Happy Presidents Day! And Suggestions on Celebrating It

Happy Presidents Day, fellow Americans! 

Have you got your party favors tooting? Probably not. Although Presidents Day is a federal holiday, how do we celebrate it? Shopping. But if you'd like to investigate other activities for this day, check the suggestions in this article. Yes, sales is the first activity on the list. There are other activities, though. But sales is the first action there. Why? Sales can be fun.

Let's see who can help us: why Toys R Us is having a Presidents Day sale! How kind of them to provide us with sales at this time. Downright patriotic. Or just a post Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc. sale excuse? Now, I have not been to a Toys R Us recently, but are these prices sales prices? I suppose with the free shipping on some items, it might have been.

Another sales site is AbilitiesLive for used, dressed and nude fashion dolls. Nude Arwen, re-dressed Ariel, and several others are priced from $3.00 to $35.00US. Yes, that is from three to thirty-five dollars.

And here's a third sales site: Indonesia's Top Model. But wait, there are no prices. In fact, the site has stunning doll photography by Leo Christian showing various Barbie doll faces. While he is not selling anything, I bet you'll be inspired to update your Want List. I mentally added a few sculpts like Mermaid and Aphrodite that I had not thought I would like to my Want List. Sigh. 

So if you want late night online shopping trips, visit those sites. Happy viewing. Happy collecting.

Decision Made About Hasbro Kristen, Maxie's "Best Friend"

I've been pondering this question for a few years now: should I keep Hasbro Maxie friend Kristen or sell her? You'd think I would have decided long ago. She remains unopened in her original box. I don't have a story for her. When I look at her, I think her "lavender" eyes need to be painted. Her eyebrows are too faint. Her face is round ... like the Carly doll in the Maxie series. Probably she has the same face mold as Carly. So she doesn't have a unique face mold.

I do not like the sweet, romantic outfit she wears. Well, the blouse alone might be okay ... with a long black mermaid skirt. Wake up, Dana. Under what circumstance is that blouse acceptable? Just because you might have worn something like that back in 1987 ... shudder at the memory. The fishnet socks curl my nose. I can almost smell the ugly. Fishnet stockings have a dubious charm for certain types of characters. But as socks? Eeeewww. Did we really wear fashions that ugly? (Yes.) 

The yellow huaraches look comfortable. I wonder who else could fit them? Ashley, the only Maxie doll I really like. On the other hand, Kristen's hair looks full and curly. Maybe if I shortened it so that it fit like a shaggy helmet? She has a nice brown complexion. A solid, healthy weight that I approve of. Only ... 

I need to reduce my collection. Need space, want new dolls, and will be moving. Sure, I want to keep some dolls. Some is not all. I want to like this doll more than I do. When I thought that I would be the only collector of playscale dolls and action figures, keeping them all made sense. For posterity, etc. Well, that is not the case. Others have posted photos and information about Kristen online. 

 

Now that I made that decision ... what to charge for her? I think $20.00USD. What do you think? On eBay, she seems to go from $19.99 - $29.99. Price suggestions are welcome. Do send them in.

Integrity Toys' 2014 Dynamite Girls Love Connection

Photos for Integrity Toys' 2014 Dynamite Girls "Love Connection" are online.

First alert appeared in a tweet from Doll Observers. Then I checked The Fashion Doll Review and got more details: doll names and titles. Okay, I WANT new character Natural Beauty Tooka and Sweet Freedom Susie and maybe Own The Moment Aria and/or Take It Easy Cruz. I'm not 100% sold on him. I LOVE Tooka's corkscrew hair though and Susie's round face and the face screening on both of them. I love Aria's straw hat, coral floral print dress, and handbag.

So I have some major collection purging to do. Major.

List of Valentine Barbies from Your Anti-Valentine's Day Blogger

Pssst ... I am going to let you in on a BIG secret. (Looking around to see if anyone is near.) I am not big on the Valentine's Day scene.

Yeah, it's got chocolate. But I can get chocolate any time of the year. On sale, too, if I go for it after Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. Plus, I don't trust anyone to buy candy for me. My Dad told me years ago how he got back at a former girlfriend by popping chocolate ex-lax in her candy. I am so grateful for learning about that trick when I was a child. Never got hit by that one, ha ha.

Yeah, it's got flowers. Come on though. Those flowers are dead. Do I want someone killing flowers for me? No. As for flowery plants, do I look like a gardener? Okay, you don't know what I look like and who's to say what a gardener looks like? I like the idea of gardening better than the reality of playing with dirt and getting grimy fingernails. So nix the flowers.

Yeah, it's got stuffed animals. Surely, I can't resist the over-sized teddy bears or other candy-colored, stuffed critters? Wanna bet? In fact, I mentally gag at the sight of pastel-putrid Care Bear-like creatures. Give them ooey, gooey, baby-talk voices and watch me hurl. My eye twitches from annoyance. I get hives at the thought of the saccharine overload.

So, I am likely the last person to promote the red-and-pink holiday. On the other hand, I am not mean-spirited enough to spoil whatever joy others derive from the holiday. Life is short; people should savor it as much as they can. I like to provide fun information. Here is an online list of Valentine's Day Barbies. So you can see Valentine's Day Barbies and similar-themed Barbie dolls with the odd Kelly or Chelsea appearing.

I hope you enjoy this non-caloric link. No flowers, stuffed or live animals, or people were injured in the making of this post.

Past Black Doll, Black Action Figure, or Black History Posts

One benefit of having blogged for over five years is that I have lots of posts. Lots. So, it occurred to me that some newer readers might have missed a good post or two. And regular readers might also have missed a post. It's happened to me on sites I regularly visit. So for this post, I am sharing previous years' black history and/or black doll-themed posts.

If you see any posts that you would like revisited or expanded on, let me know. If I still have the figure, I'll expand it. Or if you'd like to hear a different angle on an old post, let me know that, too. Oh and any favorites, let me know about them, too. Thanks and enjoy!

2009 New blogger - photos only

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-history-month-dafs-photo-round.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-history-month-dafs-photo-round_04.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-history-month-dafs-photo-round_05.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-history-month-dafs-photo-round_08.html

2010 Famous figures, complexion variation, sub-groups

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/so-in-style-sisters-chandra-and-zahara.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/13-famous-black-dafs.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/shades-of-black-part-one-mattel-male.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-of-best-flavas-choice-awards-tre.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/presenting-disco-wanda-by-shindana.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/shades-of-black-part-two-hasbro-male.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/shades-of-black-integrity-male.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/shades-of-black-part-four-m-c-toys.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2010/02/mattel-flavas-tre-by-two.html

2011 DBG Interview and different groups

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2011/02/which-black-fashion-dolls-andor-action.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-with-debbie-garrett-of-black.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-family-in-playscale-part-1.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2011/11/award-night-tawny-of-flavas-2003.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2011/11/choice-awards-tawny-of-flavas.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2011/12/vivid-imaginations-brown-british-are.html

2012 Hair texture, stories, and a vehicle

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2012/02/olmec-naomi-and-mattel-kiddies.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2012/02/pizza-and-chocolate-enough-tjs.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2012/02/tianas-car-out-of-ordinary.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-month-and-ethnic-daf-hair.html

2013 Specific lines

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/02/enterbays-django-figures.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/02/janay-by-integrity-toys.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/10/kenyas-male-friends-found-in-philly.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/10/janay-research-pinterest-update.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/11/prettie-girls-review-links.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/11/bern-nadette-good-times-stannis-fan.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/12/whos-that-janay-test-your-integrity.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/12/happy-kwanzaa.html

http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/2013/12/collectors-three-mixis-three-and.html

Which Ten Black Dolls Would You Choose? A Black History Themed Post

Fantasy scene: a modern doll and action figure museum is closing. Its prize-winning collection of black playscale dolls and action figures will be distributed to a group of doll enthusiasts. Each enthusiast is allowed any ten pieces - either dolls and/or action figures - and ten pieces exactly. No more, no less. Congratulations: you have a winning ticket. Which ten black dolls and/or action figures would you choose? 

You can have any black or black-mix doll ever produced. Want the original Colored Francie? You can have her. What about a Django Jamie Fox? He's yours. YNU Group, Inc.'s Emerald or Opal? Either or both, yours. Integrity Toys' Adele, Jordan, Nadja, or Janay - and which one(s)? Again, yours. This is a fantasy so any you choose. Be generous and share your dream choices here in a comment. 

Which dolls and/or action figures would I choose? Sigh. Oh, it was a difficult decision to make. But I did it. I will post my choices on February 28, 2014. That post will be loaded after I finish this one.

toyhaven: Review 1: MC Toys 1/6 The End Walker 12" figure - ...

toyhaven: Review 1: MC Toys 1/6 The End Walker 12" figure - ...: This is the recently released MC Toys F-034 1/6 scale The End Walker 12-inch figure which is inspired by / based on the character Denzel Was...



Okay, I don't need to say anything about this link except that it's another photo-rich, detailed review by collector-enthusiast-writer Alex aka @lex Gen X 1:6. And Denzel Washington is the inspiration for the figure. As Alex asked, do you think this figure resembles the actor? I left my answer at Alex's site. You can leave your responses here or there or in both places ;-D



Enjoy.