So random, March '25

March 2nd.  I was puttering around with a future post that tangentially involves Orange Blossom. 

I'd only then learned that the brim of Orange's hat was supposed to be curled back.  I had been leaving the brim uncurled; it threw shadows like mad, but I thought it was supposed to be that way.  I stand corrected, though I don't guess it matters too terribly.

March 2nd.  I was gearing up for Bae Day Monday and caught Valencia Rose and Candela Laura together. 

I love the #4 head!

March 3rd, Bae Day Monday asked for green-eyed and/or red-haired Cabbie girls.  I've got several with one or the other, but for simplicity's sake I'm only doing my sole girl with both attributes.  That one is Valencia Rose, as seen above. 

She's still wearing her gummy bear overalls from last fall, but that'll be a good ensemble for Easter so I'm leaving her be.

March 6th.  Andra strikes a pose.

I love this doll.  In the short time that she's lived at Casa Pizarro Andra has become one of my favorites.

March 7th, 2025.  The new meets the old.

Ever the ladies' man, Ernest John cuddles with Princess Pipp Petals, one of my Baby Alive dolls.

March 9th.  It was a beautiful, mild day (with some wind, since it's March).  My spring fever was high, as was someone else's. 

This is Megan Byte, a Jaggets doll by Famosa.  I discovered the Jaggets about ten years back and thought they were cute, and before I put myself on this infernal budget I bought my own Jaggets.  Megan will get her review in late May, hopefully. 

Talky Velvet also decided to pop in.

I forget just how cute Velvet is!  I have her braids pulled a smidge tight, but oh well.  Their purpose is to prevent tangles.

March 10th, another Bae Day Monday, for green-eyed and/or red-haired Cabbie boys.  Again, I have one boy that ticks both boxes, Gavin Andrew. 

I think he's just as happy about the beginning of spring as Megan Byte is...and I owe poor Kory Aryan an apology, as he also is green-eyed and red-headed.  His hair is usually covered by a hood, so I forget!

March 13th.  Candela Laura was my companion that day, and the flowers at Casa del Luna were out in full force. 

I wish I knew what kinda bush that was, because I love the leaves.

March 16th.  Buried Secrets Draculaura strikes a pose.  These stiff budget dolls can still look freaky fabulous if given enuff time.

I found out a few weeks ago that there's gonna be another wave of these, and I'm excited for that.  Looks like Toralei Stripe and Clawdeen Wolf are gonna be in on it, along with Frankie Stein and Draculaura.  They have simple little outfits like my Draculaura does, and they have specialized makeup.  I'm looking forward to those; I don't have any of those characters in G3 form except Draculaura, and even she's cute.

March 17th.  It goes without saying that Cabbie Love (my Failbook group) wanted Kids in green that day.  Candela Laura makes another appearance, but this time she's joined by Primrose Jessalyn and Kory Aryan.

That same day I snapped a picture of Matthew Tommie and Kitrick Randolph Fergus together. 

Matt predicted that he and Kit would grow close as time passed, and he turned out to be right.  Lucey Dena is always close by too; she's just out of frame to my left/Matt's right.

March 20th.  The sky was clear, the wind was high, and I had Gwenda Cecile with me.

Posin' Kids have stiff arms due to their internal frames, and Gwenda looks to me like she's reaching out for a hug.

March 21st.  Margot Madeline got a new outfit!

Thank you, Mama!  I love the outfits you pick for my dolls!

Same evening, different doll.  Solana Sunburst tries to wave, but her arms are a mite stubby for that.

Solana is the Glitter Babyz that I referred to yesterday, by the way.  As I promised, a review is in the making, though it'll be awhile yet.

March 23rd.  ColorSilk Kids came up on a Failbook group, so I let Kory Aryan show off.

Kory's such a little ham!  The weather was poopy again that day, hence the indoor picture with the pillow, but Kory didn't let it bug him.

For some reason this image popped up in my memories on March 23rd, but it was taken on October 28th, 2021.  It's Kailey in a sweater set.

The colors do flatter her, I must say.

March 24th, Bae Day Monday.  The theme was yellow, and the weather that day was perfect for such a happy, sunshiney color.  Cleopatra Chantale is the doll in question. 

I ended up having to do two takes, the sun was so bright.  These lawn chairs are as old as Cleopatra Chantale is, by the way, and both chair and Cabbie are a only a couple'a years younger than me.  I was two when Mama and Daddy bought those chairs for Grandma, and they've been put to good use. 

Same day, different dolls.  These dolls are Peggy Pumpkin (left) and a Cry Baby, Ayla, both fresh out of their packaging.  Oh yeah, and Draculaura is photobombing.

I solemnly swear that I did not deliberately put Peggy's hand on Ayla's.  I just put her where my Barbie box meets the couch cushion, and her hand slipped over Ayla's.  Pretty cute.

March 29th.  My Cabbage Patch group calls mail related to the Kids as Cabbie mail, and for me it's usually a cute little outfit (usually bought by Mama).  This was the case on the 29th.

Candela Laura slipped out of her shamrock dress and into a romper that she can wear clean through to fall.  Unless I want to put her in her elephant outfit, that is.  I love that set.

March 30th.  There was a confirmed tornado in the Neelyville area and another severe storm angled to our south.  These two were helping me stay calm (some hot and heavy praying helped too).

In addition to Candela Laura, I've got one of the dolls that Setsu-P sent me.  An in-depth discussion of that stuff is coming.  As to the storms, Malden got a lot of rain and a lot of wind, but again, we came through it fine.  

And that brings a very stormy March to a close.  Doesn't look like the first week of April is gonna be any better.  Our eyes turn now to Wednesday...

God bless,
RagingMoon1987 

What became of Shopkins' Shoppies (plus another bad forecast)

This is super-old news, but what can I say, I live with my head under a rock and had no idea what Moose Toys was up to aside from #FailFix dolls.  Now...for awhile I was a fairly ardent fan of the Shopkins.  The little toys made superb props for Barbie and smaller ball-jointed dolls, and I liked how each little piece had their own personality.  That linked post is ten years old, by the way!  Ahhh, those were the days of jointed Fashionistas, separately packaged clothing items, two-outfit packs for Barbie...I took it all for granted, as people often do when they have something nice.  Anyway, the Shopkins were ubiquitous for awhile, and then they just...disappeared.  Or rather, they segued into the Mini Brands, which I also like because some of the pieces make good props for Barbie and other like-sized fashion dolls, or for a dollhouse like I'm still puttering around with.  Some pieces are too large or too small for such a shenanigan, but I make it work.  When you're working with a doll with a big noggin and a small body, something like Blythe, Bratz, or Rainbow High and Shadow High, scale isn't much of an issue anyway.  That said, I don't have a huge collection of Real Littles (I have around thirty Shopkins somewhere), because they don't have half the personality of the original Shopkins.

Now...when you have something in miniature, sometimes a doll line follows with it.  That eventually happened with MiWorld, and it happened with the Shopkins.  Shoppies were...kinda psychotic-looking, but I have three of them hiding in my room at Casa del Luna.  To my surprise, the only pictures I could find of my Peppa Mint doll were both size comparisons, one from a Hairdorables review...

...and one from a Blume review.

Surprise, surprise, Blume and the Hairdorables aren't around anymore either.  I'm not terribly surprised that Blume failed, but I thought the Hairdorables had staying power.  As for the Shoppies, I liked the little ones; indeed, I had plans to use them in a dollhouse that I had back then, though the idea never got much further than buying two mini Shoppies.  The little Shoppies didn't look as crazed as Peppa Mint and her full-sized sisters do.  My little ones are Coco Cookie and Sunny Meadows, by the way; I picked Coco because she reminded me a little of Mami Tomoe.

Peppa Mint's crazy eyes and molded on clothes didn't impress me much, and I don't guess they did their target audience either, because the Shoppies are no more...or are they?  Ladies and germs, while I was researching Cry Babies and Glitter Babyz, I stumbled across these unusual little poppets, the Kindi Kids.

These two are Rainbow Kate and Marsha Mello.  When I read their names I did a double take and muttered "Those names sound very familiar!"  Then I saw this doll.

That's Peppa Mint!  She's a teensy bit less crazed-looking than her Shoppie self, but she's still very much Peppa Mint.  So even though the Shoppies didn't impress me much I was still pleased to see them be reborn as a new doll.  They've even got accessories that look like the old Shopkins!  Despite my allegiance to Peppa Mint, my favorite Kindis are Rainbow Kate and this doll, Summer Peaches.

I love how Summer's hair looks with her skin/vinyl, but spoilers, her coloration looks highly similar to that of the Glitter Babyz doll I chose.  So if I do go the Kindi Kids route I'll probably choose Rainbow Kate...though her violet hair and freckled face look a bit like ANOTHER doll that I own, Princess Pipp Petals.  I'm hoping that Blossom Apples and Sara Sushi will become Kindi Kids, as they were my favorite Shoppies.  Blossom has unapologetically GREEN HAIR, and y'all know how I love green.  But no Kindi Kid will be coming home with me right now, as I am currently the proud owner of both a Glitter Babyz doll and a Cry Babies doll...and I'm right happy with both of 'em.  Indeed, I haven't put the Cry Baby down since she got here.  Reviews will hopefully be ready by the beginning of June.

Now I'm off to batten down the hatches for ANOTHER round of severe weather.  No, two.  Today is predicted to be violent, and next Wednesday is too.  App is Accuweather, a tremendous help when the meteorological excrement hits the fan.

The headline looks worse than the actual text does, but tornadoes are not out of the question either today or Wednesday. 

I can hear one of our KFVS news anchors trolling our meteorologist.  If he doesn't like a forecast he'll say in a deadpan voice "Boo.  I boo your forecast."  LOL, as was the case two weeks ago, today's system has been in the making for a solid week and the weather folks have really been freaking out.  Plenty of the locals are freaking out too, since we all remember how bad it was two weeks ago!  So y'all keep an eye out for a post from me in the wee hours of the morning, one with Clio Teresa or whoever I can grab sitting on our bathroom counter.

Stormy love,
RagingMoon1987

Insomnia

Having trouble sleeping?  Never fear, for the Patti Playpal horde is here.

Truth be told, I'd sleep just fine.  The issue would be waking up in the middle of the night and stubbing my toe on someone...except for the little one on the bed.  She might be troublesome.  For the uninitiated, that's Vogue Brikette...the same doll that played Talky Tina in The Twilight Zone.  Talky Tina was the brunette variant, but just the same Brikette is not to be trusted.

Maybe Brikette is upset because she saw the lamp full of disembodied doll parts.

That's a real lamp, by the way; I stole that picture off of Facebook.  I see a Bratz head in there, and mayyyybe a My Scene head, and...I think the blonde one with the huge eyes is Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  Poor Sabrina, she doesn't need to be a lamp!  She'd probably be even more of a danger to me than Brikette!

Then again, I could probably do with a lamp like that.  It could go with a vomit clock.

No joke, those are called vomit clocks, and they were all the rage at one time.  I think they're a riot too.  Let's face it, my taste in decor is questionable at best.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

About Primrose Jessalyn

Primrose Jessalyn arrived last December, and Treesa suggested that I feature her in a So Random post with some brand-name Cabbage Patch Kids to show her size.  I figured, "Why not just give her her own post?"  First, here's Primrose Jessalyn; I call her "Prim," similar to Primrose Everdeen.

Hmmm, that's the second doll that I've named after a character from The Hunger Games (Madge was the first), not counting Katniss herself.  Katniss is...well, she's Katniss!  There may one day be a Maysilee in my collection as well, since I like the name, but I digress.  I suspect that Prim is handmade, because instead of a brand name she's got an artist's label stitched to her tushie.

Prim's fabric is...I think a very fine fleece (it's a bit too fuzzy to be flannel).  She's very solidly made for the most part, though the back of one leg is coming undone like so.  I can fix that with a whipstitch or a blanket stitch, or I can hide it with socks or tights.  No biggie.

Prim's face is a riot without her pacifier.  She did come with one, but it was broken and broke even more when I handled it, so right now Prim is without.  

My vinyl-faced dolls that take binkies or bottles don't usually look this goofy; I think Baby Blossom Flowerpot may be my sole exception, and she just looks blank rather than goofy.  It can't be easy to make a rag doll that takes a binky, though!  Holding one in place requires either magnets (like my reborn baby, Sandra) or friction (like Baby Blossom and my paci-faced Cabbies).  A magnet would've worked for Prim in the short term, but it would've put tremendous strain on her fabric in the long run.  A small hole would've allowed that binky to slip right out.  So Prim looks funny, but her maker made the right call in making this mouth the way she/they did.

Quick look at the hair before moving down, Prim's hair was parted but hanging loose when she came to me, so I tied it up in perky little pigtails, like the ones that Clio Teresa wears.  She needs some ribbons, but I'll fix that eventually.

So!  Regarding size Prim LOOKS like she's about the size of a regular Cabbage Patch Kid, but that's not saying much since Cabbies vary a lot in their sizing, especially among the full-sized Kids.  The factory that the Kid hails from sometimes has some bearing on their size.  For example, Elisabeth Clara (right) is from a UT factory and is thus small for a Kid (I'm starting from the beginning, with Coleco).  On the other hand, Idalia Gale (left) is from a P factory, and those Kids are supposed to have understuffed bodies with smaller hands and limbs.  Idalia Gale is very large for a Kid, close in size to my TRU girl.  Prim is closer to Elisabeth in size, but she's a smidge bigger.

My other popcorn, Beryl June, is also a P Kid, and she's little.  Here's how she compares to Idalia Gale and to Elisabeth Clara...

...and to Prim.

So sometimes the marking on that tag means nothing more than "This Cabbie was made at this factory."  Preemies are a little easier; I've got four, and they're all roughly the same size.  Here's how Prim compares to Nathan Hunter (left) and Stella Rae (right); her head is much bigger than theirs, but her body is roughly the same size.  I think it's time to get Nate and Stella some spring clothes!

Lastly, my two Growing Hair Kids are bigger than the average Cabbie, so here's how Prim compares to one of them, the famous/infamous Andrea Doria. 

So Prim would be on the small side if she were a Coleco Kid.

Hasbro dolls vary in size as well, but most of mine run a little smaller than the Coleco gang.  Most of 'em, mind y'all.  Gwenda Cecile (Posin' Kid, left) is a large doll and thus is bigger than Prim, while Alice Helene (Love 'n' Care Baby, right) is smaller.  Again, Prim has a larger head than both of 'em.

On the other hand, Rowena Skylar (Kissin' Kid, left) and Gillian Ida (Splash 'n' Tan Kid, right) are both about Prim's size.  Rowena and Gilly are about the size I've grown to expect for a Hasbro Cabbie.

On to the Mattel era.  Size varied again, but for the most part these dolls were smaller than the Coleco Kids.  I'm just gonna stick to the two biggest ones, Gary Collier (left) and Lucey Dena (right).  Lucey is pretty small, so she's a bit smaller than Prim is.

Ownership of the Cabbies gets a little nebulous after the Mattel era, so I'm just going to move to Jakks Pacific and Play Along and be done with it.  Kory Aryan (right) is my biggest doll from this period, and Taniyah Yasmin (center) is my smallest.

On the other hand, Leslie Emily (left) is about the same size as Prim, and Iris Evangeline (right) has longer legs.

From Mattel onward some of the Cabbies grew smaller in size, so the dolls I chose don't represent their whole division.  See?  Skye Kitty (Mattel) can sit in Prim's lap.  Owen Presley, from the Wicked Cool Toys era, is bigger than Skye and thus can't sit on Prim's lap, but he's small enuff to play little brother to her.

Other Wicked Cool Cabbies are a full sixteen inches or even a mite larger.

Lastly, my foreign Kids.  Jesmar dolls come in three distinct sizes, but as far as I know Tri-Angs do not.  Candela Laura is one of Jesmar's taller dolls, so she's bigger than Prim, while Kitrick Randolph Fergus is between Prim and Candela in size.

I solemnly swear that Candela is bigger than Kit, by the way.  Most of the extra height is in her legs.

As to clothes, I have had Prim clad in the dress she came in, a green brocade number with soft lace trim and fantastic drape.  It's a nice dress, if a tad long in the hem for Prim's stubby little legs, but I wanted something a little brighter.  Mama bought a couple'a cute little outfits before we went on famine mode, but only one has arrived.  St. Louis appears to be the city having mail problems now (things have gotten better here in Malden).

Mama says it's an improvement, and I have to say I agree.  This outfit is sized for sixteen-inch Kids and it fits Prim almost perfectly.  It's a smidge tight around the neck, but I made it work.  Now all she needs are hair bows; I'm thinking my usual green, to match the bow on her chest.

And that's...well, that's not an in-depth look at Primrose Jessalyn, but y'all get the idea.  She's about the size of your average Cabbage Patch Kid, but a little softer and lighter and with thicker hair.  I like her a lot, especially in bright clothes, and I'll like her even better when she has a pacifier!

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987