Barbie Creatable World dc-725

Being unboxed today is doll dc-725 from the Barbie Creatable World line. This line features a new body design and is marketed as something that is slightly more customizable than the standard Barbies as, in addition to different outfits, it comes with two alternate hairstyles. A short default haircut and a long wig. The dolls sell between $30-$40CDN.

The dolls have also received quite a bit of publicity due to being of indeterminate gender, meaning that kids can decide if they want their doll to be a male or female character (or neither). Some people have called this the non-binary Barbie, but based on the height difference between this doll and standard Barbies, it seems more like a pre-pubescent one. Either way, if you’re looking for a Barbie-line doll without the exaggerated chest or Barbie or Ken, this fills that gap.

The Fresh Dolls Mia from Positively Perfect

I vaguely remember reading some reviews of the Fresh Dolls line back in 2017.  While I did think about picking one up, since I was on a semi-hiatus when it came to toy collecting at the time, I never got around to it.  Fast forward two years, and while checking out the toy selection at Dollarama (the Canadian discount chain), I noticed three different Fresh Dolls on the shelf.  Remembering my earlier interest, I picked one up.

The Fresh Dolls line are a fashion doll (11.5"/29.5cm) brand within the World of EPI umbrella who previously brought us the Positively Perfect line of 14.5" (37cm) soft-bodied dolls for toddlers. The Fresh Dolls line consists of seven jointed fashion dolls, each of which is differentiated by their unique outfits (a range of formal to casual) skin colour (a range from medium to dark that's described on the official website as "deep mocha, caramel, latte, and even blended") and hair colour/texture (smooth to curly, long to short, and blonde to black).  There has since been a release called The Fresh Squad, which consisted of three male dolls, also fashion doll size.

The particular doll that I picked up ("Mia") has curly hair, medium-dark skin, and wears a patterned jumpsuit and faux-leather jacket.  This doll is one of the basic releases and originally retailed for $10.99USD, but the Dollarama price was $4.00CDN. The deluxe releases originally retailed for $17.99USD.

Let's take a closer look!

Barbie Fashionista #121: blue dress & prosthetic leg

As promised in my post about Fashionista #133 (the new release with the wheelchair) weekend before last, today I'm unboxing Barbie Fashionista #121.

Fashionista 121 is distinguished from the rest of the line by her prosthetic left leg.  Unlike 133, who came on a multi-jointed body, this doll has the standard five points of articulation that most of the Fashionistas have by default, however there is some rotational movement to the hip on the left leg that we don't see in the standard bodies (or on the right leg of this doll).  Some dolls in this line are noted by being shorter, taller, or chubbier, but (leg aside) this particular model is on the standard height/size body.

This doll is in a medium skin tone and has long brown hair and green painted eyes.  Her accessories include a sleeveless sweatshirt dress, hoop earrings and white flat shoes.  Her prosthesis is an above-knee one, and seems to be sculpted to resemble one with a microprocessor-type knee. I'm mildly surprised that they went with an above-knee style, since below-knee amputations are so much more common, but either way it's an interesting design.

Let's take a closer look!

Barbie Fashionista 133 & her blue wheelchair

Earlier this year I saw the announcement that the Barbie Fashionista line would be adding three dolls featuring visible disabilities: Two in wheelchairs (both in the same outfit, but one white with her blonde hair down and one black with her shorter hair up) and one with a prosthetic leg (in a medium skin tone and a different outfit). As someone who specifically looks for disability representation in children's/playline toys, I knew I'd be bringing at least a couple of these home. Today I'm opening up #133, one of the wheelchair-using dolls.

This doll is currently retailing for just under $15CDN online and locally. And while that is higher than the average price for most dolls in the Fashionista line (which usually retail for $10-$12CDN), considering the size and detail of the wheelchair and the fact that this doll comes on a much more elaborately articulated body, I was impressed that she isn't being sold at double the price.  Considering the additional cost of Monster High's wheelchair-included doll, and the extra cost of wheelchair accessories for American Girl type dolls, I was pleased to see that this doll will be affordable for a wide range of families.

Now let's take a closer look!

DC Super Hero Girls Roller Derby Bumblebee

Being opened today is a playline doll from the Roller Derby release of the DC Superhero Girls by Mattel. This doll is the last of the three toys that I picked up at the Samko/Miko warehouse sale in Richmond Hill, ON last month.

I've talked about the action figure versions of the DC Superhero Girls before, but this is my first time picking up one of the fashion doll-type releases.  While the action figures are more in-line with my general tastes, the dolls do have a charm that I think can cross over between both fans of the figures and fans of playline fashion dolls.

The gimmick of the Roller Derby Roller Derby release is that each doll comes with a pair of rollerskates, a helmet, and a sportier version of their standard outfit.  In Bumbee's case this included moulded bright yellow socks, which limits the versatility of the doll but does mean that the socks won't droop with play (which does tend to be an issue with playline - and even some collector - dolls).

Random Toy Sightings 2018

I've been collecting random toy sightings at the local park over the past few months and thought it was time to share a few again.  Enjoy! 😃

This tiny dollhouse-sized pram was lying next to a pile of tree branches.

A Visit to American Girl Place New York City

Back in November, we took my niece on a trip to New York City to celebrate her 13th birthday.  While we were there, I had a chance to pop into AG Place NYC (which is in a new location while the original is under construction).  I thought I'd share some of my photos from that visit.

The historical line, including archived dolls.

Out of the Box: Cabbage Patch Kids "Taylor Audrey"

A few months ago I'd been thinking that I was wishing I'd brought one of my old (mid-1980s) Cabbage Patch Kids dolls back home with me after my last visit to my mother's place.  In a fit of nostalgia, I discovered the wide variety of sizes, constructions, and styles of new CPK that are now available.

A few casual searches later, and I found a listing for a "cowgirl" variation on sale. While the store listed her as being short-haired and dark-skinned, the doll that I received turned out to have long hair and the medium skin colour.  While someone looking for a look-a-like doll for a child would probably have been disappointed, that was ultimately a neutral for me since my main goal was just to see what one of these new P'tits Bouts De Choux (sorry, the Canadian in me couldn't help it) would be like.

Incidentally, while this doll has fibre rather than yarn hair, the original style yarn-haired dolls are still available. They seem to be about twice the price though!

Better Late Than Never: Made To Move Barbie

The soccer player waves hello.

Before I get to the dolls, I thought I'd let you know that my house stayed dry during Hurricane Harvey. I was out of the country (my five day trip to visit family in Belgium ended up doubly extended), but my husband and the dog were in town - one of our cars was flooded, but other than that we were lucky.

And now on to the dolls!

It's been almost two years since people started reviewing the then-new Made to Move multi-jointed Barbies. At the time I'd been planning to pick one up at some point, but I'd never thought it would take quite as long as this!

But last week I found the "Soccer Player" edition on clearance, and since I can't resist a bargain I decided to bring the doll home.

Discount Shopping Adventures, May 2017

It's been a while since I checked out the local discount chains (in this case Tuesday Morning and Big Lots), so last week I decided to pay them a visit.  I took some photos of the toy aisle offerings and thought I'd share them with you guys!

Doll shelf at Tuesday Morning: Fashion dolls and play doll outfits.

Diya in the Garden

Last summer I unboxed Carpatina Diya, then the newest doll from Carpatina's slim 18" doll line. Since I'd opened her on a rainy day and then was away from home for nearly 4 months, I never got around to taking some proper outdoor photos of her.  So today I decided to remedy that!

Tween Scene Dolls On Clearance

Just a quick post to let the US-based readers know that the Tween Scene dolls seem to be on clearance in some markets. At my local store they were reduced to $11 - 66% off the original price!

Lena

Valencia.

Prettie Girls Tween Scene Outfit Sets: Rockstar Rage

Back in late August I took some photos of one of the Prettie Girls outfit sets. The lighting was less than ideal so I didn't post them at the time, but I've since noticed that there aren't many reviews of these floating around, so I thought there might be some worth to putting them up regardless of the photo quality.

The particular outfit that I picked up is called "Rockstar Rage". It includes 6 pieces: a t-shirt, dress, pair of socks and pair of shoes. The dress is faux leather, the top has a shiny pink body with leopard print sleeves, and the socks are camoflage.  The shoes are pink converse-style and made of the same soft plastic as the doll's default footwear.

The clothing quality is in-line with the default outfits that the dolls arrive in and fits the doll (in this case, Dhara) well.

But enough talk, let's look at some photos!

Out of the Box: American Girl Mini Melody

I have to apologize for not being online very much this month. I've been doing quite a bit of travelling for family obligations and that's been eating up most of my free time. Still, I wanted to pop on to share the mini version of American Girl's newest historical doll, Melody (and thanks to Debbie Behan Garrett of Black Doll Collecting for the tip on finding her at steep discount!).

Melody, the newest American Girl character doll.

Out of the Box: Carpatina Diya

A few months ago, Carpatina - the doll and medieval fashion company - announced an upcoming new doll, Diya. I was excited enough by the hype to preorder her, and today she made her grand arrival.

Carpatina's dolls are 18" playline dolls with full vinyl bodies which are slightly slimmer than the similar-height American Girl type dolls (I reviewed this body type last year in the form of Carpatina's Veronika, so I won't go into the body in depth with this doll as the engineering and size are identical). The new features of Diya are her face sculpt and her unique skin colour. As with all Capatina releases, one of her selling features is the detail in her clothing, in this case her Anarkali Dress with what hand embroidered trim.

Before we begin, I need to apologize for the photo quality: the rainstorms that I mentioned the other day are still ongoing, so it was quite dark for most of these.

And with that out of the way, let's open this box and take a look at Diya!

Upcoming posts for August 2016

ME Minimates, SDCC Monster High, Carpatina Diya

August has been a rainy month here, so I haven't been able to take many photos, and that's translated into my not posting very much lately. I wanted to make a quick post to say hello though, and I do have three new arrivals coming soon, and hopefully the weather will give me a chance to share them.  The three in question are the Series 2 Mass Effect Minimates (which were available as a set this time versus the old blind bags), Monster High's SDCC exclusive Hexiciah Steam (I won't be getting Robecca as I'm splitting the set with someone else), and the newest Carpatina doll, Diya.

Hope your summer (or winter for the southerners) has been fabulous, and if you're following the Olympics, I hope your favourites have been doing well!

Out of the Box: Brenton Rudy and his Barnyard (Cabbage Patch Kids Pin-Ups)

Normally when I post dolls of this vintage it's either a childhood toy or some second-hand discovery that my mother has made, but not this time.  While browsing for something completely unrelated I came across a vintage Cabbage Patch mini doll - in his original early-80s packaging and being sold at virtually his original price!  Having always wanted one of the Cabbage Patch boy dolls, I couldn't pass it up.

The somewhat strangely named Cabbage Patch Pin-ups (surely I'm not the only person making the '40s-style pin-up association?), were a line of miniature versions of the full size CPK, with vinyl heads, yarn hair, and cloth bodies. They were packaged with a plastic shelf/play area which could be hung on a wall and which had a strip of Velcro attached to the back wall, allowing the doll and their associated accessory (in this set a chicken) to be fastened to the backdrop when not being played with.

Out of the Box: Corolle Les Chéries Cécile

Today we're finally down to the final member of my smaller play doll lineup! Being unboxed today is The "Paris Party en fête" version of Cécile from Corolle's Les Chéries doll line.

The Les Chéries dolls are 13"/33cm fully vinyl dolls with rooted hair. Unlike the other lines in this size range that I've been posting about over the past week, these ones have sleep eyes. The line is aimed at children ages 4 and up, and generally retails at around $40 USD, depending on the outfit.

Out of the Box: Paola Reina Las Amigas Carol (FCB version)

I don't know how many of you were like me and spent all of yesterday watching the three Euro matches and then the Copa America final with all their highs and lows (from Batshuayi's celebratory backflip to Messi hiding his face in his shirt), but if you did, I'm sure you can understand how I felt the need to share a football/soccer-related doll.

And it's not completely random because we're also continuing with the smaller playline doll theme, as being unboxed today is a doll from Paola Reina's Las Amigas line - in particular, the FCB version of Carol, complete with jersey and cap.

Out of the Box: Wellie Wishers Ashlyn

Less than 24 hours after commenting on my own (and other) blogs that I was on the fence about the new 14" doll line from American Girl I found myself back in the store picking one up (if my auto service place was in a different location this would never have happened).  It was a moment of weakness, I suppose!

The Wellie Wishers are aimed at a slightly younger target market than the standard American Girl line, and as such are smaller, fully vinyl, and lower priced. I picked up Ashlyn, who has brown  eyes and hair (with bangs/fringe) and the medium skin tone.  Other than the hair/eye/skin options, all of the dolls have the same body (I'm not sure about the face moulds - there may be three of them? I don't have a great eye for that, so if you know for sure, please correct me!).