Two new-ish lines that caught my eye

I apologize for the lull in original activity, y'all.  Every time I try to finish that Dawn post I think "Is this really something my friends want to read?" and then I postpone it.  The post IS happening, regardless of rather anyone reads it, but I'm just not motivated.  Now that said, I've seen two doll lines recently that caught my eye.  Y'all are probably familiar with the Ruby Red Fashion Friends, right?  These little cuties?
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I love their faces!  This may haul off and surprise y'all, but my favorite one is the blonde one, Sara.  She's got cute pink streaks in her hair, and the message on her shirt makes me think of a song that I like.

Ohhhhh, Heaven let your light shine down!  LOL, anyway, the new dolls that Ruby Red has been doing are completely different from Sara and her friends.  They're the result of a collab between Ruby Red and Gorjuss.

When I saw these I thought "WHAAAA???  I thought Paola Reina was producing those."  Well...yes, they are, and so is Ruby Red.  The Ruby Red dolls have jointed elbows, and I can't quite tell from that picture, but...yes, their knees are jointed too.  You can see it.

Pocket Full Of Sunshine, pictured above, is my favorite of the three.  I like the minimalist faces of these Gorjuss dolls and figures, because they can portray a number of emotions, just like Sasha can.

The other dolls that caught my eye are, unsurprisingly, in the American Girl category.  They're the Little Sisters.  Top row is Jozette and Wesley, bottom row is Francie and Lea.  Sigh...another name repeat.

I've gotta admit that I'm concerned for the future of the Wellie Wishers.  They and the Little Sisters aren't exactly alike, but they do have some similarities.  The Little Sisters also remind me of Madame Alexander's Kindness Club, with their pastel clothes and highlighted hair.  Their faces are kinda Barbie-ish with that band of teeth showing, but one Redditor I talked to says they're way cuter in person.  Shocker of all shockers, my favorite of these is Jozette, with her blonde hair, her blue eyes, and her blue ensemble and hair streaks that make her eyes pop.  They're ALL cute in my opinion, but I do hope they aren't taking the Wellie Wishers' place.  I quite like the Wellie Wishers, but then again all good things eventually end.  Just ask the Doctor.

Jozette will definitely be joining my collection in the future, but I'm not sure about the Gorjuss dolls.  Ruby Red Fashion Friends are pricey, and if I'm gonna get one I'd like for it to be Sara or one of her friends, one with a Dianna Effner face.  Ms. Effner is not alive anymore, and I always loved her work, so having something that was designed by her would be great.  But as always, my life first.  Lily, one of my cats, has to go to the vet for an eye infection (Tommy beat her up and clipped one of her eyes), and I also have my own health woes to focus on.  Sigh...sometimes life and hobbies do not mix.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Another tie-in, more pink, plus a health update

Is it just me, or is American Girl becoming more Barbie as time goes by?  Lila Monetti had a heavy dose of pink in her collection, and current Girl of the Year Summer McKinny is girly to the hilt.  Looks like the trend is continuing into 2026.  Meet Raquel!  LOL, my buddy Barb saw my commentary on pink coming a mile away, but it's a cute little dress so I can live with it.  Heck, it's PLAID!!!  Plaid is awesome.

Raquel is the second Girl of the Year to tie in with a past character (Lila was the first).  She is Samantha Parkington's great-great-granddaughter (or is it great-great-great, I've seen both?), and she's from MISSOURI!!!  Kansas City, to be exact.  Ooo, ooo, I hope that means she likes the Chiefs!  She clearly likes pink and hair bows like Samantha does, she's learning pickleball (THAT'LL look dated in ten years, I'll bet!) and DJing, and she's biracial, being Mexican and white.  She has Joss's head and Tenney's eyes, and despite the pink I think she's cute.  Sounds like this one's gonna be fun!  I just wish there weren't so damn much PINK!!!  Almost all of the new Truly Me outfits released this year have been dominantly pink, and...yeah.  I DO NOT HATE PINK!  I just hate the belief that all little girls are obsessed with pink.  As I've said time and time again, I love green and have since I was old enuff to name the colors.  But I can overlook the pink since Raquel is bringing something new to the table...or semi-new.  As far as I know, there has never been a modern girl with any ties to a historical.  Technically, Raquel ties in with two historicals since Nellie was Samantha's adoptive...sister?  Cousin?  Samantha's aunt and uncle adopted Nellie and her sisters, so I guess Nellie and Sam were cuzzies.

I'm gonna break these opinions down into categories, since I ALWAYS have opinions.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE
*Too much pink.  Y'all knew that already.
*Raquel is a very pretty little doll, but she looks a lot like Maritza Ochoa.  Not exactly, mind y'all, as Maritza's hair is different.  But Raquel and Maritza could be sisters or cuzzies if someone wanted to play it that way.
*This is a local gripe, but there's so much more to Missouri than the cities and Branson!  Lea Clark hailed from St. Louis, and now the other city is getting represented.  I kinda wish we had a girl from the Ozarks who liked to explore caves.  Missouri IS the Cave State, after all, and caves can be stunningly beautiful.
*Treesa pointed out on Barb's post that there may be idiots who criticize Raquel for being Samantha's relative but also having a Mexican last name.  I don't have an issue with it, but y'all know fully well how dumb people can be.  Humans will get mad about anything.

WHAT I DO LIKE
*The tie-in to Samantha.  I've said in the past that I think Samantha is overrated, but in Raquel's case I think it'll help her.  Samantha is very, very loved by a boatload of AG fans, so the tie to her may boost Raquel's sales a bit.
*Her hobbies are unique.  We haven't had a pickleball fan yet, nor have we had a budding DJ.  DJing isn't the easiest thing to do.
*Is that dog a Pomeranian???  I freaking love Pomeranians!

Overall I like what I see.  I don't know yet if I'll bring Raquel home, but I like her so far.  She's not another dancer, not another blonde, not another Josefina or classic face.

In health news, I saw my doctor yesterday afternoon.  She's very understanding and very professional, and I like her a lot.  She did your routine pelvic exam and also did a mini-ultrasound, which was cool.  She held the wand in her hand and it brought up the images on her phone.  Right now the diagnosis is two large uterine fibroids; she doesn't know HOW large but she knows they're large.  I'll need a more extensive ultrasound to know more, but the doctor did say that a hysterectomy wasn't out of the question.  She also doubts that these fibroids are the cause of my lameness, and she suggested that I get tested...FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS!!!!!!!  Drat, I don't want MS!!!  I know it's not the end of the world, but I don't want it!

Breathe, Moon.  You've got one friend with a broken neck and another friend who's fighting bone cancer, so things could be a lot worse.  The young man who broke his neck is semi-quadriplegic, but he's slowly getting some motion and feeling back in his hands.  I don't know if he'll walk again, but his arms and hands are recovering.  But either way my life could be harder.  Right now my main concern is hospital bills!  If I bother with Raquel at all she'll have to wait.

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

The Labubu trend

I knew that these homely little goobers were popular, but I didn't know that they were popular enuff to spur a thriving bootleg line.  I'm referring to Pop Mart's Labubu figures, of course; these little things look like one of the monsters in Where the Wild Things Are, and they are driving peeps wild.  LOL, even that link thinks Labubu looks like a Maurice Sendak character!

I never cared much for Where the Wild Things Are, by the way.  There's just nothing to the story.  There's nothing to many of Sendak's books, come to think of it.  Not terribly surprising, considering that Sendak considered Herman Melville one of his "gods."  I tried to read Moby Dick for the accelerated reader program in high school, and that book bites.  ANYWAY, Labubu looks a lot like one of the characters from that book, complete with the big toothy smile.  Despite those teeth, Labubu is supposed to be a friendly, helpful sort, though sometimes the plans go terribly awry, as best-laid plans often do.  According to the link these blind box figures are the most popular, so I got one of those to start out with.  He/she is from the Exciting Macaron wave.

As usual there are several variants, including one secret Labubu that's rarer than the others.

I like all the options, but unsurprisingly the green one is my favorite.  I ended up with...

...Soymilk!  I don't hate that result, and I actually like soy milk.  Soymilk is about six inches from head to toe with vinyl face, hands, and feet.  His fur is soft, and I don't know this for sure but his eyes look like they might reflect light, like those red things on bicycles do.  I'll warn y'all, by the way, not to give these small Labubu dolls to small children, because Soymilk's left foot popped off right after I got him.  I was able to repair him easy-peasy, but beware just the same.  

Since I'm always giving shout-outs to tornado towns, shout out to Plainfield, Illinois, from where Labubu hails.  That tornado was a 24-carat mutant, and Plainfield came back bigger and better than ever.  So hats off to you, Plainfield, and to the other communities that got hit in that event too (Joliet, Crest Hill, and Wheatland Township also lost citizens in that tornado).  Thank you for my Labubu!  He hangs out on my walker for the time being; if I can ever get OFF the walker then Labubu will have to go somewhere else, but for now he's my mascot.

Y'know, Labubu reminds me of Monchhichi, with the stuffed body and vinyl face, hands, and feet.  And sure enuff, Monchhichi is making a comeback thanks to Labubu.  I never cared much for Monchhichi, but I guess now is a good time to change my 'tude....like I just did.

She's not bad!  She's softer than I thought she'd be, and cuter in the face.  Mama told me point-blank that she likes Monchhichi better than Labubu, LOL.

One of these days I need to do a post about my plushies.  I like plushies almost as much as I like dolls, especially if they're unique.  Or gifts, like my mini Furskin.  So I need to finish excavating my house, gather all my plushies together, AND FIND FLAXIE!!!  I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS AND I WANT HER!!!  I've also got a Squishmallow and some other cute things that I've never shown y'all, and some sentimental things that I've kept from childhood.  Not a ton of stuff, but worth showing just for the memories.

Fuzzy love,
RagingMoon1987

Dolly Dress Discussion: Bitty Baby and Tiny Tears

My sister's birthday is today, and as a result babies are usually on my mind when September 9th rolls around.  My sis was the first exposure I had to a very tiny baby (I was a month shy of four years old when she came along), and she was a very pretty baby.  So yeah, babies (and thus baby dolls) are on the ol' psychie today.  Recently I measured my Tiny Tears doll, discovered that she's fifteen inches from head to toe, and remembered that Bitty Babies are also fifteen inches long.  That in turn made me wonder if they could share clothes.  So long story short, here's the stars of the show today.  Kiara is the Bitty Baby on the left, and Eve is Tiny Tears.

Eve is something of a slouch.  Here's a better look at her face.

Y'know, I don't know what in the world possessed me to buy a Bitty Baby!  I always liked 'em, but I never super-duper wanted one until one day in 2022 when I decided "Hey, I want a Bitty Baby!"  Y'all see the result, LOL.  Eve was a gift from my mama, and right now neither of them have anything appropriate for the season.  Kiara does have something winter/late spring, but of course I don't know which crate I put it in.  I've gotta start labeling this stuff!  As for Eve, well...she has this hat, sized for a Cabbage Patch Preemie.  Big surprise, since it's got a Halloween theme, Mama likes it.

It fits Kiara too, though it's a smidge big on her.

But then again, hats are universal; they fit just about everyone.  Let's see how well Bitty Baby and this size of Tiny Tears can share back and forth.  I really, REALLY hope they can share clothes.  And...

...first of all, Eve has a seam in her singlet that's come undun and will have to be mended.  Right there at the crotch, see?

I didn't put that on Kiara since she's got her own undergarment...I guess.  Do diapers count as undergarments?  Anyway, I also didn't try Eve's socks on Kiara since Kiara's feet are bigger than Eve's.

Kiara's clothes are a little big on Eve, but not so big that she looks ridiculous.  The main issue I have is with the leggings; they will cover Eve's feet if I don't pull them up a bit.

As for Kiara, Eve's dress looks cute from the front, but it doesn't close in the back.

So Eve's clothes are too small for Kiara, and Kiara's clothes are just a teensy bit big on Eve.  Based on that I'll say that some Bitty Baby clothes are alright for a fifteen-inch Tiny Tears, but maybe not all of them.  Shoes might be too big, and hats might be too small.  Bitty Baby has too wide a body to wear Tiny Tears clothes.

Quick little aside, I turned to hurricane lists from the fifties and sixties to name Eve, and some of those names were HORRID!!!  I'm not going to name names since the names might be your name, or the name of someone you love, but they were not something I'd want to name a baby doll.  Uncle Man-Child's suggestion ("Shasta") also sucked.  I like Shasta soda pop, but a modernish name like that is not what I want for a vintage doll.  Mama cast the vote for "Eve," from the 1969 list, so Eve she is.

Love,

RagingMoon1987