Happy Mother's Day
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
Cinco De Mayo: A Brief List of Mexican Dolls and Action Figures
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| Three Mexican Señoritas |
Mattel Rebelde Mía Colucci, YNU Group Mixis Rosa Dominguez Katz, and Disney Camp Rock Mitchie Torres hope you had a happy Cinco De Mayo.
I did not notice any doll-related Cinquo de Mayo posts from Tuesday so I thought I would share this list ... please share if you know any I have missed. Thanks in advance!
Mattel's Mexican dolls
2014 Dolls of the World Collection - Mexico
2012 Dolls of the World — North America - Mexico
2008 Rebelde Miguel Arango
2008 Rebelde Diego Bustamante
2008 Rebelde Mía Colucci
2008 Rebelde Lupita Fernandez
2008 Rebelde Giovanni Méndez
2008 Rebelde Roberta Pardo
2006 Dolls of the World — Festivals of the World - Cinco De Mayo Barbie
2004 Dolls of the World — The Princess Collection - Princess of Ancient Mexico Barbie
2003 Toys R Us Friends of the World Kelly Mexico
2000 Quinceañera 15th birthday Barbie
1998 Generation Girl Ana Suarez
1996 Dolls of the World — North America Mexican Barbie 2nd Edition
1994 Toys R Us Quinceañera 15th birthday Teresa
1989 Dolls of the World — North America Mexican Barbie 1st Edition
Mexican Dolls and Action Figures by Other Manufacturers
2005 Toy Biz Susan Storm aka the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba)
2008 Disney Camp Rock Mitchie Torres (Demi Lovato)
1996 Arm Enterprise Selena (Quintanilla)
Saturday, May 2, 2015
May 2015 Topics: the Annual Stuff and Something New
- National Bike Month
- South Asian American Heritage Month
- Haitian American Heritage Month
- [East] Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
- National Pet Month
- Jewish American Heritage Month
- Mother's Day
- Cinco de Mayo
- Older Americans Month
Wow. Lot of stuff happening in May. But more than these annual favorites is one event that trumps them all (except Mother's Day; nothing trumps that):
I'm moving.
Pause to cover my ears and scream. Cover my ears to protect them. Scream because I'm excited and frustrated. I'll have to schedule posts around packing and selling. I will do better to sell some things and that means figuring out the best way to do so. Sigh. So much to do.
What I probably will not be doing is a lot of shopping. Sigh. But I saw these Chelsea friend cuties at Walmart so I'm sharing them now.
Anyone have packing tips to share? I thank you in advance for sharing them. Links welcome, too ;-)
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Four Observations About My Action Figure Collection
D7ana: Let's talk action figures!
Reader: You mean dolls?
D7ana: No, I mean action figures.
Reader: (Sighs) Same thing.
D7ana: Not really ... I can tell you four areas where my action figure collection differs from my doll collection.
Reader: (Shrugs)
1. Quantity
I have over 480 fashion dolls. That's a rough count because I have many "hybrid" dolls: Mattel heads on Spin Master Liv bodies, Mattel-Mattel swaps, Integrity playline heads on Integrity collector doll bodies, so on. I now have a count for my action figures: 95 intact. By "intact," I mean original heads with original bodies. That's a big difference. I have fewer action figures than I thought. And I call myself a collector of dolls AND action figures. Ha!
I have dolls from at least 50 different companies; I only have 17 companies represented for my action figures. I will list them here:
21st Century
Aoshima/Skynet
BBi (Blue Box Toys)
Character Options Ltd.
Dragon AND Dragon in Dream Corporation
Formative International Co., Ltd.
Hasbro
Hot Toys Limited
Jakks Pacific
M & C Toy Centre
Majestic Studios
Palisades
Playmates Toys Inc.
Revell GmbH& Co. KG
Sideshow Collectibles
Takara
ToyBiz
2. Gender [Im]balance
Want to guess how many of those 95 action figures are female? A whopping 18. Here's a screen shot of my Excel spreadsheet showing those 18 figures:
You've probably seen all of them. My female action figures. Well maybe not Princess Leia and the Bbi Perfect Body Hispanic. I don't think that they've made many online appearances. Here's a group photo showing some of them:
Before you shake your head in dismay, hear this: while I have not yet taken count of my dolls by gender, I can tell you I have way more female dolls than I do male dolls. Doll companies create far more female dolls than male dolls. My action figure buying began with "Old Joe" as a way to increase male figures in my Doll World. So the gender imbalance does not disturb me.
3. Race Breakdown
Curious about the race breakdown for my action figures? I was so I created a spreadsheet to see what I have. That the majority of my male action figures are White does not surprise me. I do not have statistics to support this claim, but I suspect that the majority of playscale action figures are White males. Raise my hands. I'm not fighting or arguing; just commenting. Finding ethnic figures is more fun because they are a little harder to find.
I was surprised to find that I had more Asian female action figures than White or Black. Hmmm ....
4. Articulation
Usually, action figures have better articulation or pose-ability than fashion dolls. Action figures have more joints. From that list of 18 female action figures, only three have limited articulation: Hasbro's Princess Leia and Toy Biz's Storm and Xena. Those three figures could almost be considered NO-action figures. What about my male action figures? Are any of them limited posing-wise? Yes. Four: Hasbro's Basic Training Lamont A. Morris and The Defender; Jakks Pacific's Van Helsing and Chris Jericho. Usually, though, articulation puts the action in action figures.
In the photo below, I have a Mattel Harley Davidson Ken followed by a Dragon Ben Yahzee. The HD Ken is on a male poser body. The contrast is almost painful to view.
Reader: So you're telling me dolls and action figures are not the same?
D7ana: I suppose I am. Yes. They are not.
Reader: Well, I still think they're the same.
D7ana: (Sighs) Last I checked, we live in a free country. Think as you will.
Reader: You mean dolls?
D7ana: No, I mean action figures.
Reader: (Sighs) Same thing.
D7ana: Not really ... I can tell you four areas where my action figure collection differs from my doll collection.
Reader: (Shrugs)
1. Quantity
I have over 480 fashion dolls. That's a rough count because I have many "hybrid" dolls: Mattel heads on Spin Master Liv bodies, Mattel-Mattel swaps, Integrity playline heads on Integrity collector doll bodies, so on. I now have a count for my action figures: 95 intact. By "intact," I mean original heads with original bodies. That's a big difference. I have fewer action figures than I thought. And I call myself a collector of dolls AND action figures. Ha!
I have dolls from at least 50 different companies; I only have 17 companies represented for my action figures. I will list them here:
21st Century
Aoshima/Skynet
BBi (Blue Box Toys)
Character Options Ltd.
Dragon AND Dragon in Dream Corporation
Formative International Co., Ltd.
Hasbro
Hot Toys Limited
Jakks Pacific
M & C Toy Centre
Majestic Studios
Palisades
Playmates Toys Inc.
Revell GmbH& Co. KG
Sideshow Collectibles
Takara
ToyBiz
2. Gender [Im]balance
Want to guess how many of those 95 action figures are female? A whopping 18. Here's a screen shot of my Excel spreadsheet showing those 18 figures:
You've probably seen all of them. My female action figures. Well maybe not Princess Leia and the Bbi Perfect Body Hispanic. I don't think that they've made many online appearances. Here's a group photo showing some of them:
 |
| From left to right: Dragon Linh, Bbi Perfect Body African American, Hasbro Princess Leia, Character Options Martha Jones, Aoshima/Skynet Lady's Mission Kelly Jackson, Aoshima/Skynet Girl's Mission Mai, and Bbi Perfect Body Hispanic |
Before you shake your head in dismay, hear this: while I have not yet taken count of my dolls by gender, I can tell you I have way more female dolls than I do male dolls. Doll companies create far more female dolls than male dolls. My action figure buying began with "Old Joe" as a way to increase male figures in my Doll World. So the gender imbalance does not disturb me.
3. Race Breakdown
Curious about the race breakdown for my action figures? I was so I created a spreadsheet to see what I have. That the majority of my male action figures are White does not surprise me. I do not have statistics to support this claim, but I suspect that the majority of playscale action figures are White males. Raise my hands. I'm not fighting or arguing; just commenting. Finding ethnic figures is more fun because they are a little harder to find.
I was surprised to find that I had more Asian female action figures than White or Black. Hmmm ....
| Race | Male | Female | Both |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian | 15 | 8 | 23 |
| Black | 19 | 3 | 22 |
| Hispanic | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Native American | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unspecified | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| White | 39 | 5 | 44 |
| 77 | 18 | 95 |
4. Articulation
Usually, action figures have better articulation or pose-ability than fashion dolls. Action figures have more joints. From that list of 18 female action figures, only three have limited articulation: Hasbro's Princess Leia and Toy Biz's Storm and Xena. Those three figures could almost be considered NO-action figures. What about my male action figures? Are any of them limited posing-wise? Yes. Four: Hasbro's Basic Training Lamont A. Morris and The Defender; Jakks Pacific's Van Helsing and Chris Jericho. Usually, though, articulation puts the action in action figures.
In the photo below, I have a Mattel Harley Davidson Ken followed by a Dragon Ben Yahzee. The HD Ken is on a male poser body. The contrast is almost painful to view.
Reader: So you're telling me dolls and action figures are not the same?
D7ana: I suppose I am. Yes. They are not.
Reader: Well, I still think they're the same.
D7ana: (Sighs) Last I checked, we live in a free country. Think as you will.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Shero Dolls by Mattel
Do you recognize any of these names?
Ava DuVernay
Emmy Rossum
Eva Chen
Kristin Chenoweth
Sydney “Mayhem” Keiser
Trisha Yearwood
Mattel recognizes them. These "female heroes" or "sheroes" provide inspiration to young girls (and older women, others) by their stereotype shattering deeds. Moreover, Mattel presented these "sheroes" with one-of-a-kind Barbie-scale dolls in their likenesses at the Variety Power of Women Luncheon in New York City earlier today. Cool, huh?
Sigh.
Gee, I hope Mattel creates these dolls for the mass market. But since the sheroes auctioned off their dolls to benefit their favorite charity, that is not likely.
But ... then again, Halle Berry had had a one-of-a-kind doll created of her by Mattel. And Mattel later produced a James Bond Halle Berry doll.
I owe this scoop to my blogging buddy, Arlett of Chasing Joy fame. Arlett is a "shero" in her own right. (Check her non-doll blog to read while I write that.)
Aside: I don't care for the word "shero," but I suppose "heroine" is dated? What do you think?
Ava DuVernay
Emmy Rossum
Eva Chen
Kristin Chenoweth
Sydney “Mayhem” Keiser
Trisha Yearwood
Mattel recognizes them. These "female heroes" or "sheroes" provide inspiration to young girls (and older women, others) by their stereotype shattering deeds. Moreover, Mattel presented these "sheroes" with one-of-a-kind Barbie-scale dolls in their likenesses at the Variety Power of Women Luncheon in New York City earlier today. Cool, huh?
Sigh.
Gee, I hope Mattel creates these dolls for the mass market. But since the sheroes auctioned off their dolls to benefit their favorite charity, that is not likely.
But ... then again, Halle Berry had had a one-of-a-kind doll created of her by Mattel. And Mattel later produced a James Bond Halle Berry doll.
I owe this scoop to my blogging buddy, Arlett of Chasing Joy fame. Arlett is a "shero" in her own right. (Check her non-doll blog to read while I write that.)
Aside: I don't care for the word "shero," but I suppose "heroine" is dated? What do you think?
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Barbie Pretty Treasures - Accessory Treats From the 1990s
Remember Barbie Fashion Avenue fashions? I am lucky to have bought many of those fashions when they were discounted at K B Toys. If you'd like to see more of them, check the lovely photos Barbie enthusiast Felicity has of them. Ah yes ... those were some attractive fashions. Separate accessory sets were issued to complement the Fashion Avenue fashions and furniture sets.
Here are two Pretty Treasures sets that would enhance a kitchen or wedding diorama.
Karin R. has a list of Kelly-related collections, but I do not know if there is a site listing all of these sets. I have the Barbie Special Collection Holiday Presents Gift Set from 1998 - long since deboxed. Do you have any of these sets? Have you - as I did - succumbed to temptation and deboxed them?
Here are two Pretty Treasures sets that would enhance a kitchen or wedding diorama.
 |
| Barbie Pretty Treasures Baking Set 1996 |
 |
| Barbie Pretty Treasures Wedding Set 1996 |
Karin R. has a list of Kelly-related collections, but I do not know if there is a site listing all of these sets. I have the Barbie Special Collection Holiday Presents Gift Set from 1998 - long since deboxed. Do you have any of these sets? Have you - as I did - succumbed to temptation and deboxed them?
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Worried Your Doll's Ashy Skin is Caused by VDS?
Back in 2009, I had asked if anyone had experienced ashy-faced dolls. What I meant by "ashy-faced dolls" was dolls who seemed to have sprouted powder on their faces. I had had two Mattel fashion dolls with that condition - Fashion Fever Kayla and Cali Girl Lea. (Kayla sold - and yes, I informed the buyer about her "skin problem.") Well, I am pleased to announce now that I know what the problem is. No, the problem is not VDS. Lea has mycelial mat. How can I make that claim? I read pages 58-59 of Nicholas J. Hill's The Definitive Book On The Care And Preservation Of Vinyl Dolls And Action Figures.
First, what is VDS? VDS is "vinyl deterioration syndrome," a term used by some action figure and/or doll collectors. However, VDS is a misnomer; the problem is not the vinyl. The problem is fungi want food. The plasticizers in vinyl - under the right conditions, say a room with high humidity - makes good food for fungi. (Think silent lip smacking.) So they attach themselves to our lovely dolls and feast. The white powdery stuff is baby fungi; they gain color as they develop. I think Lea's fungi are still "baby" (stunted) because her face is not thick enough to provide enough nourishment for the mycelial mat to develop.
How did this happen to Lea? I had placed her on top of a 79 1/2" tall IKEA Billy bookcase close to a window. Bad move on my part since that exposed her to more extreme temperature fluctuations and to more humidity than in the rest of the room.
Is treatment available? Yes, it is. Formula 9-1-1 sold by Twin Pines. Have I tried this product? No, not yet. It has received endorsements and positive reviews online and off.
So rest easy knowing there is no VDS looming on the horizon and waiting to devour your figures. And check the recommendations on this page to help keep humidity down in your doll room. Relieved?
First, what is VDS? VDS is "vinyl deterioration syndrome," a term used by some action figure and/or doll collectors. However, VDS is a misnomer; the problem is not the vinyl. The problem is fungi want food. The plasticizers in vinyl - under the right conditions, say a room with high humidity - makes good food for fungi. (Think silent lip smacking.) So they attach themselves to our lovely dolls and feast. The white powdery stuff is baby fungi; they gain color as they develop. I think Lea's fungi are still "baby" (stunted) because her face is not thick enough to provide enough nourishment for the mycelial mat to develop.
How did this happen to Lea? I had placed her on top of a 79 1/2" tall IKEA Billy bookcase close to a window. Bad move on my part since that exposed her to more extreme temperature fluctuations and to more humidity than in the rest of the room.
Is treatment available? Yes, it is. Formula 9-1-1 sold by Twin Pines. Have I tried this product? No, not yet. It has received endorsements and positive reviews online and off.
So rest easy knowing there is no VDS looming on the horizon and waiting to devour your figures. And check the recommendations on this page to help keep humidity down in your doll room. Relieved?
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