Wednesday, January 10, 2018

From South Africa: A Whiter Shade of Black

Happy New Year, all!

Meet Alexa, an artist from Malaville. Alexa is my first Malaville doll. You have probably seen these dolls in blogger Male Doll World's post from last month or on their Instagram site. In 2015, doll designer Mala Bryan introduced the Malaville Collection with four characters: Maisha, Mala, Malina, and Mhina. Maisha and Mala made my Want List. Two years later, Alexa, Imani, Lola, and Viv joined the original four Malaville dolls. 

Malaville Alexa the Artist doll


Alexa is the first play scale albino fashion doll. Albinism is a rare condition where a person has a low rate of melanin production. The low melanin appears as white skin, white or very pale blond hair, and usually blue eyes. eyes that can be pink, blue, violet, hazel, or brown. Thanks, BlackKitty, for that catch! (Alexa's eyes look pale brown to me.) Unfortunately, albinos have experienced limb and life-threatening dangers stemming from superstitions about their condition. In an attempts to counter these false beliefs and to rally support for albinos, Mala Bryan added Alexa to her doll line.

Albinism appears in all races and in other animals as well as plants. You can see this range in current albino fashion models Toy vlogger ToysND shows an albino Mattel Barbie Fashionista doll for the 2018 line at 1:19 in a recent YouTube vlog.

I will compare Alexa with other fashion dolls in a future post. Please let me know if there are specific dolls you'd like to see with her. What do you think of Alexa?

19 comments:

RagingMoon1987 said...

She's adorable! How creative to make an albino doll!

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year!
She's very cute and unique! I saw some pictures of Alexa in other outfits and she looks lovely in other clothing styles as well. I like Maisha too, with her dark skin tone.

Phyllis said...

Oh, it is so good to see a post from you again. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. This doll is really cute! I like seeing all the new diversity in the dolls. I really like the photos I saw of the Albino Barbie doll. I hope we see more dolls of this nature in the future. I hope 2018 is a good and healthy year for you.

Ms. Leo said...

Great doll! Glad to see you added her to your collection! Like Phyllis, I am glad to see you posting again and hope 2018 is a good and healthy year for you too!

BlackKitty said...

Very interesting! Usually albinos' eyes are pink and not blue though (blue is common in albino animals), so I think they got the colour right.

Georgia Girl said...

Hey D7ana! Great seeing a post from you!! I pray all is well. Congratulations on getting Alexa. Mattel has a Fashionista doll that I believe is supposed to be an albino doll, in the lineup for 2018. She also has a afro like Alexa. Really cute! I love diversity.

D7ana said...

Hi, RagingMoon1987, MillicentAndFriends, Phyllis, Ms. Leo, BlackKitty, and Georgia Girl!

Thanks for reading and for commenting. Happy New Year!

@RagingMoon1987 - I love the roundness of her facial features. The contrast between her features and her complexion makes her stand out.

@MillicentAndFriends - I wouldn't wear that shade of pink myself - would not suit my coloring, lol - but I like it on Alexa. She looks good redressed in those Instagram photos, I agree. And Maisha has such a lovely, deep dark color. Definitely on my Want List ;-)

@Phyllis! I'm overdue on my post about Morgan - the lovely Barbie Looks doll you presented to me. Technical glitches kept me from sharing the first photos I took of her. Will explain in that blog post ;-). Christmas was nice - family around and good food. We were happy together. I'm looking forward to enjoying 2018.

@Ms. Leo - Glad you like Alexa. Hope you can see her sometime this year. I had to start blogging again. I miss the interaction with my doll buddies! I'm thinking positively about 2018.

@BlackKitty - ah, yes. I forgot about pink being an eye color for some albinos. I checked on Reference.com for more information.

@Georgia Girl - hey, back atcha! Thanks for your prayers. Things are okay. Glad to be posting again. I'm looking for the upcoming Mattel albino Fashionista. Like you, I love doll diversity - oh, and people diversity, etc.

Muff said...

Always happy to see a post from you! This is my first time hearing about this doll and I think it's a great idea. I'd love to see one in person.

The grandmommy said...

What a cutie! I want one of each shade of girls and maybe one day boys with albinism. I had two students (brothers, 3 our of five of them had it) who were some of my favorite students!

D7ana said...

Hi, Muff and The Grandmommy! Happy New Year!

@Muff - thanks! Glad to see your comments here. Alexa has a cute face mold. I appreciate her uniqueness - her coloring - but I'd also like this face mold in other complexions. Her fashions are good quality, too. I hope you get to see her in person. She's cute AND she reflects a face coloring not usually seen.

@The Grandmommy - Yes, she is. I'd like to get Lola (redhead with light brown complexion), Maisha (dark brown complexion with a black curly afro), and Viv (also dark brown) and/or Mala (medium brown complexion). I've seen people with albinism, but I have not known anyone with that condition.

Male Doll World said...

Nice to see that you bought her.

Black Doll Enthusiast said...

Congrats on adding Alexa to your collection and for including information about the albinism disorder.

dbg

D7ana said...

Hi, Male Doll World and Black Doll Enthusiast! Thanks for your comments!

@Male Doll World - I like her face mold. I want two of the other dolls with this face.

@Black Doll Enthusiast - thanks. I'm glad to have her. You're welcome; I'm glad to share information.

Jaye's Doll Space said...

I think it's a good thing someone acknowledged there are several Albinos in the world. I'm sure there are people who are happy they are represented. It also makes you think about the different shades of Black people, when we know we come in many shades.

D7ana said...

Hi, Jayne Frye! Mala Bryan, the Malaville dolls' creator, shows albino children playing with the Alexa doll in her Instagram account. Yes, there is a vast range of complexion colors among Black people. I love that range. Such variety. If only there wasn't the nasty colorism aspect.

Cindi Mortensen said...

Hi D7ana!

It's so good to see you posting again! Now that the holidays are over, I hope to get back to Moreville. Alexa is adorable! I haven't seen her before. Is she articulated? Happy New Year! :-)

D7ana said...

Hi Cindi! Happy new year to you, too!

I'm glad to get back to blogging. I've got LOTS of ideas. Just need to be careful and NOT overload, lol. Looking forward to seeing you at Moreville.

Yes, Alexa is adorable (she's blushing) and articulated. I'll include her in my next doll comparison post.

jSarie said...

Oh wow, I love that this doll exists! Thanks for sharing her!

D7ana said...

Hi, jSarie! I'm pleased to have her. My pleasure to share her photos. I like her face mold so much, I want to get two other dolls with it.

Aside: Mattel seems to have an albino Fashionista doll coming this year - 2018 - who resembles Alexa. I'm looking forward to getting her, too.