Just some random updates

I have nothing really pressing to discuss, I just thought it would do to give you, my dear followers, a what's up.  I have eight followers now and I want to thank each and every one of you for joining me here.  Your comments and your input have made things very interesting and enjoyable, and I am grateful to have you aboard.

Okay, first update.  I had my dentist's appointment today.  I can't remember whether I told you or not, but I had a tooth going south on me and causing me some mild pain.  Nothing earth-shattering, but enough to concern me.  So I went to the dentist today, but instead of doctoring the tooth that I THOUGHT was the source of my problems, he discovered a cavity in another tooth!  It turns out that the cavity tooth was probably the source of the pain, and given the fact that it would need to be looked at in the future anyway I had it filled right then and there.  The procedure was arguably the best one I've had with regards to dentists' visits; I didn't even feel the shot!  I usually do but I didn't this time.  So now I've got a fresh filling that I need to be careful with for a day or so.  No biggie, really.  We'll see if that was what was causing my pain; if that was it, then no problem!

Secondly, my final grades from accounting class are in.  I got a full 100 on one test, and an 83 on the final.  That lifted my grade from a 71 to a 75, so I'm on cloud nine right now.  I worked hard and prayed hard for that C, and I got it.  Glory be to God, and to my family and friends for praying for me and keeping me in their thoughts.  Oh yeah, and I also studied really hard.  LOL

Thirdly (and this IS doll related), my law final is this Sunday.  After I get that sucker done, I'm going straight to Super Wal-Mart and snagging a C.A. Cupid.  Cupid was released earlier this year (or last year, can't remember which), but I never saw her at the local Wal-Mart.  I figured, oh well all the others got what few Cupids there were, so I'll just have to suck it up and go home.  Then, lo and behold our local stores are full of Cupid.  Or they were the last time I was there...I hope they still are, because I WANT THAT CUPID!!!

Lastly, and most importantly, tomorrow night is the first night of Hanukkah.  I am a Christian, but I love the Jewish people dearly.  Thus, I would like to wish any Jewish/Israeli followers I have, or any who might read this, a very happy Hanukkah.  May this time of the year be a blessed, safe, and enjoyable one for you and your people.  God bless y'all.

Tender love to all,
RagingMoon1987

Meygana's new clothes, plus some other odds and ends

Finally...at long last, I'm getting around to discussing Meygana's new outfit.  Remember a few posts back when I promised you a review of it?  Yeah, I didn't forget.  The past couple of weeks have been nuts (again) but I'm finally getting around to actually picking apart something I own, taking pictures, discussing all the good things...and the bad things.  This particular post won't consist entirely of stock pictures, though there WILL be a couple...there's been a new development that relates indirectly to Meygana and directly to the Bratzillaz in general.  There's also the subject of finals, but more on that in a bit.

Now to the point.  As I mentioned in a prior blog post, each Bratzillaz character has their own customized outfit and accessory set.  I mentioned liking Cloetta's clothes the best, but since I have Meygana I bought her particular outfit and accessories first.  Here's what she looks like in the full outfit:

What you're seeing is a combination of the main outfit and the accessory pack.  The main outfit looks like this.

Like Meygana's stock outfit, this wouldn't have flown at my high school.

The dress is a two-piece set in different shades of blue.  The top part is made of a satiny aquamarine fabric that compliments Meygana's fiery hair beautifully.  It has three silver "buttons" down the front and a sky blue bow at the top.

The skirt has two layers.  One layer is black and blue tulle with some glitter painted on, and the lower layer is made of this stiff sky blue stuff.  It has a canvas-like texture that I'm not in love with; when it comes to dolls canvas is usually reserved for small childrens' toys.  Like the top layer, the blue layer has a light sprinkling of glitter.  Not too much, just enough to catch one's eye.

The skirt also has sewn-in underwear.  I must say that this is a massive improvement over the older Bratz clothes, which left the dolls au naturel underneath.

Along with the top and skirt comes a blue cropped jacket and a matching hat.  Both the hat and the jacket look like either denim or faux denim.  The jacket is nicely hemmed.

This fabric has no stretch at all, but the sleeves have Velcro closures at the cuffs.  This helps those skinny sleeves fit over Meygana's huge hands.  A huge help it is, too!

I can remember a time when MGA used real denim in their products, but I can't tell if this is real denim or not.  It feels substantial enough that it could be, but just thin enough that it might not be.

Now let's take a gander at that hat.

It's trimmed with sky blue ribbon, which helps tie the whole outfit together.  There's also something pretty critical that's MISSING!!!  Can't tell from that pic?  We'll come back to that.

Finishing off the outfit are a plastic purse:

Plastic boots, typical of the Bratzillaz:

And a matching "outfit" for Wingzy:

It's the same denim-and-ribbon combo as Meygana's hat.  It looks pretty good on him.

Now to the add-ons.

There's a shawl, a backpack, a hat, and a pair of shoes.  Notice that this time the base color is green instead of the blue that was used on the main outfit.  Now I love green...it's my favorite color, in fact.  But does it really go with aquamarine and sky blue???

You be the judge.

I'm going to go through this piece by piece, as usual.  First, the shawl.  Or maybe it's a scarf.  I can't tell, really.  It doesn't really matter, either; the...OBJECT functions as either one.

Whatever it is, it's green and blue plaid with fringe at the ends.  The material is thin and stiff, and it doesn't really drape like either a scarf or a shawl.  It's covered in glitter, much more glitter than the dress has.  But it doesn't shed much...yet.

Now the hat.

It too is made of the glittery plaid material.  I don't mind the stiffness so much here since that helps the hat keep its shape.  The hat is decorated with the school crest and some navy blue ribbons, one of which is tied in a minuscule bow.  It also has THESE!!!

Those ribbons help keep the hat on Meygana's head!!!  Let's take a look at Meygana's other hats and compare.

None of these hats have any stretch to them, and even if they did it would be impossible to cram such a tiny hat onto Meygana's huge head...especially with that mass of hair!  So those ribbons are a tremendous aid in keeping the green hat in place.  Meygana's original hat has a thin elastic band which holds spectacularly well.  I worry about how well that elastic will hold up over time, but that's not a huge issue.  The blue hat has...nothing.  No ribbons, no elastic band, no clips, no Velcro, nothing.  This is, in my eyes, a huge oversight.  How on earth does MGA expect us to keep that hat on Meygana?  For it certainly doesn't stay very well by itself!

That definitely doesn't look right.

I wonder why MGA did that?  I would assume that they wouldn't just give us a hat that simply rests on the top of a doll's rather large head.  But they did.

Moving right along...the backpack.

It's large and made out of stiff black plastic.  Not hard plastic, just stiff; it does have some flexibility in it, just not a lot.  The backpack has some gold trim on the sides, and what appears to be a green and gold school crest.  Not the school colors, but green and gold.  Interesting choice.  Maybe MGA decided that putting the school crest on two different pieces was enough.

Lastly, the shoes.

They're not the boots one would expect for Bratzillaz, but rather a high-heeled wingtip or oxford.  Hmm...high-heeled oxfords?  That's something I've only heard of.  Anyway, they're green with blue toes and blue heels, helping tie the whole outfit together.  They're also of a softer material than Meygana's other two pairs of shoes.

So that gives Meygana two outfits and an accessory set to play around with.  That may not sound like much, but it has more options than you might think.  Heck, I wish I had that many options for some of my other dolls!  My copper-topped beauty can do quite a bit with those extra little pieces.  But that blue hat really bugs me, for some reason.  It probably shouldn't; the hat (and the whole outfit) is sturdy, after all.  And there were no missing pieces.  It just surprises me that MGA will do one thing for one outfit, and not for the other.  It really makes me wonder.

Poor little hat, it's too cute not to be worn!

Oh well, I suppose I can always find some ribbon of the correct color and sew it on.  I've always been good at such things.  I'll probably do that once I can find some ribbon in sky blue satin.

Now, on to other Bratzillaz news.  Remember when I said that I was probably going to only buy one doll?  Yeah...there may be a possible ixnay on that.  Check these out:

This is the line of new Bratzillaz; obviously this is a swimsuit set.  There are no new characters, just Cloeta, Jade, Meygana, Yasmina, and Sashabella.  Okay, admit it...how many of y'all are looking at these and asking "why on earth are they GREEN???"  Well...you can probably figure it out when you see other publicity pics of these dolls.  (I hate Sashabella's swimsuit, by the way...it looks more Jungle Girl than Beach Bunny)

Yep, you probably guessed it.  These dolls are glow-in-the-dark dolls.  Interesting choice for a gimmick; I haven't seen a glow-in-the-dark dolls since Mezco Toyz released Revenant (a Living Dead Doll, in case you are wondering).  And just between you, me, and the coconut tree, I had no idea Revenant existed until maybe eight months ago.  LOL

Anyways, MGA Entertainment is releasing a second line of Bratzillaz.  But wait!  Does anyone notice anything?  We have a horror theme and a swimsuit theme.  Where have I seen that before???  Oh yes...HERE!!!

These are two of my Monster High girls, first wave Gloom Beach Cleo and Clawdeen.  So far Mattel has had three swimsuit/beach-themed lines for Monster High, two Gloom Beach lines and one entitled "Skull Shores."  None of the Monster High beach dolls glow in the dark; indeed, I can't name any MH doll that DOES glow in the dark!  My black-and-white Skull Shores Frankie Stein appears to glow in certain lights, but it's just an optical illusion.  But that's way off the subject.  The new Bratzillaz are cute, and I'm probably going to want one (in spite of the terrible hair I'll probably stick it out with Meygana).  But it's looking more and more like MGA Entertainment is scrabbling for ideas.  First they released a jointed, wigged doll (Moxie Teenz) to compete with the LIV dolls.  Now there are these Bratzillaz, and they appear to be imitating the hugely successful Monster High dolls more and more!  I may take a severe verbal stoning from die-hard fans of the Bratzillaz saying that no, they're not imitations, that MGA would never do such a thing, but you can't convince me of that.  MGA must feel threatened.  Why else would there be so many similarities?  Backstories, individual personalities, pets, individual colors and appearances, a school theme, a horror theme, and now this swimsuit line?  Definitely sounds like MGA is hot and bothered and itching to compete.

Not that that upsets me, of course.  A little competition can be a very good thing, especially in the doll world.  The competing companies are kept on their toes, trying to come up with a cute new idea that will sell.  That allows for some really cool items...and some spectacular flops as well.  Both add to the fun of being a doll collector.

Regarding other dolly news, I've spotted the third line of La Dee Da dolls running around in stores.  So far there's been the first Dee (the New York-themed doll), a candy theme (Sweet Party), and a foreign lands theme (Runway Vacay).  I like all three lines; the New York Dee, Sweet Party Sloane, and Runway Vacay Tylie all have tempted me during past shopping trips.  But I never bought any of them and since I would really really REALLY like to stick to my one doll rule this time, I'm glad I didn't.  The newest line is SO CUTE!!!

This is the Garden Party line.  I had no idea they were being released, but they're already hitting store shelves; Poplar Bluff, Missouri's Super Wal-Mart has them.  I went there to find do-dads for my Cutie Pops doll, but I almost threw those down and walked away with Dee (the bumblebee second from left).  Frankly there isn't a doll in this particular line that I wouldn't have, so I may have to draw straws to determine who to pursue.  Or it may boil down to whatever I can find...these look like they're going to be popular.  But I can't help but pine for the La Dee Da dolls' predecessors.  Why, oh why couldn't a line of LIV dolls be produced with this theme?

Hey, it just occurred to me...do these new La Dee Da dolls have BENDABLE ARMS???  They certainly look like they do.  That will help fill the void the LIV dolls left...a little.

I do believe that's enough blogging for tonight.  Oh wait...I should probably tell you...I passed my accounting final!!!  With a big fat B, no less!  I'm hoping and praying that'll keep my C.  I aced the last two tests, but kinda sorta flunked the last quiz.  We'll SEE about that C!  Haha.

Happy St. Nick's Day,
RagingMoon1987

I wanna new look...and I got it!

This blog entry will be short, sweet, and to the point.  I've done a mass re-hashing of the blog's overall image.  Basically I thought that the old style was a little too...well, I thought it was too generic.  It was also a little too cutesy for my taste, so I darkened it all down a bit.  The green font that I had been using got a little painful on my eyes, and I'm willing to bet that some of my readers feel the same way, so that's been changed.  No more blinding acid-green, except for the title of the blog.  I may also change the title of the blog, so be prepared for that as well.  I just need something that will fit the topic of the blog.  Originally there were to be multiple topics, namely dolls, freight trains, and sundry other items that I can't get enough of, but the dolls took over.  And frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way.  So I'm probably going to change the name, as soon as I can think of something a bit more creative.

Also, this week is Finals Week for both my sister and me.  Sister has A's and B's in everything, which is hardly a shock, but I'm hoping and praying she can hold on for one more week.  As for me, I'm barely holding on to a C in accounting, and I have a solid A in law.  The law final shouldn't be hard, but the accounting I'm freaking out over.  That class has been a difficult one from the start, and I humbly ask for your prayers and best wishes on both of our behalf.  Oh yes, I also have a tooth that's chosen now to go south on me.  My dentist's appointment is one week from today.  I despise visiting the dentist.

If any of y'all reading this are or know any college students, I wish you all the best in your final studies as well.  Cheerio!

Yours truly,

RagingMoon1987

Cutie Pops vs. Bratzillaz, part one: Cutie Pops Candi

Whew, it's been a crazy couple of weeks!  With schoolwork tests, birthdays and family get-togethers this twentysomething hasn't had time to think, let alone blog about dolls.  My schedule is finally freed up a bit, so it's time to get on with reviewing my other two birthday dolls like I said I would.  As you may or may not recall (depending on whether you saw my last blog or not), I have both a Cutie Pops doll (parent company is Jada Toys) and a Bratzillaz doll (MGA Entertainment), just ripe and ready for review.  My original intention was to cover both of them in one review, but there's A LOT to talk about for both dolls.  So I'm splitting this review into two so they'll be easier for you, my dear viewers, to read.  Here's what they look like side by side:

Candi (left) and Meygana

They are worlds apart in the appearance department, but there are a number of reasons why I'm comparing these two particular dolls.  One is the cost; both of these dolls retail for about twenty bucks in this part of the U.S.  They may be higher or lower than that in other places, depending on demand and availability.  But around here, they're both twenty bucks.  One also gets a lot of bang for their buck with these two dolls; both come with accessories and gimmicks that could potentially make them fun play items.  Another reason is quality.  The dolls have marked differences in quality, as you will see as you read the reviews.

This blog entry will focus on Candi, the Cutie Pops doll.  First though, a bit of back info.  Cutie Pops are dolls that I hadn't heard of until recently; they have a page on Facebook, a commercial running on the cartoon channels, and a couple of groups on Flickr, but I'd never heard of them until...oh, maybe a month and a half ago.  Even then I wasn't sure I wanted one; they are strictly toys, and they looked a little goofy with their huge heads and eyes.  The Toy Box Philosopher's blog finally sealed the deal with her superb review on Cookie.  I absolutely HAD to have one after that!  Hmm...it seems like a lot of the dolls I review are dolls that Miss Emily has done first!

Anyways, the name Cutie Pops is a reference to the decorations and accessories that these dolls come with.  Their hair, eyes, and the decorations on their hair and dresses all "pop" on and off.  Plus, they're cute!  Voila, Cutie Pops!  So far Jada Toys has released four characters:  Chiffon, Cookie, Candi (this doll), and Starr.  A fifth character named Carmel is in the wings.  The plastic "pop" decorations coordinate with the doll's name and theme; Cookie, for example, has cookie-shaped pops on her dress and hair, and Candi has, well, candy!  In addition to the dolls, Jada Toys has released extra clothes, hair, pop packs, and pets for each doll.  The pets in turn coordinate with the doll they are supposed to "belong" to; Starr's dog is in the package with her (thus Starr is a bit more pricey than the other girls).  I do not have Candi's dog Lolli yet, but I intend to, because she's really cute.  When I do get her, well, you know the drill!

Okay, time to start!  Here's what Candi looks like:

She is 11 inches tall from head to toe.  Her hair is the most eye-catching part of her (for me, anyway), so I'll start there.  Candi has two pairs of pigtails, one pair made up of this bright rainbow yarn, and the other comprised of dark brown, curly hair.  These hair extensions attach to Candi's head with plugs; she has two heart-shaped holes in her head, and each hole accommodates one plug of hair.  The plugs stay in pretty well, but will come off if you pull on them with any amount of force, so keep that in mind.  They may also fall out if the doll falls over, so keep that in mind as well.  Here's what they look like.

I am unsure what material makes up the hair pigtails, but it certainly isn't nylon!  Nylon, if you recall from my Featherageous Jade review, is the stiff, course, easily-tangled crap that MGA uses on practically ALL of their dolls...including the Bratzillaz.  That will be key to Meygana's review.  But these fibers are definitely not nylon.  They are silky, smooth, and easy to finger-comb.  I've run into some tangles, but they weren't a huge headache to get loose.  The yarn hair feels like acrylic yarn, which is both hypoallergenic and washable (unlike wool and some other yarns). One thing of note about Candi's yarn hair is that she only has one type of yarn.  Cookie, Chiffon, and Star all have at least two different sets of yarn in their plugs, but Candi has only this rainbow stuff.  The best explanation I can think of for this would be that the colors of the yarn stand out well enough on their own, and don't need other decorations.

Right then.  Two sets of eyes, one open and one closed, are also in tow.  Candi's open set of eyes are black, with blue, green, pink, and purple bands bordering the pupil.  A sparkly lollipop and a small white heart are painted into the pupils.  The closed eyes have multicolored stripes painted on them, along with the same rainbow heart eyelashes.

Both sets are colorful, cute, and in with the theme, but the open eyes are very busy and a smidge vacant.  The glitter on the closed eyes is a little heavy-handed, particularly on the left eye (our right).

Underneath the eye pops are some painted eyes and heart-shaped holes that accommodate the pops.  And this is where I'd like to give a thumbs up to Jada Toys; not only are there painted eyes (so she won't be blind if the pops go missing), but the characters have different eye colors.  Cookie's eyes are blue, for example, and my Candi's eyes are brown

This aspect of the doll gave my sister the creeps.

Since we're on the subject of faces, let me point out something with my Candi.  Notice her mouth.

I don't know how well you can see in that picture, but she has what appears to be a smear or a chip on the lower lip.  Normally that's not acceptable for me; I only overlooked it because I was bound and determined to get Candi right then and there, and this one was the only one in the store.  It's a pretty shade of pink, though.  Not unlike a shade I wore in high school, in fact.  And it's a fairly easy fix if you're good with a paintbrush.  Just beware of paint flaws when shopping for these dolls.  The rest of Candi's facepaint is fine; she has shimmery heart-shaped blush patches on her cheeks, which are cute but still subtle enough to prevent Candi from looking like a clown.

Candi's clothes are cute and well-made at first glance.  She is wearing a denim jumper dress, striped stockings, pink shoes, and cute little bows in her hair.  There is no jewelry, which is a shame; Jada Toys could have made earring pops or something like that.  Oh well, can't have everything.

First, that dress.  It's denim with red satin ribbon straps, and it has plastic heart-shaped holes to accommodate six pops.  There is a polka dot ribbon around the waist, and the bottom is edged with eyelet lace.  The dress is topped off with rainbow rick-rack and what appears to be tulle along the top of the bodice.  The back closes with Velcro, the cheap kind that loses its tack through the years.  I may have to remedy that in the future, but no biggie for now.  Here is what the dress looks like unadorned.

The pink hearts are where the pops snap in.  They come on and off quite easily, easily enough that two pops fell off the first time I knocked Candi off her shelf (something that happens quite often in my cluttered room).

The stockings are striped and cover her entire body from waist to toe, which surprised and pleased me.  Cookie's stockings do not have feet, and I was not expecting Candi's to, either.  The material is a soft, stretchy knit.

A hole in a knit material like this would be a death sentence, but the construction of these stockings is surprisingly robust (not thin like pantyhose).  Unless you or your child is unnecessarily rough with these, they should hold up.

Lastly, the shoes.  They're nothing special, just pink ankle-strap shoes with green bows.  The fit is perfect, though; they stay on, but still come off easily.  Plus, they fit over those stockings.  Excellent!

They have slits cut in the back for easy removal, similar to LIV shoes.

With regards to accessories, Candi has a lot of them.  In addition to her extra hair and eyes, she has two pairs of hair ribbons, both of which match some part of her dress.  Each ribbon pops into a heart-shaped hole on the plastic base of the hair plugs, and each ribbon has a hole for one pop.  These are switchable and mix-and-matchable.

A pink heart-shaped hairbrush, which has holes for pops if one chooses to go that route:

And lastly, ten candy-shaped pops:

These pops work by snapping into the holes on Candi's dress and ribbons.  They can also fit the other dolls, the pets, and the spare outfits and hair plugs that are available.  You can do darn near anything with those pops--switch them, mix them, match them, leave them as they came in the box, take them all off...the possibilities are endless!  Just don't eat them, they aren't real candy.  If you're a parent, be sure to warn your kids that these pops are not edible!

I also have an extra outfit and hair set for Candi; this is the Outdoors set.  The outfit works the same way as her dress, and the extra hair sets are silky and smooth, just like the doll's factory hair.  One thing of note is the hair ribbons:  if you buy the outfit and the hair, you get two sets of hair ribbons to mix and match.  Here's the full outfit.

The top is fluffy with a knitted front, colorful knitted sleeves, and holes to hold two pops.

The lower pop keeps falling off, and it does this no matter what part of the doll's outfit I put it on.  After one of the dogs almost ate it, I pasted it onto the top with clear nail polish remover.  Not a permanent solution, but it keeps it on there.  I wasn't wanting a permanent fix anyway.  Kinda defeats the purpose of having pop-on decorations.

Check out this sleeve, though:

I'm not sure whether that hole was caused by those cursed little plastic things that held the top into the package, or if I did it myself with the nail scissors I was using.  Either way, there's a hole, and in knitted fabric that can be disastrous.  Again, I applied clear nail polish to keep the thread from running.  I may sew on a button or a patch to hide that.

The jeans are denim or denim-type fabric, and have holes to accommodate four pops.  They have flared legs like bell-bottoms, but are shorter like gaucho pants.  The bottom hem of the legs have yellow ruffles.

She doesn't sit too well in these.

The boots are yellow and have a molded quilted pattern with hearts on the side.  The toes also have hearts on them.  Orange molded socks peek out over the top.  They remind me a bit of Ugg boots.  Once again, the shoes have slits cut in them.  I'm a fumble fingers when it comes to doll shoes, so I'm extremely grateful for these slits.

The outfit also comes with hair ribbons; they are pink and fuzzy and match the top.  I absolutely LOVE the texture of these!  They're so soft!  The top is too, for that matter.

I have an extra hair/eye set for Candi as well.  There are three sets like this, one for each outfit.  Oddly, these are packaged separately from the outfits themselves.  Perhaps putting the two together would've driven the price up too much.  Anyway, here's what the Outdoors hair set looks like.

The open eyes have pink heart lashes, while the pupils are green with hearts and cute little cupcakes.  The closed eyes have rainbow heart eyelashes and rainbow lids.  They are very similar to the stock eyes that Candi comes with, but there is more yellow going on in the mix.

While manipulating these eyes I learned that the eyeliner is actually the color of the base plastic!  Talk about a "well, duh!" moment!  I'm so thick-skulled sometimes.  Anyway, these eyes are printed on blue plastic, different from the black plastic of the stock eyes.  It adds a cute effect, just like eyeliner.

The hair is also mostly yellow, with faint pink streaks.  It is straight in places and crimped in others, and is very long.  Like Candi's stock hair, the accessory hair is soft and silky.  Another pair of hair ribbons comes with the hair.

It looks pale blonde in the pics, but trust me--it's yellow!

The ribbons for this set are pink sheer material.  They don't match a thing about either Candi's new outfit or her stock outfit, but the pops help pull the look together.

The set also came with this thing:

I thought it was a holder for the pops, which would have been helpful, but it turned out to be a bracelet with holes for three pops.  It fits around my wrist, but I'm probably not going to be wearing it anywhere.

These dolls are extremely easy to dress and undress, by the way.  If you have children you may have to help them with the shoes, but other than that these are pretty kid-friendly.  Now, let's take off the clothes again and give that body a looksie.  LOL, I hope that didn't sound too suggestive!  As I have noted before, poseability is a big thing in the doll world these days.  Candi and the other Cutie Pops dolls are average in terms of poseability.  They have ball-and-socket shoulders that swing back and forth and rotate outwards.

In other words, the shoulder joint common to dolls everywhere.

The torso is one-piece.  No joints here!

It's nicely sculpted, though.  Candi has visible bone structure, but she doesn't have a tiny little wasp waist like other dolls.  She doesn't have huge bosooms like Barbie does.  She doesn't have a massively arched back like the Monster High dolls.  Her body looks...normal.  Completely normal.  And there's molded underwear, thank God.  For some reason, toy dolls without molded underwear really bother me.  It's just a hangup of mine!

Their legs are jointed at the hip and the knee; the hip has some side-to-side movement (but not a lot), and the knee bends to a forty-five degree angle.

The jointed knees help her to sit, though she can't kneel.  Her legs are molded so that she can cross her legs if you want her to.  In fact, she looks downright cute that way!  She has to use her arms to balance when she sits, though.

That ding on her lip doesn't show too terribly!

The neck tips and swivels, but my Candi's neck joint is a little stiff.  It needs to be flexed a bit before I try to move it.  The elbows are not jointed at all, much to my chagrin.  One would think that a doll with jointed knees would also have jointed elbows, but that's not the case for the Cutie Pops.  The last of the LIV dolls were like that as well, and their arms weren't even straight like Cutie Pop arms are!  A lot of LIV fans were disappointed by that drop in quality, including me.  Heavens, it was those arms that led me to decide NOT to purchase a LIV For Color doll.  I felt that strongly about it and do not regret my decision.  But in the case of the Cutie Pops dolls, maybe those stiff little arms serve a purpose; remember she can't sit up without them.  Or maybe joints on such slender little arms would've been so costly that the dolls would've taken a quality hit?  Who knows?  I don't!

Based on my both my personal experience and the expert reviews of Miss Emily, I highly recommend the Cutie Pops dolls, both for children and for adult collectors.  Jada Toys has really hit a home run with these and could potentially make a killing financially.  These dolls are fun, colorful, and innocent; their frilly dresses bring to mind childhood and clothes that are appropriate for children to wear (remember that modesty is an issue for some parents).  The hair is lovely, though I do advise care in handling Candi's curls.  They ARE fiber, after all.  If not properly cared for, they can still tangle up and make a heckuva mess.  Kinda like good ol' Barbie's hair; we all know how her hair can be at times, and 95% of modern-day dolls don't even have super-long hair.  Keep your eye on that paint, since some of the dolls have flaws on their faces.  The clothes are of good quality and construction, but the pops can "pop" off (or even FALL off) quite easily and are small enough to be swallowed.  If you have very young children I DO NOT recommend the Cutie Pops dolls until your child is older.  And keep these away from pets; my dog tried to eat one of Candi's pops when it fell off.  Dogs love to swallow things, and cats tend to swat small items around, so make sure your pets are kept well away from those pops.  Other than those issues, the Cutie Pops are fine.  I give them two thumbs up.

Keep your eyes peeled for part two!

Go Cardinals!
RagingMoon1987