Ty Girlz clothes on Moxie Teenz

The Moxie Teenz are among my favorite playline dolls but their clothing options are limited due to their oddball 14" height. The line was cancelled after three years so they didn't have a chance to build up a large wardrobe. 

MGA released three waves of MT dolls, several wigs and accessory sets, and some fashion packs. How many outfits? I can't find a good source for detailed information about these dolls, apparently they weren't popular enough (please post a comment if you know of a website that shows all the available fashion packs). All I know is that my local TRU has had the same three MT outfits on sale for well over a year, but Google Images indicates there were some MT fashions released earlier that I didn't see in person.

This is how I display my Teenz:

My collection has all four dolls in the 1st wave (plus an extra Arizona from a thrift shop), no dolls from the 2nd wave, and two new dolls introduced in wave 3 (Gavin the boy and Leigh the redhead). Wave 3 dolls have rooted hair, don't buy them if you want to play with the MT wigs.

You can see how tall the 14" Teenz look compared to a Monster High doll on the far left and a Liv doll on the far right. Liv dolls make good little sisters to the Teenz, despite being manufactured by a different company. Both lines feature wigs, big heads, inset eyes, and articulated bodies.

Ty Girlz, the clothing donors

A sample of some of the Ty Girlz produced before their cancellation in 2012

You might think the Ty Girlz look kinda cute in this photo, but the dolls are so much worse in person. I don't mean to insult anyone who likes them, they're just not my taste at all.

Ty Girlz clothing is far from a guaranteed perfect fit on Moxie Teenz dolls. I think most of the TG pants are too small, but I haven't been able to try all of the styles available. Stick to skirts to be safe. If pants fit over the thighs they'll look like capris or clam diggers. Sleeves look short on the longer MT arms, but they can be rolled up to the elbow or left alone for a 3/4 length sleeve. Some shirts reveal the belly, which isn't always a bad look, especially on dolls with a flat stomach.

thrift store score

I've found several Ty Girlz at thrift shops, plus the one carded outfit shown above. At the usual $2 or $3 thrift price I don't mind picking up a doll just for her outfit, especially if it'll help the Teenz expand their wardrobe. (I'm not sure what their retail price was but the Ty Girlz are discontinued so it no longer matters, and I never saw them in regular stores anyway.) I don't buy every Ty doll I see because some of the clothes are boring or they don't look like they'd be a good fit for the Teenz.

Three Ty Girlz outfits on Moxie Teenz (shoes are MT). 

The Paris shirt seems appropriate for a doll named Bijou

The skirts look short, but compare them to this official Moxie Teenz skirt shown on the right (below):

Ty Girlz skirt on left, Moxie Teenz skirt on right

Above: the two Arizonas, both first wave but their lips are different shades of pink. After this photo I swapped their wigs, the casual straight style looked better with a more casual outfit. 

I also decided there were too many short skirts in the MT lineup on my shelf, so preppie Arizona is now wearing Bijou's original skinny jeans. I like this look even better:

Here's another Ty Girlz outfit modelled on Moxie Teen Leigh. As you can see, the jeans look like clam diggers:

Wanna go clamming?

TG jeans have velcro sides to ease in redressing the stuffed fabric bodies. This feature also helps slide the tight jeans over plastic MT thighs, but it was still quite a struggle putting the jeans on Leigh. The sides don't close completely on MT legs, so it's not a good fit. It looks OK from the front but I don't recommend you buy a TG outfit with jeans for your MT dolls, unless you really love the shirt. TG pants made from stretchier fabric would likely fit fine around MT thighs, but they'd still be short.

Most of the Ty shirts have Velcro down the back but this preppie shirt made things a little more difficult:

There's no opening in the front or back. I almost gave up and cut it down the back, I thought her arms were going to break! In hindsight I should've tried to put the shirt on starting at her feet, it looks like the neck opening would stretch over her hips.

Bottom line: It's worth taking a second look at Ty dolls in thrift shops if your Teenz need more clothes. Keep the limitations in mind (avoid pants and accept the sleeves will look 3/4 length if you don't roll them up) and you probably won't regret buying a Ty Girl for her clothes, especially at cheap thrift store prices.

"Well, it's a doll show"*

Back in 2001 I went to my first doll show in Seattle and had a good time looking at vintage Barbies and soaking in the atmosphere. After a couple hours of consideration I bought a perfect '60s Midge and brunette Bubblecut (and my then-boyfriend bought a sweet brunette Francie for himself, which somehow ended up in my collection). The ~180 mile round trip to attend the show was worth it (gas was cheaper back then), but for various reasons that was my first and last doll show, until this past Saturday.

Last month I saw a flyer at the library advertising a show hosted by the local doll club (which I didn't know existed) and decided I'd make an effort to attend, considering it was located just 6 miles from my house.

Before going to bed Friday night I put a silly amount of cash in my purse, hoping it'd be enough to cover a gently used doll, in order of desirability: Pullip or Blythe (regular size, hence the silly amount of cash), vintage Barbie, or perhaps a Silkstone I missed during my long dolly break. Maybe a HTF Monster High? I was going to splurge on a special doll and visions of the last show were dancing in my head. So! Many! Dolls!

To make a boring story short-ish, I was disappointed to discover the modern dolls advertised on the flyer mainly referred to Gene dolls (which were lovely but I already have two and that's plenty), American Girl dolls, and some '90s Barbies. There was one Ellowyne (also high on my want list) but she was employed as a model for handmade clothes and not for sale. I also saw just one Silkstone, a deboxed lingerie gal already in my collection.

Little Pullip tagged along because she needs a new 4/5 wig, but the wigs for sale were too big. A friendly vendor noticed her in my hand and asked to check her out, and she very much appreciated little Pullips sweet face.

The vintage Barbie scene at the show was extremely limited, there were a handful of  '60s Mattel dolls and they weren't in great condition. The breakdown: 1 Barbie (Fashion Queen with all 3 wigs), 1 Alan, 2 Midge, and 4 or 5 Skippers. Can you believe not a single bubblecut? I saw at least 50 bubblecuts at the 2001 show. And no Francies! :( 

It sounds like I showed up late but I was there right when it started at 10 AM. Based on what was being offered for sale I think the local doll club members prefer antique and not-Barbie vintage dolls. It was interesting seeing so many dolls but man, I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket. You know the feeling...

Now, on to the good news! I found one little Pullip:

That thing behind her head is a space helmet! It's so cute on!

I asked the vendor if she had more Pullips and she said, "Oh no, those are hard to find." Not exactly HTF on the internet but I think she meant they don't just fall in her lap. $20 seemed like a fair price and a quick google confirms I didn't overpay. Since I didn't have to pay tax or shipping on top of the $20 it was actually a nice deal. For example you can buy her on eBay right now for $27 plus $5 s&h.

This is Little Pullip Cosmic Jupiter (based on the normal size Pullip of the same name), and she's adorable. I love her lavender hair, it's brighter than it appears in this photo, and her helmet is delightful. I'm a big space nerd so finding a Pullip in a spacesuit (er, a space dress?) is extra special to me.

Her stock eyes are so dark they look like two giant pupils, which is different. I think she'd look sweet with blue eyes (maybe from a thrifted Liv Sophie I already have on hand). Lavender eyes to match her hair would be cute too, so she might get new eyes at some point. Here's a video on YouTube that shows how to open Little Pullip heads and change their eyes.

Then I found a Hayden hidden away, off to the side on a stool next to a bucket of playline Barbies. Why not, she was only 2 bucks.

Ahhh, the good Liv body!

The $2 entrance fee included a door prize ticket and -- this was a big shock -- they drew my name first! Wow! I was allowed to pick anything off the prize table. There were several dolls to choose from but nothing fit my style so I selected a Radio Flyer wagon (not full size, it can be used to display dolls that are the type to sit in wagons), which will probably go to a niece this Christmas. :)

So... I spent about an hour at the show wandering in circles and finally decided to give up and try my luck at Value Village on the way home. Good call! This led to my very first thrifted Monster, a $1 Frankie Stein. I can't wait until the monsters start showing up at thrifts with regularity. She's missing her left arm at the elbow, which seems fitting for a Frankie. 

Frankie as Laura Palmer

After I pulled her off the wall a man walked by and asked, "Is that an elf?!" He startled me! Not exactly an elf. :)

after her bath and shampoo

She looks like a Killer Style Frankie, which I already have so this girl will probably get a hair cut. But first the peg stuck in her arm needs to be drilled out and then she'll borrow a spare left forearm and hand from one of the CAM sets in my closet. I'm thankful the previous owner didn't chuck this broken doll into the trash, and VV priced her appropriately. (It bugs me when they sell a damaged doll for the same price as a doll in great condition.)

Value Village also offered up a pretty My Scene Madison for $2.00:

straight out of the bag

This is what Madison was wearing in the store. :) Creative dress-up is a nice bonus for the buyer, I bought a doll with a dress and jeans so it feels like I got a free pair of doll jeans.

OK, I didn't find the (normal size $$$) Pullip of my dreams on Saturday but it was a good dolly day: I saw a lot of dolls I hadn't seen in person before (which was fun, even though most weren't my style), bought a few dolls and didn't break the bank, won a door prize, and didn't use much gas to get there and back (plus free parking!). I'll probably attend the annual show again next year, with more realistic expectations about the dolls offered for sale.

*I overheard this line in the title ("Well, it's a doll show"), spoken by a bored older gentleman to a lady I assume was his wife. It made me burst out laughing because of the tone in his voice. His wife then asked if he was ready to go. ;)

August thrift finds and a new monster

I haven't had anything too interesting or exciting to show you but it has been awhile since I last updated so here's a quick overview of what I've thrifted in the last month.

First wave Daniela at Goodwill, $3. She has her original pants, top, and wig with a purple streak.

SpinMaster has ceased making Liv dolls so keep an eye out for clearance sales if you like these girls. I missed Target's big sale, a couple months ago they had dozens of Livs (mainly the yucky 2012 line) but yesterday there wasn't a trace of Liv in the toy department. All gone. That's what I get for slacking off on my Target runs, I was eyeing those dolls with the bright colorful wigs and waiting for a deep discount. I'll be more careful with TRU, they dropped their base price on Liv again so now I'm waiting for a % off those new base prices sale. Number 1 on my wanted list is the dancing Alexis, she has pretty dark skin and a cool blue wig. It's a shame SpinMaster designers messed with the legs for the dancing gimmick, but she'll still look great posed on my bookshelf in a new outfit. She's now $10 at TRU but earlier this summer TRU had a couple 50% off Liv sales so maybe that'll happen again. The girls are taking up a lot of valuable real estate in the store, c'mon TRU, help me help you. :)

Speed Racer Ken (missing helmet and shoes) at Value Village, $2. He was in a bag by himself, his lady was nowhere in sight (too bad, I like her a lot). I really like his jacket, that's the main reason I bought this doll. He has a good face sculpt as well, for a dude.

It's My Nature Hayden (including wig and partial outfit) at Value Village, $2

A couple weeks ago I spotted It's My Nature Hayden on clearance at TRU. I had been meaning to buy her earlier this year but the local store sold out before I got around to it. She was the last doll I needed to complete the IMN set so I was happy to see her back on the shelf. This week I found IMN Hayden again, missing her hat and long sleeved shirt, at Value Village. This led to an uncomfortable scene at home, when Hayden found her identical twin wrapped in plastic.

Dani & Hayden did not expect this

Someone at VV decided to bag Hayden and Speed Racer solo, which is fine with me. I prefer buying exactly the dolls I want rather than paying more money to get just one desirable doll stuck in a bag of duds.

Monsters Monsters Monsters!


Mattel has been playing catch up. It took until August but I finally found Cupid at Walmart. Basic Frankie and Draculaura are back in big numbers, they weren't around here for the first 7 months of 2012 (at all!) and now they're everywhere. Rochelle the gargoyle girl is finally in stock at TRU. I had only seen her once before, the same week she was first released a few months ago. The new playsets and accessories have also been heavily stocked in all toy departments.

The Ghouls Rule monsters look cheap and poorly designed (just my opinion), I won't be buying them even when they go on sale. I'm not complaining, there are plenty of monsters I want, it's a bit of a relief to know I don't have to spend money on those dolls. :) The Dot Dead Gorgeous trio was at TRU earlier this month, I almost bought Spectra but her face paint was a bit messy. That can wait until they show up again. I did buy Cupid at Walmart, the Operetta roller derby girl (on sale at Fred Meyer), and this TRU exclusive Frankie:

TRU exclusive Frankie Stein

cute tie

She's a good value at $25 because the doll comes with three cute outfits, including three pairs of shoes. I also appreciate that her hair looks so different from other Frankies, it's disappointing when it feels like I'm buying the same doll over and over again to get a new outfit.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

 

Silkstone Ken & a vintage Barbie repro

More thrift store finds.

After Tuesday book club (this was a couple weeks ago) I stopped at Value Village, despite it not being a sale day. The store is just a few blocks from the library, what if I missed something great? If you're a thrifter you've likely heard that same inner voice, it's hard to resist when you're driving by the store anyway. So I made a quick stop at VV to look through the bagged dolls hanging on pegs and noticed one bag in particular had some heft to it. "That's weird," I thought, "I wonder who this boy is?" I tapped the nude doll with my finger through the plastic. Hey, this is Silkstone!

I don't buy many male dolls but how could I pass up a Silkstone Ken for $4.00? He was bagged with two blonde '80s Superstar Barbies so it was $4 for all three dolls, but he's the only reason I bought the bag, he might as well have been in there by himself. You can be sure I looked at every bag to see if his Barbie was there too but no such luck, either she stayed with her owner or someone else found her at the thrift store.

This guy is from the 45th Anniversary Barbie & Ken giftset, which retailed for $150.00. I'm sure it sold for much less at some online doll shops, especially during clearance sales. I remember this set when it was first released in 2003 and had zero desire to buy it. It was out of my price range and I didn't like Barbie's dress or thick braided hairstyle.

Ken was missing his sharp suit so I dressed him in the best Ken suit I own, Fox Mulder's outfit from the X-Files Barbie and Ken giftset, which was my first Barbie purchase as an adult back in 1998.

I'm surprised Silkstone Ken made it through thrift store processing without breaking off a thumb or limb. I think he looks like a cross between Topher Grace and Benedict Cumberbatch. (Really I just wanted an excuse to say Benedict Cumberbatch. I love Sherlock!)

Most likely the first and last Silkstone Ken I ever buy

A few days ago I stopped by the Goodwill and found a Solo in the Spotlight repro Barbie wearing her beaded necklace, shoes, and sparkly black dress. Here she is exactly as she came off the shelf, I haven't even combed her hair yet.

The cashier carefully looked for a price tag but this doll didn't have one so she was $1.29, the default price for any toy without a tag at my Goodwill. I didn't notice many tags on the dolls this time (yay!) so they're experimenting with prices I guess. Last month's switch to higher prices on dolls left them with a growing stockpile, maybe they realized shoppers weren't biting and the prices were to blame. But maybe when I go back to the same store next week most of the dolls will be 3 bucks again, we shall see.

Anyway, the cashier told me this gal was an old doll and looked concerned (like she was thinking someone screwed up and put a very valuable item on the floor at a bargain price) but I assured her it was definitely a reproduction from the '90s. 1994, I just looked it up. Dyami was with me and asked how I knew, I told him, "I could tell from across the room, there's no doubt this is a reproduction." Once you know the difference it's impossible to confuse the Solo reproduction dolls with the originals.

You know what's weird? 1994 is almost 20 years ago, to some people that would make her an old doll! Where did the time go?!

You can buy these blonde Solo repros NRFB for $10 plus s&h on Amazon, they're not exactly in demand. I wouldn't spend money on the doll if I had to order her online but I'll gladly pay $1.29 at the Goodwill again, even without the dress and shoes.

A Moxie Surprise

Guess who I saw again?

Looks like nobody wanted to spend $5 on Moxie Teen Arizona. I found her again at Value Village with a new price tag. This is definitely the same doll, I remember the flower sticker on her forehead added as a unique touch by her former owner. The jacket would've been nice but I'm happy she has her shoes and a basic shirt. My plan is to dye her clothing, maybe I'll experiment with dyeing the doll too (she's a duplicate in my collection). Don't ask why $5 seemed too much but $3 was acceptable, I can't explain it.

Aside: As you've probably noticed I usually round prices up because it seems silly to say $2.99 when $3 is essentially the same thing, and $3 is a more accurate reflection of the price, if that makes sense to anyone else. I won't report something cost $2 when it was really $2.99 but that's how we as customers are trained to think of prices ending in 95 or 99 cents.

First wave Arizona, she needs a bath

Her lips look different than my other 1st wave Arizona, the lip liner is more pronounced. I wish Arizona had brown eyes, Madison has blue eyes with a tan and they look too similar on my shelf, though it helps if I put a blonde wig on Madison. Oh well. I could change them if I want to but it's not worth ordering new eyes and switching them out, the eyes would cost more than the doll. :)

Let's see what all was included in her bag, I don't think I've documented one of these thrifted random bags of toys before.

1. Moxie Teen Arizona w/ pink shirt, skirt with attached lace leggings, black boots
2. Mattel fairy doll
3. cute Mattel picnic basket
4. brown and white skirt with blue trim, homemade
5. plaid skirt (the waist is a little big on Arizona, she's wearing it here)
6. red and pink striped hat, too big for any of my dolls
7. tiny shirt
8. two pink and white chairs, one is missing the white back piece
   
9. a rectangle of purple nylon fabric

Not bad for $3 but none of it's worth anything to me without the Arizona doll too. As usual I'll do one of three things with this extra stuff: 1) keep it, 2) donate it back, 3) give it to my nieces (they're almost 3 and 5). Sometimes I'll throw an item out if it's true junk and not worth putting back into the thrift stream.

Speaking of changing prices... starting last week the local Goodwill is once again putting $2 and $3 stickers on a lot of their fashion dolls. This isn't a big deal but it'll affect how many dolls I thrift. On Monday I ended up not buying a couple $3 dolls I would've purchased if they had been $1.29, which is the price I've grown accustomed to. One was a Moxie Girl missing a foot-shoe (it snaps on at the ankle, just like Bratz shoes) with wrecked hair and a cute but dirty outfit that had noticeable play wear. I wanted her for a Monster High CAM body but I'll wait to find a cheaper donor doll. Oh well! If the Goodwill doll is in great condition then $3 is fine, but I'll be a lot pickier now.

Here's an example of a Moxie Girl I bought a couple months ago for $1.29:

This is my only intact Moxie Girl (the other one was a thrifted mess and I turned her into a MH CAM body last week). I probably would've paid $3 for this MG, but at $1.29 she was an easy purchase. I'm not cutting her up because she's adorable and there isn't anything wrong with her. :) I can't imagine buying more of these Moxie Girlz dolls new in stores because they're not exactly my style but I couldn't resist this cutie with such a great outfit.

I love her freckles!

 

Talking Barbie on mute

This is a 1968 Brownette Talking Barbie head on a TNT body. I found the head last year at Value Village on a tan TNT body. The vinyl didn't match but I had the body shown here already at home so it worked out nicely. What a lucky girl, she has had three bodies over the last 44 years! Oh, to be a doll! Her new body was also a thrift store buy. Its original TNT head needs a reroot, who knows when I'll get around to it.

She's missing some paint on her upper lip but she still displays nicely. That is an easy fix as far as paint touch-ups go, I'd much rather fix lips than eyes or eyebrows. I tied her hair in a side ponytail with thread as a temporary style, when I'm up for the challenge I'll find skinny pink ribbon and replicate her original 1968 hairstyle.

The pink one-shoulder ruffle dress is a recent buy from Value Village, it was bundled with some other clothes and two dressed Mattel dolls -- I'll blog about those later. Can you identify the pink dress? It looks like a very nice playline Barbie dress. There's no label and a Velcro closure. It was designed for a doll with a smaller bust, it doesn't close completely on the vintage TNT body. Pink is not my favorite color but I really like this dress a lot. I tried it on a few different dolls and thought it looked best on Talking Barbie.  If you click the above link (ok, here it is again) you'll see it's a similar color to her original outfit.

I'm still working on the photographs. I made a light box last week using materials I had around the house (which I can write about if anyone is interested) and today I bought a new desk lamp at the Goodwill ($2.50, it was a red tag which meant 50% off) so future pictures should look better than these Talking Barbie photos. She was my test subject, I tried out the light box with only one light, two should be better? I'll keep messing around with the box and lights to see what works, and will look into decent backgrounds too. :)

My Favorite Barbie Find (pun intended)

Today I will share my favorite Barbie find in recent memory. A few weeks ago this Steffie face beauty was waiting for me at the Goodwill (nude, $1.29). She is Mattel's 2010 reproduction of 1980 Black Barbie from their nostalgic "My Favorite Barbie" series.

Two big clues helped me determine this Barbie is a repro. Her back is marked China, which would put her manufacture date after 1986 according to information I found online. Here is a handy list of countries where Barbies were made:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_value_of_a_1966_Barbie_doll

A better gauge of the doll's age is to look at the country of manufacture:
1959-1972 JAPAN
1968-1970, 1989-1990 MEXICO
1970-1987 HONG KONG
1970-1987 TAIWAN
1973-1978 KOREA
1978-1988 PHILIPPINES
1986 to present CHINA
1986 to present MALAYSIA
1992 to present INDONESIA
-- info posted on wiki.answers.com by Skippercollector

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this information, I'll assume it's correct until someone proves otherwise. :) Hey, it's on the internet, it must be true!

What was the bigger clue? The skin tone molded underwear. The words molded and underwear just don't belong together, but you know what I mean. I think this feature was introduced in the 1990s.

She's an excellent reproduction, very faithful to the original doll! I'm so pleased to have this Barbie in my collection.

Barbie is wearing 1970s fashions I found on thrifted contemporary dolls within the last year. The orange dress is from 1976 Quick Curl PJ Deluxe. The orange elastic loop in front is meant to hold PJ's white shawl, which was probably lost back in 1976. The green and pink granny dress is 1975 Best Buy #7416 (carded fashion). I tracked down the origins of these two dresses with the help of Google Images. My Barbie identification books are in storage but I don't have much incentive to go looking for them because checking Google Images is so much faster.

How does a modern collectible Barbie end up at the Goodwill? I've found a lot more vintage dolls than modern Barbie Collector dolls. I think that's because people who get out of the hobby (or obtain BC dolls via inheritance) know they're worth something so BC dolls are sold instead of being thrown out or donated. ("Mom sure spent a lot of money on all these dolls, they're NOT going to the Goodwill!")

Off the top of my head I think I've bought only five Barbie Collector dolls from thrifts over the last 12 years, and three of those were reproductions (this Barbie and two ponytails). All three repros were deboxed and found among the regular jumble of cheap dolls; two were nude. Maybe they were purchased for the repro fashion to put on a real vintage doll and the repro doll wasn't needed for display.

You might be curious to know the identities of the only two non-repro Collector Edition dolls I've found while thrifting. Several years ago I bought a NRFB Mrs. PFE Albee Barbie at the Goodwill where I used to live. The other is a NRFB Pioneer Barbie. Nothing too exciting. If I'd been in a more frugal mood that day I probably would've left Pioneer Barbie behind because I'm not a fan of the Superstar face sculpt, but she's a redhead (without scary neon eyeshadow, huge plus) and check out those cute apples in her basket. And I did grow up watching Little House on the Prairie after school.

Hmm, it's possible I saw maybe 2-3 other Barbie Collector dolls over the years but I didn't buy them because they were overpriced, out of the box and damaged, or not appealing to me. All I know is they are a rarity in thrift shops around here, especially in the age of eBay.

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/