Birthday box

As I said on Saturday my birthday has come and gone.  I'm 38, one year closer to 40.  I get Mondays off so I slept most of the day with my dogs by my side, and oh man, did that feel good!  Uncle Man-Child moaned about wanting to take us out to eat, but Mama is on a cane and had just gotten off work, and I'm on a walker and hadn't yet showered, so we shut that nonsense down PDQ.  Mama and I ate leftover chicken and German chocolate cake and chilled out.  When you get to be my age just being remembered and thought of counts for a lot, though I'll ALWAYS want a cake, LOL!

On the ninth my birthday box came; Treesa always sends me something for my birthday.  First off was this teddy bear, Hal (short for Halloween).  He's one of Treesa's personal teddy bears, one with a decorated nose like Raina and Summer Daisy. 

My Newborn Nancy, from Tyco and Treesa's sister A.

Nancy runs on batteries, and she's a thumb sucker, just like I like. 

She also could suck on her bottle or pacifier, and she could burped.  Pretty cute!  Treesa insinuated that she still works, so I need to get some batteries and try her out.

Y'all have met this next one.  She's a Wellie Wisher with bobbed hair and a sweet face.  I've chosen to rename her "Billie."

Mama insinuated that she'd like to complete the Wellie Wisher set, and that may mean another Willa since Mama likes her original outfit.  We'll see!

Now this...THIS is something I had never heard of before.  She is a Grandma's Marshmallow Baby, and she's from Playskool.  Ghost of the Doll has a forum discussion about these, but no official page.

Treesa says that this doll belonged to her, but she didn't really bond with her.  She named the doll "Marshmallow," and I think that's as good a name as any since she's soft like a marshmallow.  Here's a better look at her face.

It's kinda hard to tell in that image, but Marshmallow is a pale lilac color.  Some of the other dolls like her are blue, pink, or yellow.  Marshmallow may get a closer look in the future, just like Primrose Jessalyn and Violet did.

From the Cabbage Patch Magic Meadows, this is Sundance.

Sundance is a Crimp 'n' Curl Pony, which pleases me greatly.  I loved the Pretty Crimp 'n' Curl Cabbies, so having this throwback is fun.  Sundance will also fit in nicely with a herd of My Little Ponies.

Also fresh-picked from the Cabbage Patch is this little boy, from a Beachtime Twins playset.

He's a cute little boy, with auburn hair, green eyes, and a nice tan.

Both doll and pony are from the Hasbro era, and they're semi-in scale with one another. 

About that time Lily wanted to get in on the action.  She pouted when I made her stay off the couch.

Lily is a good girl, though.  I love having my cats in the house again!

Back on track, this one's a Sea Wee.

Kinda hard to see her cute little face, but she's got a big smile.  I think she's Seabrina, from one of the TropiGals sets.

Fun fact about me:  I've started gravitating towards tiny dolls like this, not just for dollhouse reasons, but because I can carry them in my pocket or my hand, even when I'm using my walker.

With MS being a possibility that walker may be my companion for life now.  Anyway, severe weather is back in the cards; remember that the Midwest and the South get a second tornado season in the fall.  With the Sea Wee being little she may ride in my pocket on Saturday. 

Speaking of dollhouses, this next item gave me a laugh.  See what Treesa wrote?

Y'all remember pretty well what I say!  Inside that parcel was a tiny DIY dollhouse kit, complete with house and furniture.  The pictures I took of the furniture didn't come out, but they're teeny-weeny.  The dolls themselves were tucked into this pretty little drawstring bag. 

Ooo, ooo, I bet the dolls are worry dolls!

Yeah, there are six of 'em!  I love worry dolls!  Y'know, if I ever do have room for a large dollhouse, this will make a fine plaything for the residents. 

Then there were these.  I freaking LOVE Pound Puppies!

I used to have a small collection of these.  I loved how soft they were, and how different they all were.  There were dogs AND cats, both equally adorable. 

The eighteen-inch contingent was not forgotten, and this little item came from Treesa's personal collection.  Forgive Seabrina; she wanted to have a little fun.

Treesa said that this could be used by the historical dolls, but Justine-Marie can use this too for her horse.

Then there are these bedroom items, which I think Airy might like.  I love the little nail polish bottle!

Then there's this kick-a$$ rag doll.  She's sized for American Girls, but they may not get her.  She's awesome!

The last item is something practical for me.  The picture didn't come out well, but it's a Monster High lanyard.

That's good.  I like rotating my lanyards with the seasons and with my moods.

As is often the case with gifts, I've had either Billie or Nancy or Marshmallow by my side for the better part of the weekend.  Nancy even shared my lunch on the fourteenth...while Mama took forever to come home and Uncle Man-Child asked nonstop questions. 

I guess he gets some sick pleasure out of hearing me say "yes" and "no."  I refuse to say more than that!  Anyway, the box was another hit, but unfortunately it made me want a vintage Pound Puppy.  LOL, Mama's gonna kill me!  But thanks once again, Treesa, and thank you to your sister too for her personal doll.

Cheers and joy,
RagingMoon1987

They love you and they dump you

Another birthday has come and gone.  I'm 38 now, turned 38 on October 6th.  For gifts I received a set of I Survived... books, an anthology of Ray Bradbury stories, a birthday box of stuff, and the news that the twelve-year EF5 drought has been broken.  Tim Marshall and the other big guns utilized forensic methods to determine that this tornado was indeed at the top tier of strength, meaning that this is
A)  The U.S.'s first EF5 since 2013, when Moore, Oklahoma got hit the third time, and
B)  North Dakota's first F5/EF5 since 1957, when Fargo got hit.

The past few days since have been...well, I won't say they were hell, but they've been about fifty shades of crazy.  Some of the people I meet are crazier than sh!thouse rats.  Nice, but incredibly crazy.  I don't want to go into more detail than that, but take my word, it's been nuts.  And then...oh, dare I say it!  John Lodge, the bassist for the Moody Blues and my favorite member of the Moodies, died.  I mean, the guy was 82 and had had at least one stroke in the past couple'a years, but it was still quite a shock.  I told Mama (semi-joking) that I needed to put on my ashes and sackcloth.  So John, if you can hear me, thank you very, very much for the music.  You wrote some of my favorite Moody Blues songs, and I look forward to the day I can thank you in person.  Nineteen people also died in a factory explosion over in Tennessee, and a kid in Fayetteville, Arkansas turned up with whooping cough, a disease that can be controlled with vaccinations.  If you're pro-vax, better get a booster if you haven't done so.  Hopefully my sister will.

So yeah, it's been an interesting week.  On the eighth the aforementioned birthday box from Treesa turned up in the mail, and I'm working on an extensive post about that, but today I want to focus on just one item.  It's this little girl.

That, kids, is a Wellie Wisher.  I have Camille, and now I have this Willa, who has a serious chop to her locks.  I would say that this was a salvation haircut, done because Willa's hair was irreparably mangled (kids can do that), but it's incredibly even all the way around.

Kinda reminds me of Crissy's foundation hair.  I got strong Homeward Bound vibes looking at Willa, particularly that scene where Chance accuses humans of being untrustworthy.  "They love you and they dump you," were his exact words, which sadly ring true for many pets.  In Willa's case I got the same vibe; someone bothered to cut her hair and make her look nice, and yet she ended up dumped at a secondhand store.  My gain, though!  Despite the lock chop and abandonment Willa smiles, and dang, do I love these Wellie Wisher faces!

Treesa correctly assumed that since I love red hair and freckles I'd love this doll.  Indeed, the only reason why I initially chose Camille over Willa was because I liked Camille's blue and green meet outfit better.  Camille, of course, is delighted to see her friend.

I think I got two that share a head!

Now...with her haircut Willa looks pretty different than she normally would, more grown up.  So I ask y'all:  should I keep the name "Willa," or should I change it to something else?  Since her haircut sets her apart from other Willa dolls I think this little gal might need a special new name or nickname.  But at the same time I like "Willa."  So I turn it over to y'all.

And now I'm going on a Moody Blues bender; "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is calling my name!  John Lodge let it all hang out for that one.

All of my love,
RagingMoon1987

When? When? When?

On Reddit I saw how Skelita Calaveras's G3 self is going to look.  She's freaking adorable.

I repeat:  when, when, WHEN is she gonna be released???  I know I said yesterday that I need to watch the ol' pesos, but for Skelita I'll make an exception, particularly if she's released sometime this month.

Of course I can't let things go without a little critique.  Skelita's pet is a dog, and that's kinda a bummer since a lot of the current Monster High characters have either a dog or a cat now.  Not all of 'em, mind y'all; Nefera de Nile still has her scarab beetle, Hissette remains one of Cleo de Nile's pets, and Ghoulia Yelps never parted with Sir Hoots-a-Lot.  Plus, Candelita is apparently supposed to be a xoloitzcuintli, a hairless breed that was developed in Mexico.  She LOOKS like a Chihuahua, but Skelita's wiki page says she's a xolo.  That's not a breed one sees every day, so I can live with Skelita owning yet another dog.  Candelita also has a pink mohawk, which I love.  I gotta admit that an axolotl would've been a good pet too, since the original axolotls are only found in one pond in Mexico City...and they're ridiculously endangered!

Spooky love,
RagingMoon1987

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?  I hope?  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 yet another 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