The doll that brought me back

Daniela, Alexis, & Katie

The Goodwill has been good to me lately. In January I found a first wave Katie Liv doll dressed in her original shirt, pants, and shoes but no wig ($1.29). I had no idea who she was so I googled the Spin Master name on her head and fell back into the world of dolls. While researching this line I discovered a lot of adult doll collectors don't like them, but that's fine. The world would be boring if we all liked the same thing!

First Wave Katie w/ new wig and thrifted jacket

I was so charmed by Katie I went to Fred Meyer to find a Liv friend and wig for her. They had "It's My Nature" Daniela and Katie on sale so I splurged on Daniela ($10 -- 50% off!) and three cool Liv wigs ($5 x 3). I also used a $2.00 off toy coupon because every bit helps.

It's My Nature Daniela w/ new wig

Recently at the same Goodwill I found another Liv doll wearing a pink wig ($1.29). After studying various Liv faces on Flickr I think she's "It's My Nature" Alexis in a different wig. The red plastic stud earrings (now removed) and gold bracelet make me less than 100% sure, but they could've been borrowed from another doll. The pink wig looks like it came with the Liv Salon Studio.

I found the best light in the house -- the laundry room. Now I need a better backdrop.

You might recognize her new outfit. The green jacket, boots, and tights are from a vintage Barbie repro fashion. The playline Barbie dress was on a thrift store doll, I like it better than the plain white dress from the repro fashion. Oh, her feet don't actually fit in those Barbie boots, I pointed her feet straight down and shoved them in there. Yay for articulated feet and models that don't complain!

I'm ahead on wigs so it's OK if I find a few more bald Liv dolls at the thrift shops, they'll have hair at home waiting for them. They can wear my extra Moxie Teenz wigs too.

And now, FUN WITH PHOTOSHOP FILTERS!

I titled this post "The doll that brought me back" because Katie is the reason I ventured back into the doll aisles and started looking at all the new dolls available. To make a LONG story short, I stopped buying new dolls in 2005 for various reasons but never stopped looking for dolls (mainly vintage Barbie and friends) in thrift shop toy bins. If I hadn't found Katie last month then I'd still be oblivious about Liv, Moxie Teenz, and Monster High -- and I'd have more money. ;)

A new dress for Little Pullip

Last week I found a 5.5" doll at the Goodwill:

Little Pullip borrowed Carrie's dress before the photo shoot started. Her shoes can't be removed.

Normally I would've passed this girl by without a second glance but her pretty purple dress made me pause... it looked like it might fit Little Pullip. Was it worth a $1.29 gamble?

Little Pullip in Carrie Cherry Crème's dress

Yes! Her dress fits LP perfectly. Google revealed the dress donor is Carrie Cherry Crème from MGA's Yummi-Land dolls. Carrie's shoes are molded onto her feet so she can't share shoes with Pullip. That means LP needs me to make her some teeny tiny shoes.

Someone is underdressed -- and needs a day at the spa to fix that hair.

Side note: I'm pleased Goodwill switched to a $1.29 price for all unmarked toys, which includes their fashion dolls, both nude and dressed. For years it frustrated me to see Barbie in poor condition (fried hair and chewed hands) with a $2.99 sticker on her back. That was a decent price for a good outfit but I left behind a lot of dolls I probably would've paid $1.29 for just to get the killer boots or a great pair of pants. It's a lot easier to talk myself into buying something with a price tag that can be rounded down to a dollar.

Sweet Little Pullip

I'm thrilled and so thankful to add Little Pullip to my doll collection. She came to me courtesy of Emily, the Toybox Philosopher. Emily's blog is super funny and informative. It will make you want dolls you didn't even know existed, but that's not a bad thing, right? :) Anyone can win a free doll from Ms. Toybox, simply be the first to email her when she offers up a doll that needs a new home.

I've been eying Hasbro's small Blythe dolls but I'm waiting on a sale to get my favorite, the "Sightseeing Cute" London girl ($17). Little Pullip's arrival prompted me to check out Target's selection of Littlest Pet Shop Blythe and I found Autumn Glam, an adorable redhead at a much better price ($10.50).

Littlest Pet Shop, Autumn Glam Blythe

WalMart, Target, TRU, and Fred Meyer all have the London dolls gathering dust on the shelf so I'll be patient. She has two pets so that explains the higher price. I wish Hasbro would sell the dolls without pets to make them even more affordable but $10.50 is a good price for a Blythe doll, with or without a pet. And Autumn Glam's little deer IS adorable. I'm still trying to figure out what is glam about the doll.

"Blythe, come out to play!"

I debox 98% of my dolls so she will be free eventually. She's just so cute in her diorama box, I need to get my fill of that cuteness first.

Speaking of Blythe... Here is a fun piece of dolly ephemera from 2001. I picked up this freebie at a magazine shop, the cover girl caught my attention.

A scan of the booklet cover

The contents aren't exciting, it was an advertising tool for Sony music and Walkmans -- that music listening device we used before iPods. Back then I wanted a Blythe doll badly but had to make do with Little Big Eyes when KB Toys put those dolls on clearance. Remember them? They were a flop with kids but collectors knew they were cheap Blythe clones and snapped them up. I'd take a picture of mine but they're in storage.

Doll artists have done amazing things with LBEs, such as carving their faces to make them look more like Blythe. If you check out LBE photos online be aware that a lot of LBEs have gone under the customization knife to look better. That includes new eye chips, face paint, eyelashes, bodies, hair, carved and sanded faces, etc. If you buy a NRFB Little Big Eye doll off eBay it won't look nearly as good. Here is the LBE Flickr group which appears to be filled with lovely customized dolls: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1177116@N23/

A new outfit for Moxie Teen Bijou

Bijou

I was poking around Flickr and read that MGA's 14" Moxie Teenz can wear some Ty Girlz outfits. That's the same Ty responsible for flooding the world with Beanie Babies. Uh, wonderful. Ty Girlz have zero appeal to me but I filed this information away in my brain -- Bijou and Tristen need new clothes. I didn't expect to find a Ty Girlz doll any time soon though, especially not at a price I was willing to pay just for the outfit. Then I stopped by the Goodwill a few days later and found one! It was well worth $1.29 to satisfy my curiosity and see how the outfit fit my MT girls.

Seriously, can doll companies stop with the words ending in Z instead of S already? It's ridiculouz.

Here is Moxie Teen Bijou in a Moxie Teenz pink wig, she borrowed the hat and boots from her MT friend Tristen. The sparkly shirt, pleather jacket, and pants are from Ty Girlz Rockin' Ruby. I love Bijou so much, she's 100 times prettier in person and this pink wig looks perfect on her!

Clearly I need to work on my lighting skills. I'll get better!

This outfit was sewn onto the Rockin' Ruby fabric body with a few simple stitches tacking down each piece, including the choker (not shown, I need to resize it to fit Bijou's smaller neck). This was a happy surprise because it increases the odds of finding a used Ty Girl still in her complete outfit. The shoes are part of the doll's feet however, so they can't be removed.

Important note: This is the only Ty Girl I've seen in person so I don't know if other dolls in this line have some clothing pieces that can't be removed. It might depend on the doll, buyer beware.

The pants are too short for Bijou but otherwise fit well and the legs could be tucked into boots (same with Ken doll pants on Moxie Teenz, btw). The sleeves on the jacket are also too short but this can be fixed with black faux fur or black lace trim around the wrists. The jacket as it appears in this photo looks like it might be too small but Bijou could close her new jacket with double-stick tape (there are no fasteners to hold it shut). I didn't want to cover up her sparkly top so I left it open.

This was a moderate success so I'll keep my eye out for more Ty Girlz at thrift shops. It seems like dresses, skirts, shorts, and short sleeve shirts from Ty Girlz would probably fit Moxie Teenz without modification, but that is just a guess based on very limited information. Avoid pants and long sleeves unless you want to modify the length with trim. Some Ty Girlz pants might look like cute capri pants on the Moxie Teenz but the bell bottoms shown here aren't the right style for that effect.