August Heat vs. Our Playscale Pals

August. Sultry summer time. Pfft.

Dog days of summer. Hot, humid atmosphere. Thunderstorms bringing relief. Mego melt? Try any manufacturer's melt - excessive heat is dangerous to all plastic and/or vinyl DAFs. Direct sunlight - no, no. Please be careful about exposing your DAFs to direct sunlight AND please try to keep them cool. Plastic joints and seams will melt and make it harder to pose.

Denise Van Patten has suggestions for protecting your DAFs in general safe as well as specific suggestions for Barbie types. Additional reading can be found at
1st Collectibles.

Hot weather is tough enough for sweating humans, but it's brutal and fatal for our plastic and vinyl folks, too. Take care.

Do You Know Your Male DAFs Legs?

Below are two photos showing the legs of six male dolls and/or action figures. Can you guess which legs belong to Kens?

I'll post the answer tomorrow.

Happy viewing ;-D

2010 and New DAF Resolutions

The time has come for me to review my collection as I have never reviewed it before. Reading other collectors' stories and viewing their photographs helped me realize that I could be having more fun with my 1:6 scale companions.

Elizabeth Allen of Love has Fangs fame sent me a link to this article by Maria Greene discussing how to reduce a large doll collection.

Reading the article, I realized that

1. I have too many dolls to fit in my available display space.

2. Some of them are still in their boxes.

3. I've forgotten about some dolls I have.

4. I'm not giving them enough attention.


Sooo ... something has to change. I have to evaluate, to make and to execute certain resolutions. Here's a starter list:


1. Reduce, reduce, reduce.

2. Diversify.

3. Learn camera settings and improve on photography techniques.

4. Photograph DAFs in settings.

5. Write DAF stories.

6. Participate in online DAF groups - again.

I've begun the Reduce step by selling some DAFs online here.

The article also has tips on avoiding DAF overpopulation and suggestions on how to reduce a large collection. While the article was written with larger dolls in mind, it has advice that I or any playscale collector can use.

Happy reading and best wishes for any collection "weeding" that occurs.

Top Ten DAFs of 2009 (Steps Four-Six)

• 10 - One2Believe Tales of Glory Esther
  
• 9 - Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Priyanka Chopra
  
• 8 - Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Hrithik Roshan
  
• 7 - M & C Toy Centre World Peacekeepers Combat Engineer Power Team Elite
  
• 6 - Mattel High School Musical 3 In the Spotlight Tiara Gold
  
• 5 - Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Kajol
  
• 4 - Haschel Toys Olga Tanon
  
• 3 - Aoshima/Skynet Girl's Mission No. 4 Mai
  
• 2 - Integrity Fashion Royalty Bewitching Hour Luchia
  
• 1 - Integrity Dynamite Girls Heartbreaker T.J.
  

One-Five




Six-Ten

Step Three: More Than 10? Review Again

Two removed from the list. Now, who do I really, really, really like? In this second elimination, I separate dolls and action figures (DAFs) that I like from DAFs I love. A List versus B List. Like B list actors, B list DAFs are keepers. They just lack that je ne sais quoi that the A list or Top 10 DAFs have. Meet the B List DAFs new in 2009:

• M & C Toy Centre World Peacekeepers E.O.D. Technician Power Team Elite
  
• Mattel Ballerina Barbie
  
• Mattel SiS So in Style Kara
  
• Mattel SiS So in Style Kianna
  
• Mattel Beach Party Nikki
  
• Mattel High School Musical 3 Graduation Day Ryan
  
• Mattel High School Musical 3 In the Spotlight Sharpay Evans
  
• Play Along Ltd. Cheetah Girls Growl Power Dorinda
  
• Revell GmbH& Co. KG Kick-O-Mania Hamburger SV Benjamin Lauth
  

The World Peacekeepers E.O.D. Technician is cute. But although he is an older man - and not as well represented in the DAF world as might be expected, he misses falling into the Top 10 list because he is not that exciting.

Ballerina Barbie, SiS Kara, Nikki, and Sharpay are pretty dolls. But that's the most I can say about them. I like them in my collection, but nothing stands out about them. Kianna works the cute factor - who can bypass curly pigtails - but she looks like the other SiS little sisters. Graduation Day Ryan has the kilt working in his favor. Oh and the soft curled, rooted hair. Move past the hair and the kilt though and where's the draw? Yawn. Stretch.

I like the Cheetah Girls Dorinda ... she looks like a character more than some dolls who look doll, but she just misses the wow factor. Sigh. I like Benjamin Lauth, another character, but articulation-wise, he's on the stiff side. For an action figure. I like that he isn't as pretty/handsome as my Kens, but again, no wow factor.

So where am I now? Who are the remaining 10 by manufacturer?

1. Aoshima/Skynet Girl's Mission No. 4 Mai
   
2. Haschel Toys Olga Tanon
   
3. Integrity Dynamite Girls Heartbreaker T.J.
   
4. Integrity Fashion Royalty Bewitching Hour Luchia
   
5. M & C Toy Centre World Peacekeepers Combat Engineer Power Team Elite
   
6. Mattel High School Musical 3 In the Spotlight Tiara Gold
   
7. One2Believe Tales of Glory Esther
   
8. Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Hrithik Roshan
   
9. Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Kajol
   
10. Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Priyanka Chopra
    

Next step will be to rank them. Now that will be fun ... groan. Not.

Step One: List of DAFs Received in 2009 to Date

Manufacturer and Doll or Action Figure (DAF) Name

1. Aoshima/Skynet Girl's Mission No. 4 Mai
   
2. Haschel Toys Olga Tanon
   
3. Integrity Dynamite Girls Heartbreaker T.J.
   
4. Integrity Fashion Royalty Bewitching Hour Luchia
   
5. M & C Toy Centre World Peacekeepers Combat Engineer Power Team Elite
   
6. M & C Toy Centre World Peacekeepers E.O.D. Technician Power Team Elite
   
7. Mattel Ballerina Barbie
   
8. Mattel SiS So in Style Kara
   
9. Mattel SiS So in Style Kianna
   
10. Mattel My Scene Lindsey Lohan
    
11. Mattel Beach Party Nikki
    
12. Mattel High School Musical 3 Graduation Day Ryan
    
13. Mattel High School Musical 3 In the Spotlight Sharpay Evans
    
14. Mattel High School Musical 3 In the Spotlight Tiara Gold
    
15. One2Believe Tales of Glory Esther
    
16. One2Believe Tales of Glory Noah
    
17. Play Along Ltd. Cheetah Girls Growl Power Dorinda
    
18. Revell GmbH& Co. KG Kick-O-Mania Hamburger SV Benjamin Lauth
    
19. Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Hrithik Roshan
    
20. Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Kajol
    
21. Spinmaster Bollywood Legends Priyanka Chopra
    

These are the DAFs I have received for 2009 to this date. Please note: any other DAFs received but NOT shown here are gifts to be given to me at Christmas. Those DAFs are not in my possession yet.

Attempting Order: DAF Organization, Part 1

I spent time offline in the DAF Room. I separated boxed dolls from out-of-boxed dolls, from loose clothes. The above photo shows my progress. To the left, there's an open box of NRFB dolls and action figures with a narrower box of deboxed figures on top. In the middle, there are loose dolls and action figures. To the right, I have two big bins of loose clothes (his, hers, hers) and more loose clothes in smaller plastic boxes. These are my keepers, the ones I want to retain.

Phew!

Order established in one section. Yay! Applause!

DAF = Dolls and Action Figures in Danaspeak

Dear Readers and Would Be Poll Responders:

I apologize for not clarifying this abbreviation sooner, but the "DAF" described in my poll about what you would like to see here at PhillyCollector means ...

DOLLS and ACTION FIGURES

A kind collector pointed out that I had not stated what "DAF" abbreviated.

Thanks to those who voted and to those who intend to vote.

Sincerely Me

Ummm ... Dana ;-D

Collector Confession: Dolls Get Dirty in Boxes

Identifying the dolls on the Sterilite chest:

Mattel Kate Jackson, Ideal Suntan Tuesday Taylor, Mattel Steve Sunshine, Hasbro Young Moses, Mattel 101 Dalmatians Barbie (AA), Mattel Michael (formerly of the Young Sweethearts), Mattel Asha, Mattel Baggie Francie, Ideal Beauty Queen Tuesday Taylor, Ideal Little Sister Dodi, and Hae Chung

Some of the dolls in the above photo come from my childhood and teen years. They're a little dusty because I had them in a cardboard box. So dust can penetrate cardboard boxes. Sigh. Time to get a plastic basin, some dishwash detergent, and a big fluffy towel.

Yet another reason why I need to overhaul my collection. I can't take great care of my collection at its current size. Specially since there are new ones I want to bring in ....

New Doll and Action Figure Sources

I thought when K B Toys, National Wholesale Liquidators, and Value City closed, that my access to local stores selling recent AND reduced-price items was done. I am happy to report that my sad assumptions were wrong. There remain places where I and other DAF collectors can find reduced-price DAFs for reasonable prices. Here are three altermatives to Walmart, Target, Kohl's:

Ross
Check individual stores - the 2520 West Moreland Road (Willow Grove) store has the best 1:6 scale selection of the stores I have visited so far; the 701 Market Street (Center City Philly), the 4640 Roosevelt Boulevard, and the 2426 S 23rd Street (South Philly) stores had few 1:6 offerings when I visited those stores. I have not yet checked the new Ross at 3001 W Cheltenham Avenue (Wyncote).

Recently, I bought a Cheetah Girl Dorinda for $4.99 at the Willow Grove Ross.

Conway
Check individual stores - the 34 S. 69th Street (Upper Darby) store has a dedicated toy section; the 2370 Oregon Avenue and 101 E. Olney Avenue stores may or may not have 1:6 scale DAFs.

A.J. Wright
Check individual stores - the 1000 Easton Road location (Wyncote) has a smaller 1:6 scale toy selection than the one at 700 E. Hunting Park Avenue.