The Problem with Some Action Figures

Twelve inch action figures expand my male population. I can pick up female dolls easily. Male dolls are limited so I invade the green aisle or the action figure world. I love my Kens, my Stevens, my Kurts, my Alans, my Blaines, my Jordan, my Tariq, my Lukas, my Moses, my John Smith, my Li Shang, my Paul, and my boys. BUT without my action figure guys, my male population would be near extinction. Can't have that kind of gender imbalance.

However, there can be problems with male action figures. No, not the guns and military clothes. I replace most of the military fashions with Kenwear - for some reason, that statement inspires banshee howls of anguish from guys who used to own G.I. Joes or Star Wars figures - what, are my guys supposed to go around undressed? Ken has some normal looking stuff. Or passably so ....

Guns? Well, my guys won't need them so I set most of them aside. If it's a little gun, and it looks cute, I might let them keep it for the look factor. The tough guy look, but guns aren't relative to most scenes I have the guys in. Reminds me, I need to gather all the useless guns and give them away or sell them. Once I find them, of course.

Oh, but the problem with some action figures? Molded clothes that replace body parts. For example, I have Ryan Whitaker from Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy seems to be a video game. (Even less interesting than guns IMO. So the FF trappings are going, going ....) Anyway, he's cute - eyes a little gimlet, but he has nice features - so I am determined to redress him as a civilian. In Kenwear, yes.

Only he has this horrible body armor encased around his torso. I'm not sure if his arms are separate from the armor or if his calves are calves and NOT just boots attached to thighs. So I might have to find a new body for him. That's MY problem with action figures. Some of them do NOT undress the way they should. They should have flesh-colored limbs.

Here are two photos of Ryan:






He's worthy of a new body.

Thanks to My Followers

Dear

BlackDollEnthusiast
Constance
Bogna
WtsRudi
Holly
Ah Chow
Super Cool Doll House
Dolls of Color
M.J
Niel
DaeLight City Resident
Margaret
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I thank you for following my blog publicly and for your stimulating comments that inspire follow-up posts. Thanks for enriching this hobby for me.

Sincerely,
D7ana

Paucity of Asian American Dolls

While checking online sources about Kayla, Barbie's multi-ethnic friend, I came across an interesting statement regarding the paucity of Asian American ethnic dolls on page 163 from Visible Differences by Dominic J. Pulera.

I have put that book on hold at my free library. The good people at the library will find and set aside the book for me to pick up. (Ah the joys of urban living - grin.) If there are additional points of interest regarding collecting, I will mention them after I have read the book.

Oh, and what about my Kayla research?

A BBC Newsround 2002 article briefly discusses the introduces of Kayla to the Barbie friends group.

A Boston Globe article from 2003 describes Kayla's place in the doll market. (Link 404'd)


And I found a web page showing the Kayla/Lea Facemold by European doll collector, Katti who shows the incredible flexibility of this facemold. Therese, take note: the Sophisticated Wedding Barbie 2002 AA might be that dark complexioned Kayla mold doll of your dreams.

S.i.S. Updates Elsewhere on the Web

Two links to new photos of the S.i.S. dolls elsewhere on the web:

Sneak Peek of S.i.S. Stylin' Hair Dolls from Dolls of Color


Gangstarrgirl offers slightly larger, different photos of the Rocawear dressed S.i.S. dolls.

Enjoy!

Where are the Asian Fashion Dolls?

Recent posts on doll blogs I follow (Dolls of Color, Niel’s Dolls) inspired me to see what playline Asian fashion dolls are available today. During the late 1990s and early-mid 2000s, doll companies created Asian fashion dolls as part of their doll line up. I am thinking Get Set Club (Gia), Get Real Girls (Skylar), Smartees (Amanda), and I-Girls (Asia). What Asian fashion dolls are available now?

There were three criteria needed for my Asian playline dolls:

1. that the dolls were by any company OTHER than Mattel (removes Disney/Mattel from the list)

2. that the dolls were under $25 USD

3. that the dolls were in playscale or 1:6 scale

4. that the dolls could still be purchased today


These four dolls met the above criteria:

Playmates’ Asian everGirl who remains on sale at Nick.com

Yue Sai Wa Wa available through mail order from ChinaSprout and possibly still available from local toy stores. (I bought mine from a K B Toys stores several years ago.)

Mei Ling also available from ChinaSprout

Jade Princess (under the Just Girlz line by Sears Holding Corporation) is still on sale at some Kmart stores.


Playmates everGirl and Kmarts Just Girlz Jade Princess




Yue-Sai Wa Wa




Mei Ling




Related online articles:

China Doll entry from Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture

Multicultural Dolls: 101 - by Ellen Fitzenrider article from 2004

Yue-Sai Kan article

Note: there used to be a website called "Asian Pacific American Toy Chest" that had extensive information about Asian Pacific dolls and action figures. Loren Javier was the site author; unfortunately that website is no longer directly accessible. Using a trackback website might show images from it.

More Charles Links: Leaky Legs and S.i.S. Updates

I'm passing on two more links to articles by Charles of "My Doll Diary" - the first about leaky Barbies and the second about the S.i.S. line.

Leaky Legs

More on S.i.S. dolls.

Informative and entertaining reads. Enjoy!

Boogie Beach Dynamite Girls Courtesy of ShugaShug

ShugaShug writes about a new doll series, Boogie Beach Dynamite Girls. She has gorgeous close-up photos (prototypes?) of these dolls who are limited to 300 each. Sigh.

Time to clear stuff out - MUST HAVES, these are.

Oh, wait, that's my knee jerk reaction to all stunning new doll series.

ShugaShug is the online name for a doll collector who blogs about Integrity fashion dolls.