Build a Monster

 Found the Monster High "Build a Monster" basic kits at TRU the other day. Each kit has 2 heads and 2 sets of arms/legs to pair with one torso. The kit also includes 1 wig and 2 outfits. First up here is the vampire girl. She is actually wearing a wig from the Liv dolls and a Disney VIP dress. She is probably my least favorite of the 4 sculpts, but I like her in this dress and wig.

 Next up, the dragon girl. She has textered limbs and wings that are very cool. Also love her patterned eyeshadow that is very scale like. I'm calling mine "Pyra". She is one of my 2 favorites. Wearing a dress from Bratz here.

Lastly, the Sea Monster girl wearing the dress from dragon girl. I've named mine Nessie. I have a hard time picking between here and Pyra for my favorite. I haven't taken pics of my werewolf girl yet, because Nessie doesn't want to give up the torso yet. I wish they would include a torso piece in each color. I would have gladly paid $5 more to get an extra torso so each doll would "match".

Johnny

 I've been searching for this guy since my interest in Barbie has renewed again, but he is getting really hard to find. I finally came across a nude one last week on ebay and hit the buy button to bring him home. He is a wonderful likeness to Johnny Depp IMHO.

If he were easier to find I would get another. Love that Mattel used the articulated body, like Harley Ken's. I really wish they would have used that on Japan Ken as well. I love the articulated body.

Finally found Toralei.............

 I've been looking for this kitty since her debut a few weeks ago, and finally snagged her yesterday at TRU. The newest character in the Monster High line, Toralei.

 She's a werecat...............I never noticed before photographing her this morning that her face and hair is done in shades of orange. Very cool.

And as always, for the price..........I think this line has the best accessories of any doll line that Mattel puts out. I hope we see lots more of Toralei in future releases of Monster High dolls.

Twilight Victoria

 I've been meaning to add Tonner's Victoria from the Twilight group to my collection since she came out, other things just seemed to push in front of her on my list. I noticed recently though that she's getting a bit harder to find so figured it was time to push that buy button.

 She arrived home last week and I had to take some time with her and the camera this morning. Aside from the fact that she has Tonner big head syndrome..................James has it too, so I guess they will display fine together, she is a gorgeous doll. I really do wish Tonner would go back to the smaller heads (the size the Tyler doll line heads were when the dolls first premiered).

And my favorite shot from this morning's shoot. She  just looks a bit dangerous here to m.

Team Edward..............

 Gotta represent Team Edward too! His "skin" really does sparkle.............kind of hard to find him a candidate for body swapping, but heh, for $10 I"ll live with it.

 He makes a nice addition to the 12" male crowd.

The lone wolf...............

 I had no intentions of adding any of the Twilight dolls in the 12" size................since they aren't articulated, for $25-30 a piece, I figured I would pass since I have Tonner's Twilight dolls. Well, I went to Big Lots yesterday afternoon as I heard they would be having the Twlight dolls for $10 ea. I was able to find Jake and Edward (Bella was sold out), and for $10 ea I couldn't pass them up.

 I really wish they were articulated.....................but for $10 I'm not complaining too loudly.

Jake makes a nice addition to the 12" male population. He is a cutie..............not sure how much he looks like Taylor Lautner, but he's a cutie just the same, and adds variety to the guys.

Headed to the sales..........

 Just a few new shots of Barbie Basics #5 with her beau, Ken #16.

 Headed out for some Black Friday bargains.........................better them than me, LOL! I'd rather stay home and shop online.

Poppy and Darla

 I've loved Poppy Parker's sculpt since she first came out, but kept telling myself I wasn't "going there" with the 12" size again, so I resisted.........and resisted.............and resisted..................until just recently, LOL!

 I have been enjoying my 12" size girls again, so I started browsing different doll sites hoping to find a Poppy in stock at a price I could afford. I lucked upon a dealer selling the set of Youthquake Poppy and Twist and Shout Darla, so hit the "buy" button.

I was actually quite surprised that I loved photographing Darla almost more than Poppy. I think if I relax Poppy's hair a bit it will help. She just looks so "aloof". I do love her sculpt though. I'll definetely be keeping my eye out to add more of these 2 to my collection.

Dolls of the World............

 I was in TRU the other day looking for Toralei, one of the new Monster High dolls...............no luck on Toralei, but I saw these 2 dolls (Japanese Barbie and Ken) and was immediately drawn to them. It's funny because when I first decided to collect dolls as an adult the Dolls of the World collection was one of the first series I started with. Unfortunately I sold those early dolls off as I got into Tonner and the 16" crowd. Anyway, I love male dolls and this Ken just really caught my eye. I believe he is the first Ken to be issued in the Dolls of the World collection.

 Then I saw Barbie and immediately envisioned photographing them together, so she went in the cart too. I wish they were articulated, but they certainly make a striking pair, don't you think?

Barbie's shoes are killer, and she has an amazing outfit as well. He looks so fierce......both very exotic. Mattel did a good job with these 2 IMHO.

More 12" love..........

 I've been getting some of my Fashion Royalty dolls down out of the display cabinet for some playtime recently since rediscovering the 12" crowd.

 Yesterday was Opulence Isha's turn. She was the last FR doll I bought before I stopped collecting them. She really is so beautiful. After photographing her yesterday, I bought my first FR doll in a LOOOOOONG time.

I thought she looked beautiful in this portrait shot.

More of Barbie.........

More Barbie basics love.................deboxed Model #5 this morning. She's such a striking doll. From swirl high ponytail to her makeup to her sexy black dress, she's a definite keeper. And she loves the camera too.

She has several admirers it seems.................

How's a girl to choose? Thanks for peeking in. It's fun rediscovering Barbie a bit and going back to my roots. Now I need to dig through my box of Fashion Royalty outfits I was planning on selling and see what I have to fit these girls, LOL!

Back to the Basics............

While unsuccessfully scouring my local TRU, Walmart and Target yesterday, looking for Monster High Toralei, I came across the Barbie Basics line. The Steffie sculpt has always been my favorite. When I saw this girl, Steffie mold, raven high ponytail, I was sunk and had to have her.

I ended up getting her sister with the Mackie head mold too. Love her dress. These girls were Target exclusives.

I got them home and immediately deboxed them for some playtime. I have to admit, it was a bit of a challenge for me to photograph the smaller faces. My camera didn't seem to want to focus as well. They are so darn cute though, and an inexpensive dolly fix (well compared to Tonner and Iplehouse anyway). Picked up a couple more in the regular Basics line, so more to come. Just wanted to share these girls.

Monster High obsessed

I think I've developed a new obsession. I have become totally enamoured of these quirky Monster High dolls. Normally one who tends to focus my collection towards realism in my dolls, for some reason these totally anime, very out of the norm, various colored Monster High dolls appeal to me greatly.

Mabye it's because they photograph so well. Part of it might be the thrill of the hunt. After collecting mainly Iplehouse BJDs for the past year or two, it's nice to be able to go to the local Walmart or Toys R Us and pick up a relatively inexpensive doll fix.

Whatever it is...............they have me totally hooked for the moment at least. I'm almost embarrassed to say how many I've picked up over the course of the past week.

Monster High

Now for something totally different. I had seen some of the buzz about these dolls on the net, but hadn't really seen them in person, so thought myself immune, LOL!

I happened to be out and about yesterday and happened across these girls and fell in love with them. I ended up bringing them home and spent last night playing and looking up more info about them on the web. I'm afraid there will be more where these came from.

I think Cleo is my favorite, but I really like the "Dead Sleep" version of Ghoulia shown here too. I also picked up a few more and I'll be deboxing and sharing a few more soon. They are just the ticked for an inexpensive, fun dolly fix. I know they aren't for everyone, but I"m sure enjoying mine.

Sharing the Iple love!

Something a little different, and a plug for one of my favorite doll boards. I started this blog to devote a space to my vinyl dolls. (For those that don't know, I collect both vinyl and resin dolls). I n recent years I've completely fallen in love with the Iplehouse BJD's. Pictured above is the doll that converted me from vinyl to resin. He is an Iplehouse Strongman Luo. Anyway, I've noticed a lot of fellow vinyl lovers have become interested in learning more about Iplehouse. I've received quite a lot of PM's and emails from people interested in learning more about the Iple dolls.

For those that are interested in learning more about the Iplehouse BJD's, I thought I would post a link to a doll board started to share the "Iple" love. It's called I-mag-i-nation. While the focus is Iple dolls, other dolls are welcome to be shared as well. So, if you are an Iple enthusiast, like me, or are just interested in learning more about the Iple dolls, come join us! We would love to have you.

http://shazam.dyndns.org/phorum/index.php

Off Topic..............

I started this blog as a place to showcase my vinyl dolls, as I have a LJ (Resin Residents linked here) that I showcase my resin dolls. Since this girl is fashion doll related, I thought I would post her here as well.

She is Jamieshow Sasha, from AngelicDreamz............I have TY, one of the Jamieshow male dolls and love him, and I had been keeping my eye on the new released, hoping to get one of the girls eventually. When AD released the St Tropez line I knew I wanted one of them, making the decision of which one was the tricky part. I finally decided on Sasha and she arrived yesterday. She's gorgeous...................the resin is beautiful. She comes fully blushed. Her posing ability is wonderful. She comes with a magnetic wig, but also has a headcap so that she can wear regular wigs. If you are looking for a way to try out the resin fashion dolls, Jamieshow is a GREAT way to get started. I don't think you will find more value for your dolly dollars anywhere.

One last shot of Sasha. The outfit she is wearing here is what she comes in, with the exception of the wig, which was an extra purchase.

One of my favorites

One of my favorite Tonner dolls is the Mameha/Layne sculpt. This girl was originally an FAO exclusive Mameha that has had her hair taken down and straightened. She has a really full head of hair. She is on the Tonner small bust body.

Dressed here in Sister Dreary's original outfit.

She remains one of my favorite factory dolls that Tonner has produced. I'm going through my Tonner dolls and trying to weed out, so I will have more time to photograph and enjoy the dolls I end up keeping. Mameha is definetely a keeper on my list.

Dumbledore.......

Since I didn't add the adult sized dolls in the original Harry Potter line, when Tonner announced he was going to produce the dolls in scale with the Tyler sized dolls I knew I wanted to get all the characters if I was able to swing it. I've been eyeing Dumbledore for a while, waiting for him to go on sale, and finally nabbed him last week.

He's a great likeness. One of Tonner's best character likenesses IMHO. Really looking forward to what he's going to do next in his scale. I'd love to see Snape released in this scale as well..............and both Malfoy's and Beatrix, and Neville and Ginny and so on, and so on, and so on, LOL!