More BMR

I just can't seem to help myself with the MTM Barbie dolls...……...they are so much fun to pose and play with. I bought the latest BMR with the thought that I would rebody one of my Fashionista dolls, as I'd been having problems matching her skin tone and saw on Instagram that this particular BMR girl was a match. After having her in hand though, I think she will get to keep her body and I'll buy a second eventually to re-body the Fashionista. While the styling on this line of dolls wouldn't be my first choice, they do each have particular pieces that I like. I do like the jacket worn by this one and can see it getting re-use, ditto her shoes and posssibly the hat.

I love her purple lips and the fact that she has just a little bit of neon yellow in her eyeshadow. Its very subtle, but its there.

What does the dress look like under the jacket? I was surprised to find it has long sleeves. Some of my other girls may use it casually too.

I couldn't wait to redress her to see what she might look like without the hat, in clothing more to my taste. I chose neutral tones for both her and topknot Ken. I really love all 3 of the dolls I have in this line redressed. I actually have 4 of the dolls...............I have the other Ken as well, but I haven't deboxed and played with him yet. I bought him to re-body.

And one more shot of the 2 of them together.

Brenda Starr

Last week the Prego doll board's theme was Tonner, so I felt compelled to get some of my Tonner dolls out for a little play time. One of my favorite faces Tonner included in his line over the years was Brenda Starr, who actually wasn't even sculpted by Tonner, but I loved her dimples and her smile and I have more incarnations of Brenda than any of the other Tonner dolls. Some of my favorite dolls were those done when Brenda was supposedly "Undercover"...……………….an excuse to give her a hair color other than red. I thought I would share a few of those girls here since several of them got new pictures recently. Midnight Star Charmeause (sp?) wearing Crimson from the Theatre de la Mode line.

Show Stopper Brenda was also a favorite, done as a blonde this time.

Then there is also the lovely brunette,  Cruise on the Nile, dressed in Holiday Gala, originally worn by Sydney.

Havanna Star was also a lovely brunette. She is wearing Dinner with Russell, borrowed from Esme.

Tropical Holiday was one I sold, then later regretted. Luckily I had a friend selling, so I snapped her up (again) and she stays from now on. She is wearing Tyler's Red Hot.

And the last of the "Undercover" girls to get new pics recently, Aurora Starr wearing one of Tonner's earliest separate fashions, Champagne Bubble. Still one of my favorites. Tonner really did do some absolutely amazing fashions over the years. 

Fashionista Fun

I love the Fashionista line, and the variety of sculpts/skin tones/hair styles and colors it embodies. I finally saw the tall MTM body at our local Walmart and had to get one. I also picked up Fashionista 123 to rebody (as I'm not a fan of the sculpt of the tall MTM basketball player doll).

I'm having a hard time deciding just what I think about this sculpt. I think it must be a fairly new one. Love her braids!! Great scale and they look amazing. I also really love her facial screening.

There is however something about her that keeps me from "loving" her. She may get rebodied at some point but for now I'll enjoy her. I'm really glad that Mattel has both curvy and tall made to move bodies available to us now.  Now we just need the petite to get some articulation!

Ace

As I've stated on the blog before, I have lots of dolls...………..in many different sizes. My focus the past few years has been the Asian ball jointed dolls primarily, but I do have quite a collection of Fashion Royalty Homme's and lots of Barbies as well, and I tend to like to pair them together.  I haven't actively bought any new Homme's for a while, but I do love the ones I have. Among the ones I have, this version of Ace is a particular favorite. I thought it was time to get him out for some new photos since I've been in a 12" doll mode.

I took him out in the front yard yesterday among the bushes, which serve well for "trees" for this size.

And here are a couple of him trying to cause a distraction after noticing the pretty redhead that was being photographed. The redhead is a Barbie Basics Steffie mold doll from a few year ago. The Steffie mold has always been a favorite of mine.

I think Ace must have a thing for redheads. They do make a striking pair. 

Ken Body Comparison

Yesterday as I was redressing my new BMR1959 Ken on the made to move body I was noticing the differences between this body and the "Harley" Ken body where the jointing was more like the pivotal body for the girls. I thought it might be useful to take a few comparison photos and post them. The first thing I noticed when I stood them side by side is the old body is slightly taller than the MTM body. The other body differences are much like the differences in the jointed bodies Mattel uses for the girls. The MTM Ken body adds jointing in the upper arm, chest, upper thigh, as well as making the joints at knee and elbow double jointed. The foot and ankle joints appear to be the same to me, although the MTM Ken also does have more flexibility where the leg joins the body due to the upper part of the leg being more carved out.

Another difference is that the new MTM guy has sculpted on underwear. Not sure WHY Mattel felt they had to do this, but he does...………..the upper thighs appear to be slightly bigger, but it didn't hinder his fit in the Ken fashion pack jeans I tried on him. I'll show a pic of him redressed at the end of this post. 

A shot of them from the side where I was trying to get MTM guy to slouch using that chest joint. The range of motion for it to slouch forward is minimal.

And here is a close up shot of the knee joints and upper thigh joint.

The older body is prettier aesthetically, but for me function out does aesthetics, and the double jointing allows for a much better range of motion, so I'm VERY happy we finally got a Ken that has the made to move body. I hope we will see more of them to follow!

And lastly a shot of him redressed. I just used clothing from a couple of different basic Ken packs from the past couple of years and as you can see no issues in fit. I foresee this guy getting lots of redress opportunity around here. I also foresee myself ordering a couple more to re-body some of my other guys.  Please Mattel, make more MTM Ken's!!

BMR1959 Thoughts

I have to admit, I collect a lot of different doll types, so my interest varies throughout the year and I am constantly flitting from one line to another.  My interest recently came back around to Barbie and I started looked at what was "new" out there since the last time I was in Barbie mode. I noticed some discussion on some of the doll boards about the BMR1959 line and was most intrigued by the fact that they were on made to move bodies. EVEN Ken!! I've waited for Mattel to introduce a MTM Ken body since the MTM female bodies were introduced, so of course I was bound and determine I would have one of them even if the rest of the doll didn't 'appeal to me. I finally saw pics of the line and admit I was underwhelmed by the clothing and styling choices Mattel made, but some of the dolls themselves really appealed to me and I decided to get the one on the Curvy body and Asian Ken, which is on a lighter skin MTM KEN body! I bought them to redress and I will probably get another of the Kens to rebody. They arrived yesterday, so wanted to take some pics of them in their original looks before redressing and post a few of my thoughts.

I'm still undecided on the rest of the line, but overall I'm really pleased with these 2. Ken is the Harley Ken sculpt I believe, which is one of my favorites, so that is a plus. I also really love the man bun and the fact its done with rooted hair.

I like his glasses as well, and those will certainly be useable among my crew. The sweatshirt is huge and I probably won't use it much  for the Ken dolls, but I might get use of it with some of my larger dolls. It is well made. The "bag" is plastic. Not sure how much use I will get out of it, but the shorts and sandals can certainly be paired with other things to get some mix and match use of.

I like his facial screening as well.

All in all I'm really glad I got him.  I do however LOVE almost everything about the curvy addition in this line. There are only 2 things I really don't like about her...……………..the logo earrings and the plastic jacket.

I love the cat glasses and will get use out of those. Her facial screening is gorgeous. Love the purplish lips. I also love the hairstyle! 

Her dress under the coat is not so trendy that it can't be used as a mix and match piece to pair with other things.

She's a definite keeper for me. I love that even her nails are painted gold. I'm really torn on getting the tall Millie sculpt girl now as I don't have a tall MTM body yet. I am glad I bit the bullet and got these 2 though. I also will probably get the other Ken to steal his body for another of my guys. I like his puffy coat as well.

Back to Barbie

While my doll collecting focus has moved to Asian BJD's primarily over the last 10 years or so, I have kept representatives of most of the doll lines I've dabbled in during my 25+ years of collecting. Since Barbie started it all, and was a big influence on my collecting I still have quite a few Barbie/Ken and friends. When Mattel introduced the made to move bodies, I have to admit I started perusing the Barbie aisles again looking for a cheap doll fix. A few times a year I like to get them out and play with something totally different from my norm. I pick up cute outfit pieces when the mood strikes me and have a bin full of clothes in their size. This morning I felt like digging out some of the cute fall things and playing Barbie. The 2 dolls here are Fashionista faces repurposed onto the poseable bodies.

The cute chair was a Hobby Lobby find.

Clothing are all mix and match pieces by Mattel.

I'm not usually a fan of sculpted hair, but there was something about this Fashionista line Ken's face that really appealed to me, so I got him hoping he would be a color match for one of the extra "Peeta's" I had found on clearance on the poseable Ken body and surprisingly he was.

Barbie is also a Fashionista face. I've loved some of the doll faces that have come through that line over the past several years, and have bought and re-bodied many of them. I loved the curly hair and closed mouth on this version of Barbie. The facial screening was good as well for a $8.99 doll.

Feeling Nostalgic

Today I was feeling a bit nostalgic and remembering all the fun I used to have with my Tonner dolls, so got a few of the remaining dolls out for some new photos. Before the BJD bug (specifically Iplehouse) bit me hard I focused on Tonner repaints. I've sold off quite a few the past couple of years, but this one by Jenise of the Doll Salon remains.

Joined here by one of the last Tonner dolls (that wasn't Outlander themed) that came through the door. I have had his box out several times with the intent to pack him up and sell him, but something keeps me from listing him, Charlie Dodgson.

My last remaining factory Russell, along with Friday Foster, who I think is one of the loveliest faces that Tonner did.

And lastly during my play time today I wanted to photograph the Chase siblings together. I love this Simon. He's one of my favorite of the Tonner factory faced men. RTW Rouge Sydney I've had up FS a couple of times, but she hasn't seemed to find a new home yet, so figured I would enjoy her while she remains. They do make a very striking pair together.

And another of Sydney by herself, as she really is lovely.

Reminiscing

I was looking through old pictures on my hard drive and found some pictures I had taken of some of my favorite Kish/Tonner families in falls past and thought I would share them since they are seasonally appropriate. Mom and Dad in this first pic have both moved on, but I still have the Kish cutie.

Back before the Iplehouse bug took a strong hold on me, using my Tonner dolls and Kish kids to make dolly families was one of my favorite ways to play with my dolls. I still have all 4 of these dolls. There is something so sweet about all the little Kish faces that I just haven't been able to bring myself to sell them.

And lastly, another family that still lives here. This was and still is probably my favorite of the families I put together.  I need to get them out for some new updated family photos I think.

More Harry Potter

A fairly new addition to the Star Ace Wizarding world, and my collection...……...Bellatrix LeStrange.
I missed out on Tonner's Bellatrix, so decided to add her to my Star Ace grouping.

I think she's a fairly good likeness even if the eyes are a little lifeless. Definitely the eyes are an area Star Ace could do better at.

She poses well and comes with her wand and necklace as well as the Death mask. I know a lot of folks in the sixth scale "Action figure" world don't like rooted hair, but I do for the women especially and I'm glad Star Ace chose to go the rooted instead of sculpted route.

I just might have to get Lucius Malfoy to go with her even though I can't decide if his head looks too big on his body or not yet.