Happy Holidays!

It's Boxing Day already, so I'd better put out some Season's Greetings before the New Year!

Mulder and Scully interview Santa on one of the great mysteries:
How does one man deliver all those gifts in one night?
Help from the aliens, perhaps?

December Already?

Wow, where does the time go?

I've been slow with new posts lately for three reasons: travel, pre-holiday planning, and the fact that Fallout 4 has eaten up most of my free time lately. Still, I'm moving forward with my sales list, have taken a few one-off comparison photos, and we're getting closer to the shipment date for a couple of pre-orders, so there are posts dedicated to those things in the pipeline.

In the meantime, enjoy a quite shot of a new Funko mini that I picked up (a Fallout Pip Boy) in a cafe in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (which I was visiting for a wedding a few weeks ago):

Body Comparison: Soom ID51 vs. Souldoll Vito

Soom ID51 London, Souldoll Vito Rouse

One of the most common photo requests I've gotten on doll boards is regarding the in-between (at 52cm, bigger than MSD, smaller than SD) sized Vito from Souldoll and Idealian 51 from Soom.  I have one of each  - Soom ID51 London and Souldoll Vito Rouse, so let's take a look at them side-by-side.

A note to the sensitive, unclothed dolls below the cut (although they're posed for modesty, since I originally took these to share on a board where that's a requirement for anatomically correct dolls).

Not on scale, but at least it's in-theme.

A few years ago my sister passed along a miniature copy of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong, both because she figured it would make a good doll prop and because I'm a First World War buff, and would appreciate the theme.

The book is actually just a touch too big, even for the big dolls like my Dollmore Mettaa from their Glamour Model line, which they list as 75cm (although he's really only 73cm).  Still, since I did have a uniform in his size (although not quite of the right vintage), I thought it was worth using in an anachronistic and not quite in-scale photo shoot.

I was going to try to make him a miniature poppy as well, but my attempts were even more off-scale than the book, so that will have to be a project for another year.  And in a way, that works for where we're living. Although it's not Remembrance Day here in the US, Americans do mark a military-themed holiday today (Veteran's Day), but they don't wear poppies. I suppose because their involvement in the First World War was so short (when I was living in DC, during one of my mother's visits we walked through Arlington National Cemetery - she pointed to a First World War grave with a birth date of 1899 and wondered if he'd lied about his age to enlist. I had to remind her that by the time the US joined the war he'd have been 18.), so it seems to be less of a cultural touchstone that it is in so many other countries.

In any case, on with the photos!

Passing through: Fallout 3's The Lone Wanderer (male) by Funko Pop!

The Lone Wanderer

Folks who know me from a variety of doll forums may recall that during the 18 months I lived in the DC area, I usually had my location listed as "The Capitol Wasteland", a reference to the video game Fallout 3, where your character ("The Lone Wanderer") wanders the post-nuclear wasteland of an alternate-1950s DC. Having played the game several years before moving there (and since most of the game's locations were based on actual geography), I secretly always expected to run into ghouls in the metro.  And sometimes called my dog "Dogmeat" when we were going for walks.

So seeing a series of Funko Pop's released, I of course picked one up.  Unfortunately the one I ordered turned out to be damaged, so I ended up sending him back. To be honest I was relieved to have the excuse - the figure is fairly plain, and since the player character is customizable in-game, I didn't feel particularly drawn to him in the end. Still, I did take some photos, so let's take a look.

Happy Halloween!

Preorders and Thinning the Herd

The Volks USA online full choice system was only live for 10 days this month, and while I managed to hold out until the final day, I did surrender and place an order for the new sculpt (Amethyst) in  ebony, with the "vibrant" faceup.  They're not expected to be ready until early January, so plenty of time to decide what I'm going to do with her.

The FCS (Photo credit).

Out of the Box: Monster High Finnegan Wake

I've said it before, but every time I think "No more Monster High after this one", they release another doll that catches my attention.  This time the release that brought me back to the line is Finnegan Wake, the blue merman in the black and red wheelchair.

In addition to the uniqueness of the wheelchair (a first from the line), the doll also has a unique body: the torso is both larger than the standard MH boy body and smaller than the SDCC exclusive Manny Taur body, while the fish tail lower body is distinct from those of the soon-to-be-released Scarrier Reef mermaids.

The Continued Adventures of Isabela in England

After leaving Liverpool, we drove to Manchester (with a quick stop in Northwich, so my husband could pick up a pastry at his childhood favourite bakery).  We had more rain there, which meant fewer toy photos, but Isabela did get to hang out by the water in front of Media City (across from the Imperial War Museum North).

The Adventures of Isabela in Liverpool

I'm back from my week-and-half in England on the annual "friends, family and football" tour, so how about a few photos?  My travelling figure for this trip was one of Titan's Dragon Age mini figures, Isabela (a ship's captain seemed like the right character to bring along to visit rivers and canals, I thought).

As with the adventures of mini Ivy in Thailand, I'll be breaking this up into a couple of posts to keep it from getting too unwieldy.  Now on with the photos!

Then and Now

I'm about to head out of town for a week, I just realized that my oldest BJD (Volks SD13 Heath) turned ten earlier this year, so I thought it would be fun to celebrate by sharing some photos before I go offline.

His current look.

Random Toy of the Day: American Girl Truly Me #44

AG Truly Me #44

One thing that I'd never realized before moving to the US is how often American Girl has sales.  This time around the value was even more impressive than the last one (where I was able to pick up Kaya and an extra outfit for 66% of the cost of the doll alone), as the deals offered included a doll from the modern "Truly Me" line, an additional outfit and two accessory sets for a similar discount.

So even though I wasn't really looking to add another AG to my collection, it was too good a deal to pass up, so I decided to order one.

Unfortunately it was raining when she arrived, so I wasn't able to take many photos, but I felt the need to share even so (I unboxed her in my home office, so I apologize for the cluttered backgrounds).

Random Toy of the Day: Doctor Bashir (Playmates "Warp Factor" Series 2)

Since picking up the Playmates' Captain Sisko over the summer, I've added another figure from the DS9 line to my collection: Julian Bashir (always one of my favourite characters on the show).

This figure is from the second release group ("Warp Factor Series 2" versus Series 1), but has the identical body to the figures of the earlier line.  Playmates did change the style of the stands for this release though, and they now have a wider base.
Since the figure itself has the same features as the Sisko one  I won't be reviewing him, but I did want to share a few photos.

It's all photos from here:

Kids do like dogs, but..

One of the two Taffy sets.

I was checking out the toy section a few weeks ago, when I noticed a proliferation of dog-related sets. A dog spa set, a puppy-keeping set, and a dog walking set.  Cute, I thought, but then I looked more closely at the dog-walking one and realized that it's actually called the "Potty Trainin' Taffy" set, and spotted something ridiculous (but set-appropriate) on the accessory list: 5 little brown bits of plastic representing the dog's bowl movement.

Out of the Box: "Canterwood Crest" Breyer Horses

Reading Serenata's The Grand Summer Gymkhana post reminded me that I was planning to post about of a pair of Breyer Horse figures that I picked up recently.

When I was 10 years old, I remember going to a horse show and picking up a miniature Breyer catalogue from one of the sponsor booths.  I was fascinated by all the detailed models of different breeds and various famous horses and carried that booklet around with me for months. I never actually owned any of those models though, and I eventually forgot about them until I started reading reviews of them over on Traci's A Wild Review Appears blog.

Out of the Bag: Punisher & Green Goblin (Hasbro's Marvel 500 Series 1)

From the Marvel 500 line: Green Goblin & the Punisher

It seems like every month I swear off of mystery mini figures, and yet somehow every month I'm back with more.  But at least this time there's one difference: they're micro-mini figures!

The Marvel 500 series is a blind bag micro-mini toy line (they're about a third of the size of Funko's mini figures) that sells for around $2.50USD.  There are 24 figures in series one, and they're sold in single mystery bags.  The figures themselves are very basic - no articulation and limited painting, but for the size and price that shouldn't come as much of  a surprise. The two that I opened turned out to be the Punisher and the Green Goblin.

New Arrival: Caleb (Sasha Doll)

Back in June, I posted about being on the lookout for a new-to-me Sasha doll to add the the collection and to hold the place of the two (a Sasha baby and a Gregor Dark) that are in storage back in Canada (why I didn't bring them along, I do not know).  After several failed bids and negotiations on a few Calebs, a pair of Prince Gregors and a brunette Sasha, I finally snagged a Caleb last weekend - and today he arrived at the door!

Since the last time I received a new Sasha doll was 1985, I had a total blast of childhood nostalgia from unwrapping him.

Doll Clothing Review: Yoga Chic (My Life As)

American Girl Kaya in the "My Life As" Yoga outfit.

I was wandering through Wal-Mart's toy section the other day planning to take photos of a ridiculous Barbie (the subject for a future post), when I spied the "My Life as a Yoga Instructor" doll on the opposite shelf.  I was tempted to pick up the doll just for the mini yoga mat that was included with her, but saner heads prevailed and instead I picked up one of the tie-in outfits, called "Yoga Chic".

The "My Life As" is a line of 18" play dolls that retail in the $25-$30USD range.  They're similar in size to American Girl/Our Generation/Maplelea/and other dolls of that style.  The individual outfits are generally less than $10USD, which puts them in a significantly lower price range than comparable pieces from American Girl, so I was curious to see how they would compare.

Random Toy of the Day: Dragon Age MiniMates

Back in May, I posted about planning to unbox by new Dragon Age MiniMates as soon as a moved - I didn't quite get to them as quickly as I'd intended, but this morning I finally got around to it.

The Dragon Age MiniMates: Alistair, Morrigan, Varric & Leliana

As I'm mentioned a time or two before, I'm a fan of the Dragon Age franchise, but haven't always been happy with the tie-in products that they've released, and this set is no different.  I was looking forward to seeing characters from the franchise in block-figure form, and I wasn't disappointed with the details on the figures themselves, but the character choice and packaging were weak.

Tagged: Sisterhood of the World Blog Award

A couple of days ago I was tagged by Linda of Darkroom Dolls for the Sisterhood of the World Blog award, a question-answering tag that's been going around lately.  I always enjoy reading other people's answers, so I'm happy to join in on the fun.

But enough about that, let's answer some questions!

Climbing the Escarpment, 2010

The Texas heat has been putting me off of taking new outdoor photos, so in a moment of weather-nostalgia I starting sorting through some old photos and came across one particular set that I thought I'd share.

These were taken in Kerncliff Park in Burlington, Ontario.  Kerncliff is a trail-head on The Bruce Trail. The Bruce trail is an 800+km trail that runs along the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara Falls in the south to Tobermory in the north, and this particular trail head was less than a kilometre from my house during the 3.5 years that I lived in the area.

Back in the later summer of 2010, I packed up my Iplehouse YID Aaron and took him for a hike  (it's all photos from here):

Out of the Box: The X-Files Alien (Funko Pop)

One of these days I'll be getting back to articulated figures and dolls, but before I do, I have yet another Funko figure to talk about.  This time it's the X-files alien.

I've mentioned a few times that I'm a huge X-files fan, and with the new miniseries and season 11 of the comics in the pipeline, it just seemed like the perfect time to pick up a new collectible.  Unfortunately more the main characters in the franchise just aren't physically unique enough to make for interesting Pop! figures, so this is the only one I'll be picking up, but it's still a cool addition to my X-files shelf.

The Pop! figures are all quite similar, so this one isn't distinct enough for a full review, so it's all photos from here:

Retro Week: Cabbage Patch Kids Mini Figures

Four of the Cabbage Patch mini figures

Before I get back to my regular posting schedule, how about one more treasure from my mother's basement?  Up this time is a random bag of vintage Cabbage Patch Kids mini figures.  They're fairly standard for mini figures of the era: nice sculpted detail, decent painting, but no articulation.  This particular collection is about evenly split between the traditional girl dolls, the "Koosas" (anthropomorphic cat dolls), and one of the "preemies" (the bald infant dolls).

Retro Week: Mini Figures of the '80s & Fast Food toys of the '90s

A random assortment of Retro mini figures

I've just come back from another week in Toronto (happily, this visit was for a wedding rather than a funeral), so I was able to snap a few more photos of my mother's basement toy trove.

Out of the Box: Captain Sisko (Playmates "Warp Factor" Series)

I think I've mentioned before that  that Deep Space 9 was my favourite Star Trek series, so it's a little odd that other than a pair of MiniMates I haven't had any of the related toys around.  I think I always had the impression that most of the Star Trek figures were a little weak - I think based purely on the two TNG tie-in figures that my sister owned back in the day.

Given how silly a lot of my own '90s figures look these days, I decided I would get over my aversion to the various ST lines and have have picked up a figure from Playmates late 1990's lines - the Tribble-themed version DS9's Captain Benjamin Sisko.  There was a regular version as well, but how could I say no to the little Tribble accessories, right?

Random Toy of the Day: American Girl Mini Grace

Grace

This is a quick follow-up post to the duelling Samanthas of two weeks ago where I mentioned that I'd also picked up one of AG's modern dolls: the mini version of Grace, their 2015 Girl of the Year (a limited-run character doll that they release each year).

Mini Grace here is my first foray into AG modern dolls. I thought the full-sized doll was charming, but I'm trying to limit my full-sized AGs to one per face mold, so this one would have been a duplicate.  But not picking up the big one was no reason not to buy the mini, so when I found her on Amazon for a significant discount ($14USD versus the $24 price direct from AG), I decided to add her to the collection.

Adventures in Humidity (or Dolls in the New Garden)

This shouldn't have been as much as a surprise at is was, but I've discovered a new challenge when it comes to outdoor doll photography: the humidity.  It was over 83% here today, and my camera lens kept fogging up - even after being outside for a good 20 minutes!

Still, I did get manage to get a few pictures snapped, so I thought I'd share them (even if a few of them do have a bit of a natural filter to them!).

SD13 Irvin (I'd just wiped off the lens)

Out of the Box: Funko's Avengers Age of Ultron Mystery Minis

The Iron Man/Hulkbuster mystery mini

Once again, just days after swearing off mini figures, I'm back with another pair of them.  Up this time are two figures from Funko's Avengers: Age of Ultron tie-in mystery minis.  As with all of Funko's Marvel figures, these minis are bobbleheads rather than the static figures that most of their other lines are (licencing complexities, is apparently the reason for that).

Unlike some of these Mystery Mini lines, there are no chase figures in this release: all of the figures appear in at a 1/12 frequency.  With odds like that, I thought it would be interesting to see who I'd get - unfortunately the two I picked weren't any of my favourites, but hey - that happens with blind boxes.  And the two figures I have are nicely detailed, so at least they're interesting to look at.

World Doll Day Tag

This is clearly a sign of how behind I am, as World Doll Day is the second weekend in June, and this tag was meant to lead into it, but hey - better late than never, right?

I did some reading about the event, and it turns out that World Doll day enjoyed it's 29th anniversary this year.  While the event started as a doll-giving day, it seems to have evolved into a general celebration of dolls.  In honour of the event there was a collection-question, tag going around and I was tagged by Brini of Brini's Doll Domain and  Farah Lily of Cozy Comforts and Dolls - if you haven't checked out their lists already, give them a visit!

The rules of the tag are simple: List your 3 favourite doll acquisitions of the past year, list three dolls that are currently on your wish list, and then tag 5 people to join in the fun.  

AG Showdown: Mini-Samantha vs. Mini Samantha

"She's right behind me, isn't she?"

As followers of the American Girl dolls know, their historical character doll line was revamped earlier this year, and rebranded "BeForever".  Part of that revamp involved both a new style of mini-dolls and a re-release of my personal favourite, the 1904-set Samantha, so naturally the new mini-doll was the first thing I picked up.

I'd originally wanted to get some photos of them fighting it out, but sadly they're too cute, and those fight photos all turned out looking friendly instead.  Ah well, it was a funny idea while it lasted!

Out of the Box: Titans' Dragon Age Mystery Minis

It was just a few days ago that I was saying it would be a while before I added any more vinyl mystery minis to my collection; But those were apparently famous last words, because almost immediately after posting that, I realized that Titan had released their Dragon Age blind bag series.  And given my love of Dragon Age, I had to bring a few of them home.

Titans' Mystery minis. L-R: Fenris, Anders, Isabela, Morrigan

Getting Settled In...

I've gotten a bit behind on posting, but I think we're just about settled into the new house, so time to get back on track, right?

Lumedoll Atik (who doesn't have a box, and
thus had the honour of being the sole doll to
travel with me rather than in the moving van),
checking out the built-in shelves in the living room.

Random Toy of the Day: Funko's Game of Thrones Mystery Minis (Series 1)

Apologies for yesterday's double-post: I was editing tags and accidentally re-published the Forge post.

After posting my "ultimate in lazy packing" photo the other day, I realized that I hadn't shared those Funko Game of Thrones mini figures yet, even though I had taken photos of the lot of them.  There isn't much to say about them: they're standard non-articulated mini-figures, in that stylized Funko-POP style, but they're fun little figures, so I thought I'd share them anyway.

The group shot.

Random Toy of the Day: Forge (Toy Biz Marvel Universe)

Forge, Toy Biz Marvel Universe edition

Because one light-weight 10" figure was not enough!


After picking up the 10" Toy Biz Union Jack last month, I wasn't planning on adding more figures from that line to my collection.  Given the age of the line, I wasn't expecting to come across that many more of them - and certainly not new/in-box ones.

But as seems to be happening to me quite a lot lately, I did end up coming across another one - new in-box and a character that I collect.  So naturally I couldn't just leave him on the shelf -  he had to join my army of action figures.

The figure itself is fairly similar to Union Jack, so since I don't have much to add, it's all photos from here:

Packing up the unboxed figures

Layer 1

As I mentioned the other day, I've kept the boxes for many of my larger scale dolls and figures (and for all of the statues), but when it comes to playscale figures, I tend to throw the packaging away.  So when it's time to move, those toys get layered in shoeboxes: 1 layer of fabric for each layer of toys, plus an extra layer on the top and bottom of the box.

Or at least that's what I do for articulated figures: I confess that some vinyl minis just get dumped into a box on their own.

Packing Tip #1: Start with the easy ones!

I always feel like the best way to get started on something is to tackle something easy - that way it looks  like something solid has been accomplished practically before you start.  And that's why I always start by packing my DC Comics/Vertigo Preacher statue:

Packed up and ready to move!

A different kind of group shot: The re-boxed doll & figure pile.

Coming up after the move...

Moving day is just over a week away, so while I do have a few unboxed items to photograph, I'm going to be spending the next week putting things back into their boxes, so I think I'll wait on opening those up.

Still, before I get into the packing, I thought I'd take a quick photo of the toys that are newly arrived but being packed away immediately:

Coming soon...

It's not a huge backlog: just two Minimates sets (a Dragon Age set of four and a Marvel set of two) and two American Girl mini Dolls (Grace, the 2015 Girl of the Year and the new version of Samantha), but they'll just have to wait! ;)

The Return of the Tourist Dolls (Thailand Edition)

I didn't expect this post to be up a week later than the others, but life got in the way for a bit (an uncle-in-law passed away, so I went to Toronto for the funeral).  And I'm back just in time to start packing for my move on the 28th.  That's lots of time, right?

Still, there were a couple of Thai souvenirs left unpacked, so they get to be opened up first!

I brought home one major display item, a figure of a dancer in a monkey warrior mask.  As figures go, he's purely a display piece, having no articulation and being permanently attached to a stand.  Still, as display items go, I think he's fairly eye-catching.

In addition to him, I also brought home a small set of keychain dolls (each in traditional garb) to give away to friends. I've parted with half of them already, but I'm including photos of the remaining three here as well.

The Figure and Doll Shops of Bangkok's MBK Center

A case of Hot Toys and Sideshow Toys figures.

What's more fun that watching your cousin-in-laws bargain for cheap souvenirs?  Depending on your personality there might be a few different answers to that question, but for me the answer is checking out the doll and action figure shops in the same area!

MBK Center is a massive shopping mall in Bangkok, the 6th floor of which is primarily market stalls rather than actual shops.  But along with the discounted t-shirt and souvenir booths, there were a variety of collectible and toy stalls which I thought it would be fun to share.

As with my other holiday photos, apologies in advance for the camera phone photo quality.

Ivy's Adventures in Thailand Part II

Continuing on from yesterday's post...

Ivy rides the Skytrain in Bangkok

Ivy's Adventures in Thailand Part 1 (and the limitations of camera phones)

I'm back from Thailand, so it's time to share some of AG Ivy's adventures.  Before I start though, I should mention that in packing light for this holiday I didn't bring an actual camera, and while I missed it less than I expected, sometimes the limitations of the camera phone were fairly obvious.

Mini AG Ivy at Surin Beach

Holiday Time!

I'm on holiday in Thailand at the moment, so I was going to be offline for the next couple of weeks, but then I decided to bring along a doll (mini AG Ivy), so I'll be posting a few updates of her adventures instead.

Mini Ivy at Patong Beach

Mini Ivy checks out a Koh Phi Phi pool.

Out of the Box: Hiccup & Drago (Spinmaster's How to Train your Dragon 2)

Out of the box: Hiccup and Drago

I think I've mentioned once or twice that I'm quite fond of the How To Train Your Dragon franchise. I've always thought it's a shame that, aside from the FunkoPop figures, there weren't any collector figures out there, but since it is fundamentally a kids' movie, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the play figures that are available.

The majority of the HTTYD toys that have been released are of the dragons - and some of those are stunning, although I've held off on picking any up because they tend to be either too large (and being about to move house, I'm trying not to bring home any new large items) or so small that I'd be afraid of misplacing them.  So instead I decided to check out a couple of the human figures that are sold as accessories to the dragons (they're designed to be able to sit on the backs of the associated figures).

Out of the Box: Bratzilla Illiana Honesty

I've talked before about my ridiculous fondness for the Bratz Boyz line, but I've never branched out into picking up any of the dolls from the other Bratz lines.  Or at least that was the case until last week, when I found the Bratzilla Illiana Honesty (from the "House of Witchez"/"Back to Magic" international-themed series) available for a reasonable price.

Bratzilla Illiana Honesty

Happy Bunny Day!

What better day than Easter to let the resident gentleman rabbit (a Pipos Dark Rabbit) enjoy the spotlight?

If you're enjoying a holiday weekend, I hope it's a good one!

New Headers & A Quick Thanks to TheToyBox1138!

I wanted to give a quick shout-out to The Toy Box, whose Playing with Logos post reminded me that I've been planning to update my blog header for the better part of six months now. And to say thanks for creating a brilliant Star Wars-inspired one for this blog!

I'm still playing around with the sizes, background colours, and whether I'm going to stick with adding a photo, but I thought it would make more sense to make the changes out in public where I can hear people's opinions rather than just sitting on them and debating it with myself!

I'm still fond of my old header/banner, but it wasn't particularly representative of the majority of my content, so it was definitely time for a change - but let me know what you think! :)

The old, all-BJD banner says goodbye.

Out of the Box: Union Jack (Toy Biz Marvel Universe)

Toy Biz Union Jack.

When the "All New Invaders" series ended a few weeks ago, I found myself in the mood to pick up a couple of tie-in figures.  The first of which was the Hasbro Union Jack that I posted about last month.  Having that purchase in my browsing history lead me to some of the older figures of the same character, and somehow (*cough*) one of them ended up in my cart.

On the opposite size of the size spectrum as the Hasbro figure, this 1998 Union Jack stands just over 10" (25cm)  in height.  The Toy Biz Marvel Universe figures are strangely light weight for their height (they appear to be made of a fairly light plastic), and have fairly minimalistic features.  I think the features would have been a turn-off on a non-masked character, but since Union Jack's look is minimalist on its own, it works for this one.

Random Toy of the Day: Minimates Falcon and Winter Soldier

In the box.

Alright, I'm almost through the Minimates!  Just a few more posts and my whole collection of the little things will be documented.  Of course at that point I'll probably end up picking up a few more (there's a Dragon Age series coming out this summer that I have my eye on), but that's an issue for another day.

Today's pair are Winter Soldier and Falcon.  These two both have the standard Minimate body, but come with more than the average number of accessories - two stands (one standard, one "flight" version), multiple weapons, and even an arm-sitting falcon. I'd say that the stand out piece in this set are the broad wings on Falcon.