Random Toy of the Day (Mace Windu - SW Black Series) & Daisy Chain Blog Award

I've talked about this size of Star Wars figure before, and this Mace Windu figure is standard for the line, so I'll just show off this photo and leave it at that (he joined the collection when I happened to be browsing for Spiderman figures for my nephew and somehow he jumped into my basket as well ;)).

But on to other things!

A big thanks to Traci of A Wild Review Appears for the Daisy Chain Blog Award Nomination!  It's an answer-some-questions/tag-another-blogger game, and here are my answers to her questions (there's an American Girl focus to these):

1. What's your favorite aspect of doll collecting? 

I think my absolute favourite part of doll collecting is watching how things evolve - both my own collection and the general trends in the toy industry.  But a close second is definitely the community!

2. How do you feel about changing aspects of dolls who have personalities that are pre-set by the company? 
I feel like it's inevitable.  Once a doll comes home, it's hard not to have them become their own character.  It's more immediate for the BJDs (since most of the pre-sets - when there are any - tend to be fairly superficial), but even character dolls like the American Girl historicals end up evolving (although for me, some of that may be a lack of familiarity with those bits of US history - I know next to nothing about 1850s Louisiana, so Cécile evolved into someone else because of that.  Similarly, my Samantha stayed in the same period, but since my perspective on the generation that became adults during WWI is more familiar with the Canadian, Belgian and South African history, my version of the character's future is coloured by that angle.

3. If you could buy just one (AG) doll's entire collection, which doll would it be and why? (retired ones too!)
Samantha's!  I always wanted that wicker table and chair set.  And the brass bed!  And the trunk!

I do have her school desk, and it's one of my favourite pieces of doll furniture - AG or otherwise.  I'm looking forward to seeing what new items come out when she's re-released.

4. Who is your favorite Girl of the Year?
Confession time:  I wasn't following AG's releases from about 2003 - 2012, so I've never actually read any of the GotY material.  That said, I do like the Jess mold in medium-skin, so I'll go with Kanani!

5. Do you collect things besides toys? If so, what, and if not, would you like to?
I own an embarrassingly large number of comics. I'm not a completionist, so I tend to think of myself as a reader more than a collector, but I think once you have more than a couple of longboxes (which I passed years and years ago) that's not a distinction that matters.

I also have a collection of thimbles, although I don't actively acquire them anymore (people who know about it do send me new ones fairly regularly though).

6. What pets do you wish AG would make that they haven't or don't?
Because I'm an egomaniac, I'll say I'd like the pets that I've had - so a California Giant rabbit, a German Shorthair Pointer, and a white Pit Bull with natural ears! ;)

7. Are there any partnerships you wish AG would participate in, for the cool swag/collecting purposes? (AG and Disney, AG and Marvel, etc.)

Don't know the MI:13
characters? This is them.

I'd go with Marvel because I'd love to see an AG-sized MI:13 gear.  Like the Captain Britain costume. And Faiza Hussain's Excalibur gear!  Pete Wisdom's mod suit! The Black Knight's costume!

Of course realistically, if it ever were to happen, they'd probably stick to characters from the Avengers movies.  I can dream though!

8. What's the one question you always hope no one asks you about your toy collection?
"I don't have to replace this if I break it, do I?"

And that's it! Thanks again, Traci - this was fun! In response, I'm tagging Barb the Evil Genuis of My Little Doll Corner.  In a twist on the Q&A, I'll ask you to answer the 8 questions that you wish someone would ask about your doll collection and your doll blog (if you have the time, of course.  No pressure!).