New Blog Alert - Male Dolls and Action Figures

Just dropping a brief line here about a new blog featuring great photography and MALE dolls and action figures. The author has POWER TEAM guys. All together.

I don't see how to follow yet. And I would LOVE to have the link to the Toy Centre page showing the black figures' faces. Sigh.

Happy Valentine's Day!

T.J. and her male friends say, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

Let's Make a Deal ...

This is IT!

I definitely have to reduce the number of dolls, action figures, and stuff that I have. So, I want to let you, my readers, have the first chance to buy almost any doll or action figure shown here. (Holds hand up to still the squeals, excited gasps, etc. - yeah, right, hmmm? LOL) Please scan my photos here and on Webshots and let me know what interests you.

No, I have not given up the hobby. I just need to reduce the quantity and soon. Shrug.

If so, send me an email. Perhaps we can make a sale. Ooops, I mean deal.

Other Hispanic Dolls and Action Figures

Below are some non-Mattel Hispanic dolls or action figures that I own. I don't have the Selena or the Ricky Martin dolls so they are not included in this list.

BBi Perfect Body Female Action Figure
Perfect Body

BBi Male Action Figure
Sargent Mendez

Chic Boutique
Chicas a la Moda Arianna

Chic Boutique
Glamour Girl Flower Power

Get Real Girl
Gabi

Get Set Club
Isabella

Hasbro
G. I. Joe

Haschel Toys
Olga Tanon

Hot Toys
Bronze TrueType Figures

Integrity
Alejandro from the Janay line

Integrity
Alysa from the Janay line

Integrity
Candi

Jakks Pacific
GirlForce Bianca

Jakks Pacific
Fashion Doll: Muneca de Mode Catalina

Jakks Pacific
Fashion Doll: Muneca de Mode Damita

Lanard
I-Girl Rio

Play Along Ltd., Division of Jakks Pacific
Chanel of the Cheetah Girls

Play Along Ltd., Division of Jakks Pacific
Dorinda  of the Cheetah Girls

Playmates Toys Inc.
Ever Girl

R&D Dolls
Susie

Woolworth's
Manuel

Yaboom
Christina Aguilera

YNU Group Inc.
Mixis Rosa

Please write if you are aware of other Hispanic fashion dolls or action figures.

Lads in Leather I

Random male dolls and male action figures in leather (pleather?) outfits. I think our Asian American G.I. Joe is wondering whether he should have worn a red shirt. He and I like the small splash of color though.

He can't help the white gloves - they're molded on.

Hot Toys Presents ... Michael Jackson: BAD

Michael Jackson's Bad is my favorite Michael Jackson song/video. So when I saw that Hot Toys is offering a third Michael Jackson figure - previous MJ figures were Thriller and Billie Jean - well, I had to share that information, didn't I?

ToysRevil offers exhaustive details.

Hobby Search offers these photos.

Bigbadtoystore has the lowest price I have seen $189.99.

This figure has moving eyes AND multiple hands for different poses. MOVING EYES?! The resemblance is striking; would you say that it looks exactly like Michael Jackson though?

Hot Toys ... nobody does it better ...

Mr. Sulu 2009 Now Here

I know I should be downsizing, BUT ... he was on sale. If I waited, I might have missed him. He was only $14.98 before tax. He's an Asian playscale male figure. (Hey, that's part of my defense. How many Asian playscale men can we collectors find? Uh huh. Understood, right? I formally forgive me.)

So what I won't be able to remove the boots. Omar from He's a Doll Yahoo Group and other doll and action figure sites notes that this Mr. Sulu can wear Ken clothes. (Defense argument number 3 - the price was argument number 2.)

Let's welcome Mr. Sulu from the Star Trek 2009 movie. Hey, where did he go?

Anyone think it was the Ken clothes comment?

Five Reasons Why I Love the Power Team Figures

1. Reasonably priced
   
   I have paid from $5.00 to $19.99 for Power Team figures. The $5.00 figures from Dollar General only came dressed, but the $9.99 and $19.99 have included 1:6 scale weapons, mechanical equipment, gym gear, and tables as accessories.
   
   
   
2. The Strength of the Direct Gaze
   
   These guys look you in the eye. They mean business. I can believe that they are heroes without capes. (And yes, Kim, most action figures seem to look straight ahead.)
   
   
   
3. Strike a Pose?
   
   Can they be posed? Oh, yes. The Power Team Guys can move it, move it. Do they look good while posing? Yes again. Some of the earlier models have huge ham-fists, but later figures have better proportioned hands and fingers.
   
   
   
4. Interesting Faces
   
   Look at their faces - not a single bland face in the lot. They have personality.
   
   
   
5. World Representatives - Various Races
   
   Finally, they represent the world. Name a race or ethnicity, and you can likely find a representative of that group in the Power Team figures.
   

Shades of Black, Part Two: Hasbro Male Complexions

The action figures shown above are from left to right:

G. I. Joe Basic Training Heavy Duty Lamont A. Morris, Heavy Ordinance Specialist
G. I. Joe Tuskegee Fighter Pilot
Star Wars Attack of the Clones Mace Windu
G. I. Joe Valor vs. Venom Roadblock a.k.a. Marvin F. Hinton
Star Wars Return of the Jedi Lando Calrissian

Hasbro colors their Black males from medium red brown (Mace Windu) to dark expresso brown (Lando Calrissian). A recent exception though would be the Black Joe character, Ripcord in the recent G.I. Joe movie.

Aside: Hasbro's newer action figures avoid the "Ken bump" or "no bump" by dressing their male figures in molded underpants either in "flesh" colors OR in the color of the molded on tee shirt or top. Later Kens have used the same approach to male dolls' anatomy. Would be interesting to see if the molded underpants proved less traumatic than the "no bump" body.

Husky Guys Having Fun

They only fit Ken's clothes with MUCH stretching - except for those boxer shorts, whew! Here are 4 of my huskier guys at play.










Who's who though? Well, there's Toy Biz Gandalf with the long gray beard, Ideal's Eric (Tuesday Taylor's boyfriend) in an orange modified unitard, Jakks Pacific Jericho in molded on black briefs, and Playmates Star Trek Original Sulu. Are they wrestling, dancing, or cavorting?

Action Figure Line-up at StinkersStuff

Have you ever wondered how action figures stand against fashion dolls, particularly the taller Fashion Royalty dolls? Well, Johanna of Stinker's Stuff offers this fun visual aide plus review of several current action figures.

She also has an impressive line of fashion dolls here.

Sigh. That's how I want to collect once I have downsized.

Five Hot Toys Gentleman Plus a Majestic Studios Guest

I realized that I did not have any photos of my Hot Toys guys together. There are only five of them, but I thought, it would be pleasing to see them in one photograph. Usually, I have them with other figures. Today, I brought them together for a "family" shot and then added a figure from Majestic Studios. Can you guess the outsider?

The outsider stands out easily for me, but then I know his origins. But even if I didn't know his action figure pedigree, I could guess by his facial screening. Different companies have different face rendering. As I collect, I have learned the style of different companies so if I see a doll or action figure on a shelf, I can usually guess the manufacturer. I wouldn't confuse a Fashion Royalty doll with a Mattel doll or a YNU Group Mixis with a Get Set Club doll or a Susie with a Momoko.

Action figures, though, can be trickier. Bbi and Dragon figures are trickiest for me to distinguish. Hasbro Joes and Power Team guys though are easier.

Okay, I confess: I just wanted to photograph some HOT Hot Toys LOL.

Graphic Novel About 1:6 Scale Vampires

Want more vampire stories? What about a modern vampire series that has humor AND pathos? There's a new graphic novel that covers that bill.

Men With Dolls regulars will need no introduction to Elizabeth Allen's Love Has Fangs photo stories, but for other doll and action figure collectors, here is the back story. You can view the series online, but the graphic novel has these scenes recast with doll and action figure actors. Whooo hooo!

You can buy the graphic novel from Lulu.

Fun reading for the YOUNG ADULT and the ADULT doll and action figure collector. Note: I mention young adult and adult because Love Has Fangs, like Roville in recent years, has adult themes.

What's in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma? Action Figure Museum

Yes, I did write "Action Figure Museum." And I did write "Oklahoma."

Here's a link to the Action Figure museum.

Fashion Insider Ken Borrows Action Figure Clothes

Fashion Insider Ken, one of the Silkstone Ken dolls, borrowed a few action figure clothes. As you will see in these photos, FI Ken adds elegance to standard black cargo pants, Power Team jeans, pinstriped shirts, and an abstract print jacket. The black-white sneakers shown are from the Get Set Club (G-Five) dolls, and they fit him nicely.

So Silkstone Ken fans who want to expand their Kens' clothing options should look in the green aisle aka the male action figure fashion websites. In addition to military clothes, there are also casual fashions and sometimes a few dressier pieces. Please see previous posts on Ken in action figure garb here.

One final note: unless your Ken is channeling Santa in off hours or has gained weight, avoid Soldiers of the World jeans. Those pants have a wider waist than most other male dolls or action figures need. Off the Soldiers of the World figures, those jeans look like granny-and-grandpa jeans where both grands can fit in the pants at once.

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.

Sewing Samples from My Past

Back in the 1970s, I used to "make" my dolls clothes. Funds were limited: I had an allowance of $1.25 a week and daily lunch money. Even skimping on lunch, I needed to choose between dolls or action figures and accessories for them. Dana the budding collector would usually choose a doll or an action figure. I had about three patterns for doll clothes OR I could trace the outline of outfits my dolls wore. My pieces were serviceable. I could "make" the outfits more like what a real person (i.e., ME) would wear.

Here are some pieces I made. I photographed them and then turned some of them inside out to show seams and hemming. In the first photo, I have a rose polyester blouse, a brown corduroy jumper, a white cotton full slip, a denim miniskirt, a gray midi skirt, a white polyester shirt for Michael of the Young Sweethearts, and a reproduction of a 19th Century set of white cotton bloomers.






I didn't have a sewing machine. Nor did I want one at the time. I used old clothes or small fabric swatches from fabric stores. Nothing elaborate. But I had fun. And my dolls had "original" clothes ;-D

Saving Ryan Whittaker

Ryan Whittaker ... almost removed from the Final Fantasy outfit.




Next step? I'll heat a knife to remove his feet and one leg from those boots. Glue on the left foot. Allow time for it to set. Then I can re-dress him.

Yay!

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.

Action Figures Correct Action Shot

A funny thing happened after I shot some photos of some dolls and action figures. I wasn't sure that I would even post them today. Just fooling around with some figures in a gym setting. Minus some of my gym stuff that I tucked away. Argh. Well, I had taken the photos I wanted so I returned to my computer.

Kunkle, kunkle. I looked up and turned around to where that sound came from. The sound of plastic hitting the carpet. Twisted my head to find my two boxers no longer on the table where I had posed them, but under the table in an action pose better than mine. I laughed to see them there, posed more realistic if more violent than I had intended. Like they wanted to show me what real action poses looked like. Sigh. Everybody's a critic.

Then again, it's getting late. I'm just tired. But here are the photos for you to decide ;-D







Course being me, I had to show them "making nice."