A rare find

Or at least she's a rare find in my collection.  Meet Nerida.

I gave away the last two mermaids I had in my collection (one of them can be seen here).  Mattel's playline mermaids are usually very pretty, but they're not easy to pose and they're dern near impossible to redress.  They are good for play in the pool or the tub, though; indeed, I loved pretending that my handful of childhood Barbie dolls were mermaids.  Nerida feels pretty watertight, so she'd serve her purpose as a plaything well.  Unfortunately, this particular plaything has an attribute that's sent collectors silly.  Look at this face.  The head is the "Odile" head and is commonly seen on Barbie mermaids, but this paint job is something else. 

She's got a drop-dead gorgeous face.  One doesn't often see shaded lips and subtly blushed cheeks on a play doll.  Heck, I don't even know of any Barbie Looks dolls that are painted quite like this.  The other mermaids in this particular wave didn't get a paint job like this either.  They've all got beautiful coloration (I love the green one), but their paint is not unique in any way.

A lot of my dolly friends have put this head on an Obitsu body or a pale Made to Move body, but I think I'll leave Nerida as she is for the time being.  I like the soft colors on her body, and being a mermaid in a group of landlubbers, she's unique.  If the forecast for today holds true then she may soon have ample places to swim; Francine is movin' in!

Edit, 9/17/2024:  This post shows y'all how little of an impact the Fidgie Friends made on my dolly world.  I completely forgot that Boba Bubbles is also a mermaid, and that review was only two weeks ago.

Love,
RagingMoon1987