May is Disney Month! Live Action Dolls!

Hey Gang!

It is May and that means it is Disney month!  I hope to do the month
justice with a number of Disney posts!

One of the interesting and I feel exciting things about Disney dolls is that
they reissue a doll every couple of years.  Sometimes the releases coincide
with a new movie release like the new Live Action Mulan doll!

and sometime they just do it.

In addition the the doll that is released in the Disney store, often there is a
doll that is released by another manufacturer like Mattel or Hasbro in big box
stores like Walmart and Target. This gives you two dolls at once with
different headsclupts and faces.  The face or head size of the doll and the outfit
and body can be different. This provides you with more dolls with a slight or
majorly different face to choose from. And like I mentioned in my post on 
Li Shang you will be able to add more great dolls to add to your collection.

Three of the Disney dolls that were on my "to get list" were...notice I said
were.. the dolls from the 2015 Cinderella Live Action movie.

Mattel promo photo Cinderella or Ella

  Disney Store promo photo Lady Tremaine

 Disney Store promo photo Fairy Godmother

I was unable to purchase this doll when they came out but thanks to Facebook I
was able to get them for cheaper that Ebay! With thrift stores being closed. It has
been hard to get my doll fix for cheap!

Let start with the godmother! Disney had been doing live action remakes of their
classic movies. The doll that Disney has has made for the movies has reflected the
actress and actors that have play those roles. The actress who played the godmother
is one of my favorites Helena Bonham!

The Godmother and Bellatrix

I loved her as in the Harry Potter films! And have seen them all and read the books!
That is rare for me because I normally haven't read the books of saw the movie before.

There was the Disney Store dolls and Mattel dolls to choose from.

Mattel doll and Disney store doll Godmother

Cinderella dolls, Disney store doll and Mattel!

and Lady Tremaine! Mattel and Disney store!

So what I got from Facebook was a head Mattel Cinderella and two whole dolls from
the Disney store!

Cinderella, Lady Tremaine and Fairy Godmother. 

In my opinion the quality of the hair on  most Mattel dolls is better than Disney dolls

not made by Mattel. The Mattel dolls have softer and shinier than that of non-Mattel 

Disney dolls. In the case of these Disney dolls-Tremaine (with hair pulled back) and 

Godmother- the hair is rooted thicker but the quality isn't as good as the Mattel hair.

The back!

The Mattel Cinderella has gold streaks in her hair.

You can see the streaks better from the back.  I am not sure if I like it, or if I could cut it out
like this version of the face of the Disney doll.

 From the top!

I got the Mattel Cinderella doll because I like the shape of the face better!

The gawline on the Disney doll was too square for me and looked too hard.

I didn't need or want the body of the Mattel Cinderella.The only thing worse than her arms..

are these arms with  painted on gloves.

Mattel Tremaine doll arms.

The Mattel Lady Tremaine had a face closer to the look of the actress.

Cate Blanchette

But she looks close enough for $3.00 for me to purchase her..

As I look at this photo, she does look like her too!

The Fairy Godmother with the white silver hair was one doll I have really wanted.

  

I want the dioramas that I do in the future to focus on older people/dolls. Older people 

have an interesting lives too and should be seen it dioramas, movies and TV shows.

OK, Thanks For Looking!

May is Disney Month! Head Swaps-The Girls!

Hey Gang!

I got this idea from Jeanie of Adventures In Barbieville . She is a fount of
inspiration for me! She mention to me that she recently got disney dolls
for body swap but had a mishap in removing one of the heads. So let's talk
about Disney doll heads, bodies and buying them aftermarket or used!

The upside and downside of Disney dolls.

The upside!
For me, while articulated Barbie bodies are harder for me to find in thrift
stores (and boy do I miss thrift stores) articulated Disney bodies were not!
There are alway articulated Disney dolls on Facebook too. For me, the neck
knobs are a little more tricky and maybe... a little thinner too!  Because of this,
you have to be careful when removing the head of and when purchasing Disney
dolls aftermarket (used doll).

Warning you are about to see nude dolls!

The body! 

This one of the basic bodies. There is another with a different kind of knees and feet!

The two knees and feet!

Compared Disney body to Mattel body.

 Shoulder to knee!

Disney articulated --Mattel Fashionista

 Disney neck knob to Mattel neck knob

Mattel is a longer neck but the neck on the Disney body is long enough to not look 

too short with a Mattle head.

 The Disney knee has a click knee and Mattel has a fashionista knee.

Here is the most important part to know the dics of the neck knob is larger on the
Disney doll than on the Mattel doll. Making the head a little harder to get off
and on the neck than a Mattel!

Note you can't see the hole in the neck.

Now there are several manufacturers that make dolls for Disney.  Removing
the head of Disney or any doll to me is a heat the head with a hair dryer move!
You really want to heat the head before attempting to remove it.  By this I mean
I use the dryer to heat the base of the head until it is slightly soft and will make
it easier to remove. If you can feel it soften you are doing good.

You may need to heat it more that once if it starts to cool.  I like to use my pointy
scissors in this process too. I like to cover the hair (will talk about the hair in
another post) and move the opening of the head over the top of the head knob
carefully. Then I may use my pointy scissors to pry the head to above the round
top of round disc. Running it around the edge.

It is much easier to get the heard off the two hooks at the of the knob than a
Mattel head where the hook and stem are longer. Like with Mattel neck knobs
I remove the hooks to make it easier if a want to do another swap.

 Before!

After!

Many of the newer Mattel dolls are a light complexion.
Glinda the Good Witch has bendable elbows and click knees but she could go
on a Disney articulated body.

Made to move purple top is kinda scarce.  Many of the articulated Disney doll
bodies are the right complexion to fill the gap! I first used Mulan's body for a

few dolls!

Mulan

Mulan and Top Model Summer

 Summer on Mulan body!

 Stars Doll on Mulan

 Asian Barbie on Mulan

Asian Bacis Barbie on Mulan

Several different bodies can work!  I think the yellow is Bell, 

purple is Rapunzel and blue is Cinderella.

The Birds Barbie and Fashionista #30

Other dolls on Disney bodies!

 Mattel Pocahontas head on Disney Pocahontas body!

Mattel Nakima head on a Disney Jasmine body.  She was move to a Pocahontas
body so that she too she has the arm tattoo also.

Curvy fashionista Ric Rac on Tiana body.

Petite Fashionista crazy for coral head and Fashion Fever Tia head

After market purchases

When I purchase a Disney doll or any doll online, I ask about
the head, hair, neck, body, hands and feet! A picture taken is a certain way
may hide what will obviously be a flaw in person. Am I saying the seller
is trying to pawn off a flawed doll on you?  No, there is a chance that they
might not have noticed. Your asking will make them look and if there is
an issue when the doll arrives, you have a leg to stand on! If in checking
they say "oh wow, there is a problem, you can if you still want it,  negotiate
a better price. Sometimes you only want the head so it is still OK!


When purchasing from a thrift store, my school of thought is the same with
any thrift store purchases. Anything I see I even kinda like goes in the cart!
There is nothing worse than seeing something you thought about in some else's
cart. Put it in the cart and review it before checkout.

Until I have looked all over the store I don't thin out my cart! After I am sure I
have seen everything, I now go thought the cart and check for issues with
everything in the cart.  Problem that can't be fixes are in the top little area of
the cart to go back.  "Sure shots" are put in the front of the cart and "iffy in the
back. I then put back the issues items, access again the iffy" and total my cost.
Hopefully I am not over! If I am, then what do I really want or need?

So the Disney neck on the left is cracked and the knob is missing. The neck on
the right is Mattel and the knob is missing.

 Crack neck that wasn't notice until I got home and tried to do a head swap.

 Side view!

You can glue a neck knob of Mattel and Disney dolls. I can do some repairs but
it is better to know that you have to do it that to discover it.
BTW, on articulated Disney bodies the forearm with hand can be removed with a
little work!

Will post for the boys later! Stay tuned.

OK, Thanks For Looking!