Build-a-Bear breaks my wallet

Well, actually, no, they won't be breaking my wallet since a tree in our backyard already did that.  Remember back in March when I said that a tree limb took out one of our windows?  Yeah, that whole tree had to be cut down, and the man who took the tree out said it was just a matter of time before the whole thing came crashing down on the house.  It was rotten at the top and hollow in the center, so yeah.  So I won't be buying anything else for awhile, but OMG, are these new stuffed animals freaking adorable!  They're critters, but they're also...FRUIT.  The frog is a watermelon, and y'all might think that he's my favorite of 'em all since I love frogs...

...but I'm also very fond of axolotls, and Build-a-Bear has a long history of making cute axolotls.  This one is a pineapple.

But believe it or not, my favorite of the three is this one.

She's a dragon AND a dragonfruit!  Now...I've never eaten dragonfruit.  I've eaten and thoroughly enjoyed both watermelon and pineapple (there's a funny story behind the pineapple), but I've never had dragonfruit.  Do dragonfruit-flavored HiChews count?  LOL, probably not.  Anyway, I squealed like a piggy when I saw the dragonfruit dragon pop up on my Failbook feed (Big Brother knows that I love Build-a-Bear, LOL again).  But I have to show some self-control, as I just bought a VERY expensive doll and had to help pay for the aforementioned tree.  Just the same, I can admire.

Treesa, you're my Build-a-Bear girl.  What say you about these?

Fruity love,
RagingMoon1987

Sunshine and onesies

Or life in general, I guess, because we're always waiting for something.  Waiting for that promotion at work, or for a baby or a death, waiting for finals week, you name it.  Currently I am waiting for the rain to finally stop.  The storms finally moved out late last night, but the rain is hanging around.  I love rain, but we've had too much of a good thing.  A bunch of our local roads are impassable, and this is what Grandma's back yard looks like.  Did I mention that Grandma's house is built on what used to be a frog pond?

I'm also waiting for Clive Elliot's onesies to come.  I ordered those LAST Sunday and they haven't even shipped.  Clive doesn't mind so much, but I'm tired of looking at him nekkid.  Clive just wants to share my lunch.

Mmmm, Taco Bell chicken chalupas (no tomatoes).  As long as Clive has a warm home and something to "eat," he's happy.  Have I ever mentioned that I think he's got cute feet?

What can I say, I like doll feet, and Clive has good-sized feet for a doll his size.

So I'm digesting my Taco Bell, enjoying a few quiet moments before Uncle Man-Child comes home from wherever he is, waiting for sunshine and onesies.  Are any of y'all waiting for anything?

Since I like soda, have any of y'all ever tasted Pepsi Peach?  Pepsi is in financial trouble and is cutting back on its lineup, and one of the flavors that got the axe is Pepsi Peach.  But then again, the box does say "limited edition."

Drat, I've never had it and it sounds not half-bad.  Have any of y'all had it?  Was it worth it, or did it taste like floor polish like Pepsi Twist did?

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

Now THESE are interesting

WARNING:  This post is gonna go heavy on religion.  Don't read if you're bothered by that.  And if I say anything ignorant, please POLITELY let me know in the comments and I'll fix it.  Thanks!

I saw one of these on the blog Ana Caldatto, and my interest was piqued because one doesn't see too many dolls like this in the States...and because Ramadan started at sundown on February 28th this year.  Timing is pretty good for me to see these, LOL.  These are Salam Sisters; from left, they are Layla, Karima, Yasmina, Nura, and Maryam.  

These dolls have been available since...2018???????  Where on Earth have I been???  They all come conservatively dressed with their own hijab (Karima and Maryam are not wearing theirs above), and they have their own individual personalities, because all good dolls this size do.

*LAYLA likes fashion, sewing, and repurposing old clothes into new clothes.  She's good at math (maths) and likes to garden.  Herbs and (mmmm) strawberries are her specialty.  She owns a cat named Kiya who "helps" her garden.
*KARIMA likes history, outer space, and sports.  Tennis appears to be her favorite sport, but she also likes archery, building obstacle courses, and...is camping a sport?  Either way she likes camping and stargazing.  
*YASMINA...hmmm, that name sounds familiar!  Yasmina likes photography, reading, volunteering, and her horse, Lily.  She's a member of her student council and likes organizing fundraisers for charities and "other special events."
*NURA likes everything STEM, puzzles, mystery novels, and inventing stuff, though she admits that her inventions are kinda crazy.  She also likes to play with her parrot Zuzu and ride her bike, and she likes to create her own nasheeds.  She's working hard to memorize the Quran, which is gonna be a big job for a girl her age!  I remember what it was like having to memorize Bible verses when I was a kid, and some of those verses are a lot to remember.  I love her pink hijab!
*MARYAM is artsy; she enjoys drawing, painting, designing, and building.  She's learning to code, likes video games, and likes to swim at the beach.  Her friends and family describe her as "patient."

Why am I making a big deal about these, you ask?  Because like I said above, it isn't every day one sees a doll depicting a Muslim girl here in the U.S.  Ever since 9/11 American Muslims have had to watch their butts, which is too bad.  I'm always begging people not to judge Christians based on the behavior of those Westboro Baptist Church idiots, and I figure the Muslim contingent has to do the same because of their nutty splinter groups.  So the U.S. doesn't have a lot of dolls like the Salam Sisters.  There was Shola, one of the Hearts 4 Hearts Girls, with her beautiful amber eyes and her leggings that she didn't come with (prototype image, left), and American Girl made an outfit celebrating Eid al Fetr (right), but that's all I can name ATM.

Oh yeah, there's also the Saudi anti-Barbie, Fulla.  I think Fulla is fascinating, and I may do a post on her in the future.  

The Salam Sisters appear to be eighteen inches tall like the American Girls, and their head molds vary.  I don't like Maryam's head much...or maybe it's her eyes that are too light.  Or maybe it's the teeth.  Either way I'm not a big fan of Maryam's appearance, though I love her backstory.

My favorite of the five is the bespectacled one, Layla, though I do have to wonder why she's the blonde, blue-eyed one.  "Layla" means "dark."  See Layla's hair?

Oh well, I've known people of color named "Blanche," so there you go.  The name "Layla" can also mean "born at night," which may be the case with Layla.  It's a nice name, regardless.  I much prefer Layla in her hijab, though.  It's a lovely shade of yellow, kinda like the flowers that are starting to pop out here in the Bootheel.

Muslima are not required to wear hijab 100% of the time until they hit puberty, but when it's time for prayer their heads have to be covered, period.  They also must cover in the presence of men who are...non-mahram, though I've known some Muslima that are more liberal and didn't give a crap if their heads were covered around strangers.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, some girls cover their heads at all times, even around an all-girl setting.  It's kinda up to the individual...and the country that one lives in.  Likely if I owned one of these dolls I'd leave her in her hijab, both out of respect for the religion she depicts and because she looks cute that way.

These are interesting little dolls, and educational for an ignant bumpkin like me.  I've known Muslims before, but not on a super-close level, close enuff that I felt comfortable asking questions.  I'd love to review Layla, but NO BUYING RIGHT NOW!!!  So have any of y'all heard of these, or have y'all been living under a rock like me?

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Controversial Cupid

Snow:  beautiful and dangerous.  Beautiful to look at, dangerous to drive in, especially south of here.  Malden has about three inches and it's still falling.

Yeah, it hasn't even been a week since Winter Storm Blair and now Winter Storm Cora is upon us.  Cora is kinda unique in that she's a southern storm; I-40 is like a skating rink, I've been told.  University of Arkansas called off classes, so my sister and her husband got to stay home.  Guess who didn't get to stay home.  <raises hand>

Now to the topic at hand.  About five days ago I learned that C.A. Cupid was scheduled to get a G3 release as part of the Scary Sweet Birthday line, and yesterday youloveit.com got ahold of the doll's stock photos, as did the Monster High wiki.  This is her; her official name is now Cupid Asteria, which I think is kinda pretty.

I wonder if she still believes that not everything can be solved with an equation???  Overall I'm pleased with how she looks, I like that some of her G1 features were retained (like her lacy stockings and her bow and arrow bracelet), and I'm pleased that she's getting a reboot.  But already folks on Reddit are talking about how they don't like her coloring, don't like her hair, don't like this, don't like that.  One redditor compared her to Effie Trinket (kinda a fair comparison, actually), and some are going as far as to say she's downright ugly.  I personally think Cleo de Nile is the weak one of the bunch, largely because of her square hairline, but they're all pretty awesome dolls (Frankie and Draculaura are also part of the line).  In fact, I think Cupid stands out the best, because her getup doesn't incorporate a lot of black; Frankie, Cleo, and Drac all go heavy on the black, albeit paired with their favorite colors.

The one thing I DON'T like about this line (besides Cleo's hairline, which I can get over) also has nothing to do with Cupid.  The ghouls are celebrating Draculaura's Sweet 1600 all over again.  Uh...she HAD a Sweet 1600...when was that???  <glances at the wiki>  It was December of 2011.  Based on that Drac should be 1614 now, but oh well.  It's still a cute doll line, and Cupid is invited, just like she was at Drac's last Sweet 1600!  Clawdeen and Clawd both got left out this time around, sad face.  Back to Cupid now, I think that compared to some of the other G3 dolls (Lagoona Blue) she's pretty faithful to her old self.  Here's stock pictures of both Monster High Cupid and Ever After High Cupid; they're pretty different, but I like and own both of them (MH Cupid's head is sadly turning yellow, dern it).

But what say y'all???  I like hearing y'all's opinions, and I want to hear from my Monster High fans:  hit or miss on the new Cupid?  If a miss, what would you change about her?  Please discuss.

Warm love,
RagingMoon1987

Not really a smiling sort of day

My badge says "smile"...

...but it's not really a smiling type of day.  Visibility is down past a quarter of a mile in my area; I don't recommend driving in crap like this.

Could be worse, I s'pose.  Look at the Weather Channel's headline for this morning.

Tornadoes!  In December!  That's...actually not uncommon for that part of the country.  They see severe weather year around.  Look back to the Enigma Outbreak if you don't believe me.

So the weather's not great, and my sciatica hurts, and I watched "The Angels Take Manhattan" all the way through for the first time last night, so I'm just...kinda bummed today.  Hell, I knew what was coming for Amy and Rory, but just the same, watching one's favorite Doctor get his hearts broken isn't exactly a barrel of laughs.  So I scooped up Ernest John and brought him to work with me.

I'm only now realizing that the poor laddie has had a chop to his locks!  

How long have I owned Ernest John now???  Four months?  Five?  And I'm only now noticing this?  Five points from Hufflepuff for Moony being a dolt, and drat these destructive little kids and their scissors!

So that's that!  It's a Saturday, and Saturdays are always mega-slow at work, so I'll probably devote the day to Ryan Hall and pray that no one is killed.  The Mississippi-Louisiana border is in the crosshairs today, where Vicksburg, Rolling Fork and Inverness are all located.  Vicksburg got hit in 1953 (in the wintertime), Inverness got it in 1971 (also late winter), and last year was Rolling Fork's turn.  Jackson and Hazlehurst are also in the warned area, and they too have been hit hard in the past.  Mississippi in general is no stranger to violent tornadoes, and tornadoes that do form tend to be obscured by hills and trees, making the storm spotters' jobs difficult.  So today I'm praying for Dixie Alley.  Hard.

Love and hugs,
RagingMoon1987

A nod to House Party

Today's post is going to require some explanation, so be prepared to read.  First, here's Mumpy Terri Lee in her new Christmas dress.

Note the Christmas lights dangling from the bow at her neck.

This ensemble was supplied by eBay seller My Dollies 3, and that shop never does anything half-a$$ed.  The dress comes with a full petticoat and a cute little pair of rhumba panties...and the petticoat has the same Christmas lights on it.

That alone is going above and beyond, since the petticoat is rarely seen by the outside world, but guess what?  Terri Lee's panties also have Christmas lights.  I pointed these out to Mama and said "I'm getting House Party vibes here!"

Yes, House Party.  Being in the doll hobby can lead to some strange conversations, and the story I'm about to relate hearkens back to one of those conversations.  Several years back Mama and I were discussing Horsman's Poor Pitiful Pearl doll, and that made Mama think of the late Art Linkletter and a T.V. show that he had, Art Linkletter's House Party.  Among other things, the show had a "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" segment with two boys and two girls participating, and at the end of the segment each child would receive a toy or other gift.  One time the two girls each received a Poor Pitiful Pearl.

The thing about television back then was that 

A) a lot of it was either live or on a low budget that didn't allow for retakes, and/or

B) kids had no filters.  They didn't back then and they don't now.  Thus the "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" segment. 

After our chat about Poor Pitiful Pearl, Mama related a story about one particular little girl on House Party.  Mr. Linkletter had asked her what happened when she found out she was going to be on the show, and the child answered "First Mommy bought me these new panties!"  She proceeded to heist her skirt and show said new panties, to the embarrassment of her mother and the amusement of Mr. Linkletter and the audience.  You and I know that panties aren't meant to be shown, but kids don't always know.  And by jove, if those drawers were anything like Terri Lee's then they were worth showing anyway!

And that, I do believe, is my first Christmas post of the season!  Oh, how I love the Christmas season!

Joyeux Noel,
RagingMoon1987

She might look clean, but...

...yeah.  I rooted my first-wave Lagoona Blue out of storage today.  At first glance she looks alright, with all her ghoulish glam attitude still intact.

But y'all can probably see the yellowed mess on her forehead, caused by the problem that everyone and their dog griped about during Monster High's heyday:  glue.  Here's how Lagoona looks after I cleaned her with a wet wipe.  She looks better, but that stain is there.  Mama couldn't see it, but I can.

I wonder what bright-flight egghead thought it would be a good idea to fill these dolls' heads with glue???  Did they not think that that could be deleterious to the doll's looks and value over time?  I mean, I'm not looking to resell Lagoona, but my point still stands.  I hope the brain child behind the glue steps on goatheads in their bare feet. 

Venting over.

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

Which Barbie doll are you?

Yeah, yeah, I should be doing more productive things at work, but it's Saturday and almost no one comes in so I'm browsing Reddit.  One Redditor shared a link to a quiz entitled "Which Barbie Doll Are You?"  Well, wave anything Barbie-themed in my face and I'm all over it like white on rice.  I took the quiz and got this lovely girl, the Crystal Barbie.

There was also a blurb included below, which is more a description of the doll than an explanation of my result.

Widely regarded for its spiritual and healing properties, the amethyst stone comes to life with Barbie doll dressed in a sweeping lavender chiffon gown with a glittering sash delicately tied at the waist. She emits pure energy with a genuine amethyst stone necklace, fragmented crystal-inspired bracelets and enchanting makeup. A crown resembling gathered shards of amethyst adorns her upswept, platinum ponytail with soft lavender highlights.

Hmmm...she's pretty different from the Crystal Barbie I'm familiar with, the one that has plenty of glitz and a tiny bit of early nineties cheese.  I freaking love Crystal Barbie...and Crystal Ken too, for that matter.  Whatever, I won't knock being the modern Crystal Barbie; being purple, she makes me think of my purple-loving sister.

A couple'a questions did make me roll my eyes, I'll admit.  When they asked who my role model was, the options were Michelle Obama, Pink, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye, and Serena Williams...and I can't stand most of 'em!  Another asked who I follow on Instagram, and I don't even use Instagram!  The only option there that I liked was hottie Dave Grohl.

The link to the quiz is HERE if you wanna give it a shot.  It's something cute to kill a few minutes, and one of the options one can get is Storm Trooper Barbie.  That doll kicks butt.

Cheers,
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

Target

Black, white
Day, night
No one's fussy, I'm a target!
--Joe Jackson, "Target"

My doctor diagnosed me with a brown recluse bite, and indeed said bite is beginning to take on the classic bullseye look.  It's hard to tell in this picture, but it's doing it.  Please do not shoot at me.

I'm currently on a strong oral antibiotic and a topical medicine, and I was told to keep a sharp eye on it and to keep it uncovered.  So that's precisely what I'm gonna do.  On the good side of the moon, I've lost twenty-three pounds since February, and the doctor said my carotid artery sounds clear (she took a stethoscope and listened!).  So except for the bite on my right leg and the arthritis in my left leg I'm in pretty good shape!

So I'm kicking back, taking my medicine, and watching mayhem unfold in Florida.  They've already had a trillion tornadoes, and the hurricane hasn't even made landfall yet.  As usual, both to keep myself occupied and to put something, ANYTHING doll-related in this post, here's my cuddle buddies for the evening.  I've got the new girl, Margot Madeline, and my old favorite, Beryl June. 

What a couple'a hams!

Love,
RagingMoon1987 

Spider bite!

Moon Girl let a spider bite get a little outta hand.  She's goin' to the doctor today.  The little b@st@rd presumably got me early Friday morning, and I thought it was just an ingrown hair...but then the red part got BIGGER!  This is on the outer side of my right leg, just below the knee.

Or I think it's a spider bite.  I found a flattened spider on my knee Friday morning before I saw the mark, and when the mark was young it had two open bits in it.  The flattened spider was...dare I say it?  It was brown and nondescript, just like a damn brown recluse.  Shudder, I HATE brown recluses!  I feel sorry for them because they can't help looking creepy and being venomous, but they still make my skin crawl.  

To keep this post from being too boring, here's a couple'a Disney Doorables that I grabbed yesterday afternoon.  I got Pinocchio and Simba in one box and RC and Tiana in the other.

I think Justine-Marie collects these, but I'm keeping these for myself for now.  Y'know, just in case an Adoorbs doll decides to move in.  The Adoorbs kinda remind me of Shopkins Shoppies; there was the line of blind box toys, and then the dolls followed.  Same sorta thing with the Adoorbs.  They also look kinda similar, with their inflated noggins, big eyes, and goofy expressions.  See?

I like the Adoorbs better.  Their eyes don't look as blank.  They have sparkly inset eyes like the Doorables do and...and I just think they're cute.  Ava, Chantel, and Hayden are my favorites.

And to top it all off, it's Leif Erikson Day.  Nope, SpongeBob didn't make it up!  It's also D-Day for Florida.  I hope they're all where they need to be.

Hinga-dinga-durgen,
RagingMoon1987

The mishmash box

These dolls are kinda like the small items that I'd call "treasures" when I was a kid.  When I was about eight I had a small wicker basket, and in that basket I kept about a dozen items that I'd taken a liking to.  These items were two Silly Putty eggs, a ballerina cake topper, a pink dinosaur charm, a polished tiger's eye rock, a decorative ceiling fan pull chain, and a cap from a bottle of peach soda, and they were my treasures.  Small, easy to carry, and special for this reason or that.  In a similar manner, I've rounded up the dolls in this post and I keep them in a box of their own, largely because I want to display them but don't have room.  So they reside here, in a cardboard box similar to the one that my Barbies, Joie, and the Fidgie Friends live in.

I ran into Amanda Jane on Failbook.  She was made in Hong Kong and sold in England.  This is my little pet; they don't all look like this.

Some Amanda Jane dolls have huge eyes and bear a passing resemblance to Little Miss No-Name, while some, like mine, are babies.  I don't know what size the little girl dolls are, but my doll is six inches from head to toe.  Here's what her little face looks like; it has a slightly anime-ish look to it that makes me think of Licca-chan and her doe-eyed cronies.  That white powdery-looking stuff is part of the doll, by the way.  It's not some sort of dust or gom that I could remove.

Her expression reminds me of Sindy too, particularly these cute little Tesco dolls reviewed by Purple Monkfish.  Scroll down a smidge for the cute dolls; the first few dolls Monkfish discussed were...not the cutest things.  Oh, and while digging around for images of Tesco Sindy...look what I stumbled across.  Looks like Ashley's Sindy (who is a Tonner doll, not a Tesco) crossed paths with the Eleventh Doctor.  Sigh...I'm jealous.  ANYWAY, Amanda Jane came with a number of items, including this pink carrying case.

This puppy is made of pleather, but it's holding up pretty well.  The top part has a lace-trimmed hood, and the flaps zip so that Amanda Jane won't fall out.

Amanda Jane also has a blanket that I probably should've bundled her up in...

...and a handful of cute little outfits.  Kinda makes me wonder if Amanda Jane was a semi-big deal at one time.  

I was able to glean a little bit more info off of Etsy, but not much.  Amanda Jane was listed as a 1970s thing, and she did indeed have several different outfits.  This Flickr page has more information, though I still don't know what company made her.  In addition to her baby and girl selves Amanda Jane had a "Jinx" variant that was apparently supposed to be a friend for Vogue's Ginny.  And get this...this article says that Amanda Jane's holding company was alive and well as of 2021.  I need to learn more about this little doll!

On Reddit I met Lily Lime, one of the Pop Playmates.  The Pop Playmates live in little plastic soda cans.  Y'all know how I'm fond of soda.

Lily had at least two friends, Dolly Cola and Molly Orange, and Reddit also reports a peaches 'n' cream doll.  Shudder...I can feel my kidneys cramping just thinking of that combo!  Certain orange sodas and almost all colas are laden with caffeine and are thus kidney stones in a can.  Too bad too, because they taste great.  Anyway, Reddit goes on to state that Lily and company appears to be a knockoff of a certain Furga doll named Dolly-Cola.  That Dolly-Cola also has a friend, Fanny-Fanta (both Dolly and Fanny can be seen here).  Oh, Furga...I like Furga dolls (see my posts here and here).  I like Fanta too; their orange soda doesn't have any caffeine in it so I can indulge from time to time.  Now...here's a better look at Lily's face.  Like Amanda Jane, she looks familiar...and more than a little sad.

This face reminds me of Li'l Gumdrop, one of my Strawberry Shortcake knockoffs.  Lily's vinyl also feels like Gumdrop's does, so maybe Eugene Toys had a hand in production somewhere...and maybe not.  Maybe Lily and Gumdrop just look similar by coincidence.

Lily Lime and Amanda Jane arrived on the same day, by the way.  They arrived on October 2nd, and they actually arrived at a reasonable hour!  Lily's pop can is about the same height as Amanda Jane is when she's seated.

When Lily is out of the can she's dwarfed by Amanda Jane.  She'd make a very fine dollhouse doll.

Just for shizzles, here's the top of Lily's can.  It has a pop top molded in, but this isn't the part of Lily's can that comes off and lets her out.

Lily is showing her age a teensy bit.  If I shove her into the bottle in the wrong position, her right arm pops out, like so.  It goes back in easy-peasy, but I wouldn't recommend a doll like this to modern children for that reason.

From what I can gather, Coca-Cola sponsored the Pop Playmates.  When I root Kleo Cola and Cherry Fizz out of their hiding places I'll compare the three, because how many soda-themed dolls can y'all name???  Oh yeah, I forgot Betsy Bubblegum.  She and her pet seal live in soda bottles too.

A Zapf Jolly Dolly egg.  Miss Emily discusses these in this post.  These particular Jolly Dollies follow the theme of unusual hovels.  I own dolls that live in fruits, in cabbages (of course), and in soda containers, and I've seen dolls that reside in peanuts, in baby bottles, in...in shoes???  Yep, there was one wave of Baby Beans that came in shoes.  They came in cans too, but that makes more sense.  Anyway, for a spell Jolly Dollies came stored in eggs and wearing bunny pajamas, I presume for Easter.

I've just got this one, and the eBay seller showed her inside her egg, so I knew who I was getting ahead of time.  She looks exactly like one of the dolls Miss Emily got.

Doesn't make her any less cute, though!  Look at that face!  I love it when babies LOL like that.

The full-sized Jolly Dollies are cute too, so I may have to grab one of them in the future.  Oh yes, I didn't show y'all the bunny on the front of this doll's sleeper.  He's got some stitches showing and thus reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit.

Regarding a name, I ripped yet another page out of Miss Emily's book and utilized the Baby Name Genie for this doll.  I've never used that website before.  When the time comes to name Cabbage Patch Kids I utilize names that flow well together, or the names of flowers or hurricanes.  Anyway, the Genie named my Zapf girl Luna Macy, so that's what I'll go with.  I'll have to remember to use that website the next time I adopt a Cabbage Patch Kid without its papers.  Relying on hurricane names is fun until the hurricane in question turns out to be ridiculously deadly and destructive, as Helene sadly was.

Just for grins, here's how Luna compares visually to Casa Pizarro's other Zapf resident, Narcissa. 

They're not at all alike, but they ARE Zapf babies and they're both ridiculously cute.  Just for the heckuvit, here's Narcissa on her own.

I stopped collecting these Baby Born Surprises long ago, but I'll always think they're cute.  Narcissa is a gift, so she's a little extra special. 

This next doll has arguably one of the most horrid names I've ever heard, though I'm fairly certain it means something else in another language.  She's Ddung.

Ddung is a Korean entity, and the dolls always look eternally shocked.  My particular doll is a member of the constellation series, and since I'm a Libra, that's the constellation I chose.

Ddung can be used as a keychain...

...but at four inches, she's a bit bigger than a keychain I'd use.  She's also very fair in complexion and would easily grow dirty. 

I was going to call this doll "Moon" since that's a common given name in Korea, but this doll's box makes it loud and clear what her name is.

I wonder what that means in Korean?  Edit, 5/24/2025:  The meaning of Ddung's name can be found here.  It is pronounced "doong," with the o's sounding like "moo."  End edit.  Anyway, on the top of her box Ddung offers to be one's friend if one plays with her.

Not a tall order!  Indeed, playing with someone when they're young can determine whether they grow to like you further on down the road.  For example, Uncle Man-Child hid from us when my sister and I were small, and Uncle from St. Louis loved to wrestle and tickle and give piggyback rides.  Guess who my sister and I like better, LOL.  Little things like that show someone you give a crap.  Anyway, Ddung fits nicely into my hands and fits in well with my league of small dolls, so she'll be getting plenty of playtime.

Of course no mishmash is complete without at least one Barbie knockoff.  On Reddit I met Tong's Betty Teen.  She too was made in Hong Kong, and in-box examples have "M&C" on the packaging, so I'll include that in the tags.

Betty is a Barbie clone, and she was apparently popular in Russia as a Barbie alternative.  Thank you to Debbie Behan Garrett for that info; she has a lovely example of a black Betty on her blog.  Unsurprisingly this means that Betty is Barbie's size, but like Amanda Jane her eyes have that Eastern aesthetic.  She's actually quite pretty, especially for a clone doll.  Someone on Flickr paired a Betty with two Sindy dolls, but Betty doesn't favor Sindy as much as Amanda Jane does.

This doll has a cute face, regardless of who she favors.  Not overly glamorous, not bitchy, just sweet and approachable and attractive all in one.  Her eyelashes are very short, but they're rooted nonetheless.

I heard through the grapevine that Betty loaned out her head to Steffi Love and a handful of other Barbie alternatives.  I think I can see the resemblance in this doll, but that Steffi isn't as cute as Betty is.  Not that Steffi is a bad doll, of course; indeed, she's on my radar.  But my eye is on one of the more modern ones, with rainbow tresses.

Betty's friend is from a company called Camay, who made plastic girl dolls and clones of Barbie, Sindy, and Tammy.  This doll looks a lot like Midge used to, with that flip.  I don't know if she has a proper name, so I'll call her Marlo.  Marlo was immediately curious about her new surroundings. 

Marlo wears her hair like Midge and like some Twist 'n' Turn Barbies, but her face is...pretty much her own.  She reminds me a little of Tressy.

Like a great many Barbie clones, Marlo has a stiff hollow plastic body, and as such her posing isn't great.  She sits like the ol' bimbo on quaaludes.  LOL, been a long time since I've said that!

In Marlo's defense, the earliest Barbie dolls were also stiff as a board.  They can keep their legs together when they sit, but their legs jut out like rigor mortis.  Marlo also feels robustly constructed.  I can't say that about all Barbie clones

Rounding out the Barbie-sized trio is Isolde.  She is a legit Barbie, albeit a heavily customized one.  

She's got that beautifully painted Odile head, just like my Nerida.

I told y'all that everyone is going hog-wild over this head!  More often than not the ones I see are rebodied onto Made to Move bodies, as Isolde has been.  Isolde also got a hair makeover; notice that it's a lot shorter and wavier than Nerida's hair.  The eBay seller included a fuzzy little kitten and a little box with a cell phone, but Isolde made a beeline for the kitten.

It was a crazy day and a long trip for Isolde, and she quickly became overwhelmed.  Marlo tried to offer some comfort (her road trip was even longer)...

...but ultimately Isolde decided to just crash on the back of the couch away from everyone.  

Marlo admitted that she also had a minor freakout when she met some of her bigger housemates.  Margot Madeline is a bit too much doll for a little girl like Marlo. 

Luckily for Marlo the Patch is full of gentle giants.

While researching Camay dolls I ran into an article that went to bat for clone dolls, discussing how even the cheapest, poorly molded clone doll has its own character.  Now most of my clone dolls are pretty well-made.  Mariclare has wonky face paint and Katya is just poor quality all over...but notice that I've not given them up.  I have special memories of Katya, and both of them are good models.  Clone dolls are just fun dolls in general.  They add a lot of nice variety to a collection and I'm glad to have them aboard.  In a way the same can be said for the rest of these dolls; the only one that appears to be any sort of big name is Amanda Jane.  The rest are kinda, sorta...little plastic nobodies.  No big-name brand behind them, no company information stamped on their backs, just a simple "Made in <fill in the blank>."  All the same, they're sweet little dolls.  They're not unlike the off-brand dolls that I might've received from an aunt or a grandparent, or from my own parents.  Kids aren't usually concerned with the brand name as long as their toy doesn't fall apart at the seams.  I know I wasn't.

Now, parts of the country are having to batten down the hatches for another violent hurricane!  Hurricane Milton was a category five storm this time yesterday, and Ryan Hall says that he will probably regain that rating sometime today.  He probably won't hit Florida at that strength, but he WILL be extremely violent.  The only good thing I can say right now is that people have apparently learned from Helene; the roads out of Florida are PACKED!!!  All I can say is if you're in that area, I'm prayin' for y'all!  By the way, I find it ironic that the meteorologists have predicted a rough hurricane season, but the violent ones don't start coming until the alleged end of the season.  But then some seasons are like that.  

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987