Tuesday, February 11, 2014

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.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

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_05.html






2010 Famous figures, complexion variation, sub-groups

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




















2011 DBG Interview and different groups



















2012 Hair texture, stories, and a vehicle













2013 Specific lines






















Thursday, February 6, 2014

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.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Integrity Toys' Jordan and Tariq Bust Some Moves

Warning: If nude dolls offend you, you may want to skip this post. The guys are nude for identification so that should you find a similar body, you may recognize it. There are no date or company markings on either body. The heads are marked:
© Integrity 2001 for Tariq and
© 1996 Integrity Toys for Jordan 
on the back of their heads, above their necks, directly under where the hairline would end. 


Ladies, Gents, and Others, here are Integrity Toys' Tariq and Jordan, showing you the best of their posing ability.






Integrity Toys playline dolls: Tariq (left) and Jordan (right) wait for their cue to start.























Our male dolls shown in this post are In Style Jordan from 2001 and Fashion Insider Tariq from 2004. Notice the extra muscles in the torso and the more sophisticated face sculpture in Tariq.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

February Topics: Black History, Romance, Presidents, and Toy Fair

For a short month - only 28 days this year - February is chock full of events.

Black History month

Valentine's Day

Presidents' Day

Toy Fair 2014


So you can expect posts about Black fashion dolls and action figures, posts about Valentine's Day dolls, posts about dolls and action figures representing presidents or presidential candidates, and - oh yes, baby - Toy Fair news about new dolls and action figures. As I become aware of what other collectors and/or enthusiasts have planned for the month, I will share that information too. 

Happy February!



Friday, January 31, 2014

Beyond Bollywood: Additional South Asian Playscale Dolls?

When we, playscale doll enthusiasts, see Asian dolls, usually we find dolls representing people with East Asia heritage. Three companies have extended their doll representation beyond East Asia: Mattel, Integrity Toys, and Spin Master. Mattel offers Dolls of the World from various Asian countries while Integrity Toys offered Isha. Recently, Spin Master offered the Bollywood Legends dolls: Kajol, Priyanka Chopra, Hrithik Rosan, and Shah Rukh Khan. Mattel and Integrity Toys aside, do others offer dolls with South Asian heritage?

Yes. Hasbro and Vivid Imaginations, respectively offer:


Zayn Malik, singer from 1Direction

Siva Kaneswaran, singer from The Wanted


So that is two additional dolls. Can you think of others that I have missed? Thanking you in advance - big smile, Dana