Mood:
a-okNow Playing: "Transformers Cyber Keys" - DVD rental which, fortunately, gets returned tomorrow.
While looking for that ‘September 2007 Release' Enchanted Robert Phillips doll - one day, he'll be there ! - I got a good look at the Island Princess doll line. I've been skipping over it mostly because the titular Barbie is so...vividly colored. She's wearing a pretty dress, but that shade of blue hurts my eyes. And if she's on an island, why would she be wearing a full-length beglittered ball gown ? I mean, even yer biggest clotheshorse is gonna reach for the too-big sweatpants and a battered pajama top every so often.
Anyway, after my eyes glazed over Barbie, I noticed ‘Prince Antonio' for the first time. He's probably been there for weeks, I just couldn't see past the electric turquoise peacock tail. I figured he was ‘Beach Glam Ken' in a prince suit, but he isn't. I've been wanting a new head mold Ken for a while, but all the ones I've seen have been blonde, with a sort of sneer expression, and I like dark hair on my nice male dolls ! Comparing Antonio to Ken, there's quite a difference beyond hair. While Keeping Ken's author, Jef Beck, (http://www.manbehindthedoll.com/ ) seems to believe Tony's just a molded-hair modification of New Ken, I think it's more than that.
Tony's nose is quite sharp, and seems a bit longer than Ken's. His eyebrows are a vast improvement, gentle and feathery, and his eyes are just a tiny bit rounder. It may be just a trick of the paint, but he seems to have a gentle sort of smile instead of a one-side smirk. I really tried to get photos to show this, but the flash sort of flattens Tony's face, so the sharp, thin angle of his nose is hard to see. He sort of resembles a paler older brother of Stars and Stripes Ken, a rarely used mold. That's probably just me - placed side-by-side, they don't resemble each other much.
I'd have done a debox article on him, but it was too simple. A soft plastic strip around his neck and two of those thingies most stores use to attach price tags to clothes, that was it. His costume, aside from his neat crown (more later) and tunic top, is just about useless. What's any male doll gonna do with knee-length purple shorts elasticized at the knee ? Even Leia doesn't want ‘em, and I don't know if I can talk Jem and Synergy into ‘em or not.
His shoes look like something Prince Eric (Little Mermaid) wore - knee-high foldovers. But these are a dark blue, split in the back from the heel to about a quarter-inch before the tops, to aid in putting on and taking off. It was still fairly difficult to get ‘em off anyway. Can't imagine another doll wearing ‘em, or even "Tony" wearing ‘em again. Maybe if they were black, I could pass them off as a pirate costume, but navy blue ? ARrrr. Nothin' says ‘hot sexy pirate, yow !' like blue knee boots and purple clam-diggers. Maybe if I made Leia a hot dark blue pleather bodysuit, she'll wear the boots... Han would probably insist !
Tunic is nice, but I have no idea why the fleur-de-lis pattern on the sleeves is upside down. Same way with every doll in the store. The small, tasteful goldtone crown is flexible plastic, and stays put well, no matter if you want it high up in front or peeking up from the back. Other dolls can wear it, too. It's quite nice.
His body is a mixed bag, too. His rigidly straight PTR (palms to rear) arms go straight up and down, not out to the sides even one millimeter. Sad when the $5. swimsuit doll has more articulation than the $10. character one. A bonus surprise - he has ‘the bump' ! Not molded-on briefs ! I couldn't believe it. I haven't seen ‘the bump' since Malibu Ken. I thought that mold was burned or broken or something, since Mattel seems very interested in keeping their characters innocent and kids' sometimes hyper-sensitive parents placated. Color me strange, but that made up for his unfortunate arms, in my book at least.
Legs have the usual barely defined toes and two-click knees you're used to in Mattel Males, and Tony has no twist waist. Face paint is nice, and he has great eyes. I even like his molded hairstyle. On the whole, well worth $10., but I still think Mattel could have at least sprung for full-length pants for the poor guy.
Speaking of Mattel, here's a neat link if you haven't already seen it - from a Japanese doll collector dinner event, some of the 2008 catalog made brief appearances. I finally got to see a blurry photo of the Speed Racer set, and I was pleased to see a Midge and Allan gift set. Too bad I already have a vintage Midge and Alan, and even the Swingin' Easy dress she's wearing. Made my own clone versions too, using a pattern that wasn't designed for my alterations !
http://dollattic.com/hotgossip.htm -> Entry's dated Sept. 13th. Enjoy !
