A New Year: Let's Hear It For The Boys!

 OK, we made it through 2020 -- sort of! The virus is still with us though and, unfortunately, probably here to stay. I have personally been touched with it in my family. I have lost friends to the disease. We are going to have to learn to live with it. It probably means we will need to continue to take precautions like wearing masks, staying home sometimes, keeping a social distance when appropriate. The vaccine in the US at least seems to be rolling out very slowly. I am hoping that the new administration will be more proactive in getting it under control. Heck, anything they do will be better that what is happening now! The political climate in the US has worsened. With a siege by US citizens on our nation's capitol earlier this week, things have gotten to a level I never thought I would see in my lifetime. My heart breaks and I fear for my kids futures. I truly never thought this would happen here in my lifetime.

So, in my doll world, I haven't been very active with meeting my goals. By now, I should have made greater progress on the doll room, written more stories, taken more pictures. But I haven't been completely idle! I have bought lots and lots of dolls! With everything that has happened this year, my dolls and my dolly friends have been a source of sanity for me! Without further chit-chat, I am going to introduce you to some of the very latest additions. I will start with some of the boys (er men) that have joined my collection in Hanaly Corners. So, let's hear it for the boys!

I will be talking about these six handsome fellows today. That first tall fellow is and Integrity Toys addition and the rest are all from Mattel.

So here are the 5 Mattel guys. They have all been rebodied (of course!) I will detail that in the photos below.

This is Fashionista Ken #163. He is from the latest wave of Fashionistas and they are just starting to trickle out in stores, but not in my area. I ordered mine from Amazon, but you do have to monitor the site in order to get one at the retail price before the scalpers get their hands on them! He has been rebodied on the new Wheelchair Ken (Fashionista #167) who happens to have a MTM body. He has been redressed in "Gray Day Chillin' Fashion Set" for the Fresh Squad line of dolls.

Look at his face! It is a brand new mold. And he has dimples! He is a cutie and I know a few ladies in my collection are already fighting over him!

Up Next is Barbie Skipper Babysitters Inc Brunette Boy who is new in the Babysitters Inc lineup. He has been rebodied to an Ever After High Hunter Huntsman Body that I was using on a older Ken doll, but I played head roulette so I could give this body to this Skipper friend boy. I did have to do some trimming on the head opening to make it work, but this was a better fit for him than any regular sized Ken bodies. He is dressed in random Ken clothes I had in my clothes boxes.

Here is a close up of his face. He is rather cute! I do think that Skipper and her friends will be happy to welcome him in their group!

So there was a lot of chatter over this fellow! An AA Fashionista Ken with rooted hair! Here is Fashionista Ken #162! He has been rebodied onto a Fresh Squad Malik body and he is wearing the pants that Malik had on and his original shirt and shoes. A very nice addition to Hanaly Corners!

And here is his closeup! Yes, he is fine! (That's what several of my new ladies said when he finally arrived!) He has already been hanging out with a couple of them, but I don't think he has found his match yet!

This fellow actually came home in November of 2019, but their was so much talk about him and his long rooted hair. He is Ken Fashionista #138. I had initially put him on a Fresh Squad Daniel body and it worked pretty well, but he found a much better match in one of the wheelchair Ken bodies that I purchased (#167) recently. He again has a unique facemold and that hair?!!! Wow! He has been playing the field a bit, but he says this new body definitely expands his options! He is wearing another new outfit from the Fresh Squad line of fashions "Cameo Coolness". 

He does seem to have a look about him that the ladies just seem to love!

Now, here we have the 60th Anniversary Ken Doll in a Throwback Rocker Derek Look. He has been rebodied onto a BMR1959 green haired Ken from the 1st release of that line. He is now also wearing an outfit from the Fresh Squad fashion line, "Power Stripe - Black Top with African Print Strip and Black Denim Pants" He has been hanging out with both #138 and #162 and they are having a ball with all of the new, unattached ladies in the house.

Here is his closeup! What do you think?

I will say that I am so glad that Mattel introduced the male MTM bodies. I just wish they would come in more skintones! I wish the Fashionistas, male and female, original, tall, petite, broad and slim would all just have MTM bodies! Somebody please tell Mattel that! 

Now our last fellow in today's post!

Meet Cool Breeze Dalpinder Chowdhury from Integrity Toys 2020 lineup (now there must be a story behind that name!) This is him fully dressed. This was the only IT doll I purchased in 2020 (or at least I think so!) They are expensive for sure, but you cannot beat the quality of their clothes and the many beautifully unique dolls in the line! 

Well, that is a wrap! I hope you enjoyed meeting these fellas! I will try to introduce a few more gals, guys and some new families that have or are moving to Hanaly Corners. I hope to take you on my journey of getting the places in my town in order too and to introduce you to the adventures in all their little lives through the stories that have been tumbling around in my brain and that my dolls have been pressuring me to tell! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to All!

Rururkos, Momokos, Fashionistas, Fashion Royalty - Oh My!

It has been a while since I have posted or even taken doll pictures. There has been a lot going on dealing with my health issues and depression. I never could have imagined how difficult it would be dealing with insurance companies! I am not going to go into here, but suffice it to say their main goal is not to help you, but to do their best not to pay you! Enough on that -- it just depresses me more! I have been trying to get out of this funk I have been in by purchasing some much coveted new dolls.

Over the past several months, I have been a "bad" girl and after a short moratorium on buying dolls, I went whole hog and really have expanded my collection. Let's start with Ruruko and Momoko dolls. I signed up with Petworks to get advance notice on these lovely ladies. First, the Ruruko dolls. I now have 5 of these little sweeties! Here we go!

From L to R: Tutu Ruruko, CCS Girl 15AN Ruruko, Ruruko Dreaming, Cotton Candy Ruruko, CCS 15SS Ruruko

I purchased Ruruko Dreaming and Cotton Candy from eBay sellers for very reasonable prices and I purchased the other 3 directly from Petworks. These little ladies command very high prices on eBay and other secondary market sellers, so I felt very lucky to get Dreaming and Cotton Candy for about the same prices as they sell for at Petworks. 

Many collectors of the Ruruko dolls feel a need to provide big sisters from the Momoko line for their Ruruko kids. I already had some that fit the bill and I also bought a few new ones from Petworks and from Miniwoo. I even re-styled one Momoko into a big brother!

CCS 15SS Momoko on Slim Male Obitsu Body, Sekiguchi Momoko Preppy Girl with CCS 15SS dress, Deep Purple Momoko, Merry-Go-Round Momoko, Sekiguchi Momoko Dancing with Kittens

Then came the task of matching each Ruruko up with a sibling. This was not as easy as you might think! For some it was a no brainer as I had the corresponding Momoko for some of the Rurukos. For some I am still weighing a couple of options. Here goes!

I matched Tutu Ruruko with Sekiguchi Momoko Dancing with Kittens

Ruruko Dreaming with Merry-Go-Round Momoko

CCS 15SS Ruruko with Male Hybrid Momoko and Preppy Girl Momoko

Because I missed out on the corresponding Momoko for this girl, I matched this J-doll with CCS 15AN Ruruko

Next, I have a choice to make -- which doll do you think would be the better big sister for this Cotton Candy Ruruko?

Left: Fashionista Redhead Skipper with Cotton Candy Ruruko
 or
Right: Deep Purple Momoko with Cotton Candy Ruruko

The 2014 and 2015 line of Fashionistas and Style dolls has been nothing if not stellar. At least for the facemolds. I think Mattel missed the mark when they did not give these dolls full body articulation.  However, these new facemolds have launched a renewed interest by adult collectors for the Barbie line. You have seen some of the earlier dolls I purchased, but I have managed to find a few more (imagine that!) after searching online daily for these ladies from various resources. Here is what I have added to my ever expanding collection from these lines in the past few weeks.

The Lea facemolds. Left is the 2015 Fashionista on a pale Momoko body. Glam Night Style Lea. She had arm articulation, so I swapped legs with a Director Barbie.  I got these both at Walmart.com.

Here is a close up of their facemolds:

The Asha and Goddess molds: On the left is the Fashionista with the Asha facemold. She comes with an updo, but I restyled her hair. She has been rebodied on a Style Theresa body.  On the right is the Fashionisa with the Goddess facemold. She has been redressed and is on a Style Nikki body. I got both of these at Walmart.com.

Closeups:

On the left we have a Fashionista with a Skipper facemold and red hair. She has been redressed. Originally, she had and outfit with a donut T-shirt. She has a hybrid body with the body and arms  of a Glam Night Friend and the legs of a Film Director Barbie. On the right is a Glam Night Style friend with a new facemold. She got a Style Theresa body and I am calling her Anna. I redressed her in this cute outfit I found on Amazon. I got Skipper on Amazon and Anna from Walmart.com.

They are ready for their closeups:

Brand New facemolds: On the left is the LA Girl Fashionista rebodied on a Divergent Tris body. She was very hard to find and finally was available on BarbieCollector.com, but only for a short period of time. Her hairdo reminds me of Demi Lovato, so I am calling her Demi.  On the right is a new Fashionista -- AA with red highlighted hair. Her skin tone matched Nikki, so she got a LITDH Nikki body. I got her online from Amazon before the prices sky rocketed. She is now available on Barbie Collector.com.

Their Closeups:

Here is a group shot of my 2014 and 2015 Fashionistas and Style dolls. I might be missing a few here, but the last year has been good for getting some great new faces from Mattel. I just wish somebody would tell them to articulate! LOL! I apologize in advance for the blurry photo. It was really hard to get them all in focus.

I also ordered a Glam Style doll from a seller in Japan from Amazon. I found this very interesting. She has full articulation. Her outfit is one that is very different from what you see here. Looking at the back of the box, you see other dolls in this release, with outfits that are unique to Japan. Since the head was a Barbie that I have, I decided to use her body for my blonde 2015 Barbie Look doll.  Her are the photos:

Only one of these dolls is the exact same as in the US

Finally, my recent Fashion Royalty purchases. One thing about being in the W-Club is you get an opportunity to pre-order dolls that may come much later in the year. What I have to be careful of is forgetting that I have one coming and not planning for making the final payments later. What I do like is that I have been able to acquire dolls that I never would have been able to afford in the secondary market. Here are my latest additions.

Here are Mood Changers Poppy Parker. I also ordered some of the extra bodies from IT so have all the heads on their own body. I also boil washed and conditioned their hair and redressed them in more casual clothes. I absolutely love the redhead!

Nigel North arrived! I don't even know what to say about him. He has some nice accessorie, but this outfit??!! And his hair! Looks like he is having a bad hair day!

Nigel got a boil wash and a new wardrobe. Personally, I think it is a great improvement!

Lastly, I added Style Notes Isha to my collection. Sheer perfection!

That is all for now. I also purchased some items to do a blog anniversary give-a-way. Even though my anniversary was a while ago now, I don't think is it ever too late to celebrate. I will do a post soon with what I am giving away and what the criteria will be to enter in the drawing for prizes. Stay tuned for more!

Gloss Convention Purchases

No, I didn't get to go to the IT Gloss Convention, but I did enjoy it from afar watching the posting of other who were able to attend. I consoled myself the best I could by visiting eBay and drooling over the offerings. Most of what I saw were too far out of my budget, but I did bid on some items that had at least reasonable starting bids. I was getting discouraged as just as I thought I had made it to the last seconds of the auction, the object of my desire was snatched right before my eyes. I hung in as long as I could, but the prices became insane. However, I persevered! I finally won a few auctions and at prices that I thought were reasonable. The one doll I really wanted from the convention was Evening Siren Ayumi. As I searched and saw her go for prices above $175 nude and $200 dressed, I thought I would have to give up. But, late on Sunday evening, there was one fully dressed with a starting price below $100! I took a chance and bid on her. No, I did not get her for $100, but not too much over, but yeah, I won her! I also was lucky enough to win a few other Color Infusion dolls for some pretty reasonable price, so I broke the bank and got a few of them. 

I will post photos of all of my wins, but today I am excited to present Evening Siren Ayumi! She arrived today and I thought she deserved her own photo session.