You dang hippie!

That was what one of my friends called me in high school.  I admit that I looked the part with my tie-dyed shirts, flare-legged jeans, and long hair.  Usually I had four or five bracelets and a necklace or two piled on as well.  I'm out of the habit of dressing like that now, but I can still live through my dolls, as So Surprised Suzie shows.

Every spring I get bitten by the Baby Face bug, and while I don't go hog-wild buying dolls like I do when I'm bitten by the Cabbage Patch Kid bug...come to think of it, the Cabbie bug bite never wore off!  But no, I only have Suzie and I'm content with that, but since Baby Face is long-discontinued I'm always on the lookout for something nice and unique for her to wear.  eBay came through on Sunday with this bell-bottom set.

Bell-bottom hip-huggers, a tie-dyed cropped blouse, and a big hair bow.  Everything's better with a bow, though I don't think that was a staple of hippie fashion.

The only thing I don't like about this outfit is that the jeans don't fit over her diaper, but NBD.  She has her jeans covering her butt.  It's a really cute little outfit, one that fits just right but doesn't restrict Suzie's movement.

Now...guess what's in the forecast today?  STORMS!!!  "Oh noes!!!" says Suzie.

"Oh yassss!" says the Moon.  The storms are not going to be the caliber that they were last week, but our local meteorologists say a few could have hail and high winds that reach severe levels.  But thankfully, no tornadoes are in the cards.

eBay shop is vickiveesdollclothes.  In addition to Baby Face duds the shop carries a few things for Chatty Cathy (whom I own) and for Charmin' Chatty (whom I don't own).

Flowers and bows,

RagingMoon1987 

Under the cabbage leaf: beans in the cabbage patch

Beans?  Yep!  Specifically, Snuggle Beans.  Meet Sabrina Jane.

Snuggle Beans are Play Along Kids from 2006.  Since the Beans are Play Along they're on the small side, at about ten inches in length, and their packaging says that they're soft.

I like soft dolls, but what attracted me was this, on the front of Sabrina's package.

The "limited edition" label must have a fragment of truth to it, because there aren't a billion of these on eBay like there are the old Coleco dolls, and because a lot of 'em are going for more than I'd want to pay for a Cabbie.  Sabrina Jane was the cheapest option, which suits me just fine because I love Asian Cabbies.  I must say, though:  unboxing Cabbage Patch Kids is nothing like it was in 1983!  Look at all this tape!!!

So here she is; her face is very shiny and a smidge sticky.

Since Sabrina is a Play Along Kid and a Newborn she runs pretty small.  Here's how she compares to Candela Laura (Jesmar, left) and Gwenda Cecile (Hasbro Posin' Kid).

Sabrina is partially filled with pellets ("beans") and thus has a few things in common with my bean-butt baby, Esmond Brant.  Notice that Esmond is bigger than Sabrina, though.  Play Along Newborns can't share clothes with bean-butts.

All is not lost in the clothing department though, as Sabrina Jane and Taniyah Yasmin can share clothes.

Y'all may remember back to last fall, when I was going through a depressed patch and needed something soft to hug.  In that post I discussed the Puffalump Kids and the Love 'n' Care Babies, and I noted that Puffalump Kids are very soft while Love 'n' Care Babies aren't so much.  Sabrina Jane is softer than Alice Helene and Diamond Estelle, but she's still not as soft as my Puffalump Kid.  Few dolls are.

As a last little Cabbie addendum, y'all know how I like the good, the bad, and the ugly of Cabbage Patch Kid names.  One of the biggest doozies I found was a Coleco girl with a name that rhymed:  Charlene Darlene.  Now I didn't actually see that with my own eyes, but the name was on a list of known Cabbie names so I figure it's legit.  While I was researching these Snuggle Beans I found Charlene Darlene's equal in a little blonde, violet-eyed Bean named Karissa Larissa.  Regarding strange combos, I found another one on eBay whose name was Filemon Faust.  What can I say, they can't all be Owen Presley!  Sabrina Jane isn't terrible, either.  At the very least it doesn't rhyme.

The weather has done a complete 180 from last week, by the way.  It's a little cool, but the sun is shining and there ain't a cloud in sight.  Here was my view from the front porch yesterday. 

Praise God.

Sunshine,

RagingMoon1987 

What I've learned about Mia

Yep, gonna talk about Mia today, one of the ones that Setsu-P sent.  I'd seen her face before (she's popular on Etsy), but I couldn't put a name to it until I googled "Nines d'Onil."  By the way, Setsu:  Mama REALLY likes Mia!  I was expecting her to like one of the Cabbage Patch Kids the best, but she likes Mia a lot.  When you've got as many dolls as I do, they all start to blur together a bit for your loved ones.  So any doll that my mom points out is a special one.  Anyway, here's Mia.

Given the weather when I took that picture, she looks like she's reaching out and saying "Hugs?"  Despite the French sound of the company name, Nines d'Onil is a Spanish company like Famosa and Paola Reina.  I don't know much about their full list of products, but I do know they make Mia and her male counterpart, Mia.  Both Mia and Mio can vary in coloration, they come in two sizes, and they can have bodies with articulation or without.  Their faces are...interesting-looking.  They have big oval heads and teeny-weeny facial features, and my particular doll has beautiful blue eyes.

My doll is a thirty-centimeter/twelve-inch model with a basic body, and her two-toned hair tentatively identifies her as Milky Way Mia.

Drat, I wish I had her original dress!  But then again, maybe she's this one, one that came in her skivvies.

Either way, I've got her now and she needs clothes, and guess what?  The outfit I bought is in!  It blew in on April 2nd, hours ahead of the storms.

Blue, to accentuate her eyes and hair.  This is just the first of many little outfits I plan on buying for Mia; as I said above, Etsy loves this doll.  There are dresses with Snoopy and Hello Kitty and Dr. Seuss on them, so the sky is the limit for Mia.  But for now she's just got this simple blue thing with bloomers underneath.  This outfit came from Corning, Arkansas, a hop, skip, and a jump away from Malden.

Shoes are also available for Mia, but it's getting to be Barefoot Season again so I've left her without.  Mia has cute feet.

Since Mia is so similar to my Paola Reina dolls, here's how she compares visually to my favorite one, Mar.

They're easy to distinguish, have highly different body shapes, and will NEVER be able to share clothes, but their posing is the same, as is their vinyl.

Well, their posing is almost the same.  Since Mar has longer arms she looks more graceful in a lot of poses.

One of the few things that I don't like about either Mar or Mia is that their joints only rotate, rendering some poses a little robotic, like so.  Mia's are a little less so since she's got short arms, and Veni Vidi Dolli notes that some Mia dolls have joints at the knees and elbows, but mine doesn't.

Mia is also better at turning her head.  It doesn't look up as it's rotated back like Mar's does.

It was storming yet again when I took those last two pictures, and I pretended that Mia and Mar were reacting to the copious lightning.  The storms the evening of the third were electrical, noisy, and got severe warnings, but thank God, that was all they did.

I suspect that Mia was used as a plaything before she was thrifted, so her hair isn't as sleek as Mar's is, but it still responds well to a brushing from my dog brush.  The colors are fun too, kinda like the hair of two Just Like You American Girls.

Rooting is also the same as Mar's, semi-large plugs with wide spacing, but unfortunately my doll's roots show if I don't have her hair brushed just right.

I think Mia needs a hair bow.  All my dolls with side parts need one, LOL.  Setsu-P says she conditioned Mia's hair before she sent her to Missouri, by the way, so I can only imagine what kind of state she was in when Setsu first saw her!  That conditioner made Mia smell like Heaven, by the way.

So that's Mia in a nutshell.  She's a well-made doll, on an even keel with the Paola Reina dolls I own, but slightly easier to handle.  Mar and Abigail are sometimes hard to pose because they're a smidge top-heavy, but Mia's short legs and thick torso avoid that.  Also like Paola Reina dolls Mia comes in a wide range of appearances, and here's where things get fun.  I've yet to run into a Paola Reina doll with green hair, but Mia has it.

I just love her!  She reminds me of Lime Chiffon, and she's got a bumper crop of freckles.  Dolls with two-toned hair can be found too, and unsurprisingly I like this one too.  The blue and black combo adds some edginess to this one.

Now...here's where things get interesting!  Before I knew that Mia came in two sizes I bought this outfit thinking it would fit my doll.

Guess what?  It's sized for one of the nine-inch models, and my Mia is a twelve-incher.  But all is not lost as these dolls can readily be found on eBay in both sizes for a reasonable price.  The doll I purchased to fit the orphan outfit is this one, one with a darker complexion and teal microbraids.

The outfit isn't a perfect match for her hair, but I've never let that bother me.

Further research of Mia's holding company revealed that like Paola Reina, Nines d'Onil produces other types of doll.  These babies are called Pepotes, and they look like they might be of similar size to another of my Paola Reina dolls, Imani.  Note that unlike Paola Reina, Nines d'Onil is not afraid to saddle their babies with weird hair.  They've also got big, funny feet like Mia does.

There's also a Halloween-themed bunch that I adore.

There's Pippa and her male equivalent Pippo.  They're a smidge smaller than the large Mia dolls and have more detailed faces.

These dolls are all scented, by the way, so if you are sensitive to perfumes or stuff like that, or if you live with someone who is sensitive, then it would unfortunately be wise to skip these dolls.  Otherwise they're great!  Mia's variations may spell trouble ahead for my pocketbook!

Hearts,
RagingMoon1987

EDIT, LATER THAT DAY:  Little Mia arrived earlier today!  Here's how she looks in her new outfit. 

It doesn't match her hair as well as I thought it would, but Mama says it looks alright.  Here's how the two look together. 

I reiterate:  my pocketbook may be in serious trouble!

Sunshine and onesies

Or life in general, I guess, because we're always waiting for something.  Waiting for that promotion at work, or for a baby or a death, waiting for finals week, you name it.  Currently I am waiting for the rain to finally stop.  The storms finally moved out late last night, but the rain is hanging around.  I love rain, but we've had too much of a good thing.  A bunch of our local roads are impassable, and this is what Grandma's back yard looks like.  Did I mention that Grandma's house is built on what used to be a frog pond?

I'm also waiting for Clive Elliot's onesies to come.  I ordered those LAST Sunday and they haven't even shipped.  Clive doesn't mind so much, but I'm tired of looking at him nekkid.  Clive just wants to share my lunch.

Mmmm, Taco Bell chicken chalupas (no tomatoes).  As long as Clive has a warm home and something to "eat," he's happy.  Have I ever mentioned that I think he's got cute feet?

What can I say, I like doll feet, and Clive has good-sized feet for a doll his size.

So I'm digesting my Taco Bell, enjoying a few quiet moments before Uncle Man-Child comes home from wherever he is, waiting for sunshine and onesies.  Are any of y'all waiting for anything?

Since I like soda, have any of y'all ever tasted Pepsi Peach?  Pepsi is in financial trouble and is cutting back on its lineup, and one of the flavors that got the axe is Pepsi Peach.  But then again, the box does say "limited edition."

Drat, I've never had it and it sounds not half-bad.  Have any of y'all had it?  Was it worth it, or did it taste like floor polish like Pepsi Twist did?

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

The heebie-jeebies

This week has been one of the stormiest I can remember.  After the scare on Wednesday it rained and thundered all day yesterday, and then this morning we woke up to a surprise tornado threat for this afternoon (right now, in other words).  And guess what?  More rain is predicted after that!  Every time we get some sort of watch or warning my phone beeps, and if it's not beeping for tornado warnings it's beeping for flash flood warnings.  I usually love splashes of inclement weather, but four tornado scares in one spring (hell, one MONTH) is too much for me.  I'm ready for sunshine.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm giving my Living Dead Dolls some attention.  Yeah, I know that these guys have popped into So Random posts over the past couple'a months, but killecrankie, how long has it been since I honest-to-God talked about Living Dead Dolls?  Five years?  Six?  Not recently, I know that much.  Beauty and the Beast were the subjects of one of my first posts, clean back in 2012.

They've long since been joined by Andras (left), Milu (right), and Spring-Heeled Jack (bottom), and I know they've popped into the blog once or twice.

Oh yes, Milu's face.  Masked Living Dead Dolls are not uncommon, but according to her wiki Milu's mask is the biggest.

Doll collectors have an interesting relationship with Living Dead Dolls, I've noticed.  Some devout dolly lovers find them WAAAAAY too creepy, and then folks who don't like dolls at all freaking love them.  My sister likes Living Dead Dolls, for example; I'd almost give my right arm to find Toxic Molly for her.  As for me...well, obviously I'm a fan, but my favorites are always the glass-eyed Resurrection dolls that are RIDICULOUSLY expensive.  Most of 'em, anyway; my unicorn isn't a variant, though she does have Resurrection variants.

Yes, my unicorn, whom y'all will soon meet.  Y'all might think I'd name one of the more over-the-top dolls as the one that scares me, right?  Someone like Bloody Mary (left) or Schitzo, the latter of whom looks like John Wayne Gacy.

I admit that they're freaky, but they don't make my skin crawl.  Indeed, I admire Bloody Mary's detail; the cuts on her face remind me of the Beast's stitches.  Schitzo is also a favorite of mine since I'm a true crime enthusiast, though the saga of John Wayne Gacy is one of the sicker ones I've heard.  Seriously, clown by day, serial killer by night.  How sick is that???  Anyway, for reasons I've never been able to figure out, the Living Dead Doll that's always given me the heebie-jeebies is one of the tamer ones, Alison Crux.  My unicorn.

I think it's her eyes.  They're dark, they're shadowed, they're mysterious, they're...sad.  

Sadness is actually an emotion that a lot of Living Dead Dolls show, so I shouldn't be too surprised.  Interestingly, though a lot of these dolls are sad, only four of them are shown crying:  Elisa Day, Rain, and ironically, two variants of Alison Crux herself (see below).  Lamenta may also count, but the tears she cries are tears of blood, and she feeds off sorrow rather than being sorrowful herself.  Anyway, like my other dolls, Alison is beautifully painted, but unlike some of them (the Beast in particular) her details are more subtle.  Her vinyl is blue, like she's been deprived of oxygen, and she's also covered in what appear to be skid marks.  Both of these details are relevant to how Alison died.  As for her eyes themselves, they're a very, very dark blue, with red rims and blown pupils.  Alison is undoubtedly dead, and she's not too happy about it.  So compared to Bloody Mary and Schitzo Alison is pretty tame.  Probably the scariest thing about her is her hair, and even that isn't as bad as I was expecting.  I'd envisioned a curly, coarse, tangled nightmare that rivals the hair of Kikki and of Meygana Broomstix.  Alison's hair is uneven, thin, and admittedly a little tangled, but I've seen much worse.

Alison's cause of death is also freaky; she got caught in a revolving door and subsequently got trampled (hence her skid marks and blue coloring).  Also of note is her time of death:  April 4th, 1944, at 4:44 p.m.  A lot of fours.  The number four symbolizes completion for me, but in other cultures it symbolizes death.

That's a pretty grim fate, but to me it's not as bad as that of Sunday (she fell out of a tree and hit every branch on the way down), of Gypsy (her heart exploded due to a bad spell), of Frozen Charlotte (hers was a combo of drowning and freezing to death), of the Unwilling Donor (she had a kidney removed without consent), or of poor ol' Toxic Molly (she suffered from radiation poisoning).  Having kidney problems of my own, the Unwilling Donor also makes me cringe, though out of pain rather than out of fear.  Nothing, repeat, NOTHING has ever physically hurt me as badly as a kidney stone, and I'm willing to bet that having one removed is no picnic either.  Even breaking my ankle wasn't as bad.

While I was unwrapping Alison, I noticed the age bracket for these dolls...and the specific type of person.

Spooky kids ages fifteen and up!  Alison is the eldest of my six dolls, and my younger dolls' boxes sadly don't have the description "spooky kids."  Or she's the eldest production-wise, having been marketed in 2007.  In terms of her chronological age, she'd probably be the youngest.  <pauses to consult the wiki>  Yeah, here's what I found.

*MILU:  She's a goddess and is therefore immortal.  She'd be the oldest by far.
*BEAUTY AND THE BEAST:  The original fairy tale dates from 1740 but is vague about the two characters' ages.  I'm just gonna say 1740 for these two and leave it at that.
*ANDRAS:  Her wiki says that she died in a fight but gives no date, so she could be as old as time or as young as her year of release, 2012.
*SPRING-HEELED JACK:  His urban legend dates back to 1837.
*ALISON CRUX:  She's actually the easiest one; her death certificate specifically states that she died in 1944.

So it's a toss-up between Andras and Alison as to who the youngest is.  Andras LOOKS younger, but being a bellicose little doll she doesn't WANT to be younger.  Alison is no fighter and is thus more than willing to let Andras think what she likes.

Alison:  I'm not having your crap, Andras.  

Not that Alison is a wimp, of course.  Her job is to guide lost souls to the other side (definitely not for the faint of heart), and according to her chipboard poem she takes great pride in that work.  The key she wears around her neck is a key to the portal for that "final resting place," wherever that may be.  Even Alison isn't sure where that is.  Maybe it's the Inbetween Place.

The wiki notes that Alison's role is similar to that of Charon, the Greek ferryman of the underworld.  "Charon" is pronounced like "Karen," so I wonder how Alison got her name?  By the way, I learned that the name for beings who ferry souls to the beyond are called "psychopomps."  They can be good, evil, or neutral, but their job is the same, to take you where you really need to be, ohhhh yeah.

Above I talked a bit about variants, and Alison Crux has variants...FOUR of 'em!  She was part of Resurrection Series VIII along with Pumpkin and Calavera, and all three of them had four variants (images of Pumpkin's and Calavera's variants can be found HERE).  These two are Resurrection (left) and Resurrection Variant...

... then these two are Lazarus (left) and Lazarus Variant.

Resurrection Series VIII tells an interesting tale of insanity, grief, murder, and bravery.  Pumpkin's mind has been corrupted to the point of insanity, and it's up to Alison Crux and Calavera to stop him from killing the other Living Dead Dolls.  The whole saga is told with each doll's death certificate, (full text can be found HERE), and the end implies that none of the trio are ever quite the same afterwards.  As to the Alison variants, they're creepy enuff, but for me nothing beats the original...and now she's mine, mine, MINE!!!  Happy day!  Now if I could only find a good deal on Toxic Molly...

For the record, Spring-Heeled Jack and Milu have variants too.  Here's what they look like.

Beauty, the Beast, and Andras don't have variants...my mistake, yes, Beauty and the Beast do.  They each got a Resurrection variant in 2017, but unlike my two they were sold in a single box.  

That leaves Andras as the odd woman out for now.  For now, that is.  In the world of the Living Dead Dolls anything is possible, and I personally am hoping for the Mothman.  Every so often cryptids join the LDD gang; indeed, Spring-Heeled Jack is classed as a demon on his wiki, but he behaves more like a cryptid to me.  I see a few similarities between Spring-Heeled Jack and the Mothman, things like coloration and an ability to fly/jump long distances.  I don't know what my deal is with the Mothman, but I find him/it fascinating and would love to see him/it as a Living Dead Doll.  That said...I think this line may be discontinued!  I'm way out of the loop, but it looks like there's been some financial dishonesty behind the scenes and the future of the Living Dead Dolls is up in the air, so I may not get my Mothman, and Andras may not see her Resurrection.  But all good things do eventually end, and I've got my small group here with me, so that's good enuff.

Today is the anniversary of Alison Crux's death, so send her a little love.  

I'm glad I have her, because my other unicorns (Elisa Day, Toxic Molly, and the Unwilling Donor) are NOT CHEAP!!!  I'm not giving up the hunt, but for now I'm gonna be realistic and just love my collection as it is.

Hugs and kisses,
RagingMoon1987