International Doll Day 2025

I almost forgot all about it, being both Flag Day and a work day.  But the second Saturday in June is International Doll Day.  The Popcorn Trio wishes all of y'all a good one...

...as do my trio of nineties blondes (Alexis, Tiffany, and Suzie)...

...and Candela Laura, Sour Apple Mia, and Ilaria. 

Oh, Sour Apple Mia?  She's new.  I nickname my Mia dolls based on hair color, with this one being sour apple green.  Oh, and dig these freckles!!!

That's the other reason why I wanted this Mia in my crew.  Some Mia dolls have freckles and some don't, and I wanted one with (my other two don't have 'em).  Oh, and Ddung wanted to join in the fun.  She saw this Reddit post and politely asked to stand with Teal Mia, since the doll in the Reddit post looks like one of the smaller Mia dolls.

So cute!  I need to do a post on big-headed dolls; for some reason they seem to be popular.

Oh yeah, my new-to-me Sun Rubber girl also wants to drop in.  She hitched a ride to work with me today.

I love those sugar skull buttons!  The bag on my walker has two of them, one black and one white.  My little doll is not bothered by them; some dolls and people get freaked out by sugar skulls. 

That's it for my International Doll Day this year; being on that walker has put the kabosh on carrying my dolls to a more interesting location for pictures.  Hopefully soon that'll change.

Happy International Doll Day,

RagingMoon1987

A visit to the doctor

Ilaria and I are kindred spirits!  She and I both have a gimpy leg, but she doesn't let it discourage her like I have.

At the behest of my boss and my mother I spoke to the doctor about my leg.  See, he'd given me a prescription painkiller, and while it did help my pain it also made me very sleepy.  I would prefer not to fall asleep at work, and indeed one of my favorite patrons had to rouse me once.  Can't have that.  And besides that, I wanted answers, not medicine.  I wanted to know why I need to use a walker at my still relatively young age.

So I got an X-ray yesterday and long story short, I, at the ripe old age of 37, am going to need my left hip replaced in the not-too-distant future.  The doctor showed me the image, and the difference between my two hip joints was plain as day.  The right hip had a space between the two bones like it's supposed to and the left one did not, meaning that the cartilage in my left hip is degenerating.  Cartilage doesn't regrow, so I saw the writing on the wall, but I asked anyway:  "Am I lookin' at a hip replacement, then?"  He smiled apologetically and said "Yep."  So there y'all have it.  I'm not even 40, and I need my hip done.

I don't know when or where this surgery is going to be done, but Mama and my doctor both say sooner rather than later, and I don't want it done during the winter since winter weather is so unpredictable.  Either way, it'll have to be done.  I'm just glad to have some answers, and I'm glad it's not something related to my nerves or my muscles.  I don't have insurance, but I do have some savings so I'm...well, I'm mildly worried about the cost, but we'll see.  Either way it looks like I'm going under the knife either this fall or next spring.  I don't know what changes that'll bring to the blog, but there might be some slow spells.

As always, prayers and good vibes are welcome.  As for Ilaria...I don't think anything will help her, but she's feeling no pain.

"Nope!"

Hugs,

RagingMoon1987

Miss Suzette

What is it about this doll that makes her so expensive?  For the uninitiated, Miss Suzette is a Barbie-sized Uneeda doll, with multiple hair colors and a very pretty, very early sixties face.

Needless to say, I'd like to own one...but look at these effing prices!!!

Killecrankie, that much for a Barbie-sized doll???  It's not like Suzette is highly jointed like her Uneeda sisters Dollikin and Miss Dollikin.  I own Miss Dollikin myself; she's east to find and inexpensive.  My poor girl still needs a dress.

A redhead, of course.  So what gives?  I know the market was oversaturated with Miss Dollikin, hence why there's a glut of them on eBay and they're so inexpensive.  Is Miss Suzette rare?  Jenjoy notes that Miss Suzette was sold only at a store I've never heard of, W.T. Grant's, so I bet she is indeed rare.  I guess that for now I'm just gonna have to look at Miss Suzette and covet, as I'm having to spend my money on X-rays and a back patio.  Yep, we're putting in a small deck out back, and I can't wait to see how it looks!

Love,
RagingMoon1987

An interesting take on toddler dolls of the nineties

Several weeks ago (May 15th, to be exact) I watched this video by Don't Call Me Doll.  LOL, I love that handle name!  Makes me think of how I'm always telling Uncle Man-Child not to call me stupid nicknames.  Mama is the only one allowed to call me "hun," thank you too much.  Her and anyone lucky (unlucky?) enuff to marry me, and the nice lady at our local Taco Bell, but then she calls EVERYONE "hun."  Back to the point, Don't Call Me Doll released that video that skimmed the history of an unusual doll trend, one that lasted from 1989 to 1996, and had an usual reason for coming to an end.  I thought it would make a good blog post, so I'm ripping the video off.  I'm doing it because while I knew the objectifying of children was an issue, I didn't know these dolls (some of whom I like) may have had a role in it.  Oh, and spoilers, I will be discussing some of these dolls further in future posts.  Or I've done them already, as is the case with P.J. Sparkles (1989).

P.J. isn't really what I'd call a toddler fashion doll since she didn't rely heavily on clothes, makeup, or looks to sell herself, but she does sparkle.  Don't Call Me Doll lists her as the first of what I call the glitzy toddler dolls, so named because some of 'em look like they could compete in a glitz beauty pageant.  Coexisting with P.J. Sparkles were the Make Me Up Darlings, which were significantly smaller than P.J., but have a makeup theme and a toddler-like build.  Cookin' Cathy here is mine.  Again, they relied on a heavy dose of fantasy, but still!  They wore makeup!

Sally Secrets came next, meaning that Penni Secrets wasn't far behind.  I guess I'll count Li'l Secrets too, though they're built more like little girls than full-tilt toddlers.  Again, that Li'l Secrets doll is mine; she's just like one I owned when I was little.

Sally, Penni, and the little dolls didn't go as hard with the beauty factor as later glitzy toddler dolls did, though Sally's clothes could be decorated with stickers.  But for the most part these dolls focused on hidden little surprises, stuff like pens and stamps, stickers, stencils, and In the case of the Li'l Secrets, pencil toppers and charms for a bracelet.  Sally and Penni do look a little like they're wearing makeup, but that wasn't the focus of their gimmicks.

The Li'l Miss crowd...oh my, these put the "G" in glitzy toddler dolls!  This line started in 1989 with Li'l Miss Makeup, whose gimmick was just like that of the Make Me Up Darlings.  Her eyeshadow, lips, and cheeks would change color with hot or cold water, as would her nails and earlobes.  The commercial shows it better.

Li'l Miss Magic Hair focused on hair.  She developed rainbow streaks...or shapes, if that's what you wanted.  Her face doesn't change color, but she's pretty made up, with pink lips and a heart on her cheek.  This one is my favorite of the bunch; I've had to exert a lot of self control with her.

Triple Change Li'l Miss Makeup had the makeup gimmick, but also had multiple outfit pieces that one could change around.  She could thus qualify for both glitz and natural pageants.  Yep, there are beauty pageants for kids that don't rely on a ton of makeup and a fancy dress to win the grand prize.  Triple could easily do both.

The last Li'l Miss doll of 1989 was Li'l Miss Dress Up.  This one had the makeup gimmick, the hair color gimmick, and the multiple-piece outfit, and pieces of her clothing also changed color.  This one was about as pimped out as it got.

The Li'l Miss line didn't really pick up again until 1991, with Li'l Miss Singing Mermaid.  Despite her commercials, Miss Mermaid wasn't supposed to be completely submerged, as doing so would fry her singing mech.  The other Li'l Miss that year was one of my favorites, Li'l Miss Magic Jewels.

Both of these dolls had ample hair and at least some sparkle to their name, and Magic Jewels threw in a fancy ballgown to sweeten the deal.  Oh, and Miss Mermaid's stripes and seashells changed color in the water.  They both have some eyeshadow and hearts on their cheeks, so they're fairly made up, though not so much as Li'l Miss Makeup.

The final new doll in the Li'l Miss lineup came in 1993, with Li'l Miss Candi Stripes.  She has/had Li'l Miss Magic Hair's gimmick, but her hair was striped in shades of orange and pink...mmmm, like sherbet.  Or like the sunset, take your pick.

Don't Call Me Doll only touched on the Wee Li'l Miss bunch, but they too were a thing during the reign of the larger Li'l Miss dolls, kinda like Li'l Secrets.  These dolls were also a lot like Make Me Up Darlings, in that they could be one thing or another and had at least one color change feature.  Wee Li'l Miss Roller-Skater is my favorite of these because she had very dark hair and could go from roller skater to girl rocker.  Her dress would change from rainbow to black and back again with various temperatures of water.

Both Li'l Miss and Wee Li'l Miss had extra fashions too, so these dolls had pretty much everything that made them fun.  But as fond as I am of these dolls, especially Wee Li'l Miss Roller-Skater, they're enuff to make some folks uncomfortable.  We'll get to that.

Hasbro also had glitzy toddler dolls; Don't Call Me Doll lists their first one as this one, Starla.  She came out around 1990 and was in production for a couple'a years.

Starla had a small microphone for herself and a bigger one for her owner, and when the owner talked or sang into the big mike Starla would sing along in her own voice.  Her lips would even move.  Despite Starla's focus on music rather than beauty, she's pretty pimped out, with a shiny skirt and stars on her bodice, and tinsel in her bangs (kinda like P.J. Sparkles).

Don't Call Me Doll lists the Li'l Miss's competition as this doll:  Makeup Beauty, dating to 1993.

Killecrankie, this little gal could be gussied up!  Hair streaks, makeup, jewelry, nail polish...are those temporary tattoos???  Like Li'l Miss Makeup this doll reacted to hot and cold water, and her tools were held in a skirt-tray that went around her waist.  As far as I know she came with no clothes, just her painted on...underwear?  Bikini?  That's...kinda grown up for a little doll, but then little girls do wear two-piece swimsuits sometimes.  Mine was orange and pink with little frills at the legs!

Tyco's Kenya wasn't as glitzy as the Li'l Miss bunch, but she did go pretty hard on hair play and fashion so I'm including her here.

There was...I guess Flower Magic Mary counts as a glitzy toddler doll.  She kinda delves into fantasy, but she does involve gussying up an otherwise simple little doll, and her flowers are sparkly.  As with several of these, I'm VERY fond of Flower Magic Mary and I'll be discussing her in a future "dolls I like but don't need" post.

Another of my favorite dolls from the glitzy toddler doll era is Twist 'n' Style Tiffany, who had hair that one could style in infinite styles.  Again, I'll be discussing this doll in a future "random doll" post, and I may break my own rule, because I think this doll is super-cute.  Occupying the same timeline was My Pretty Topsy Tail, also a hair play doll that could be beautified.  Tiffany is on the left and Topsy is on the right.  Tiffany dates from 1994 and is a Hasbro doll, while Topsy is a year older and is a Tyco product.

Notice that Topsy's dress is even glitzy, with that foil-looking stuff that was...actually kinda popular on dolls of the nineties.  I didn't like it much, myself, because it was crinkly and stiff and held wrinkles like mad.  As for Tiffany, Don't Call Me Doll noted that her commercial (seen here) was the first one to give the black doll and the white doll equal billing.  The others largely focused on the white doll, though there were black variants in many cases.

Okay, what year is it...I forgot to date the ones above <goes back and does this>.  Oh right, 1995.  Chloe Charms debuted that year.  She had little silver baubles that could decorate her (or your) hair and clothes.  She's got the beauty pageant smile, I must say!

As with Twist 'n' Style Tiffany, I like the black doll better.  Her smile is bigger.

Tyco's entry in 1995 was Surprise Hat Susie...another Susie!  Susie's hair was concealed under her hat, like so.

According to Ghost of the Doll Susie's highlights could be one of four different color combinations, so there was a little bit of blind-boxing going on.  Her hat doubled as a purse and could carry Susie's hair do-dads when they weren't being used.

The last of the glitzy toddler dolls came in 1997, with this pet, Pretty Crazy Curls.  Don't Call Me Doll says that she did not sell well.  My doll is used and is thus a little frowsy, but I'm working on giving her her glitz back.  Her pet name is Alexis.  Look at her eyes!

Pretty Crazy Curls was yet another hair play doll, and she came with rollers that allegedly could give her boingy-sproingy curls with a spritz of...water?  Of something that was in her spray bottle.  My doll came with her very beat-up box, and I don't think her box self is as cute as her real self.

Oh, by the way, dig this price tag.  I remember when Wally World did these green stickers, AND I remember when a good-sized doll like this was a Jackson...or less.

Pretty Crazy Curls may be worth a closer look in the future.

Now...is there anything wrong with any of the dolls above?  Not really.  Yes, it's kinda weird that a little doll would be wearing full makeup, but I always saw it as a little kid wearing Mommy's makeup, which I myself did as a child.  Harmless, right?  So why did the glitzy toddler doll trend end so abruptly in 1997, you ask?  Don't Call Me Doll opines that this young lady may have been the reason.

For those of y'all who don't know, that is JonBenet Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty pageant veteran who was found beaten, molested, and strangled in her own home on Christmas Day of 1996.  Her murder was never solved.  I hypothesize that her brother killed her and her parents covered it up, but that's both conjecture and straying from the subject.  The murder was extremely high-profile, and most of the publicity pictures used were like the one above, showing JonBenet with professionally styled hair and a fair amount of makeup, both must-haves for a glitz beauty pageant.  As such she bears an eerie resemblance to the glitz toddler dolls, especially Li'l Miss Makeup.  I guess that gave parents (potential buyers of glitzy toddler dolls) the heebie-jeebies, and I can't say as I blame them.  The first segment of this video, showing JonBenet in big hair and a full skirt, dancing and singing into a microphone, makes me think of Wee Li'l Miss Roller-Skater, who transformed into a singer with big hair and a poofy skirt.

Of course it's conjecture that JonBenet's murder tied in with the fall of the glitzy toddler doll, but the timing of the fall speaks volumes, as does the rest of the doll market.  Coincidentally, American Girl's Just Like You line was beginning to gather steam in 1997 (they were American Girl of Today then), so that might've also been a factor.  I dunno.  Either way, regular baby dolls, the ones that could be nurtured instead of beautified, continued to sell normally, and as far as I know Barbie did too.  But glitzy toddler dolls never recovered, and they're not ubiquitous anymore.  That said, every so often we do see a revival of made-up, slightly (or very) vampy baby and toddler dolls, as Bratz Babyz (left) and L.O.L. Surprise's "Look, I'm So Big" line.

I'll go as far as to include the Jaggets, even though they're not wearing makeup like the Bratz and L.O.L. dolls are.  Indeed, the only thing super-edgy about the Jaggets are their clothes.

But these are...kinda the exception to the rule.  Kinda.  The L.O.L. Surprises are ridiculously popular in small form, and I think they count as glitzy toddler dolls even though they're small, but for the most part the dolls we find in stores nowadays are stuff like Barbie, American Girl imitators, and baby dolls, with something unusual finding its way in every so often, stuff like #FailFix and Fidgie Friends, or like Pinkie Cooper and Cutie Pops, if you remember that far back.  The Disney toddler dolls are sometimes sparkly, but then they're...well, they're Disney!  Disney dolls always have a little magic and a lot of fantasy thrown in.

I did find one exception, dating from 2000.  This is another Hasbro doll, Makeup Mindy, and she's a fairly obvious toddler doll.

She came with a Play-Doh beauty mask!  Okay, I don't know if it's brand-name Play-Doh, but it was something similar.  The rest of her reacted to temperature as far as I know, and I didn't find any evidence that this doll was popular.  eBay has a few of 'em for cheap, and YouTube has a commercial, but as far as I know this doll is pretty obscure.  I love obscure.  And hey, at least this one has clothes!  Poor ol' Makeup Beauty only had that stupid bikini.

I have to admit, I didn't think of this too much!  The dolls with heavy eye makeup did make me lift an eyebrow a little, but then I remembered how little girls often like to play with Mama's/Auntie's/Grandma's makeup (I was one of them, as I said above).  Another way to play make-believe, basically.  But...butbutbutbut, there's a big difference between a little kid playing with Mama's makeup and putting said little kid in a glitz pageant to strut around in front of God knows who.  I can definitely see why adults got the heebie-jeebies from glitzy toddler dolls, especially after JonBenet was murdered, since a lot of these dolls look...well, like they're going to compete in some sort of pageant.

What say y'all?  Are glitzy toddler dolls harmless toys that rely on make-believe, or do they give you the ick all over?  Or do you not give a crap?  Discuss.  As for me...sigh, I admit that Twist 'n' Style Tiffany is on her way to Casa Pizarro, and I already own Pretty Crazy Curls.  I think the objectification of children is definitely an issue, but...well, these are dolls.  I just see them as a way to play make-believe.  But as always, I welcome respectful dissent in the comments!

Glitzy love
RagingMoon1987

Cry Babies review

And to think that I once said I don't like baby dolls!  Today's doll is another BEB, or bug-eyed baby, like Solana Sunburst and the Baby Alive dolls are...and I guess the Jaggets too.  She's one of the Cry Babies, and her name is Ayla.  She's fresh from Nampa, Idaho, the same community where one of my Cabbage Patch Kids once resided.

Ayla, Ayla...I like that name.  A cat on one of my favorite cat blogs was named Ayla.  That Ayla is over the Rainbow Bridge now, but she was a beauty and I loved her.  I love all cats, but I have a special fondness for Siamese and Siamese-looking cats.  Anyway, Ayla is a Cry Baby.  Cry Babies are from a company that I've mentioned exactly once before, IMC Toys (they did Cyborg Rocks).  There are multiple characters, but the gimmicks for these are pretty simple:  they drink, they wet, they cry, and some also fall ill or have faces that light up.  Ayla is from the "Stars" wave, meaning that her eyes light up, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  I was attracted to this label on the back of Ayla's box, which apparently states that IMC Toys is a Spanish bunch, just like Jesmar and Famosa.  Looks like IMC is based in Barcelona, home of the Basillica de la Sagrada Familia.  As I've stated before, I love the Basillica.

Where were we?  <big smile> Oh, that's riiiiiight, Barcelona!  LOL, Ayla's box opening was relatively easy, though I do recommend having a pair of sharp scissors on hand as the twine holding her in place is pretty tough.  Nonetheless it was only twine, without the crap-ton of plastic ties, rubber bands, and strips of tape that some companies use.  MGA Entertainment could learn a thing or two from IMC about packaging.  As for Ayla herself, she is a fairly small doll with a huge head like the Glitter Babyz and the Baby Alive crew.  She's close in size to Solana Sunburst and my biggest Baby Alive, Princess Pipp Petals...

...and and she's also similar in size to two of my smallest Cabbage Patch Kids, Owen Presley and Taniyah Yasmin.  Or her body is close to them in size.  Her head is way bigger than theirs.

Since Ayla and Peggy Pumpkin arrived on the same day, here's how they compare.  Their proportions are completely different, but they're not too different in size.  Peggy's legs are longer, so if these two could stand Peggy would be the taller one, but neither of them can stand.

And because I want an excuse to drag Baby All Gone into the mix, here's how Ayla compares to Mary (left) and to Ernest John.

Point made, Ayla is an average-sized baby doll.  Now that size is outta the way, Ayla has painted hair like a great many baby dolls do, but her hair is a fantasy shade of almost-white, like so.  Fantasy hair colors are very common among Cry Babies.

There's a very slight tinge of pink in there, but it doesn't show up worth a dern so I usually just say that Ayla's hair is white.  Some Cry Babies just have hair up front and a mostly bald head under their hood, but Ayla has a full head of the stuff underneath, as well as a little trapdoor.  

Yes, a trapdoor.  The trapdoor is made of a slightly softer vinyl than the rest of the head, presumably to make removal and replacement a bit easier, but it's still a tight fit.  Cry Babies are so named because they cry "real" tears, and in order to do that their heads have to be filled with water.  The trapdoor conceals a reservoir that holds this water...

...and the reservoir in turn has a cap on it that screws on and off, like so.  The reservoir, from what I can tell, is white hard plastic.

The cap itself is your typical hard plastic cap like one might find on a modern-day soda bottle, with the addition of a soft vinyl "eye" in the center.  It's a hair smaller than the cap on a bottle of Snapple. 

As far as I know the reservoir is watertight and keeps the water away from Ayla's cry mechanism, but I'm not going to risk it.  When these dolls cry they tend to make quite a mess, so I'm keeping water a mile away from Ayla.  Still, the option is there if I so choose.  As for the trapdoor, Ayla is lucky, as her trapdoor is shaped like a cloud.  Other Cry Babies just get a square.  I wonder how this cry feature works on the dolls with rooted hair, by the way; some of these dolls have rooted hair instead of molded stuff.

Moving 'round to the face now.  Ayla isn't quite as crazy-looking as Solana Sunburst, but she's goofy enuff.

Word of note:  I usually have Ayla turned off, but if she's turned on and her pacifier is out like this, she will cry and won't stop 'til it's put back in, or if I give her a drink, OR if I rock her in my arms...I can see why kids like these dolls!  These dolls are semi-interactive, but they're easy to work with...sort of.  Ayla's pacifier fits snugly into her mouth, but her bottle does not.  It also requires a fair amount of hand strength to get the pacifier in place, especially if you're doing it with one hand like I sometimes do.  Finally, Ayla herself is fairly heavy; indeed, I saw a YouTuber warn that their doll was weighty, and mine is too.  That YouTuber likes Solana Sunburst, by the way!  Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah, the face.  Ayla's eyes aren't as garish as Solana's, but they are big and eye-catching, and she has better eyebrows.  Her eyelashes are simple spikes of black paint.

Under normal circumstances Ayla's eyes would look crossed, but her eyes are so big that they're gonna look crossed if she's looking straight ahead.  These eyes do not move, by the way.  Some Cry Babies and Baby Alive dolls have eyes that blink or move, but Ayla does not.  She makes up for it with eyes that glow.

I freaking love that!  Y'all know how I love things that glow.  At the same time these eyes also still cry, though I don't know how IMC managed that without putting Ayla's light mechanism in jeopardy.

Ayla's mouth is small and painted in three colors.  Her lips are a bronzy-tangerine shade, her inner lips are dark cherry, and I'll call the innermost color plain ol' cherry red.  

Ayla's mouth also has something to do with her mechanism, as she stops crying when her pacifier or bottle is in place.  I think there's a button in the roof of her mouth; I felt something click in there when I got her bottle positioned correctly.  As I stated above the pacifier will stay in place without any sort of help from me, but the bottle will not.  I guess that makes sense; I've known of precious few babies who hold onto their bottles with just their mouths, but I've known of many who fall asleep holding onto their pacifiers.

Rounding out the face are these little hearts.  I've heard of wearing one's heart on one's sleeve, but not on one's cheek.  Ayla also has two hearts...nope, not gonna go there, LOL!

I think stars would've been more fitting since Ayla is from the Stars wave, but hearts are cute too.  For the record, the other Stars, Sydney and Lilly, also have hearts on their cheeks.  Do all Cry Babies have that?  <pauses to look>  Some do, but not all of 'em.  By the way, can y'all believe that Kmart still has an active website???  I may buy something and report back on the service.  

Oh right, ears.  Simple, smooth little ears.  These don't come to a point like Solana's do.

I have to say, I like Solana Sunburst, but I prefer Ayla's face.  She doesn't have that goofy Poopsie Unicorn smile behind her pacifier, and her head isn't scratchy with glitter.  Ayla is significantly heavier than Solana though, because her head has her crying mech and that reservoir for water.  I can only imagine what she'd weigh with her head full.

Like Solana, the Baby Alive squad, and quite a few of my other dolls, Ayla has a big cabeza on a small body.  Word of caution:  turn Ayla off before undressing her, unless you want her sobbing the whole time she's unclad.  Her binky is sewn to her dress.  Indeed, undressing Ayla was quite an event, but we'll get to that.  Here's what Ayla looks like without clothes.

Oh, her backside is gonna be fun!  But again, we'll get to that.  Ayla has the same five joints that Solana and Rose and Imani and about 85% of my baby dolls do.  Her head turns some, but not all the way around. 

She can move her arms all way up, and I think this is cute because she looks like she's pretending to be a ghost.

Woooooooooo!  Now, unlike Solana, Ayla can move her hands behind her back if I straighten her hips first.

Ayla's hips obviously are mobile, thus the picture above.  She can move her hips quite a way forward and a bit back, but not all the way; the shape of her tushie prevents that.  She comes pretty close to achieving a split, though.

And of course, Ayla is an expert at sitting. 

Molding now.  Ayla's arms are made out of hard vinyl.  They're about the same length as Solana's, but because they're slimmer they look longer.

Unlike Solana, Ayla has long, well-defined fingers with little nails.  Her palm also has a single crease. 

Regarding legs, Ayla's are the exact opposite of Solana's:  thick frome hip to toe and straight at the knee.  Indeed, these legs remind me a little of tree trunks.  These are made of hollow, hard plastic rather than vinyl.

The calves have molding artifacts that look (coincidentally) like annular rings.  

The feet are relatively unremarkable, though Ayla does have little nails on her toes (Solana does not).

The soles of her feet are completely flat, except for a seam along her toes.

Alright, now it's time for the torso.  Ayla's body is made of hard plastic like her legs, and the front is pretty tame, with only a speaker visible. 

Now, the back.  It has Ayla's battery compartment (Cry Babies take two AAA batteries), her on-off switch, and EIGHT screws!  Three of 'em are holding the battery compartment in place, which would not have pleased me as a kid.  I hated asking for help with batteries. 

And where's Ayla's on-off switch?  Right on her tush, above an equally unfortunately placed screw.

Yep, I have to down this doll's drawers in order to turn her on and off.  It reminds of a story Daddy told me about failed products that appeared on...it was one of the late shows, either Johnny Carson or David Letterman.  One of the items was "a pretty little doll," as Daddy put it, and she ended up not selling because her batteries went up her butt.  I'd LOVE to know what doll that was, if Daddy was indeed telling me the truth.  He loved to spin tall tales just to get a laugh.  But anyway, Ayla's on-off switch is on her rear, and I'm willing to bet that other Cry Babies have this feature too.

But you'd think that would mean that Ayla's switch is easy to get to, right?  Just drop her drawers and turn her on, right?  Actually...no, it's not that easy.  Ayla's diaper is tight, first and foremost, and it's also SEWN TO HER DRESS!!!  The whole outfit is a single piece, though at first glance it looks like several pieces. 

I'll start by saying that all three of the Stars Cry Babies have shiny, metallic outfits.  Lilly is a rabbit, Sydney is...I think she's a swan, and Ayla is a fish for reasons I'll never know.  Her hood has a big top fin and two painted side fins, and the whole outfit has brightly-colored scales that bring The Rainbow Fish books to mind.

Maybe Ayla is an angelfish.  Don't go swallowing any guppies, chica.  Seriously, we owned an angelfish that tried that.  Tried:  operative word.  The angelfish sadly choked to death, AND THE GUPPY SURVIVED!!!  Daddy pulled guppy and angelfish apart expecting them both to be dead, and the guppy swam away!  My sister had a ringside seat to the whole debacle, so I know that's not one of Daddy's yarns.  ANYWAY, Ayla's hood fastens under her chin with a slim strip of Velcro. 

This same strip of fabric attaches the hood to the dress, in a two-inch area at the back of the neck.

There's a tag inside thr hood, making it loud and clear who this outfit belongs to. 

Ayla's dress is made of the same Rainbow Fish fabric.  This fabric has no drape, by the way, and it possesses a feel similar to that of vinyl or pleather.

The dress has short sleeves that are the only solid color anywhere on the dress.  Note the hems, which are neatly finished and show no sign of coming undone. 

The chest has a heart that is painted to look metallic.  I kinda wish it was made of foil (and therefore actually metallic), but it's not.

The skirt is a circle skirt, and it has what I presume to be a printed ribbon...or maybe it's a stripe.  Either way there's a magenta band around this skirt.

At the nape of Ayla's neck is an aqua ribbon tied/sewn into a bow.  This is where the binky is attached.  The bow is made of satin and is dangerously close to the Velcro on Ayla's hood, so I have to be careful not to snag the bow.

The back of the dress also closes with Velcro.  This is where I found the sole loose end on this dress.

See?  These hems are impeccable. 

The attached panties are plain white panties with elastic at the waist.  There's also a loose end here, but that's a result of me taking this outfit on and off.

On her feet Ayla wears bright magenta booties that don't match a thing on her outfit.  These are vinyl and come on and off easily.

The soles have the only stars on the whole outfit, and they add some character to some otherwise completely plain shoes.

Not a bad little outfit, I must say.  I love the colors and the fish motif.  Unfortunately Ayla can't share clothes with Solana, and I didn't think to try Baby Alive clothes, so I don't know what else she can wear, if anything.  That takes me to final thoughts. 

BAD

*Ayla is heavy, just like the YouTuber said.  She likely would be heavier with her head full of water.
*Like Solana, Ayla has BIG eyes that might freak some folks out.
*It takes a little hand strength to get that pacifier placed, and the bottle is hard to place.
*Crying gimmick can be messy.  Any gimmick that involves water will be.

GOOD

*Eyes light up!  I love things that light up!
*I love this doll's outfit too; it's a fish!
*Gimmick is pretty kid-friendly, but keep the caveats above in mind.
*There are a lot of these dolls.  If Ayla isn't your thing there are others.
*No scratchy glitter!

I like Ayla a lot.  All the Cry Babies have the same crying gimmick, but they look different enuff and are dressed different enuff that I've coveted a couple'a others.  Ayla also doesn't have the scratchy glitter in her hair that Solana does; Beth in WV noted that glitter is forever and she's right.  I do issue a word of caution with an Cry Baby, as they're all heavy when full and can make a potential mess.  There's also a concern about batteries, as they can leak and make a BIGGER mess with time, though I've yet to see that happen with my dolls thank God.  Despite my aversion to mechanical dolls, I like these Cry Babies quite a bit.  If you like Baby Alive then you might like these too.

With Solana and Ayla both being dolls of color, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a Canadian buddy (not the one from Newfoundland and Labrador, but another one).  My friend said that where she lived dolls of color didn't sell well, but she ended the statement with "Oh well, more for me!"  Indeed, she has a lovely, racially diverse collection of dolls.  Dolls of color sell much better where I live, but I still like 'em for myself!

I do like dolls of color, but in the case of these two (and Princess Pipp Petals too) I was also looking at their overall aesthetic.  Hair color, eye color, clothes, the whole kitten caboodle.  Solana was an easy pick since her dark vinyl gee-haws well with her orange hair and clothes, but Ayla was trickier.  Indeed, I wasn't sure whether I wanted her or Lilly, because Lilly has pink eyes and pink and blue hair, versus Ayla's more standard blue eyes and single-color hair.  In the end Ayla's fish dress won me over, because babies aren't often dressed as fish.  But as with a great many doll lines, there's something for everyone.  Y'all might prefer Lilly's rabbit getup, or Phoebe's triceratops costume (I love Phoebe!).  The sky is pretty much the limit with the Cry Babies.

Cheerful tearful love,
RagingMoon1987