Mood:  lazy

Busy day. While looking on the computer for a pattern to try out, I found one that'd somehow encoded incorrectly. It was just one page, three pattern pieces, but it was really messed up. Somehow, it cut off one edge of the scan, reprinted it on the other side, knocking the rest of the pattern askew. It also colored half the page solid black with white lettering. The rest was white with black lettering, as it should be. So, I fixed it. Printed it out, reassembled it, scanned it, removed all the black, and saved it again. Took over an hour.

Then I realized - that page was probably OK in my backup files. D'oh ! It was. Oh, well. Practice with digital manipulation's never a waste !

Printed out a Ken-size tank top pattern, from my old pattern exchange group. No directions, but it looked fairly simple. Used the flame fabric again - do you believe there's still more of it to use ? Turned out much too tight and it didn't hang well. So tomorrow, I'm gonna sew up a simple black sheath dress, and use it as a Barbie vest. Then retake the photo with PJ and Malibu. While she's still a blonde.

It probably didn't fit because it was supposed to be sewn as a knit, not a woven cotton. Occasionally, not having directions or a photograph of the finished item bites me in the butt. Not a total waste, though, because the black dress and flame vest is gonna look great together !

Trying the ill-fated tank top on Ken dolls was a challenge. Both Allan (Happy Family, first edition) and Malibu Ken (thrift store, 25c ‘cause he was filthy, but he cleaned up great) had cotton t-shirts on, and I have no idea how. They were so tight, I ripped one removing it. Both shirts were Mattel, and neither had any sort of back opening. So I fixed that. And the tear. At least next time I need a male doll for fitting, I won't nearly break a doll's arm !

Sewed the snaps on the ‘Hot Tropics' dress while waiting for Dearest Son's bus to bring him home. He ended up nearly an hour late ! Not sure if it's ‘yellow flu' (i.e., a strike) or what, but they had so many drivers call in sick today, his afternoon driver did her normal route, then went back to drive the route Son's on ! If they'd have called, I'd have picked him up, but they didn't. His morning driver was also late, but not that much. I hope Mr. George, his usual driver, is back to health soon !

And that was today. Tomorrow, I'm at Mal-Wart, pickin' up prescriptions and doing laundry. So I'd best get some sleep ! Hope your day was good !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:45 PM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  hungry

Finally got the dishes done ! And I wanted to show the material I used to patch Dearest Son's pants with, so I made a Barbie dress out of it. Now I just have to post it on the main site - but here's a sneak preview of ‘Hot Tropics'. I won't have time to post it tonight, and I don't think posting a ‘flame' print dress is a good idea on 9/11. Maybe I'm being hypersensitive, but I think adding it to the main site can wait a day or three.

I actually still have some of this fabric left, maybe enough to make a simple shirt for one of the guy dolls. I only bought a quarter yard, 1) because I thought the print was too big to use for doll clothes 2) since that'd be about all I'd need and 3) because ¼ a yard = $1. Turns out, yeah, it is big, but it looks OK on a doll. There's also a blue version of the fabric, so I'm beginning to wonder how it would look on a doll...

The pattern is Simplicity 4422, View 1. Looks a lot like Mari Dewitt's ‘Basic Dress', goss knows I've made a few dozen of those. The original pattern calls for lace at the sleeve and skirt hems, but I didn't have anything to really go with the fabric. I certainly didn't wanna go out and buy more lace - it took me 20 minutes to go through what I had to decide I didn't wanna use any of it. So I used black ribbon. You can hardly see it on the sleeves, I probably could have skipped it there. But I think it adds a touch of the unexpected at the hem. It also keeps the skirt poofed out a bit, being a bit more rigid than the cotton fabric.

Not sure if the clear plastic presser foot on the sewing machine is helping or not. Sewing Son's patches and today's neckline was easier, but I don't know if that's due to the foot, or I'm simply used to it now. But, hey, whatever makes any aspect of creativity easier is OK in my book ! Especially when it didn't cost nothin'. !

This is PJ, one of the dolls I got last month at the flea market for  a buck. I'm going to leave her hair as-is, although she can really use a reroot. It's too thin at the front, something I could probably hide if I put her original ponytails back up. But I don't want to. While I'll occasionally get silly when I have longer hair and pull mine up like that, I think it's kind of silly-looking for anyone over 30 to have twin side ponytails as an everyday hairstyle. No offense to anyone who does - it's just my worthless opinion ! I'm really over-conscious of that ‘mutton dressed as lamb' thing.

Hit GoodWill today, nothin'. They did have a Berenguer baby doll with a neck ! Sorry, it's kind of a joke with me, since most of their dolls seem to be manifestations of 'No Neck Monsters' (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and it bugs me. She was well made, with an expressive face and joltingly realistic ears, but her hair was torn up so badly, I'd have to reroot. And I already have three dolls sitting around waiting for their turn for hair. Found a never-worn coat for Son - and it was half off ! Score ! Dollar Tree yielded big carpet squares, so I finally have some green carpet I really like ! As well as a multicolored square you'll be seeing soon, possibly as Friend Ship airplane carpeting.

Not sure what's next - other than laundry ! I may print out a simple tank-top type shirt pattern and use up some more ‘flame'. And post it on the 12^th. Or the 13^th, just for teasing.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:06 AM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  a-ok

A quiet, lazy Sunday. Despite my best efforts - yeah, right ! - I somehow never got around to doing dishes today. Aw, nuts.

Instead, I repaired the last of Dearest Son's pants. Five holes on three pairs. He's really tough on the left knee of his clothes. They're just sweatpants, and I doubt I paid more than $3. a pair for them. We have the money to buy new - but new sweatpants aren't out around here yet. I haven't seen a single pair of 'em anywhere. So I bought a quarter yard of ‘flame' fabric in orange, yellow, and red on black, for just a buck, and that's fixed three of the five total pairs I've done. Leaving about ¾ of the material to make some racy doll clothes ! Not bad !

While I'm proud of the job I did - when he wears them, it looks like he's made of fire, and the ‘flames' are peeking through ! - I doubt they'll last long. Luckily they won't have to. The Halloween costumes have been out for a week or three, so Autumn Apparel should begin to appear soon. Plus, he's already outgrown one pair that I fixed last month, and these don't have much room for him to grow. At least I got ‘em fixed cheap for a few more wearings. And I know to buy the next size up when they are available again.

I'm gonna sew doll clothes tomorrow - but I have to do dishes first ! I can use the mental down time while scrubbing silverware to puzzle on what to make next. I honestly have no idea what I want to make. A dress ? A cute blouse and skirt ? Some slacks with a Robotech logo t-shirt ? Maybe a low-backed blouse for C. D. (Chat Diva Teresa) to wear ?  The possibilities are endless...but so is my lack of direction !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:45 PM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  chillin'

Well, it happened. Beloved Hubby and I went out, and he was curious about the doll I'd told him about. Next thing I knew, we were out the door of TRU with one tucked into a bag. Yes, the one I picked out, after lining eight of ‘em up, looking for one that didn't have a head constantly looking upwards. I like mine to look straight ahead, not at the sky. But other than that, I have no idea how we ended up with one - they must've pushed one with a receipt at us as we were moving along, or something.

Turns out, it's a nice doll, even though there's serious limitations to that ‘plug in your MP3 player' feature. Doll talks over the music, and if the tune's low and slow, she talks over it, saying the same two sentences every twenty seconds, over and over. She also spouts off the same way each time the song is changed, either by you or the player simply going to the next song. How the voice can be both muffled and loud is beyond me, but that adds another layer to ‘annoying' I wasn't aware of before. She does not move her mouth with the song - it's either moving constantly, or twitching slightly. I still haven't figured out if she bops her head in time to the music, or it's random. Could be either way.

There's a whole review on the main site ->   https://dorriebelle.tripod.com/id40.html  . While she's not quite what I imagined, she's still a pretty and rather fun doll. Like me, she's probably more fun if she'd shut up once in a while.

Rest of our Saturday was about usual. Slept in, ate a nice breakfast together, went out for a bit. Dearest Son came home from his grandparents', and we ordered a pizza. Mommy's new doll rather freaked him out, but MP3 songs coming from the doll-size speakers was kind of interesting to him.

Sorry. Any other day, a new doll would have me bouncing for hours, but I did my bouncing hours ago, so I'm sleepy now. Hope you enjoy the new page, and a new day tomorrow !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:51 PM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  irritated

No rude surprises on the porch today - I'm sure you're as disappointed as I. I did, however, have a minor brainstorm late last night. Was thinking about the pseudo-Agatha's Underwear set I made. It's pictured on Honey on the main site's home page. One side is curved, the other is almost squared. That could have come from the way I cut it, or the way I hemmed it. It's often difficult to see if you're staying on the mark when you're feeding ¼" of fabric to the needle. Especially when curves are involved.

Then it hit me - they make invisible (i.e., clear plastic) presser feet ! And, digging in my sewing machine's built-in accessory drawer, I found that I already had one ! Machine came with it, I just never used it. Well, score ! That almost makes up for the rain that washed away all my usual yard sale hunting today.

And while I had ideas, I went ahead and looked up ‘sewing snap fasteners' online. Long time ago, I read an eBay auction for a kitchen-table type doll clothes pattern that included tips on how to sew snap fasteners perfectly. I was intrigued, but had patterns for the same outfits at least five times over. But I was intrigued about perfectly sewing snaps. Mine look like crap. No matter how neatly I sew the tiny stitches, or how much time and care I spend, it always look like a car accident on the other side. Just with thread and fabric instead of a Mini Cooper and a Mack Truck.

The online tips were more of what I already knew, but I guess the real secret is to either use an industrial machine, like Mattel does on those rare occasions when they run out of Velcro ^TM or something, or sew the snap to only the facing, not the fabric beneath it. Not very stable, in my opinion, but it'd still work, and definitely wouldn't show. Hmpft.

Oh, yeah. Remember those Birthstone dolls I was considering a few weeks ago ? Decided against ‘em because their faces just didn't appeal ( actually, they looked like grown-up Bratz to me, or worse, Paris Hilton, if you want my truthful opinion...and those *&^%  tiara'd dogs certainly didn't improve that image !) even though they were on my favorite Steffie head mold. Now I'm really glad I didn't get one. Turns out, Mattel's back to their familiar tricks. Those pretty curls in front ? It's a mass of loose, frizzed up and tangled waves in the back. If you really look at the doll still in the package, you can see it. Member of a doll chat group was upset about it, and I sympathized, but part of me was laughing hard. (softly chuckling sigh) Oh, Mattel. Can I ever trust you again ?

In fact, at Lisa's ‘Tiny Zippers' site, you can see it, but she's taken time to brush hers out, probably a lot of time. Curls are so short in the front, but the hair in the back is much longer.

http://tinyzippers.com/index.html

Doll in the middle, of course. Pretty doll, but I just can't get over those ‘roving eyes' and ‘p*rn star' mouth. If they'd just de-puckered her lips a bit, I'd probably have that exact doll. Goss knows Mal-Wart's got a few dozen of ‘em now. Not sure if I'd like the ‘Model Muse' body either - that hollow throat thing bugs me. Reminds me too much of a shrewish political commentator we have here in the States. You know, the harpy.

Off that. Was thinking about the new line of ‘Pivotal' dolls Mattel's rolling out. They were evidently the stars of Toy Fair '07, given the number of photos and press I've read about ‘em. Mostly, I thought about ‘em because I was reading the cover-story article about it in the Barbie Collector Beloved Hubby got me the other day. Still need to review that, BTW, for now, let's just say I'm enjoying it. They're certainly pretty - especially the ‘Velma Kelly'-ish brunette. But what makes these the subject of intense adult interest when other dolls have had poseable joints for decades ? Were they Mattel's answer to big-ticket ball-joint dolls ? Or was it just more hype ? 

Started to believe it was the latter - especially since their sexy Cabaret costumes covered all the joints. Long gloves, fishnet hose, glittery black netting...hmm. It almost sounds like they don't want anyone to see those much-ballyhooed joints. Remember the ‘Twirling Ballerina' dolls ? First time Barbie'd had hose in years, and it was mostly to give the illusion of a smoother set of ankle and knee joints. Many other ‘Gymnast' bodies were issued in long sleeve costumes, possibly to hide the almost insect-like elbow, with its glaring silver screws. It didn't bug me, I just could never figure out why they didn't paint the screws to match the skin, but let's remember, this is Mattel.

The article itself had waaaay too much white space. Surely somebody can fill a three page article with more than just photos ! Guess not. Maybe there's not much to say. Except that the dolls have twelve points of articulation - head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hip, and knee. Um...that's not much more than a standard $5. swimsuit doll, guys. Less than yer average six-inch action figure, too. Jem has all of that, with no hinges exposed, and she was out on the market in 1985 ! New Living Barbie had much the same - a twist waist instead of a torso hinge - and she was released in 1970 ! Even her ankles were poseable. While she's a little bit bigger, Elphie has all the same joints the Pivotal ones do - and you could see hers before you bought her.

While the Pivotal dolls are lovely, I just don't see what all the fuss is about.  If Mattel is sooooooo proud of their newest doll, you'd think there'd be photos of the doll in a swimsuit, or even nude. Nope. They don't want anyone to see those precious pivots, at least, not until they've shelled $50. for each. Wow. Seems like a lot for not much. Especially when the engineer interviewed - Bill Greening - didn't have much to say either, except that press was positive, and that body'd been on the drawing board since '05. I'm wondering if it wasn't on the board a heckuva lot earlier than that !

And they come with nice props. But I can't help remembering The Simpsons episode where Lisa points out that there's nothing really new about the latest Malibu Stacy. The enthusiastic reply is "She has a NEW HAT !", and the pushing and shoving to get one begins.

You can even see it on YouTube...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-SC_gOD5l_w

Yeah, I'd have been the kid yelling that the Emperor was naked, too.

About all the sewing I did was attaching snaps and buttons to the shirt I sewed Rio yesterday, and posting a new photo of him and Jem by the Sound Cube on the main site. I'm not sure which doll will get something new next. But I hope to sew tomorrow !

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:21 PM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  caffeinated

Had a sort-of good/sort-of nasty surprise this morning.  For the last two weeks, I've detected an odd scent around the porch. Couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Today, when I moved the stepstool toolbox, I found out - dead mouse. Ick. Tuna may have stashed what was left of a hunting-trophy snack there. Got it taken care of and cleaned up (then the cleaning tools got disinfected) after Dearest Son left for school, and the smell's gone. Sometimes I wonder if women have a stronger sense of smell in general, since the mess was about three inches from the lawn chair Beloved Hubby sits in nearly every morning !

Wish I could sniff out where Tuna is. Snack or no snack, I haven't seen her since Sunday morning. If she's gone for another house, I wish her well - mostly, though, I just hope she's not hurt, and that she's OK. Poor kitty. 

Today was a sort of ‘puttering' day. But I'm amazed at all I did. Attached the ‘I (heart) Me' and ‘Flawless' buttons I bought on markdown to the sewing machine cover. So far, it's a sort of brief scrapbook of my sewing. Cheated on the buttons, though. Cut small slits in the cover, treated ‘em with FrayCheck, and pushed the shank through, anchoring it with plastic cotter pins from another pack of buttons I bought in a flea market baggie lot. If I keep something long enough, I'll eventually find a use for it !

The woodworking magazines I snagged from a thrift store for Beloved have also yielded a goodie or three for me. Namely, the subscription cards ! Yup, I even have uses for those ill-favored things. Since they often have a tiny replica of the magazine they're stumping for on ‘em, they make great doll magazines ! (TMI* Tip : A year's subscription to Playboy yields enough material for dozens of mini Playboys, as well as several adult DVD covers !) When the replica's too close to the edge of the card to simply do a foldover, I just tape more subscription card to what I did manage to fold over, then attach more folded bits of the card inside, for pages. Then it all gets cut to the cover size, and you end up with a fairly decent-looking miniature. For free - if you don't count the cost of about six inches of tape ! Our Mal-Wart has a community billboard that's usually overrun with subscription cards, or I find ‘em scattered around where magazines are sold. You'd think doll magazines would picture their magazine on their subscription cards for us, but it rarely happens.

After that, I went to store the outfit ‘Laura' was wearing before I went out on a limb with the Fashion Fever outfit. Fished the musical-score on purple box liner from the trash and put it back in. Much better than the bare grey cardboard, and there's a place for her props, too. I like storing her stuff in her original box - certainly makes it easy to find, and I like having a reason to keep it - but there were two things I didn't like. One, the ‘Try Me !' feature is, of course, accessed through a hole in the plastic window. While most of her clothes won't go through that, her wand and shoes might. Two, the thin cardboard doesn't stay closed very well. Hmm...was a new, pretty cardboard box from Dollar Tree in order ?

Well...no. I dug in the ribbon and lace box and came up with a lovely length of orchid-lavender ribbon. A short piece and some glue stick blocks the hole. Four more lengths were affixed to the box with good old Elmer's White Glue, to act as silky ties to keep the box closed. I'd thought of using Velcro ^TM, but the thin cardboard would have torn eventually. And the ribbons and bows look so much prettier ! The ribbon came from a $2. pre-packaged ribbon grab-bag sold at Hobby Lobby, Garden Ridge, and Hancock Fabrics ... purchased at half-price, of course !

I also removed Laura's batteries. Dead batteries can only corrode and damage dolls, so why keep ‘em in there ? Kept one, and attached it to the wrong side of the box liner, in case I ever want to hear her talk and I've lost her directions sheet. Some highlights from that :  ‘Do not aim toy at others. Do not strike others with toy.' ‘How to Play with Toy : Attach props as shown.' Thank Everything I found that in the box liner Monday ! I mean, what might happen if I attach her broom to the wrong hand ?!!  I wouldn't know how to play with her !

And then, for kicks after lunch, I used some of the non-slip foam stuff - I don't know what to call it, it's sold at dollar stores and is used as shelf liner or to keep things from sliding - on my ‘cutting table'. I say ‘cutting table' because it started out as a long, kinda thin hamper Beloved Hubby made. It now houses most of the printed-out patterns inside and the top is about right for my cutting board and rotary. But it slips sometimes. Not anymore ! I bought the roll at DTree, to keep the silverware tray stationary. The cutting table use just about finished it off, but I think there's enough there for doll-photo ‘carpet'. Maybe even ‘lawn', since it's a dark shade of green.

Muttered around the computer for a while, then gave myself an ultimatum : either clean something or create something. Guess what won ? Decided to finally finish Rio, so he could go sit with Jem after I did photos for the main site. Got his shirt all cut out and treated with FrayCheck before Beloved and Son were home. Didn't get to sew it until about four hours later, but it came out great !

It's kind of hard to see, but it has a cuffs and a nice collar that I got right on the third try - remember, this is a Swedish or Finnish magazine pattern without directions I can read. And I was too lazy to go find directions from a similar pattern in English, so I went by memory. Looks like it worked OK. Had to redo the left sleeve with a smaller seam allowance, it was much too short. In fact, I'm starting to think the seam allowance on the whole project is probably smaller than ¼", but I could swear what few directions I could read said 6mm. But, heck, I've been wrong before.

The fabric was a gift from Carol, of Perestroika fame, given so long ago, I don't wanna think about it. I think it looks great on him. I'll take a photo of him and Jem tomorrow, after I sew snaps and buttons on. But here's a quick snapshot for now. I'm actually rather proud of this shirt. He's posing by the Sound Cube, wearing the second pair of jeans I made for him byOn altering a pattern from the same magazine. There's also a neat vest that'd probably work up great in UltraSuede, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna sew that tomorrow. I kinda want to do some girl clothes for a while !

Beloved Hubby did some work for another doll fan, and while talking, she told him she loved sewing for her dolls, too, but Barbie scale was just beyond her. (giggle) That's what I said, five years ago !

*TMI = Too Much Information

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:54 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:06 AM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  happy

Week's going right quickly along, and I'm happy. It's started raining here again, and that's a downer. Although I do welcome turning off the A/C and opening the windows instead...

Made a neat discovery today. ‘Laura', my Magical DoReMi doll, can wear some Fashion Fever Barbie clothes. They're a bit big on her, but it reminds me of the way ‘chipette' Jeanette (Alvin and the Chipmunks) dressed, and I think it suits Laura as well. In fact, that may be why I like her so much, she strongly resembles Jeanette !

Anyway, here's Laura, wearing the same FF outfit that's shown on a 1966-standard-Barbie-body Cinderella doll a few days ago - the photo with the DTree toilet and sink. If you ask me, it suits her more than it did Cindy !

Made a second, less fun discovery. I was kind of avoiding the Studio for the last week or so. Today I figured out why. It was that laundry basket full of just-washed new-to-me fabric ! I didn't wanna wrestle with storing it, although it was sure fun to rummage through that yard-sale box a couple weekends ago. It was even fun to cheap-serge it. Well, I wanted it, I bought it dirt-cheap...now I gotta store it. So I did. Took about an hour, but now the Studio's nice and clean, and I don't have to worry about it any more. Of course, all this didn't stop me from at least *peeking* into the Mal-Wart fabric section last time I was there. But it did stop me from buying anything else ! Even the markdown doll clothes got passed up, and there was a time... now I have too much fabric and too many patterns to justify buying much. Unless it's for the shoes !

While folding and storing the fabric - there was a lot to go in the ‘holiday/floral prints' crate - I found a scrap of a Halloween remnant I used for a Barbie dress a long time ago. Hmm. Not much there...but it's probably enough to make Laura a little something ! Guess I'd best get her measured for Doll Shop Deluxe soon. I saved her box to hold her original ‘witch' outfit and accessories. May as well continue to use it for her wardrobe ! My doll clothing storage gets a bit more crowded...oh, well. That'll happen when I buy new dolls. I get inspired all over again !

Beloved Hubby came home with a surprise for me - the latest issue of Barbie Collector ! He thought I might like to read it, since there's lots of Midge photos and there's even a pattern inside. Isn't he the sweetest ? Said he wasn't too impressed by Haute Doll - he looked at that, too, while deciding on BC. I'll have a more complete review tomorrow.

For now, I'm gonna go read ! Hope you had a nice surprise sometime today, too !

Posted by dorriebelle at 7:03 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:05 AM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  flirty

Dearest Son had a *rough* transition back to school today. We discussed it, and I'll be sure to remind him that Wednesday will be a good day. After all, we all more or less decide if it's gonna be a good day for us or not !

I had a great day. I got one of the best haircuts ever last night ! Actually, we all got haircuts. We have a stylist in residence - Beloved Hubby ! He's cut my hair ever since a Mal-Wart storefront scissorhands whacked heck out of mine shortly after Son was born. When I came home upset, he stated that he could have done better than that...and took out scissors and did ! Last night, I was muttering about how I didn't know how I wanted it, so he asked to try something new, and it came out adorable. Sort of a cross between a pageboy and a bubble cut. Guess tucking it behind my ears finally gave it a nice curve, because his shaping and that slight wave make it fantastic. It even looks good windblown and messed up. You know, the way my hair is normally worn. I love it ! Felt pretty all day long.

Unfortunately, I didn't do much else. I've about decided against getting the Chat Diva doll. I'd just end up doing something stupid with it, like this Youtube.com offering ->

http://youtube.com/watch?v=192I5gT4j10

Don't know if I'd glue a miniature Jack Daniel's fifth to her hand, but taste is so subjective. The last few gimmick dolls I've owned haven't enjoyed a lengthy stay here. Anyone who's had a talking doll commence to orating with no reason in a quiet house knows terror for a brief instant. And I'm sure this one will pick up some stray signals - Chez Insanity is a pretty tech-filled house. While I'd enjoy it for a while, I doubt that while would be more than a week or so. And there's other things to spend $12. on.

Long as I'm posting links, here's one for the '08 Barbie collector line ->

http://www.41vogue.com/2008%20Barbie.htm

Looks like Mary Poppins is gonna be big next year. Grease, too. There's about a full line of dolls of all the major characters from both films. And that Mattel hasn't given up on the lucrative ‘Dolls of the World' series - the Princess line seems to be DOA, replaced by ‘Weddings of the World'. Starting with Spain and Indonesia. The only two dolls that remotely have my interest aren't pictured - the Speed Racer gift set that probably goes with the movie due out next year, and the one called My Melody. I was kind of hoping for another Steffie-faced Melody doll, like the one in the defunct One Modern Circle line, it's probably a homage to the Sanrio rabbit, My Melody. Guess the Hello Kitty one - also a Sanrio product - did well. Nothing there I saw to make me wanna part with more cash. I'm still upset with Juicy Couture for making me read adjectives ironed on pre-teen butts. Ugh.

Still, if the Speed Racer  one is suitably iconic (i.e., looks like an anime character, or sort of looks like Speed characters), I may just find the $40. around here somewhere...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Wednesday, 5 September 2007 12:44 PM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  happy

Took Dearest Son to ToysRUs (TRU) today - we have a coupon reward system set up for Son, and he's all out of stuff to want ! The Transformers section was still mostly bare, but we found a set of six Hot Wheels-size Transformers that included BumbleBee and StarScream. TRU Exclusive, too. And he was in love. So, he agreed to trade me his coupons to date for that, and start all over again on the other thing he wanted, a Mr. Potato Head Transformer. He was so careful taking it out of the box, I was able to save the box liner as a sort of cardboard display case. That was pretty much his afternoon, playing with them...after the hour or so it took to debox ‘em !

And I got a new doll ! This is the same one I was sooo sorely tempted to buy back on 22 July and again on 26 July. ‘Laura' here was the ReAnne Magical DoReMi doll they had on markdown for $6.98. She was further marked down to $4. minus a further 20% off incentive for clearance items. So she was only $3.20 !

I immediately changed her witch costume - a frilly orange and yellow dress with a built in slip and another DoReMi toy pictured on the front - to her second outfit, shown here. I think she's so cute ! Back in July, our TRU  had three, including one with a minor paint smear to the mouth. They still had all three today, which was kind of sad.

There's lots more in clearance, both in the store and on the site. I found that the store-only additional 20% off seemed ot be there so that store and online prices matched. According to the signage, the 20% off thing goes on ‘til 9/08. If you've been wanting a Chat Diva Barbie or Teresa, $11.98 is about as good as it's gonna get, I think ! Ours had both dolls at the same price, but the website wants $14.95 for Teresa - what's up with that ? Free shipping on the website, if you don't have a brick-and-mortar store locally.  This link will take you right to the markdown dolls  -> http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?categoryId=2276203&f=PAD%2FOutlet%2FYes&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255963&fbc=1&fbn=Taxonomy%7CDolls

I played with the Chat Divas, both at Mal-Wart when they first came out, and at TRU today. Pretty neat, I think. The mouth mechanism's quiet - it's come a long way since 1997's ‘Talk With Me' computer-programmable doll. I had one, so long ago, bought on markdown - of course ! - for $15. the following year, during the ‘Black Friday' sales. The mouth mechanism servomotors were LOUD ! If you've never heard a TWM Barbie, but have heard a Furby, it's about the same. It's just somehow more loud when it's coming from a smaller doll. Of course, the microphones in the ads for both products somehow failed to pick up those sounds...or how difficult it was to hear the toy over the mechanism noise.

TWM Barbie had battery compartments in her thighs and on her back, and a large permanent necklace, for the infrared info feed. No kidding, this necklace was like something Sailor Moon would wear, big, gaudy, and gold, with a huge pink ‘stone'. Due to the gimmick's demands, the doll's body didn't have bending knees or a twist waist, and even her head was stationary. The included information packet offered a personalized recording if TWM didn't have your name already, which was nice. Amazingly, she did have mine, and I have a pretty rare name !

Ended up giving mine to my best friend's daughter a few months later, when it became apparent how limited her speech was. Yup. It was beyond our hacking skills to make Barbie cuss and swear. Unfortunately, the computer interface was already outdated when it was new, so nearly two years later, it wouldn't even run on her parents' systems. Gosh knows what happened to her, I kind of wish I'd kept her.

So, yeah, I'm kind of considering the CDTeresa. I have a knee-jerk dislike of anything that trumpets ‘Diva' - it used to be a complement on artistic talent, now it's a sort of shorthand for ‘Entitlement Princess' behavior. I kind of want to hook her up to my MP3 and play some Daft Punk, or some of the more risqué offerings of Gwen Stefani. While $12. isn't much, I have to wonder if I'll still want her after the novelty has worn off.

Well, I have ‘til next Saturday to decide...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:05 AM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  cool

Sorry to keep doing this, but not much is going on ! Saw the last episode of Princess Tutu, and I'm not terribly happy about the ending ! Besides that, about all I did today was dishes. Tomorrow, though, I'm taking Dearest Son to TRU, and I'm really looking forward to it !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink