Quantum Mechanix Presents 1:6th Scale Captain Mal Reynolds

Any Firefly / Serenity / Castle fans reading? Next year, Quantum Mechanix is producing a sixth scale Captain Malcolm Reynolds action figure. Yes, sculptor Trevor Grove has produced a  prototype  that resembles actor Nathan Fillion. A foot tall prototype with 38 points of articulation. Molded hair, unfortunately. Wearing Mal's iconic long brown coat, brown shirt, and tan "tight" pants. (Alas, not with a Hot Toys butt, but the face looks accurate.) Even more exciting, the Malcolm Reynolds figure is the FIRST in a line of Firefly figures. For only $179.95 - before postage.

Am I pre-ordering him? Um ... no. If I were working, would I? YES! 

I enjoyed Firefly, and I like what I have read about Nathan Fillion. Not stalker-like, but I'm-glad-this-person-exists-in-my-timeline like. Usually, I buy a doll or figure because I like something about that figure; this time, part of the purchase joy will be for this actor in this role.

Where can you find this figure? Vantage Collectibles and Entertainment Earth are two places I've seen the figure listed. Entertainment Earth expects to have him March 2015 - and they are offering FREE shipping.

Joss Whedon's Firefly disc 1 showing Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds

Then again, I should wait to see the actual figure - should I become able to afford him. Anyone else considering him?

They're Here! Christmas Sweaters from Brini!

They're Here! They're Here! Christmas Sweaters from Brini! 

You may remember that I won the "His and Hers Christmas Sweaters" giveaway distributed by doll enthusiast, storyteller, and blogger Brini. See the treats below! 

The lovely, festive gift wrap. Bright and cheering. 

Peep through to the tissue paper layer.

Ah! The sweaters themselves. Cheers!

 Who will model the sweaters? They'll be seen in an upcoming post. I think you'll be surprised.

Michelle Decorates a [Christmas] Tree

Usually, I don't do the decorative stuff. I am not pretty, and I don't make things pretty.

Now you don't have to contradict me. I yam as I yam to borrow from Popeye. I'm here by default. Yes, de fault of T.J. who's off on a snit. De fault of Naomi who is grieving the death of Joe Cocker. Somebody needed to decorate this Christmas tree. I agreed to do it. Yes, de fault of me volunteering.

Last year, Kenya decorated the white Christmas tree. She didn't like the size of the bells, but they were what she had. My turn. I'm not doing bells. Okay, I have a white Christmas tree - think theme. Okay ... snow and ice. Cold. Glittery. Sharp. Could use some brightening up, hey? Silver and gold? I considered creating silver foil balls or brown paper bag gingerbread men. Maybe even spray-painting a paper chain of gingerbread men gold. But hey, I don't do pretty so I found an easy alternative.

Flavor. What has a sharp, icy flavor? Mint. And the specific mint of the season? Peppermints.

Course I didn't have many in-scale candy canes. You know by now, I was not going to make any. But I found some peppermint discs and propped them in the tree. Voila. Mission accomplished.

The fashionistas among you might want to know what I'm wearing. Well my "tunic" is a Barbie Fashion Fever dress over Get Set Club black knit flare slacks. Sigh. I thought its icy blue color with the delicate silver trim matched the tree. Oh and, heck, I confess. I wanted to wear something pretty in case [No]Angelus appeared. It would be nice to be pretty just once. But there's no magic potion to beautify this face.

D'oh. I digressed. Merry Christmas!

Kenya's New [Hair] Do

Remember I bought a Beverly Hills Kenya doll by Kenya World? Well, here's Kenya now with her new hair style. Yes, she decided on a cut.

Back view first

Side view

Full-face shorter glory

Kenya: You might wonder why I chose to have my hair cut.  Now when so many women are donning extensions. I don't want people to wonder about my hair - is it hers by birth or hers by credit card? Cut this length, you can notice my face. My head and neck are warm in the winter. I feel more professional. I LOVE my new 'do.


What do you think?

Smartees Alert - Handle With Extreme Care

Do you have any of the Smartees fashion dolls? These are the Barbie alternatives produced between 1999-2001 whose focus was careers outside the fashion and modeling industries. Amanda the Architect, Destiny the Doctor, Emily the Entrepreneur ... yes, those dolls. If you do have them, I suggest that you handle your Smartees dolls with extreme care because they are more frail than they seem. Several of mine have had the legs break at the right hip connection.

Taylor the Teacher was the first doll whose right leg snapped off. She fell from my hand to a table. Okay, I suppose I should have been careful. The fall distance did not seem far to me. I have dropped click bend kneed Barbies from greater distances than that. Oh yes, I winced. Then Caitlin the Cook's right leg cracked when I tried to cross her leg. Oh no, I wailed. Then Amanda the Architect's right leg snapped when I was taking off her black stockings. Oh sh-t, I said. Three breaks at the same place - what are my Smartees trying to tell me?

Sigh. You can see the break in this photograph.

Smartees leg-hip break

Okay, these fashion dolls are from 13-15 years old. While the material is decent enough for a "small name brand" doll, it was not intended to last for centuries. So I and others interested in "playing with" these dolls should be careful and gentle with them. Or be prepared to find them replacement bodies.

I would rather not swap articulated bodies for the Smartees dolls because their original bodies are good quality. No leaky plastics, no sticky residue. The waist twist. The knees bend. The arms bend at the elbows - although they have no articulation at the wrist ("paddle arms"). I prefer to save my articulated bodies for dolls with limited posing ability.

Smartees Amanda and "paddle arms"

So handle your Smartees with care, but if they should break as mine have done, please remember their age. They aren't antiques or "vintage," but they are mature in doll years.

New Pinterest Board: I am NOT B@rbie

Collector Confession: when I see Fashion Royalty dolls labelled as "Barbies," I correct the error in my mind, but I would love to have a magic eraser to remove the error and a magic pen to enter the correct name. It's not a value matter - Integrity Toys' Fashion Royalty dolls have their good points. Mattel dolls have their good points. But ... they are NOT the same. Think Kleenex brand versus the generic word, tissue. Barbie is NOT the generic word for all playscale or all plastic fashion dolls. Other manufacturers deserve credit for the products they create. 

A doll enthusiast buddy, Playscale Poser, suggested I  upload photos of non-Barbie dolls I have to help others identify those dolls.

So I have decided to do my part in seeing that dolls and action figures are properly identified. 

Drumroll ... I unleash a NEW Pinterest board, I am NOT B@rbie . There, I'll post photos of other dolls and action figures. I only have about 14 pins up, but I plan on adding more. Suggestions always welcome.

Do you recognize me?

Playscale Booty Babe Dolls? Links to Adult Content

Warning: links show voluptuous female statues. Do not click if such images would offend you.


Booty Babe is a series of full-figured female resin statues created by Spencer Davis in 1998. The artist added clay to an unspecified 1/6 scale fashion doll, and some time later, voilà, Booty Babe was born. (You can read this interview about the artist and his work.) I first saw Booty Babe on doll enthusiast Roxanne's blog: the rounded Booty Babe offers an interesting contrast to the more familiar slim fashion dolls and action figures.

Recently, Mr. Davis launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of additional 1/6 scale Booty Babe dolls/statues. That campaign netted $29, 231 dollars - surpassing the goal of $15,000 - this January. Successful campaign, yes? However, I think that these art doll/statues will remain more statue than doll in spite of the scale and the rooted hair. The line breaks for articulation would probably "disrupt" the vision.

Would I buy this doll if she were produced as an articulated doll with joints at her neck, shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees? For body diversity? To have a new face? Maybe. However, her eyes are shut. Closed eyes to me means sleeping, dead, or tuning me out. My dolls can *sleep* when I am not around - wink. I don't have any uses for a dead doll. No zombie stories pending. Tuning me out - well, that seems rude. But that's me.

Here are two other opinions. A male guest reviewer discusses his enthusiasm about Booty Babe. Another reviewer has a different stance.

You might wonder if there are any buxom fashion dolls in East Philly. Yes, there are. And they make standard Barbie look small. Here are three of them: Eegee Dolly Parton, Blue Box Perfect Body action figure, and PhillyCollector regular, Aoshima/Skynet Girl's Mission Mai. 

Additional Reading?

Spencer Davis/Booty Babe Facebook page

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164381455119453274/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/189291990563839238/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/189291990563839540/

December Themes and Catching Up on Past Themes

CATCH UP! 

That phrase will appear a lot this month. I want to complete viable post drafts. Get better photos up. Like this photo of Dragon Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Mattel Barbie Princess of the Navajo that was to have been part of my Native American doll and action figure post. I think they look great together.

Dragon Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Mattel Barbie Princess of the Navajo

Other topics I want to address this month:

December 17 Chanukah/Hanukkah 

December 21 December Solstice

December24 Christmas Eve

December 25 Christmas

December 26 Kwanzaa

December31 New Year's Eve


Happy December, all!