolls I had – she was an almost perfect colour match. Eventually I found this doll NRFB and got my hands on her fabulous fashion, while the doll will go to another friend.
While I do love this doll’s face, it’s not quite as appealing in real life as in the promo photos, but I do love those glasses!
The doll has the face mould that is usually used for curvy dolls, and I really think that it suits a curvy body best. This doll’s hair is rather spectacular, big afro pigtails with two long plaits in front. Her body is articulated (almost an update of the old articulated Fashionista body and also used for the Olympic and Wellness dolls, more info in a future post), with bending elbows, wrists and knees, but it’s nowhere near as poseable as the Made to Move body. These bodies come with both flat and high heeled feet and this doll has the high heeled ones.
The ring isn’t really a ring as such. Is this a new fashion? And while I can see the dog (which is wearing pink high heels!) appealing to kids, it just seems so out of place with this doll.
I love (almost) everything about this fashion. The red knit shorts and long sleeved top are both fashionable and versatile, both pieces are great for mix and matching and the rainbow fur coat is just fabulous. It’s accessorised with large gold hoop earrings, a gold coloured necklace, a large yellow jewel ‘ring’, white socks with black stripes, silver ankle boots, a white cloud shaped handbag and – one of my favourite pieces – ‘shine bright’ motif sunglasses. There is also a small fawn poodle with star sunglasses, a small blue handbag and three pink bones, which together with the ‘ring’, are just weird. The dog is in no way lifelike and just doesn’t match the sophistication or style of the doll and fashion. The ring is not a ring as such, but fits over most of the doll’s hand. They’re a strange inclusion, even though I know they’re designed to appeal to children.
Of course, seeing as I wasn’t using the original doll, I had to try this fashion on a couple of other dolls, two re-bodied Fashionista heads, #57 Zig and Zag on the Extra body and #80 Cheerful Check on a Made to Move body.
The fashion is really well made and almost on par with a range such as the BMR1959 dolls, which makes me wonder, why can’t Mattel produce dolls like this more often? The dolls retailed at $39 here, much more than the Fashionistas at $12-13 and the Olympic/Made to Move/Wellness dolls at $20, but for the quality and styling, we’ll happily pay that. And for that matter, why couldn’t they have given them M2M bodies? I see the MGA dolls such as OMG and Rainbow High sell at a $40-50 price range and they have a popular following, so surely Mattel needs to lift their game. And while I’m at it, how about some Ken dolls in a range like this? Instead of cheap and cheerful – and plenty – like the Fashionistas, we need more quality ranges like this. Hopefully, these dolls selling so well here will mean our stores will carry a broader range of lines like this in the future. Fingers crossed.
More information on these dolls can be found here.
Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld. There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.
(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.
I’ll start this Valentine’s Day post with a photo I posted to Instagram – @jenjoysworld – earlier this year. Frenchy, rapt at finally finding the perfect pet.
Of course, she couldn’t let her precious pet get lonely…
…and just like Frenchy and Allan, it must be love.
And lastly a diorama I took to a doll club meeting when the theme was Sweet Dreams – all Allan’s dreams came true on Valentine’s Day!
Whether you’re celebrating with your special someone or not, I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.
Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld. There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.
(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.
Happy Lunar New Year, and welcome the year of the ox. And the ox seems appropriate, seeing as most of us are still dealing with the bulls*** associated with the Covid pandemic. Here in my state the new year has brought another (hopefully) short lockdown as once again the virus has escaped returned traveller quarantine (thanks government). So, there are very muted celebrations here with most of the NY activities cancelled. Let’s hope the ox gets his act together quickly and the year improves for all of us.
Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld. There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.
(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.
I’m back, Happy New Year! Sorry this post is a bit wordy (hey, I haven’t posted for weeks!) but it’s safe to say that 2020 was a strange year for all of us, and here in Australia, it was a strange year for Barbie dolls too, so I thought I’d recap. We don’t get the full range of dolls available in the US and other parts of the world here. If a doll is available as blonde, brunette and AA, we tend to get only the blonde version – even when it comes to collectible dolls like the Holiday or Birthday Wishes dolls. The Fashionistas and Careers ranges are now really the only way we get diverse dolls, but again, we often don’t get the full complement of each wave, they are often heavily edited. So when we see pics of series such as BMR 1959, new Made to Move or Barbie Extra dolls, often our first thought is, ‘bet they don’t come here’. Some think that our lack of access to black dolls is because Mattel describes them as ‘AA’ which stands for African American. But surely the ‘AA’ description is more relevant here as it can stand for Aboriginal Australian, Asian Australian or African Australian.
The beginning of the year started pretty much as normal, but mid-year brought us the Tokyo Olympics dolls, minus the AA Surfer doll (although a few do seem to be available at one or two toy shops). I was pleased to see there was a very pale curvy Skateboarder doll in the range, perfect for a head swap with a doll I had, but getting her was difficult. At the time, here in my state we were in a fairly strict Covid 19 lockdown, so getting out to shop for dolls was not an option for me (I’m a high risk category so I didn’t want to risk exposure). The dolls were available online, but all our large variety shops – Kmart, Target and Big W – only offer these types of doll ranges as ‘selected at random’ when buying from their websites. So, four Olympics dolls available and if I bought online, no guarantee I’d get the one I wanted. Really retailers, what is the point? Who would want to buy dolls randomly? I was worried the dolls would be available in limited numbers so luckily, a relative was able to grab the doll that I wanted, but six months later, the dolls are still on our shelves, so there was no hurry. There were some surprises at Christmas though.
In December, Big W announced that they would be stocking the first three Barbie Extra dolls as a store exclusive. Collectors were surprised, ecstatic and annoyed in almost equal measure. Some had ordered the dolls from overseas, sure they wouldn’t make it to our shops, so were none too happy. I was rapt, I had two black dolls that needed articulated bodies and I was sure that doll number one would be a perfect match as a body donor. I also loved the pics of the doll and her far out fur fashion, so was contemplating buying at least two, three if I liked the doll as much in person. Again, online, they were chosen at random, so I headed to the nearest store that was showing available stock on their website. When I got there they had none, but were expecting more and told me to phone back in a couple of days and they could hold them for me. But when I rang they were sold out. I was so annoyed. I put out a call out on social media and it revealed two nude dolls available for sale from friends so I snapped them up, but was disappointed at not having that amazing fashion. The week after Christmas, Target started selling number 4 and 5 Extra dolls, and surprise, surprise, at my store, they also had the first three dolls. So much for them being a Big W exclusive! I finally got my hands on number 1 NRFB. But I really don’t like her face as much in person as in the promo pics. Luckily a friend was after a nude doll, so I’m keeping the fashion and he’s getting the doll. What a kerfuffle.
This Fashionista is in the new vinyl pouch packaging. I don’t really like the pouches, I’d prefer something more environmentally friendly – I can’t see them being re-used. I really wanted this doll, so ordered her from overseas. I’ll be very peeved if she now turns up here. The problem with buying from OS or online, you can’t check the doll for faults. This girl’s eyes are very lightly misplaced.
As usual the Holiday doll was available, but in another surprise, some stores actually had the brunette as well as the blonde version. A new wave of Fashionistas in the new vinyl pouch packaging arrived just before Christmas too, but it wasn’t a complete wave. We were pleased to see the inclusion of the bald doll, but missing was Fashionista 147, which has a new face mould, and of course was the one I wanted. I bit the bullet and bought her from overseas, so if she turns up in a future release, I’ll be mightily peeved. Also a surprise was Fashionista 167 – Ken in wheelchair – available online at Target and in selected stores and listed separately, not ‘selected at random’ with the rest of the range. The irony is, this Ken is on a Made to Move body. So, ‘able bodied’ Ken dolls have stiff, non-articulated bodies, but wheelchair Ken is on the most articulated body to date. WTH Mattel? I snapped one up, and I was hoping they’d go on sale so I could grab at least one more for swapping, but they’re now marked as sold out online and in store. Bugger.
These dolls all share the same box background, but ironically, the fitness doll with yoga mat doesn’t have a Made to Move body like the other two, her articulation is quite limited.
The new Made to Move dolls also popped up at Big W, and this time we got all four dolls. We’ve only had the first wave of dolls sold here, and it was missing the black doll in the yellow top. I was excited to get my hands on the new black doll and the new curvy doll for body swapping. The curvy doll seems to be the harder to find, my store sold out quickly, they had plenty of the other three. A week or two later the Wellness dolls appeared – one in pyjamas, one set for a spa day and one ready for the gym. The gym doll has a pale articulated body, so she was on my list for body swapping and I loved her accessories. I managed to snare one before they sold out. Once again, it’s slightly ironic that these dolls are articulated, but not Made to Move dolls, and surely, the gym doll with her yoga mat and exercise gear would benefit from a M2M body? It was a bit of a surprise to see the Breathe with Me Barbie finally available here. Kmart also had the latest range of the $5 basic Barbie dolls and it was great to see the black girl with huge afro included. I was lucky enough to get her for Christmas, and although she has a face mould I already have, she so gorgeous she’s a keeper. The Collector Reproduction Dreamhouse also popped up online at Target, but its $300 price tag is way too much for most collectors. It was on sale at a mere $200 for a short time, and while I’d love it, it’s too pricey and too big to store for me.
The basic Barbie dolls were at Kmart, and I love this girl. But don’t you hate it when you wake up with box hair?
So, it’s felt like December and January brought dolly surprise after dolly surprise, and I was making almost weekly doll runs to different shops. There were news reports that sales of Barbie dolls increased during lock down as parents tried to lure their little ones away from screens and into some wholesome real world play. Perhaps that’s why we got so many new dolls? Is it because retailers were trying to boost their bottom lines at Christmas and excess stock was available because of world-wide lock downs? I don’t know the answer. But I do know it’s been fabulous to be able to get my hands on these dolls in local shops. And expensive, it’s been a wee bit expensive. So thank heaven for Christmas and birthday money and vouchers. I managed to grab some of the 2020 fashions too, so I’ll show you some of the things I’ve bought and the re-bodying I’ve done in future posts. For now, here’s hoping this year is an improvement on the last, and I hope Christmas and New Year brought you your dolly wish list too.
Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld. There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.
(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.
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