Liv surprise, articulated Bratz, & an Abbey cameo

Thanks to the "Hey, it's Muff" blog I just learned about the articulated Bratz body, which has an entirely new look if you remove the Bratz head and replace it with, say, a Mattel fairy head. Click on that link to see Muff's adorable Bratz-Fairy hybrid. She mentioned in comments the Bratz Catz and Bratz Rock dolls have articulated bodies so I made a mental note to look for those dolls on clearance, but I had no idea if they'd be anywhere local because I only glance at Bratz in stores.

First stop was the Ross discount store, where I saw two Sophie Liv dolls. The first girl was hard to miss, she was Sophie Brite with her long bright pink wig, $9. (I reviewed Katie Brite here, the Brite dolls have cool wigs but the inferior 2012 Liv body.) After thinking about it for a minute I decided not to buy this Sophie, I'd prefer Alexis with her orange wig. Sophie's pink wig was the deciding factor (it's not my favorite color and I already have a few pink wigs). I would've bought Sophie Brite at the $9 price point if her long wig has been something more unusual like green or blue.

Ross had a few Bratz with the standard Bratz bodies, I have no interest in those. I was about to leave when I looked up to the top shelf and saw...

Wow! She's the first Moonlight Dance doll I've seen in person, what a surprise. This Sophie was also marked $9 like the Sophie Brite doll, but Moonlight Sophie is a much better deal if you compare the bodies and outfits.

The four Moonlight Dance girls were released in July 2010 and retailed for $20 at Target. Back then they were Target exclusives but this is the second Liv Target exclusive I've seen clearanced at the discount store Ross -- Liv Brites were the first. Maybe Liv in Wonderland dolls, also a Target exclusive, will show up at Ross too? :) (I didn't know about Liv until this year so I missed out on the Liv dolls that weren't still lingering at TRU.) I really like the dresses in this line so I'm very happy to have Sophie. Thanks again Ross!

Her eyes could've been set better, it's not a perfect match

If you'd like to compare the actual production dolls to the box art below check out this excellent photo on Flickr (click that link, it's not my photo so I won't copy it here). Katie's dress changed the most, I like the production doll even better. Daniela's dress is my favorite.

Box art #1

Box art #2

Articulated Bratz

I then went over to TRU and saw the articulated Bratz Catz, they're still $20. Oh well. No catz for me, but I'll watch for a good clearance sale.

But wait, there was a Bratz Rock Yasmin hanging out with the Moxie Girlz. Articulation!

TRU sometimes overcharges when a doll line is new or popular but they have awesome unadvertised clearance sales. My motto at TRU is "If you like it, scan it!" It might be more affordable than you think. The real price doesn't always match the shelf tag (maybe this is just an issue at my local store). There were no sale signs but Yasmin scanned for only $4.48. Nice! The low price sent me on a fruitless search for more hiding rockers. I'll keep looking at TRU and Ross, I'd like at least one more skin tone too. There are four different Bratz Rock dolls available, here's the back of the box:

Sasha channels Sheila E

Bratz Rock promo photo. MGA made some changes to Yasmin's outfit (black shoes instead of gold, one zipper on the leg instead of two) so the other dolls could've turned out a little different too.

I popped Yasmin's head off and replaced it with a Mattel fairy head, which is obviously not a vinyl match. This was a temporary body swap just to show the Bratz body with a normal size doll head.

Bratz Rock body w/ Operetta's Roller Maze outfit

 

There's a bit of paper towel stuffed in the MH skates so the Bratz peg legs can't sink too far. This MH dress doesn't velcro completely closed in the back, it's a little too small for the Bratz bust. Keep scrolling to see the Bratz rocker outfit on a Monster High Abbey doll.

I'm not sure which line this Mattel fairy with lavender hair came from, she has an unusual body with long legs and gimmicky stuff on the back where it looks like wings and something else attached. Her hands are graceful, which makes up for the molded on bodice. Her original body is shown in a photo at the end of this post. She was $2 at the Goodwill, I'm a sucker for non-traditional hair colors and she doesn't have a toothy grin. Yay! (Doll teeth usually bug me, even when it's just a tiny strip of white paint. Mattel's playline is full of toothy grins so I pass over a lot of fairies at the thrifts despite their colorful pretty hair.) I do like her unusual fairy body, despite the gimmicky stuff, so the body and head will be reunited soon.

No waist articulation but she can tilt from side to side at the bust line

(c)2010 articulated Bratz compared to (c)2001 Bratz body -- note 2010 is taller

normal Barbie-size head compared to Bratz head

A quick look at Bratz shoes

Did MGA change the Bratz shoe size? The Bratz Rock shoes are significantly smaller than the older shoes! (The bigger shoes shown below are from a bag of doll shoes I found at the Goodwill a few years ago.) I don't pay much attention to Bratz so I don't know when this happened. Next time I'm at TRU I'll look at the Bratz to see if they all have smaller shoes now.

The rocker's pegs fit in some of the older Bratz shoes (like the strappy blue heel below) but not the boots. The rocker legs slide in the boots but they don't lock or suction in place. I think this can be blamed on what the bodies are made from, the (c)2001 Bratz body is vinyl and boots stay put on the vinyl legs. The (c)2010 articulated Bratz is made from lightweight smooth plastic so the boots can't cling to the plastic legs.

Abbey says hi

Rocker-fairy stole, er borrowed a Monster High outfit so Abbey asked to try on the Bratz Rock outfit (with Venus McFlytrap's shoes).

My favorite part is the plastic faux zipper detail across the thigh, it probably would've been cheaper and easier to make that a decal or leave it off the final design. Nice touch. This outfit looks just OK in the photos (because the photos didn't turn out so hot, what else is new), but I like it in person, even if I'd never wear it in a million years. It's very '80s, sans big shoulders, but I didn't dress like this back then.

The Line-Up

You can see the original fairy body (B) and the Bratz Rock body (C) compared to some other bodies you might be more familiar with.

A. LPS Blythe
B. Unidentified Mattel Fairy's original body (head is on body C)
C. Bratz Rock body with stock shoes and Unidentified Mattel Fairy head
D. Monster High (Frankie Stein)
E. Liv (Alexis)
F. TNT Barbie (1980 Black Barbie reproduction)
G. Teen Skipper body (Generation Girl Mari/Mariko)
H. Bellybutton body (My Scene Madison)
I. Bellybutton body with hinge knees and normal size head (Twilight Bella)

I think this is long enough, I better stop before I run out of room! :D