Who's That Susie?

Anyone recognize the Susie in the photo below? The photo itself once was part of a PhillyCollector header. 

Can't recognize her? I'll tell you then: this Susie is the Los Angeles Luxe doll created for the 2006 Barbie Convention. She has long straight dark auburn hair and brown eyes with painted eyelashes.  She's shown wearing her original fashion, a gunmetal gray bolero jacket and a gunmetal gray halter midi dress. Does anyone recognize her now?

Asian American DAFs: Hey Girls!

Six lovely Asian American dolls. Who are they?

1. Get Real Girl, Skylar Ron, Japanese Canadian

2. Hasbro, Starlight Girl Banee, Vietnamese American

3. Mattel, Friend of Kelly, specific Asian background not provided

4. Mattel, Happy Family's Neighborhood baby, specific Asian background not provided

5. Playmates, everGirl, specific Asian background not provided

6. Kenner, The Babysitters Club Claudia Kishi, Japanese American

I will post other Asian American dolls and action figures, too.

"Borrowing" Mixis Fashions - Impromptu Fashion Show

Ever wonder what other dolls or action figures can wear Mixis fashions? I had submitted photos for a thread on this query at the Men With Dolls board. Below are some additional photos of other dolls and action figures wearing Mixis fashions.




Sideshow Buffy wearing LE Rosa's brown shrug and LE Opal's pants, Mego Diana Ross wearing LE Emerald's turquoise tank and LE Rosa's denim mini, and Lanard I-Girl Rio wearing LE Opal's orange tank and LE Emerald's denim mini.




BBi Perfect Body Hispanic wearing Happy Family Alan's shirt and LE Opal's pants, Jakks Pacific G.I.R.L. Force Kulture Shock Jaz wearing Sunshine Opal's sundress, Get Set Club Fiona wearing Sunshine Houda's sundress, and Get Real Girl Gabi wearing LE Opal's orange tank and LE Emerald's denim mini.




Fashion Fever Barbie (Belly button body) in LE Emerald's tank and LE Opal's pants, Ladies Mission Nun Kyoko Tenryu in a Ken tee shirt and LE Rosa's denim mini (stockings, boots, and cross her own), and Jakks Pacific Jaz showing the back of her borrowed sundress that - yay! actually closes - fits.




Surprise! Paparazzi Bait Adele in Sunshine Rosa's sundress.

Deboxing and Photographing I-Girls

I spent part of today deboxing and photographing my four I-Girls. Still have more to un-do for Sahara and the camp set. Off the cuff comment, these dolls are pretty but not strong on ethnic looks. Also, the Get Real Girls - probably the closest to the I-Girls in figure and outlook - have sturdier bodies. I'll write more about them and upload photos tomorrow.

Mixis Girls and Jakks Pacific Pants - Match at Last

Rosa, Opal, Emerald, and Houda have limited clothing options. Yes, they can fit the Get Set dolls' pants. So that would be a pair of black nylon pull-on pants. If, you have Get Set doll pants, which most collectors probably won't have because the Get Set dolls did not have a long production run.

Yes, the Mixis can wear Ken pants, but the lines are wrong for them. The Ken pants have straight lines; the Mixis have curvy bodies. Possibly the gold harem pants of the Arabian Nights Ken could work. Regular Ken pants though look as though the girls are borrowing their boyfriends' pants.

The Mixis can - just - fit the Get Real Girls' tops and some of the GRG jackets. But the GRG pants are too narrow.

Welcome to the Jakks Pacific doll closet, specifically for their Girl F.O.R.C.E. line. Bingo! The pants fit the Mixis. While Jakks Pacific did not produce a clothing line for that doll line, there were at least 13 Girl F.O.R.C.E. dolls produced. Three dolls for Josie and the Pussycats (Kmart), six dolls for the Charlie's Angels series, and various Girl F.O.R.C.E. dolls, Creanna, Bianca, Lola, and Jaz.

Note 1: the black pants for Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats stain the doll's body.

Note 2: Jakks Pacific produced two other fashion dolls, Catalina and Damita, around 2005. These dolls' figures are closer to swimsuit Barbies' figures. The three pants shown on the box for this series would probably NOT fit the Mixis dolls.

For photos and comments comparing the Mixis with other playscale dolls see this entry.



Opal in My Scene guy top and Jakks Pacific pants; Emerald in Get Real Girl top and Ken shorts




Second view of Opal in My Scene guy top and Jakks Pacific pants

10 Series of Barbie Doll Alternatives, Past and Present

Barbie, Barbie, Barbie.

Sigh.

The playscale fashion doll scene seems to revolve around Barbie. Shorthand: fashion doll = Barbie. Non-collectors describe dolls not produced by Mattel or under the Barbie brand as "Barbie." Collectors compare other fashion dolls to Barbie: cheap playscale dolls are called "Barbie clones." Clone in this case is a negative. But is every playscale figure a Barbie clone? Usually, clones are cheaply made, poor quality dolls like some of the dollar store offerings. What about decent quality or even better quality playscale fashion dolls? Do they exist?

Yes, they do. Here are ten playscale doll series that "correct" or "improve" on some aspect of Barbie. They are less sophisticated, more ethnically "correct" or physically realistic, more brazen in three cases, more "intelligent," or otherwise ANTI-Barbie.

1. Ideal - Tammy the Doll You Love to Dress

2. Various companies - Sindy the Doll You Love to Dress

3. Hasbro - JEM

4. Hamilton Designs - Candi Girl / Candi (later designed by Jason Wu and Integrity Toys)

5. Get Real Girls

6. Get Set Club

7. Lanard - I-Girls

8. Smartees

9. Mattel - Flavas

10. MGA Entertainment - Bratz

Mixis Update and Redressed Photos

I visited the Mixis store today. The web site has been updated to include a FAQ page. More dolls will be coming in 2009 and -- I am over-the-top-gleeful at this news -- there will be dioramas, furniture, and BOYS. Multi-ethnic boys. I have to send this information to Jef and my Yahoo Groups. I have to send this everywhere! Multi-ethnic BOYS um MEN. Whhooo hooo!!!

Usually, I get my ethnic guys from the action figure lines: Dragon, Hot Toys, MC Toys. I feel lucky to get them. They usually wear military gear, but sometimes you can find them in casual wear or in suits. Sigh. Action figure collectors often lament Ken fashions - oh, heck, so do I sometimes. I mean pink and lavender ... bleh! I wouldn't wear lavender.

But multi-ethnic guys outside of the Bratz line (the no-noses and big heads) ... wow! I can't wait. Upon reflection, I can -- need time to hoard funds for those guys. And anticipation can be delicious.

Four [ethnic] inspired outfits are shown: Chinese, Japanese, Central American, and a new one - Denim Pink Vest. The Chinese and the Central American outfits are must gets for me: I like the reds and the styles. Emerald models the wine red Chinese outfit (tunic and knickers) while Rosa models the Central American outfit (white peasant blouse and true red circle skirt). The Japanese outfit doesn't particularly work for me, possibly because I don't care for pastel florals. (Shrug.) It is a modified kimono dress with modified gei sandals. However, the Denim Pink Vest has these absolutely adorable pink suede fur-topped boots. Nothing I would wear, but the sort of thing you would buy for your teenage daughter or niece or admire on an exuberant person. Kicky-cute. The light blue denim jacket and mini skirt - modeled by Houda - are also cute, attractive casual wear.

Since I couldn't get my hands on new outfits or new dolls, I had fun with my current Mixis crew. It's a cold day in Philly so I found outerwear for my first three and a new outfit altogether for Houda. (Hey, she'd freeze in this weather wearing her cotton sundress!) Rosa borrowed a red Get Real Girl jacket, Emerald borrowed Aaron Carter's denim jacket, and Opal borrowed a Toys R Us Exclusive Barbie coat from 2001. Houda borrowed a red Get Real Girl tee shirt, a Get Real Girl denim jacket, and Get Set Isabella's black knit pants. (Those black knit pants fit the Bbi Perfect Body figures as well.)

Note: the Mixis dolls don't fit the Barbie pants. The Get Real Girls' pants don't quite fit either. The Mixis dolls have wider hips. If I were to make a pants pattern for them, I would use the Get Set pants or Opal's pants.





The Mixis store web address is http://s50514.gridserver.com/store/ .

Thanks, Debbie Goodland and the YNU Group Team!

Mixis Reviews on Amazon.com

Yesterday, I added reviews for Mixis Emerald and Mixis Houda to their entries on Amazon.com.

The more I look at these dolls, the more I like them. I'm thinking of deboxing the Get Real Girl outfits I have so that they can wear more suitable -- late fall -- outfits. I might also borrow from the I-Girls dolls. The Mixis outfits are online, but I won't be able to get them for some time.

Maybe I'll add extra photos to the Amazon.com entries for the Mixis dolls that I have ....