New Pinterest Board: I am NOT B@rbie

Collector Confession: when I see Fashion Royalty dolls labelled as "Barbies," I correct the error in my mind, but I would love to have a magic eraser to remove the error and a magic pen to enter the correct name. It's not a value matter - Integrity Toys' Fashion Royalty dolls have their good points. Mattel dolls have their good points. But ... they are NOT the same. Think Kleenex brand versus the generic word, tissue. Barbie is NOT the generic word for all playscale or all plastic fashion dolls. Other manufacturers deserve credit for the products they create. 

A doll enthusiast buddy, Playscale Poser, suggested I  upload photos of non-Barbie dolls I have to help others identify those dolls.

So I have decided to do my part in seeing that dolls and action figures are properly identified. 

Drumroll ... I unleash a NEW Pinterest board, I am NOT B@rbie . There, I'll post photos of other dolls and action figures. I only have about 14 pins up, but I plan on adding more. Suggestions always welcome.

Do you recognize me?

Playscale Booty Babe Dolls? Links to Adult Content

Warning: links show voluptuous female statues. Do not click if such images would offend you.


Booty Babe is a series of full-figured female resin statues created by Spencer Davis in 1998. The artist added clay to an unspecified 1/6 scale fashion doll, and some time later, voilà, Booty Babe was born. (You can read this interview about the artist and his work.) I first saw Booty Babe on doll enthusiast Roxanne's blog: the rounded Booty Babe offers an interesting contrast to the more familiar slim fashion dolls and action figures.

Recently, Mr. Davis launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of additional 1/6 scale Booty Babe dolls/statues. That campaign netted $29, 231 dollars - surpassing the goal of $15,000 - this January. Successful campaign, yes? However, I think that these art doll/statues will remain more statue than doll in spite of the scale and the rooted hair. The line breaks for articulation would probably "disrupt" the vision.

Would I buy this doll if she were produced as an articulated doll with joints at her neck, shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees? For body diversity? To have a new face? Maybe. However, her eyes are shut. Closed eyes to me means sleeping, dead, or tuning me out. My dolls can *sleep* when I am not around - wink. I don't have any uses for a dead doll. No zombie stories pending. Tuning me out - well, that seems rude. But that's me.

Here are two other opinions. A male guest reviewer discusses his enthusiasm about Booty Babe. Another reviewer has a different stance.

You might wonder if there are any buxom fashion dolls in East Philly. Yes, there are. And they make standard Barbie look small. Here are three of them: Eegee Dolly Parton, Blue Box Perfect Body action figure, and PhillyCollector regular, Aoshima/Skynet Girl's Mission Mai. 

Additional Reading?

Spencer Davis/Booty Babe Facebook page

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164381455119453274/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/189291990563839238/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/189291990563839540/

December Themes and Catching Up on Past Themes

CATCH UP! 

That phrase will appear a lot this month. I want to complete viable post drafts. Get better photos up. Like this photo of Dragon Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Mattel Barbie Princess of the Navajo that was to have been part of my Native American doll and action figure post. I think they look great together.

Dragon Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Mattel Barbie Princess of the Navajo

Other topics I want to address this month:

December 17 Chanukah/Hanukkah 

December 21 December Solstice

December24 Christmas Eve

December 25 Christmas

December 26 Kwanzaa

December31 New Year's Eve


Happy December, all!

October Theme: Filipino American Representation in Playscale, Pt.2

Here are some dolls or action figures I have "borrowed" to expand a Filipino American collection. Which ones do you think "work"  for this role?

Asian/Asian American Dolls and action figures

Let's meet them, going from left to right:

Hasbro Special Response Team G. I. Joe - yes, he is an Asian American G.I. Joe.

Mattel Captain Li Shang - per the Disney Mulan story, he is Chinese. Maybe he has
Chinese Filipino background?

Jakks Pacific G.I.R.L. Force Kulture Shock Jaz - I need to find her box, but I don't think she was assigned to a specific Asian group.

Dragon New Generation Mong Kok C.I.D. "Wai" Sir- okay, he is assigned to a specific part of Hong Kong, Mong Kok, so he's Chinese or a Hong Konger.

New Desi Barbie, Kiyaa Celebrating Girlhood

Looking for a new Desi (Indian) fashion doll? Welcome Kiyaa, the newly touted Indian counterpart to Barbie, created by Hima Sailaja Theerdala. The former software engineer and present entrepreneur created Kiyaa to represent Indian looks and values. Kiyaa is a sixteen-year-old, "girl-next-door type." While the doll's height is not explicitly stated, she does look Barbie-sized in the photos I have seen of her online. Kiyaa is presently up for pre-order from the entrepreneur's new design house, Shel Studio, which also offers designer fashions for children. Price? 698 rps ... magic of xe.com translates to $11.21 USD.

Would I add a Kiyaa to my collection? Yes. Once I have thinned my present collection. I am waiting to hear if Shel Studio will ship to the U.S.A. If there were a limited issue of the dolls, I would leave them for their intended audience, Indian children. If they were religious icons, likewise. But mass produced, playscale, fashion dolls? I am in that line.

Anyone reading this post have a Kiyaa doll now or plan on getting her? Do write and share the link to your photos. I LOVE new dolls. 

Competition comes to Mattel's Indian Barbie

Glue-head Barbie Information Requested

Does anyone know if there is a list of glue-headed Barbies online? Are the dolls issued from one or more countries? Does anyone know which dolls started with this problem? Any links - including your own - smile - to blog posts or online articles about this problem.

Why do I want to know?

1. so that I can not buy those dolls

2. because I was asked about it.

Thanking you in advance for any feedback.

P.S. Does anyone have the url of the petition demanding Mattel eliminate the glue-filled heads problem. Thanks again!

October Theme: Filipino American Representation in Playscale, Pt.1

According to Wikipedia, only 1.1% of the United States population is Filipino American. Guess how many Filipino American dolls and action figures I found? Two. (Anyone with additional finds, please share those names and manufacturers. That is playscale dolls and action figures; there are likely available dolls in other scales.) That includes Mattel's 2012 Philippines Barbie. Who is that other doll? Drum roll ... High School Musical Gabriella!  Yes, actress Vanessa Hudgens has Filipino ancestry. 


Mattel

Philippines Barbie 2012

Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical Gabriella) various models. Below is the first, Barbie-sized - 11 1/2" Gabriella; later Gabriella dolls were on shorter, 10" bodies.

Mattel High School Musical Gabriella, full length

Close up of Mattel High School Musical Gabriella

Box showing actress Vanessa Hudgens

Richwell (Mattel fashion dolls sold in the Philippines)

Various Barbies, Kens, Barbie family produced for the overseas Filipino market.


You will remember that I could only find one explicitly Polish doll from Mattel. However, I could tick off Polish foods and some Polish American facts. Aside from recognizing that Pinoy is another adjective for Filipino  - and one that I would not use because it might be considered derogatory - I know little about the Philippines and the Filipino people. An Internet search uncovered a local group, the Filipino-American Association of Philadelphia, Incorporated (FAAPI). But ... this post is about Filipino American representation in playscale. Lacking explicitly labelled Filipino dolls and action figures, where can we find substitutes?



1.  We could "borrow" dolls from Mattel's Dolls of the World Asia line. Or your choice of Mattel's Kayla/Lea, Goddess, Oriental, or other head mold dolls. Mattel has non-specific "Asian" dolls that might do.

2. Find dolls based on Filipino American celebrities. Other famous Americans with Filipino ancestry include Tia Carrere,  Phoebe Cates, Mark Dacascos, Bruno Mars, Nia Peeples, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rob Schneider, and Hervé Villechaize. I do not know of any playscale dolls or action figures based on those celebrities or any roles that they played. (Although it does seem as though there should be figures of Mark Dacascos and/or Lou Diamond Phillips.)  

(Aside: more relevant to playscale doll and action figure fans Noel Cruz, master doll artist, is Filipino-American. Not that that means a doll and action figure of the artist.)
 
Next, I would offer substitutes. However, I was not able to photograph the dolls and action figures I would offer as potential "stand-ins" today so I am saving that part for tomorrow.


RELATED READINGS

Manika's Filipina Barbie Guide

Amazon review of Mattel's Philippines Barbie

Click these links for additional information about Filipinos in the United States, Vanessa Hudgens,or  Noel Cruz.