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! Simba Toys!

Hey Gang!

May is Disney month and besides Mattel, one of the biggest makers of
Disney toys and dolls is Simba Toys!

For a long time Simba produced the Disney dolls in Disney Stores while the
Disney dolls found in big box stores and toy stores were produced by Mattel.
When I was thrift store shopping, I would find Disney dolls from both!
Simba dolls many not be spot on with the look of the movie.  They do give
a different representation of the movie character.  Also, if you were expecting
the quality that Mattel used to have, you won't find that in Simba.  The body
and the quality of the hair isn't as good! The quality of the fashions isn't as
good sometimes but it isn't that bad either.

 Face A

Face B

If you have seen my three Pocahontas dolls,

the dolls on the end are Simba Pocahontas dolls and the one in the middle is
Mattle!  By the way, the reason the one in the middle looks shorter is that the
others have on heeled boot and the one in the middle is barefoot!

So if you are saying you are not familiar with Simba, Simba makes the

Steffi Love doll and Family

Simba also does a large variety of off brand dolls sold in the USA and around the world.

Scary Couple--Steffi Love --Mystic Girls Set

Evi and classmate

Evi Love--Skate Timmy

You may have seen many of these dolls at places like Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls.

Dress Barn and similar stores.

As you can tell from photos of face A. and face B. like with many Disney dolls, 

there are many releases to be had! So not only are there a lot more girls, there 

are a lot more guys because every princess need a prince! Disney has done as 

many release of the guys as they have done the girls!

So while only in the past 8 years have we seen many release of Ken dolls, Disney

is always pumping out Princes with different face, hair color and ethnicities ! 

Princes Eric, Phillip, Charming, Aladdin and the Beast!

So  check them out online, in thrift stores and flea markets when they open.  There 

are some great Disney doll out there! 

If you are looking for a price guide check out Disney Dolls Guide of Facebook!

Or you might be able to find Disney Dolls-Identification and Price Guide.

OK, Thanks For Looking!

Video Of The Month-Changing The Eyes Have It!

Hey Gang!

The video I am featuring this month is from My Froggy Stuff!  It isn't a
new video but it is one that has enticed me for a while.  You might say
an oldie but a goodie! It is on doll contact lenses!

Y
You might remember me saying that I don't like dolls with sideways glancing eyes!
I have some dolls that have these eye but I didn't feel like repainting them.  After
watching this video when it was first posted, I thought that might work. Then after
watching year a later, thought why paint anything, why not just take pictures of the
eyes I want and make the pictured eyes into coverings.

So first up is HSM Sharpay!

I wanted my Esmae (first version of HSM Sharpay-taller) to be the mom. She has
forward looking eyes.

She needed a daughter who is kind of a mini me that I am calling Chrystal (second
version of HSM doll with Skipper size body).Now does have the side glancing eyes.

BTW, in my area, this is doll is #2 of the doll always seen at the thrift store! 

I have three.  Only one I am keeping. One I use the body for another doll. I

might sell there other! 

So I searched the web for pictures  of Sharpay (yeah I now I could
have just taken a picture but I didn't). You want a close up picture of the doll 
facing forward. I crop the picture to get just the eyes.  I did it in a labels sheet
which forces it to be kinda small. I use a free editing program to get a mirror
image and measure to get the right size. Then I cut them out.

Following the rest of what they did on My Froggy Stuff, I built up a layer of clear
glue, added the paper eyes and just a little more glue to seal.  I put several pair
of eyes on the label sheet. Save it as a doc for later.

 She is no longer looking to the side!

Aww! Mother Esmae and daughter Chrystal

Next up is Li Shang, 

The other versions have forward facing eye (Two of the Tsai brothers)

but this last Disney store version has those eye again!

I used a photo of the first version's eyes since they are brown and detailed.

 This is the reverse image of the eyes!

I did both and chose the ones I liked best.

I put a little too much glue on these! Especially on the top of the photo.  It is
more of a shine than I wanted.

The next time I will put less and I might 

even use Disney version #2's eyes. 

Blaise and his best frien Zhang!

Lastly, SIS Chandra!

Yeah I know I painted her eyes and that was OK, but years later....

(I also lighten this photo and replace the one in the original post! I do try to up
and change my blog to make it better when I can.)

I think I can do something different! 

So I can give here eyes more like here

sister Vanessa.

Vanessa! 

The updated Chandra!

 I like her!

Chandra and Vanessa!

This was so much fun! I can easily see my self doing more.  One of the key 

problems for me in off brand dolls are they eyes. So this could be a big help!

Now I am looking at other dolls sideways!  

OK, Thanks For Looking!