Chic Boutique Dolls, Ubiquitous BUT Mysterious

I cannot find much information about Chic Boutique, a doll manufacturer with several inexpensive doll series sold in Toys R Us, Kmart, possibly Walmart, and probably not at Target. These are NOT expensive dolls and they have limited articulation. (Think straight legged and straight armed vintage Barbie and friends. Yes, that's the picture.) However, mystery aside, here are a few photos of these dolls.

Kmart in Gallery at Market East

I also visited the Kmart in the Gallery at Market East yesterday.

Pleasant surprise: they had LOTS of the new stuff out. The MGA Entertainment BFC Ink dolls and the Moxie dolls, Jakks Pacific's Hannah Montana dolls, and several of the new Barbie line. Here are photos of some of the Barbie line available.

New Toys R Us Express in Gallery at Market East

When K B Toys stores closed earlier this year, I thought there would be NO toy store in Center City. The thought saddened me although I had adjusted and did any local shopping at one of the 3 remaining Toys R Us stores or one of the Walmarts or Targets. But no dedicated toy store ... sigh. Well, it seems that Center City will have a dedicated toy store after all this holiday season. Welcome to Toys R Us Express!

These Express stores will operate as the K B Toys Express stores did. The store is decidedly a mini store: stock is limited to basic lines (no Collectors' Edition Barbies sighted). However, I noticed two - new to me - Toys R Us Exclusives: a 12" Joker and a Disney Princess Snow White AND Prince. NEW GUYS!!! Photos provided below:



Online Joker link




Online Snow White giftset link


Toys R Us Store Locator information:

TOYS"R"US - PHILADELPHIA [6678]
9TH + MARKET STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19107

Phone: Not provided
Hours:
Sun 12:00pm-5:00pm
Mon-Thu 10:00am-7:00pm
Fri 10:00am-8:00pm
Sat10:00am-7:00pm
HOLIDAY EXPRESS (only open until the end of December 2009 per South Philly associate)


Locals: this Gallery TRU is located in the spot previously occupied by CVS drugstore, across from the location for the K B Toys Store. Note: visitors to the area, the toy store is inside the Gallery, on the lower level. There are no signs outside or indications that Toys R Us is inside the building.

It seems that there will be Holiday Express stores also in Springfield and in Franklin Mills Mall. I assume that this is a temporary extra location for Franklin Mills Mall. Locals affected by the closure of the Springfield Toys R Us will now have a local spot at least during this holiday season.

Sites for Playscale Male Clothes

Need a Michael Jackson tee shirt for your male doll or action figure? What about Marilyn Monroe or Bruce Lee for that tee shirt? You can probably find a photo of any of those stars and then transfer that image to an iron-on transfer sheet. Do it yourself. Or you can buy a ready-made tee from a friendly online action figure shop.

Below are some sites I have shopped:

Tee shirts available at Cotswold Collectibles

Loose clothes at Monkey Depot

Fashions by Dreams and Visions at War-Toys

And here is a supermarket of fashions and accessories where I have NOT shopped yet, One-Sixth Depot. In addition to clothes, you can find other loose items.


Things to consider when shopping at action figure shops:

1. The market slant is adult collectors; female figures might have nipples.

2. Click links you think have nothing to offer you; just because the manufacturer and the seller intended a certain shirt as part of a uniform, you might look at that same piece for a civilian outfit or costume party.

3. Sometimes you can get a complete boxed figure with a full outfit at a reduced price. Instead of getting the clothes separate, see the clearance section. A dressed boxed figure on clearance could cost less than the sum of the individual pieces.

4. Even if you decide against buying anything, you can get male clothing ideas from the photos for your male dolls and action figures.

When you cannot find tolerable Ken wear, remember your options.

Re-dressed: Three Kens and an Allan

Left to right: Straight leg Allan in Takara premium male fashion, Earring Magic Ken in soccer outfit, Tango Ken in action figure top and Battlestar Galactica pants, and AA Skate Date Ken in Battlestar Galactica top and action figure pants

Four more Mattel men re-dressed. This time, I have 1960s Allan in an outfit for Takara Jenny's male friends followed by Earring Magic Ken borrowing the soccer uniform of Benjamin Lauth, and Tango Ken and AA Skate Date Ken splitting the Majestic Studio's Battlestar Galactica uniform with standard action figure tee and cargo pants.

Isn't Tango Ken just the dreamiest Ken ever?

Rousing myself from that reverie, I note that the Takara pants are a little long on Allan. Also, there are four distinct bodies here. Thin Allan, husky Earring Magic, lanky Tango, and middling Skate Date. The Keeping Ken website has photos of every Ken out so for more intensive information about individual Ken bodies, I would suggest that source. Jef of Keeping Ken provided this Ken Bodies link by a Polish doll collector named Olga.

Note: if you have Google Toolbar, you may be able to have the Ken bodies page translated from Polish to English. Or you can use Poltran free translation website to read and/or respond to that post.

Educational AND Fun - HIA Toys Action Figures

Want to interest your 7 to 12 year old in American History? One possible activity: introduce him or her to one or more of these action figures from HIA Toys. HIA Toys offers three well-rendered, poseable, 6 inch action figures based on African Americans:

Bessie Coleman,

Benjamin Banneker, and

Matthew Alexander Henson

I like the character in their tiny faces, their posability, and their exquisite accessories. Sigh. If only those accessories were available for playscale figures. In addition to the figures and their accessories, HIA provides a four-page Teaching Guide with ideas for lesson plans based on the action figures. Cost for each figure is $24.95 or $68.95 for all three figures.

Additional links about HIA Toys and their products:

Toy Directory

RTM news clip

YouTube news clip

Dolls Like Me products

Men from Mattel in Action Figure Garb

From left to right: Romeo Ken in Ken tee shirt and action figure jeans, Arabian Knights Ken in BBi Elite Force tee and shorts, Happy Family AA Grandfather in Power Team shirt and pants, Superman Ken in action figure shirt and Jakks Pacific Camp Rock Shane's jeans, and Cali Guy Steven in action figure shirt and pants. All footwear, Mattel Ken.

In a recent We Love Black Dolls Yahoo Group thread about Ken's clothes, someone called for "intervention" for Ken's wardrobe. So instead of dressing action figures in Ken wear, I've pulled these Ken and other Mattel men to show these guys wearing various action figure clothes. (Other exception is the Shane jeans - Shane is another fashion doll.) The clothes described as "action figure" were purchased from Old Joe's Infirmary and/or other action figure online shops.

In a future post, I'll do a photo comparison of the Ken body types. Ken has moved from thin to husky to lean to muscled. So collectors need to consider which Ken body they are buying for since all Ken wear is NOT the same. Information about the various Ken bodies can be seen in Keeping Ken news section.

Happy viewing.