Firebird

I sadly neglected to add this woman to my list of people who would make a good Barbie, but I did whisper to my dad, long, long ago, "Wouldn't it be great if Mattel did a Barbie that looked like Maria Tallchief?"  That was 2004, approximately.  It's been twenty years exactly, but Big Brother apparently was listening.  Look who just got released.

That, folks, is Maria Tallchief.  And she's friggin' beautiful.  I've GOTTA have this one!

For the uninitiated, Maria Tallchief was a prima ballerina.  She was half Osage native and half Scots-Irish, and was the first person of native decent to achieve the title of prima ballerina.  She began dancing professionally in 1942 and retired in 1966, which is a nice stretch of time for a ballet dancer.  She worked with some huge names in ballet, folks like Bronislava Nijinska and George Balanchine (she was married to the latter for awhile).  She helped found what eventually became the New York City Ballet and became their first prima.  She also did her share of work in the corps (the group of ballerinas that backs the prima up), but...well, you can't have a ballet without the corps!  The doll pictured is how Ms. Tallchief appeared in The Firebird.

Blick, Igor Stravinsky wrote the music for The Firebird.  I'm not a big fan of his work.  Anyway, for those of y'all that are five-seven and above, Maria was kinda tall for a prima...or at least, she was when compared to Anna Pavlova and Margot Fonteyn, two other greats in the ballet world.  Anna was rumored to be about five feet (couldn't find an exact height), Margot was five feet, four inches, and Maria was five feet, nine inches.  A hair taller than I am, in other words (I'm five-eight).  Oh yes, and I don't want to leave out Misty Copeland, another groundbreaking ballerina; she is five feet, two inches.  Misty got her own Barbie doll years ago...and she's the Firebird.  Why I never tracked this doll down is beyond me, because she too is drop-dead gorgeous.

I can, however, explain why the Maria Tallchief doll is important to me.  I've always loved ballet, even if I can't dance it, and one day in my teens Daddy and I were discussing its ups and downs.  I was and still am fond of Margot Fonteyn, and Maria was Daddy's favorite.  I think Daddy may have liked her because she reminded him of Mama; his favorite actresses were raven-haired and dark-eyed, just like Mama was in her youth.  Guess what?  Maria Tallchief also had dark hair and dark eyes.  Anyway, Barbie dolls as celebrities were nothing new in 2004, and one day during a bull session I mentioned my desire to see Maria as a Barbie.  Daddy agreed that she'd make a good one, but we were both doubtful that it would ever happen.  Ha!  Little did we know!

Maria died in 2013, but as with all the greats, she left quite a legacy, one far bigger than I could relate in a fifteen-minute blog post.  Her daughter is pleased as punch to see her mama immortalized as a Barbie, and if y'all couldn't tell, so am I.  I don't know when, but this flaming beauty will find her way into my collection somehow...and depending on prices, so will Misty Copeland.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Across the other pond: this isn't Jenny

Oh, she LOOKS like Takara Jenny, but trust me, she's not!  She's a Bandai doll named Patty.

I do have to wonder why these Japanese dolls so often get saddled with western names.  This doll is Patty, I've got Jenny, and for a spell Jenny had a friend named Jessica.  But then again, the line that had Jenny and Jessica also had dolls named Ayano, Mirai, and Shion (Ayano was my favorite).  Maybe Takara and Bandai knew that one way or another we western folk would get our hands on their dolls and would want a few names that we recognized.  I dunno.  Either way, my doll's name is Patty, and I'm just showing her off because I was unaware of her existence until about a month ago.  

On the back of her box Patty has a profile, and I can read...well, I can read her age, birthday, and blood type.  She's sixteen years old, her birthday is September first like several of my Cabbage Patch Kids, and her blood type is A.  I can't read a word of the rest of it.

Patty is constructed similarly to Licca-chan and Jenny, so I won't be reviewing her fully.  However, I will show her out of the box.  My particular doll has a full blue ballgown with copious lace.

I unboxed Patty on the same evening that I was dressing Isolde in her lolita dress, so here's how they look together.  Spectra and the Shimmerons have nothing on this lacy duo.

I hopped on Google to look for images of other Patty dolls, but the only image I found was an image of the eBay listing for my own doll.  This Reddit post, where I learned of Patty's existence, implies that Patty's run was brief and that she's hard to find.  They provided a link to a blog post, which explains that Patty picked up the slack after Mattel's partnership with Bandai ended (they partnered to make a Japanese Barbie for awhile).  Even the blog post says very little, other than that Patty is obscure and that not many folks know about her.  That's a shame, because from what I can tell Patty is just as good as Licca-chan and Jenny, but...well, y'know.  Not every doll is a hit, and since Bandai apparently had a hit with the Charmy Twins, I guess there wasn't room for poor Patty.  But that's just my theory.

Have any of y'all seen or heard of Patty?  I hadn't, so I figure none of y'all have either, but I've been wrong before!

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Another look at the Hot Looks

Y'know, these three.  Chelsea, C.C. (short for Canadian Chelsea), and Sachi.

Y'all might've predicted their return to the blog since Chelsea popped into October's So Random post a couple'a times.  Indeed, at one point it tinkered around with adding Elkie to the mix since I didn't have a doll to represent Hot Looks' cool-toned dolls (and because Elkie is more interesting than Mimi).  Why is this important?  Because I'm looking for outfits, and I'm trying to stick to the color divisions that Hot Looks set up.  There were three color divisions, hot, warm, and cool, and the back of this box shows how to differentiate. 

Basically, it's like this:

*Blonde, blue-eyed dolls get cool colors.  That would mean Elkie and Mimi from the first wave and Starr and Steff from the second wave.  Cool colors were pastels in this case.

*Brown-eyed brunettes get hot colors.  These were the bright splashy colors that I associate with stereotypical eighties fashion.  The hot models were/are Zizi and Stacey (first wave) and Sachi (second wave).

*Green-eyed redheads get warm colors, and this is the trickiest division for me.  These clothes are bright like the hot clothes, but mayyyyybe not as eye-popping?  It's kinda subjective.  Anyway, the second wave had Shawna, and the first wave had my beloved Chelsea.  

That's all well and good for the Hot Looks, all of whom stuck to those color combinations, but what about a blue-eyed brunette like me, or a brown-eyed redhead like Tam?  I guess we don't matter, sad face.  Anyway, among my trio, Chelsea and C.C. are warm and Sachi is hot.  Hmmm...do Chelsea's eyes look green to y'all???  They look light blue to me.

Regardless of eye color, Chelsea and C.C. are strawberry blondes and would thus probably classify as warm.  By the luck of the draw, both of my outfits are also warm.  eBay shop is Ruths Vintage Collections.

Chelsea is even on the front.  See?

Got these in-box getups off of eBay.  These outfits are both a little rough around the edges after thirty-seven years, but nothing serious.  In particular, the glitter has worn off of the jean suit.  These white patches were once sparkly.

Oh well, I too am a little rough around the edges after thirty-seven years, LOL!  Notice, by the way, that the packaging shows a different pair of shoes for each outfit, but no extra shoes are included in ANY of the outfits.  That's kinda weak.  Chelsea's copper-laced sneakers might look okay with the denim outfit, but with that pantsuit they may look a hair ridiculous.  So let's see how these look on my girls.  Each package included tips for hairstyles and easy little modifications; the satin pantsuit's tips are as follows.

Roll up the pants legs, put the belt around the waist instead of the hips, and tie the hair off to the side.  Oh yes, the side ponytail, an easy hairstyle that was much loved in the eighties.  Heck, I did it plenty in high school, and that was in the aughts.  So...pants rolled up, waist belted, hair tied to the side, here's how Chelsea looks.

Hey, those sneakers don't look bad after all!  And sure enuff, these colors look fantastic on Chelsea.  Not too bright, but not too soft either, just like her hair and eyes.  For the most part these components are kid-friendly, though those satin slacks might catch on unkempt fingernails (like mine).  My dominant concerns are for this belt...

...and these earrings.

Both of 'em feel like stiffened paper, the same thing that C.C.'s belt is made of.  Notice that C.C.'s belt is in rough shape.

So I'll treat these pieces with a gentle hand.  I'm so glad Chelsea has dangles now, though!  Her little white studs look okay on their own, but she really looks good with those goofy bangles.

C.C. got the denim suit.  Said suit also came with three tips, but I was tired of dressing dolls by the time I shoved C.C. into this outfit, so I only followed two.

Notice that I did not roll up C.C.'s sleeves, though I still can in the future.

Now I was expecting the shoes to look better with this outfit than the other one, but it's actually the opposite!  I kinda wish I had some white tights to put under there.  As I said above, the white patches are supposed to be sparkly, but I can fix that.  Even without the sparkles this outfit looks pretty good.  The lace blouse is sheer, and one can see C.C.'s bikini top through the material, but I actually like that effect.  The pop of peach breaks up the blue a little bit.  See?

Anyone remember how these dolls have bikinis permanently attached?  The cool girls have pink or lilac bikinis under their clothes, and the hot girls have yellow bikinis.  I like all three colors, but I doubt they'd have looked as good showing through that lace.  Peach is definitely a Chelsea color.

The white patches are unfortunately very sticky to the touch, and as a result C.C.'s hair sticks to them.

I think I know of a way to fix these and make them look pretty again.  As for fragile parts, this ensemble came with plastic earrings and no belt at all, so C.C. is covered.  I love these earrings; they're big stars like I pair I wore in high school.

I love how unabashedly EIGHTIES these outfits are!  What was extremely stylish then looks extremely dated now, but I still love it.  Mama gave these outfits her stamp of approval as well, so they still have the power to attract.

I already liked the Hot Looks beforehand, so these outfits did little to change my opinion.  But having looked at the color system on the box, I think I can see a potential problem with the line.  Oh, it's an easy system to follow, no doubt about it, but how many little girls give a crap if their blonde doll is wearing pastels, or if their brunette doll is wearing a loud red top?  Probably the concept behind these dolls went a little over kids' heads, kinda like Aimee's gimmick did.  And maybe I'm completely wrong, and these dolls didn't sell for some other reason that I'm missing altogether!  All I can say is that my Hot Looks keep me occupied on evenings when I'm not in the mood to gom with American Girls or Cabbage Patch Kids, and these outfits add to their play value for me.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Lo-lee-ta

LOL, every time I debut a new lolita outfit I quote that stupid novel, and novel and fashion have NOTHING in common.  It's been quite a few years now since I had dolls in lolita dresses, and they were ball-jointed doll clothes.  This one is for Barbie.

Etsy shop is fashiondollMX001, out of Mexico City.  Now, remember Isolde, my rebodied Odile mermaid.

It's getting cooler, and that negligee that Isolde came in will be about as warm as a coat made of cling wrap.  Granted, those lace stockings won't be all that warm either, but they're better than nothing.

She'll need some shoes, of course, but I can fix that.  I really like this little outfit.  It's made very well (though I don't love that it closes with Velcro) and it fits Isolde's slim little body like it was made for her.  It also got the ultimate stamp of approval, a compliment from Mama.  Mama sees so many of my dolls that when one stands out to her I know it's a good one.  This shop has other cute dresses, so I'll likely return to them in the future.

Frilly love,
RagingMoon1987

A first time for everything

When was the last time any of y'all received a package or letter that had sealing wax on it???  For me my first time was yesterday.

Mama says she used the stuff in the seventies, and her stamp was one of praying hands.  My stamp appears to be of a sunrise over the sea...and the wax is my favorite colors, though the seller couldn't have known that.

Even the interior was impeccable, with each piece individually wrapped.  Oh, and the contents?  It's a little outfit for Amanda Jane.

I wanted something for Amanda Jane that WASN'T pajamas, and it just so happens that this getup is coming into season here in the U.S.!

The Etsy shop in question is VintageJoyForAll, and right now all I see on the shop are vintage and obscure dolls, some of them off-brand like I like.  I'll definitely be back.

Happy Day of the Dead,
RagingMoon1987

Throwback Thursday review: Susie Sad-Eyes

Ladies and germs, Halloween is upon us!  Every year around this time I try to do something kinda freaky, and...well, I'm not sure how freaky she is, but some folks are really creeped out by this doll.  Susie Sad-Eyes sort of made her photographic debut here TWO Octobers ago, but y'all know how I'm the queen of procrastination.  Usually she is known as Susie Sad-Eyes, Sad Susie, or plain old Sad Eyes Doll. Some of Susie's sisters came in rain gear and were called "Susie Slicker," while her Afro-American self was called "Soul Sister."  Mine, however, is straight-up Susie Sad-Eyes.  This one is Susie with an "s" in the middle, by the way; So Surprised Suzie has a "z," and Suzy Cute has both a "z" and a "y."

Killecrankie, who on Earth thought this one up???  These little goobers remind me of the Biggers that Miss Emily reviewed (here and here), only nowhere near as happy.  According to multiple websites Susie is/was a cheaply-made mass-produced doll dating from the sixties and seventies, and her big, solemn eyes were based on...ewww, on Margaret Keane paintings.  Several companies made these dolls, with one name standing out:  S. Rosenburg Co., Incorporated, the company that produced my Cherry Fizz doll (zowwee, that post was a long time ago).  The oldest Susie dolls are older than the original Blythe, but apparently not as old as Little Miss No-Name.  I don't own a Little Miss No-Name (yet), but for reference sake here's Susie with Jaylin, my factory Blythe.  Pity that Jaylin can't tip her head to look at her companion, because these two always look a little or a lot put-out by something.

Okay, they usually look put-out, though Jaylin is also capable of looking incredibly smug.  As y'all can see, Susie is quite a bit smaller than Jaylin, though they do have torsos of a similar size.  This would likely mean that Susie can also share dresses with Licca-chan and Elly-chan, though they too are a bit taller than Susie.

On the other hand, Ayame (It's a Small World Japan) and Whimzee are considerably smaller than Susie, and I highly doubt that she can wear their clothes. 

For a final size comparison, here's how Susie measures up to Fluff (vintage Skipper friend) and Joie (Creatable World.

Pity I can't get at my Stacie dolls, because they're of similar size to Susie...or they are if my memory serves me right.  90's-era Stacie dolls were pretty little.  Anyway, as I noted in that post about Technicolor bell-bottoms, there's a photography book dedicated to Susie Sad-Eyes, one entitled Susie Says, by the one and only Gina Garan.  Ms. Garan is credited with giving Blythe new life with her first book, so I figured I'd grab Susie before she becomes super-popular again.  Granted, Susie is already popular on Flickr, and she has a few groups on Failbook too.  Plus, Susie Says has been out for TEN YEARS, so I'm a little late to the party.  Oh well, better late than never!  My Susie is a little better-looking than some, but none of these dolls will ever win any beauty contests.  I've seen brown-haired Susie dolls, a handful of blondes, and one or two redheads (one of them was a reroot).  I was fortunate enuff to find a redhead of my own.

I also have a brunette Susie Sad-Eyes somewhere in the mix, but she looks more narked off than sad, AND her legs are frozen.  So y'all get the coppertop.  Her hair is supposed to be straight, but it developed a kink somewhere along the line that hasn't yet relaxed out.  The fibers are fairly stiff and hold kinks like mad.  Regarding the style, she's got a center part and bangs up front, like so.

The rooting is...so-so.  It looks fine when Susie's hair is down or pulled into a low ponytail, but a parted style is OUT!!!

Regarding the face, Susie has several different names, varying hair and eye colors, and widely differing bodies, but she always has this face.

Eye color varied as much as hair color did with these dolls.  My brunette Susie has aqua eyes, while Copperhead's are amber.  Like all good Susie Sad-Eyes dolls her lids are dark and heavy, and the lower lid is ringed with shadow.

Some of these dolls have green circles painted under their eyes, making them look ill as well as sad.  I don't like this effect and I'm glad that neither of my Susie dolls have this paint.  Right now my only surviving picture of Raven Susie is this one from the technicolor bell-bottoms post, and it'll give y'all an idea of what her eye paint looks like.  Both Raven and Copperhead have flubs in their right eyes, LOL.

See Copperhead's flub?  These dolls were very cheaply produced, so I'm surprised these mistakes are the only paint errors.

Susie's sullen little mouth has only a touch of blush-colored paint.  Some of these dolls have rosier lips, but mine does not.

Susie's ears are simple little affairs with no piercings...and a little dust.

A simple, average head, and with a simple, average head goes a simple, average body.  The arms are vinyl, and the rest is hard, hollow plastic.  I presume that Susie is supposed to be a child, because she's got a child's build.

Since Susie is cheaply made she has the joints one might expect.  Her head is a ball joint and thus is her best joint.  She can turn and tip her head.

Surprise, surprise, her head comes off easily...but it doesn't go back ON easily so I usually leave it alone.

The rest of Susie's posing is about what you'd expect.  Her arms rotate like so.

Her hands have a lot of flash on the seams, but it's possible to see knuckles and nails in there.  Not all of my dolls have that, and I can always pare away that flash.  Shudder...I hate X-ACTO knives!

Like the shoulders, Susie's hip joints are par for the course.  They're hollow plastic, straight up and down, with an angled joint at the hip.  This means that Susie can stand, sit like a bimbo on Quaaludes, and do front-to-back splits, like so.

Susie's stubby little legs are made of blown plastic like her torso, and...well, they're legs.  She knows how to use them, though.

The seams on Susie's legs are rough, though they're not the worst I've ever seen.  Interestingly, the toes on her right foot are almost nonexistent; her left foot has simple toes.

From the side one can see that...oh, I'd say three millimeters of the right foot are missing.  That's a lot for a doll this size.  

Susie can't stand on her own, and I think the deformed foot may be part of the problem.  It should also be noted that not all Susies have bodies like this; Tam owns one that is made of softer vinyl.  That particular little doll is better quality overall.

Susie Sad-Eyes and her similarly morose cronies weren't the most fashionable poppets to begin with, and my Susie CERTAINLY wasn't fashionable when she arrived (she was nude).  Etsy has plenty of options, but they're usually marked for Blythe or for Licca-chan, with Susie being mentioned in the "also fits" list.  That said, this little dress was made specifically for Susie dolls, and it fits my doll perfectly.  Etsy shop is IDressDolls and they focus largely on undergarments, but there are a few little dresses to be had too.  

Even though that dress was made with Susie in mind, I decided to swap Licca's and Susie's dresses anyway.

Since Licca has longer legs than Susie the green dress proved way too short in the skirt and a bit too short in the sleeves, though it fits perfectly across the shoulders and bust.  In a similar manner Licca's dress is long on Susie, but again it fits across the bust and shoulders with aplomb.  Licca's shoes even fit, though I wouldn't make Susie wear these particular shoes.  They have a slight high heel and Susie's feet are flat, end of story.  Flat shoes for Licca or Blythe may work, though.

Speaking of Blythe, Jaylin has a few things lying around idle.  I'll start with pajamas, since it's almost impossible to go wrong with pajamas.

I forget which Etsy shop these came from, but I think Jaylin has worn them maybe ONCE.  They've got "NY" all over them, giving off sort of a New York vibe.  Since they're pajamas they're big on Susie's small body, but they fit her without too much fuss.  This other outfit came in a blind bag, and I wasn't too sure about the fit of it at first.

Well, we see the results, LOL.  The crocheted top is a little tight around the shoulders, enuff that I had a little trouble fastening the button, but the rest of the outfit fits Susie perfectly.  Even the boots fit, and they help Susie stand on her own.  I won't forget that this outfit is Jaylin's, but she's okay to lend it out for now.  

For a lark I put Susie in Ayame's kimono.

Ayame's obi fastens in the back like a good obi should, and y'all can't tell it, but I couldn't get it fastened.  This whole kimono fits Susie more like a happi coat than a kimono...but it fits pretty well across the shoulders.  Ayame has the same body and measurements as Cherry Merry Muffin, so mayyyybe the occasional CMM piece might fit Susie Sad-Eyes.  But don't bet on it.  That's alright, because some Licca-chan and Blythe pieces do fit, as long as one avoids long skirts and pants.

Before I wrap this up I want to go on a brief tangent, one that applies to my other Susie doll.  That Susie has a "dress me" body with frozen legs and huge shoes, which kinda limits what I can dress her in.  Good ol' Tam presented a lovely idea on her blog that I'm itching to try.  She saddled her "dress me" Susie with a Harry Potter body, and even the tones match!  It's not a perfect fix since the Harry Potter neck knob is smaller than the whole in Susie's head, but Tam makes it work.  So Imma try that and get back to y'all.  

That's a good place to break this off.

BAD
*Overall quality of my particular doll is pretty average.  Some have better bodies and some have worse.
*The hair is stiff and can't be restyled, except for a basic ponytail.
*Mayyyybe my doll's lip paint could be better???  I've seen some of these dolls with pretty lips.
*Some variants have a stiff "dress me" body.  Some folks don't like those, so keep that in mind.
*Some variants are hard to find.  I've NEVER seen Soul Sister for a reasonable price.

GOOD
*No specific appearance other than the head.  Just about any hair or eye color can be found.
*Semi-easy to find, as long as you're not looking for Soul Sister!
*Hair is low-maintenance, despite being long.  
*Can wear Blythe and Licca-chan clothes as long as the items aren't too long.  Shoes even fit.
*Under the right conditions, Susie can be very photogenic.  I understand now why Gina Garan put Susie Says together.
*Can be customized readily, for those of y'all that are into that.

Whew!  I almost didn't get this one done in time!  That was on me, procrastinating and being lazy as sin; Susie herself is quite simple.  What you see is what you get:  a solemn-faced doll with a vinyl head and a stiff plastic body, who looks good in a wide array of clothes despite being quite different from both Blythe and Licca-chan.  Susie is popular among those who like their dolls a little weird or creepy, and of course, fans of vintage dolls.  And I can see why, since she's lightweight, easy to tote around, and low-maintenance.  If Susie Sad-Eyes lights your fire, beware of "dress me" bodies and know that rebodying is an option, and also know that obtaining clothes is a cinch if you have access to Etsy.  Also...beware of bad lighting.  Susie can look downright sinister in the wrong light.

Happy Halloween, y'all!  True to the forecast it's raining and isn't supposed to stop 'til after midnight, so I'm staying in and keeping the lights off.  If any of y'all do go out, be safe, watch for pets, kids, and drunks, and have fun.

Love,
RagingMoon1987