Dolls of All Nations Midori review

I've made it no secret that I love to go antiquing, and that passion is shared by my sister, my sister's boyfriend, and my mother.  Whenever we're in the Dexter, Missouri area and have some time to kill, we do it.  Such was the case on July 30th.  One of our cats (we have seven) jumped off the dining room table, landed wrong, and broke his foot.  This entailed a rush to Dexter, where our vet is.  While we were waiting for x-ray results we went to our favorite antique spot and browsed, I for dolls and my mother for furniture.  One of the items at the store was this Japanese doll, Midori.  WARNING:  some of these pictures were taken when my eyes were not fully healed, and may thus be a little crummy.  If they are TOO crummy, give me a holler and I'll change them.

Midori is part of Target's Dolls of all Nations series, a doll line that I have never heard of and know nothing about.  The small amount of knowledge that I do have came from eBay.  According to the site these dolls date from around 1995 and were reissued in 1996.  Not an antique by any means, but older than a lot of the dolls I own.  I've never seen these dolls at the local Target, so they are most likely discontinued and have been for some time.  The line had dolls representing Austria, China, England, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, North America, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Sweden, and Uganda.  The dolls from Kenya and South Korea are my favorites; the Korean doll is wearing a hanbok, which I love.  I also like the German doll, of whom I was unable to find a good picture, but I was miffed when I learned that she's Bavarian.  No offense to Barvarians, but why on earth must all German dolls represent Bavaria?  There are plenty of other areas of Germany that can be represented (my heritage is Thuringian, for example).  However, I will note one thing positive about the German doll:  she has brown eyes.  Most Germans are portrayed as being blonde and blue-eyed, but this line's little gal has brown eyes.
  

Back on topic, I did luck out a bit with Midori in that she came in her original box.

The box has some information on Midori's life, and it helped me identify her in the first place.  She has both her parents and one sister, lives in a four-room house in Tokyo, and loves sashimi.  The box does not give an age, but her face has a youthful appearance, much like the doll herself.  That being said, let's look at the doll.  Her features are all painted.

Let's look at her eyes first.

Her eyes are brown and are angled towards the left (her right).  The upper lids have darker paint that looks like eyeshadow, but I think this may be an attempt to make her eyes look deep-set.  Her eyebrows are brown and are painted in small, short, fine strokes.

She has a broad, flat nose and full, pinkish lips.  If you look closely, you can see some detail painted onto the lips in the form of creases.  This isn't the best picture I've taken, but you can still see it.

Midori's hair is very interesting.

The hair is rooted, something I don't often see on hard plastic dolls (usually they're wigged).  It is parted in the center and braided up into a fancy updo.  It's hard to tell in both that picture and in real life, but there are two braids incorporated into the style.  The front of the style is adorned with a large bow.

The bottoms of these braids are ringed with rubber bands.  This concerns me somewhat.  Rubber bands get brittle and crumble as they age, and if that happens with this doll the whole hairstyle will come falling down.  Some of the dolls in this series had simple, easy-to-fix hairstyles like braids or ponytails, but this is one style that I definitely can't recreate if it falls!  Plus, I'm not a tremendous fan of bare rubber bands on doll hair; I think it looks tacky.  There probably was no alternative in this case, but I still don't like it.

Regarding clothes, Midori is wearing a kimono, the traditional Japanese garb.

The Japanese are often depicted in books and cartoons as wearing kimono every day, but nowadays this isn't usually the case.  Kimono are still worn, but it's usually for special occasions like funerals, weddings, and holidays.  So it is for Midori; according to the box, she is dressed up for Hinamatsuri, or Girls' Day.  Hinamatsuri is on March 3rd, and the Japanese celebrate by decorating their houses (WITH DOLLS!!!), eating and drinking, inviting friends over, and praying for happy lives for their girls.  Shucks, I wish Americans would do that!  The Japanese always put such feeling and meaning into their holidays!

Anyways, let's take a closer look at Midori's kimono.  It's bright red with orange, white, and pale blue flowers.  In the story on Midori's box, her kimono is made of silk.  This, however, is not silk.  The fabric feels synthetic and doesn't have much drape to it, but unlike silk it's very sturdy (there's no way that silk will hold up in the grubby little mitts of a child).  We can always pretend that it's silk!

Hey, I'm noticing something:  this material is the same as the stuff used for the Swedish doll's dress.  I mean THE EXACT SAME STUFF!!!

Moving on now.  The sleeves are long and wide.

Judging from the style of these sleeves, I'm guessing that this kimono is supposed to be a furisode, the most formal kind.  I could be completely wrong, though; I am unsure if young girls are allowed to wear furisode.  If any of my readers are Japanese or experts on Japanese fashion and culture, please give me a holler on whether I'm right or wrong here.

The neck has a second layer showing.  It is the white part that you see peeping out from under the main kimono.

I assume this is supposed to represent the nagajuban, the undergarment commonly worn with kimono.  Nagajuban can be white or they can be very ornate, but white is the most common choice for formal occasions.  Midori is really going all out for this Hinamatsuri!

The obi, or sash, is blue with multicolored flowers on it.  It has a tan woven cord, or obijime, sewn to it.  The cord does not go all the way around; on a real kimono it would.

The obi fastens in back with Velcro, which surprised me.  Normally this type of doll has sewn-on clothing, but the obi appears to be removable.  Covering this Velcro is a bow...or at least, what I'd call a bow.

Obis can be tied in many different knots.  However, since Midori is a child she is probably wearing a tsuke obi, which is commonly used for children and is pre-tied in what the Japanese call a "butterfly knot."  That's what this looks like.  The edges of the bow are not hemmed, by the way.  It's a little raggy in places.

Tucked into the obijime is Midori's fan.

It is made of plastic and is sewn to the obi so it won't fall off.  Kudos to the folks who designed these dolls; they knew kids (and klutzy adult collectors) pretty well!  The stitches are a little clunky, though.

Topping off the look are these shoes, called geta.  They're made of plastic and have string ties.

Surprisingly enough Midori is not wearing tabi under these geta; as formally as she's dressed I would've expected that (tabi are formal or semi-formal socks, by the way).  In fact, I'm surprised that she's wearing geta at all, since certain types of zori are more commonly worn with formal kimono.  Oh well, can't have everything.  Besides, tabi would've made those shoes slide around even more than they already do.  The shoes don't stay on Midori's feet at all; they're held on with plastic twisty-ties.  They're pretty obvious in the above picture, but here's another image, just for laughs.

I think that looks tacky, but it's better than having her shoes fall off and get lost.  Nothing irritates me more on a doll than shoes that won't get on and stay on.  Ties like this were what kept Midori lashed to her box, by the way.  She had a tie on each wrist and one around her neck.  I don't like these because they tend to leave marks if there isn't something between the tie and the doll; this is especially true of vinyl dolls like this.  I don't see any marks on Midori yet, but I have yet to look at her body.

That brings me to...what a surprise, it brings me to her body!  Midori's obi and kimono turned were indeed removable, so I took those off...and was surprised to find that Midori has little white drawers on underneath!

I also found that the bottom edge of Midori's kimono is not stitched or hemmed in any way.

You can see the loose threads hanging off there.  I found this odd, since Midori's sleeves are hemmed nicely.

And lastly, I found THIS!!!

This gave me a tremendous LOL.  The Japanese and the Chinese aren't the best of friends, and the Japanese are very particular about who makes their kimonos.  A formal kimono would likely NEVER be made in China!  Costumes, yes, but real, formal, honest-to-God kimono, never.  The tag is inside, so Midori's dirty little secret is safe with us.  But that part still gave me a laugh.

Anyway, back to the body.

Midori is made of some type of hard plastic, rendered in a shade of tan that has a definite Oriental look to it.  Her build is definitely that of an older child, maybe ten or eleven.  Her legs and arms are long, but her torso is round and her chest undeveloped.

The body has five joints:  both shoulders, both hips, and neck.  Her neck is of similar construction to my Living Dead Dolls' necks, with the head and neck being separate from the body.  The mobility of this joint is good; Midori can turn her head left and right.

And she can tilt her head in almost any direction. 

The shoulder and hip joints are pivot joints only.  They move up and down but have no sideways movement.

Midori can be posed in a convincing walking position, but she has to be propped up against something in order to stand in a walking position.  I used the wall as a brace in the picture below.

When I was manipulating the head I noticed that the wire ties had indeed left a shiny line on Midori's neck.

Her wrists, which were also tied down with those infernal ties, were unscathed, and it was during this examination that I gained an appreciation of the detail on Midori's limbs.  Her hands are nicely sculpted, with little nails and creases on the palms and knuckles.

The fingers are all one piece; the only separate part is the thumb.  There are no gaps between the fingers whatsoever.  The same can't be said for Midori's feet.

Most of my dolls only have indentations molded onto their feet to suggest toes and nails, but Midori has ten well-defined little toes.  Each of them has a little nail and some creases on the top.  The soles are flat, most likely to help her stand.

Not that Midori needs much help standing.  She has this.

The stand is made of brown plastic and appears to be in two pieces.  The instructions that came in the box show that there was also a crossbar that held the doll up under her arms, but there was none in Midori's box.  The stand fits nicely up inside Midori's kimono, so the crossbar is not really necessary.

Having studied images of some of these dolls online, I'm lead to believe that not all dolls came with this crossbar.  For example, the Austrian doll appears to have a stand just like Midori's.  But the crossbar is clearly visible in the Russian doll's box (see the links above).  These dolls came in at least two waves (1995 and 1996), so it is possible that the stand varied from year to year.

So...would I recommend Midori to a child?  Lemme see...

BAD
*This doll is not a toy that's meant for rough play.  She's meant to be displayed and collected, though some gentle play would be perfectly alright.
*Plastic ties left shiny marks, though this probably would not bother a child.
*Hair is elaborate and could get messed up.  The rubber bands look bad and could break over time.
*Clothes are not hemmed in places.
*Not very poseable.  The head can be posed and made to look cute, but the arms and legs can't.
*Shoes won't stay on without help.
*Doll line is DISCONTINUED!!!  :-(

GOOD
*She feels sturdy.  Her body and clothes are both of high quality.  She won't break if knocked off a shelf (hey, accidents happen).
*Clothing is accurate for the most part.  The informal shoes don't jive with the rest of the outfit, but they're still models of real Japanese shoes.
*Clothing can be removed, though I don't recommend it.
*Lovely colors.  Some of the other dolls in Dolls of All Nations line are a tad muted, but Midori commands attention in that red kimono.
*She has a sweet little face, not overly made-up or vampy, and not caricatured like ethnic dolls can sometimes be.
*There's a lot of learning potential in this doll.  The information on the box reveals a little about Japanese culture and could inspire a girl to dig deeper and learn more.
*Good for pretending.  Though Midori is not cut out for the abuse that some dolls can take, she can still be an honored guest at Raggedy Ann's tea party or give the La Dee Da girls some pointers on how to design new fashions.

I have only recently learned of the Dolls of All Nations line, so the goods and bads that I listed are for Midori alone.  I'm willing to bet that most of the things listed above can apply to the others, but I'd like to see a few more in person before I give a final word on the overall line.  Midori is a fine little doll and I highly recommend her, especially for that little girl that is fascinated with foreign cultures (like I was when I was young).  I would also recommend this doll to older collectors such as myself; she's a toy, but she's a nice enough toy that she'd fit into an adult collection with relative ease.  The only honest-to-God bad thing that I can see about these dolls is the fact that they are discontinued.  Certain characters are easy to find on eBay (Midori is one of them), but the prices can get pretty steep.  If you aren't an eBay fan but you're still interested in bringing one of these dolls home, I recommend that you browse through your local antique marts, junk shops, consignment stores, and Goodwill.  I saw a second Midori during one of my more recent shopping sprees, so keep your eyes peeled.  You never know what you'll turn up.

Very truly yours,
RagingMoon1987

Repeat offense

Doll collecting has few set rules; it's often up to us to make our own rules...and then break 'em as well!  So it is with me.  One of my rules is to buy the doll first, see what clothes fit her, and then hunt up clothes that will work.  Go figure; it's just a hangup that I have.  I'm just not a huge fan of spending money on an outfit and then being unable to find a doll that can wear it.  That's the situation I found myself in the LAST time I broke that rule.  You may recall from a post last November that I purchased a B.F.C. Ink outfit without ever having seen one of the dolls in person.  I thought it might fit my old Crissy, but it didn't.  So now I have an outfit that's been lying around my room for almost a year, and still no B.F.C. Ink doll to wear it.  The folks at the local Goodwill stores have gotten to know me quite well, though.

So after that incident I swore I'd never buy another outfit before getting the doll first.  Now, fast-forward to August eighth.  I've done it again.

My odds of finding a doll for this dress are far better this time around, because this dress is for a Novi Stars doll.  It's the blue dress that the packaging refers to as a "galactic gown."  Hmmm...I thought ballgowns were long???  Oh well, doesn't really matter.  It's a cute dress, regardless of the length.  Anyway, I've spoken of the Novi Stars in past blogs and I think they are extremely cute.  Originally there were four characters, and my favorite was Una Verse.  However, the fact that she had no leg joints was off-putting (Stardolls are/were that way, and the lack of leg joints made them virtually impossible to play with).  The Toy Box Philosopher made another interesting observation when she reviewed Alie Lectric; she initially considered Una as well but dismissed her, citing the possibilities that the water in Una's body could either dry up over time or find a way to leak out.  I wasn't overly impressed with the rest of the dolls, but I knew that new Monster High wave often introduced new characters, and we ALL know the fierce competition between Mattel and MGA Entertainment, so I decided to wait and see what MGA would do with the Novi Stars.

The wait was well worth it.  The first Novi that I really fell for was Sila Clops.  This is her; her eye lights up and she sports a wig.

Online response to Sila was mixed; some loved her, and some dismissed her as "ugly" or "creepy."  They also weren't huge fans of her darker color, which I personally like (I think it sets her apart).  I also like the fact that she's glittery, but in a different way from other sparkly dolls.  Some dolls have the glitter painted or glued onto them, but Sila appears to have glitter directly molded into her plastic.  The glitter gives her a rough feel, but I could live with that.  Since she's the first doll in the line that I truly loved, I may come back to her.  Una is cute, but I didn't see her and think "OMG, she's so awesome!  I've gotta have her!"

As much as I like Sila, I haven't bought her.  I may eventually, but right now my eyes have been too dazzled by the Novis that waiting in the wings.  Thanks to them, it looks to be a very interesting fall.  There's the Invasion pair, Ina Ferna and Anne Arctic.  Ina's hair lights up, and Anne's legs are filled with water and "snow," similar to Una Verse's gimmick.

There's these hair play dolls, dubbed Curl and Coil dolls.  Their individual names are Roe Botik and Tily Vison.

The prototypes of these Curl and Coil dolls were super cool, by the way.  These are nice, but the prototypes were even BETTER!!!  They had joints.  

And lastly, there are the Super Novas.  These are my favorites.  These girls are named Vera Tabray and Mimi Merize.  Vera's wings flap and Mimi's eyes spin.

Odds are that the doll I choose will be one of these.  Vera has glorious silver eyes, and Mimi is eye-candy for this hippie at heart.  Mimi also has a slightly creepy vibe about her...check out this picture if you don't believe me.  I have a special fondness for dolls on the creepy side, especially those that aren't intended to be creepy in the first place!  Lastly, in some pictures Mimi appears to be wigged; Vera may be as well.  If these dolls are wigged then that's a great feature.  No extra wigs are available for Novi Stars right now, but a little girl who has Sila Clops or Mae Tallick (both of whom are wigged) can swap the hair around to get different looks.  We'll see how that little idea flies.

I'm not sure when these newest dolls will hit the shelves; Flickr already has some owner pics, so I know that they're already available in some places.  However, I live in an area that could be considered a "dolly dead zone."  Abbey Bominable and C.A. Cupid didn't start showing up in the local Wal-Marts until a year after they were released, so I guess patience is a virtue here.  I'm going to behave myself and wait until these dolls pop up in stores, then I'll examine them in person and make a final decision.  In the meantime, I'll get those other two outfits!

Now, my usual end-of-blog subject change.  I got my eyes zapped on August second, developed complications on August third, then got them fixed and got a clean bill of health on August fourth.  The experience itself was terrifying (I spent much of the time reciting the Hail Mary), the immediate aftermath was painful and somewhat messy (my cheeks looked like Niagara Falls, my eyes watered so much), and the recovery has been interesting.  The overall ordeal required three 234-mile round-trips to and from Marion, Illinois.  I still am not 100% healed; everything I look at has a hazy halo around it, and I still can't see the stars clearly when I look up at night.  BUT...I can see the stars without my glasses!  And I can read the road signs without having to squint!  And I don't have to worry about my dog slobbering all over my glasses!  And...I could go on forever.  Bottom line, I'm extremely pleased with the results so far, and I'm also pleased with the service I got.  The doctor was so intent on giving me the best possible results that he came to the office on a Sunday (the clinic is usually closed Sundays).  One of the techs even held my hand during the procedure; yes, I'm that big of a pansy!!!  That was BEFORE I started praying aloud so she must've just known I was nervous.  Either way, I thought it was very kind of her.

I have a review in the wings.  Stay tuned!

Yours somewhat-blindly,

RagingMoon1987

La Dee Da Sunflower Burst Cyanne review

This will be the last review I do before the LASIK surgery, so you may not be hearing from me in awhile.  But y'all are used to that, right?  LOL, anyway the doctor said I have to keep my eyes closed for at least twenty-four hours after the surgery, and after that I may have some problems with blurriness and sensitivity to light.  The blurriness should resolve on its own, but it'll still be hard to see.  Either way I'll probably be out of commission for awhile.  But for now, I'll distract myself (and hopefully entertain you) with this review of my new La Dee Da doll, Sunflower Burst Cyanne.

The La Dee Da dolls are by Spin Masters, the same company that used to make LIV dolls.  Right around the time that the LIV dolls were being phased out, these were being released.  So it might be safe to say that these are LIV's replacement.  The line consists of four characters that have banded together to form a fashion line named "La Dee Da," hence the name of the dolls.  The four characters are leader Dee (whom the "La Dee Da" label is named after), girly-girl Cyanne, wild child Tylie, and glamorous Sloane.  Each character has a brief biography on the La Dee Da website; these reveal a bit about each character's personality and fashion style.  Cyanne is fifteen, and confides to us in her bio that she loves spicy tuna rolls, the color aqua, cute shoes, "flouncy" skirts, and "over-the-top makeup," among other things.  Hmmm...I don't have as much in common with her as I did with Daniela (a music-loving brunette), but she still sounds like she'd be a fun person to be with if she were real.  LOL

Here's what Cyanne looks like up close.

She is a little goofy looking with that huge head and those equally huge eyes.  This doll definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea; my sister hates La Dee Da dolls, for example.  I'll admit that I wasn't a huge fan in the beginning, either; I guess I was expecting them to be more realistic like the LIV dolls are.  However, Cyanne has a sweet, approachable expression on her face, not haughty or overly vampy like some teenaged dolls look.  If you give her a chance, she'll grow on you.

The top and sides of her pumpkin-orange hair are pulled back, and the whole shebang is then tied back in a single, neat ponytail.  The ends are uneven.

There is a very, VERY conspicuous cluster of plastic sunflowers sewn to the top of Cyanne's head.  The leaves are fabric.

This decoration was sewn on; I thought it would simply clip or snap on, but it was sewn into Cyanne's hair.  I cut it off so it wouldn't clash too terribly with other clothes she might wear, and now I need to figure out how to put it back on!  Not a difficult task, but first things first.  I've learned from the Toy Box Philosopher that La Dee Da hair tends to be sparsely rooted; this proved to be something of a problem with Viva la France Cyanne, while Dots of Style Dee had better hair.  Let's see how my Cyanne fares.

Yep, that's pretty thin rooting, alright.  It's not quite as thin as Viva la France Cyanne's hair, but it comes pretty close.  The hairline is thickly rooted, however.  Said hairline renders the rest of Cyanne's thinly rooted scalp invisible, so she looks pretty good with her hair tied back.  She also looks good when her hair is down:

This hair is a very nice texture, by the way.  It's smooth and silky, just like LIV doll wigs.  Oh yes, and I love the color.  It's close enough to red that I just love it.

Now, eyes.  La Dee Da dolls have fun eyes.  They're not the stunningly beautiful inset eyes that LIV dolls had, but they're still fun; they all utilize bright colors and garish makeup, and sometimes the two eyes have different styles of makeup.  So it is for my Cyanne.  Here's what her left eye looks like.

Her left eye is pretty plain for someone who loves over-the-top makeup.  Just some very pale yellow eye shadow and long, dark eyelashes.  The eye itself is an aqua color (hey, Cyanne's favorite color!) with a flower petal design around the pupils and sparkles of light in the pupils themselves.  Hmmm...she's got stars in her eyes.  Maybe she's got an alter-ego as a rock musician.  LOL!

Classic rock jokes aside, Cyanne's right eye is more interesting.

It has the same paint job as the left eye, but with the addition of some long yellow...I'm not sure if those are supposed to be flower petals or stamens.  Either way, it looks like it's supposed to be some sort of flower part painted above her eye.

The rest of Cyanne's makeup is fairly minimalistic.  Her lips are a lovely shade of glossy orange.  There are a couple of chips, but as small as the mouth is the chips are not noticeable to the naked eye.

I wore lipstick like that in high school.

Her cheeks have some faint, reddish-orange blush, so faint that it's next to impossible to photograph.  Not tremendously over-the-top makeup, but then again that might be a good thing.  The theme IS Garden Tea Party, after all.  Folks don't normally wear a lot of makeup when they're out of doors, particularly during this time of year.  Besides, overly flashy makeup would've detracted from that cute outfit!

The dress is supposed to resemble a sunflower, and it achieves this goal nicely.  To me it also resembles a costume like a ballerina would wear.  Something like this maybe, but in a different color?  Anyway, let's get to the nitty-gritties.  The top part of Cyanne's dress is made of aqua sateen.  It has transparent rubber straps to keep it from falling down.

The waist is embellished with another plastic sunflower.

The skirt has four layers.  The top two are made of glittery yellow tulle and are cut to resemble the petals of a sunflower.

The third layer is orange tulle and has an even hem.

The bottom-most layer is a smooth orange fabric and has an even hem.

Note to parents:  Cyanne has painted orange panties underneath this dress, so you don't have to worry about her flashing her bare hiney when she bends or falls over.

For footwear Cyanne has blue knee-length knit stockings that are constantly falling down,

...and these cute shoes.

These shoes don't stay on too well, a problem common to a lot of the La Dee Da dolls I've seen in reviews.

Oh yes, there's also these!

Cute little leaf earrings that add to the flower theme.  These are removable and can be swallowed, so if you are a parent with small kids, wait a few years with these dolls.  The earrings are the only pieces of jewelry that Cyanne came with.

Cyanne comes with four accessories.  She has this booklet:

The booklet has four pages.  The first introduces Cyanne and her friends and explains the reason for the tea party theme (one of her friends got a new apartment with a rooftop garden, which served as an inspiration for the clothing).  The second page breaks down Cyanne's outfit, highlighting her favorite parts.  The third and fourth pages have instructions for a cute craft idea.

Believe it or not, the most revealing part of the book was on the back cover.

Remember earlier when I said that Cyanne's dress had a ballerina vibe to it?  It turns out that Cyanne really IS a ballerina...or at least, she was during her childhood.  That explains the appearance of the dress!

In addition to the booklet Cyanne came with this cute little teacup and saucer, both of which echo the flower motif:

And this stand.

The stand is a piece of crap, by the way.  Cyanne is so top heavy that she has a hard time standing anyway, and the "stand" does little to help.  Cyanne is usually either standing like this...

Wardrobe change!

...or like this.

Nine times out of ten she falls over after starting to tip like that.  Forget tightrope-walking, getting this doll to stand is enough of a balancing challenge!

Cyanne herself is no help, by the way.  As I mentioned above she is top heavy; she has a big head and a very small, very dainty body, so staying upright is a real chore.  The body isn't very flexible, either.  She has joints, but they're small and not particularly mobile.  Her hips are a hybrid ball and peg.  She can kick forward very well, but cannot kick back at all.

These hips also have some rotational movement.  Cyanne can turn her toes in...

...and out.

The knees are a hinge joint.  They bend almost to a right angle, but not quite.

The shoulders are your classic ball joint.  They have both lateral movement and back-and-forth movement (my particular doll has loose shoulder joints).

Cyanne and her Garden Tea Party pals each have one arm bent and one arm extended, unlike the prior La Dee Da lines.  When I saw this in the promo pics I thought "Maybe they have jointed elbows like the LIV dolls!"  They don't.  That's something of a letdown, but I can understand why these arms would not be jointed.  They're already thin enough as it is; a joint would probably not be feasible on such a small limb.

Lastly, the neck.

Cyanne can turn her head left and right but can't look up or down, which is a shame.  With those expressive eyes Cyanne could definitely benefit from a head that could tilt.

Now, extra outfits.  I love dolly clothes, and I'm eager to see how La Dee Da outfits compare to LIV outfits.  I never bothered to count how many extra outfits were made for LIV dolls, but there were a bunch.  My Daniela dolls must have over a dozen.  The La Dee Da dolls don't have that many outfits available...not yet, anyway.  Currently there are seven outfits available for Cyanne and her colorful friends...or fourteen, depending on how you count them.  Each of the outfits come with different layers, pieces, or accessories that can give the overall ensemble a new look, so one could say they're getting two outfits for the price of one.  The nautical outfit above has a red romper underneath the blue dress, for example.  It's cute, but of the four outfits I have my favorite one is the picnic-themed outfit (I took this picture before cutting her hair ornament off).

The hem has a string running through it that can be pulled tight or let out.  This changes the style of the dress.  When the string is pulled tight (see above) the dress has a bubble skirt.  When the string is untied the dress has a circle skirt.  Untying the string also reveals a line of ants along the hem.  So cute!  I would advise discretion when letting a small child play with these, though; those shoes are extremely tiny and come off easily, and the evening gown has pieces of jewelry that can also be swallowed.  Keep these outfits (and the dolls themselves) away from young children and pets.  Also keep in mind that these outfits will probably look different on another doll.  Cyanne's orange hair clashes with this pink dress somewhat, but the same dress would look terrific on a doll with pink hair (and several of these La Dee Da dolls have just that).

So...bad news and good news time.

BAD
*Cartoonish features.  There's currently a push for more realistic dolls (check out this hideous hunk of plastic that overly-realistic parents are trying to ram down our throats), and this doll is about as realistic as a three-legged unicorn.
*Very top-heavy; this doll has a big head on a small body and is thus very unstable.  If you've ever tried to balance a lollipop on its stick then you know what I'm getting at.
*The stand is very little help in keeping her upright.
*Shoes fall off.
*Low level of articulation, and the joints that do exist have a poor range of motion.  Cyanne's neck and knees could definitely use improvement.
*She feels flimsy in places.  I definitely would not subject her to my "throw-her-across-the-yard-and-see-what-happens" test.
*Not very versatile.  Cyanne is supposed to look like a sunflower, and even when she is wearing another outfit that sunflower vibe comes through.
*Not for small children.  Pieces can be swallowed or lost, and this doll can break if treated roughly.

GOOD
*Nice hair.  Very smooth and silky.
*Well-painted face.  This is undoubtedly not the case with other La Dee Da dolls, but my Cyanne is nearly perfect in the face paint department.
*She's very colorful.  If I were a little kid these colors would definitely have pulled me in.
*Cute!  Not overly vampy or seductive like a lot of other modern play dolls.
*Outfits are cute, well-made, and can be changed around some.  This also applies to the extra outfits that are available for these dolls.
*She does have a stand.  It doesn't always work, but it's better than no stand at all.
*Cute little accessories.
*She sticks to the theme.  She looks like a sunflower, just as the package says she should.
*Possibilities for imaginative play.  The Toy Box Philosopher noted this when she reviewed her Dots of Style Dee.  She said she could envision some little kid pretending that these dolls are magical little fairies or sprites, and I agree with her..
*NOT PINK!!!  One of my pictures does show Cyanne in a pink outfit, but thank God, it's not the only color she and her friends wear.

So this doll isn't perfect.  She falls over easily (even with the stand), she feels a bit fragile, the shoes can fall off easily, and there are tiny accessories that can get lost, eaten, stolen, or broken.  And lastly, she's one of the LIV doll's successors.  The discontinuation of the LIV dolls left a void that's difficult to fill, and these new girls have a long way to go if they're going to fill it..  However, Cyanne and her splashy friends are fun dolls.  They're colorful, they have cute outfits, they're innocent for the most part, and they have the potential to inspire a lot of creative play.  I can easily picture a little girl picking one doll from each series and assigning different personalities and attributes to each one.  Suppose a little girl has Sunflower Burst Cyanne, City Girl Dee, Lollipop Swirl Sloane from the Sweet Party line, and Kabuki Cutie Tylie from the Runway Vacay line.  An imaginative child could cast Dee as the street-smart, real-world city girl, Sloane as an otherworldly being made out of candy, Cyanne as a sprite that lives inside a flower, and Tylie as an anime star.  Well...okay, maybe they won't get THAT creative, but you never know!  It's never safe to underestimate the imaginative abilities of a child, and these dolls could definitely help build on those skills.  Based on the pros and cons, I would recommend Sunflower Burst Cyanne to a girl between the ages of seven and eleven.  The box says "ages five and up," but if you have a five-year-old I'd hold off unless she's careful with her things.  If Cyanne didn't set your world on fire, do some shopping with your kid and see if there's a character she likes.  There are PLENTY of options to choose from.

I don't know when my next post will be, but it's already in the making.  I found something unusual at a local junk shop, and I'm chomping at the bit to share it with you.  When my eyes are healed I will post it.

Cordially Yours,
RagingMoon1987

Who gets to come along?

As of right now it doesn't look like I'm going to be continuing my schooling this fall.  I have LASIK surgery scheduled for the second of August and I don't know how long the recovery will be.  The clinic sent me an information packet yesterday, and I'm afraid.  I wasn't afraid until I read the disclaimers and the side effects, but now I'm very nervous about it.  Anyway, the recovery may be lengthy so I will probably be staying close to home this fall.  Add to that the fact that I don't have an apartment or a set of wheels yet, and all that equals up to a firm anchor in Malden for the next couple of months.  While I'm here I plan on getting my affairs in order, getting my bags packed and my things organized, and making some plans.

One of the things that I do want to do is decide which dolls I want to take with me.  The dorm rooms at SEMO were horrendously drab, and I ended up taking some of my girls to liven the place up.  This time around will be no exception, but I can't take ALL of them with me.  Who stays home?  Who goes with me?  Who can I live without?  Who am I so protective of that I won't even photograph?  Who can be easily replaced in the event of a theft?  Who has a place to stand in my room?  Who doesn't?  LOL, that's a lot of "who-this" and "who-that!"  Cue the guitars, LOL.  But that was what I had to ask myself.  Eventually I got it whittled down to thirteen names.  Thirteen out of the three-hundred-some-odd dolls in my group.

My Scene Nolee and Svetlana (Barbie dolls)

Back in the days when I hadn't worked out all the bugs with my watermark.  LOL

Perhaps a third of my doll collection consists of Barbie dolls, but these are the only two My Scene dolls I've ever owned.  They didn't appeal to me when they were in stores; I bought Nolee at Dollar General shortly after they were discontinued because I fell in love with her black hair.  Svetlana was a secondhand find; I found her at one of the antique marts that I frequent.  Back then that particular store carried modern dolls for reasons I'll never know.  But anyway, I bought Svetlana, combed her hair, and redressed her.  The two of them joined me at SEMO and served as conversation pieces.

Cinderella (Heritage Signature Collection)

This porcelain doll channels more of a Rapunzel vibe than a Cinderella vibe, but she has glass slippers so that leaves little doubt about her identity.  Cinderella was a Christmas present from my grandmother one year, and since I had no place to put her at home she joined Nolee, Svetlana, and me at Cape Girardeau.  She was the biggest doll I had there, and I always liked to pretend that she was supervising the activities of her smaller dolly friends.  Yes, I still like to pretend!  The year that I had her, I had plenty of reasons to want to daydream.  But let's not revisit that little nightmare.

Melody and Miss September (Barbie dolls)

Melody (left) is a redressed My Melody Barbie, and Miss September is a redressed Miss Sapphire Birthstone Beauties Barbie.  Both of these were gifts from a friend, and both have the Steffie face that I'm so fond of.  They suffer from a problem similar to Cinderella's:  my room is too crowded for them!  They have no place to stand, so they lie on top of another doll's box.  This is no way to treat dolls, especially dolls that were gifts, so they will probably come with me.

Alice in Wonderland (Madame Alexander)

This Madame Alexander #1551 Alice was a very recent gift from my mother, so perfect that she even has her hangtag on her wrist.  She resides in the box that Melody and Miss September lie on top of.  I consider her too pretty to hide away in a box, so she will be coming with me as well.

Lucy Ricardo (Mattel)

You may remember Lucy from this blog entry.  She is one of five dolls that I had up on a very high shelf in the front room.  I don't know how, but one of my cats got up on that shelf and knocked all the dolls over.  No serious damage was done, which I consider lucky since Lucy has small parts that are easily lost (the bottle, the spoon, and her shoes).  Now Lucy and her shelfmates have to sit in a curio cabinet.  This would be fine, except that the shelves are not tall enough for the dolls to stand up straight.  That won't do.

Katniss Everdeen (Mattel)

Katniss is another doll that I have reviewed, and was another of the dolls up on the shelf.  She has three arrows that could have been lost had she been knocked to the floor.

Life in the Dreamhouse Midge (Midge doll)

Midge is the third victimized shelf doll.  I have very recently reviewed her.  Her poseability and all-around cuteness make her a must-have.

Miranda and Mary (Barbie dolls)

Miranda (left) is a Pioneer Shopkeeper Barbie, and Mary is a Barbie had a Little Lamb.  They also were shelf dolls, and Miranda got the worst of it.  She did get knocked off the shelf, and one of her shoes got lost.  I have the other shoe tucked away in my pocket, but I'm still looking for the mate.  I'm not going to cry too loudly if I don't find the shoe (a lot of pioneers went barefoot anyway) but it's the principle of the thing!  I've had Miranda ever since I was eleven, and she was the first really special doll I'd received so I kept her nice.  She was perfect, nothing missing...and now those shoes are gone.  I was ready to strangle the cat, I was so ticked.  Mary's lamb also got knocked off, and I consider myself lucky that one of the dogs didn't find it and chew on it.

Heather (Seymour Mann)

She's just a tad creepy...and difficult to photograph.

Heather is a large porcelain ballerina made by the Seymour Mann company (one of my favorite companies).  She is one of the items I got during my most recent antique mall hop; we originally went in the hopes that I could walk off my kidney stone, and my mother insisted on spoiling me a little while we were there.  I ended up coming away with four dolls, and Heather is one of them.  She, like Cinderella and most of the other dolls on this list, has no place to stand and look pretty, so she'll end up coming with me as well.  I do need to get her a proper doll stand, and then she's good to go.

Sophie (Midge doll)

Sophie is my booty call.  Whenever I need a doll to photograph or model a new outfit, I get her out.  Sophie is very special to me because she has red hair and a Steffie face, and she was one of the first Steffie-faced dolls I bought.  I've also done some cosmetic work on her and photographed her in some unorthodox places.  Based on that history her presence in my apartment is not really an option.  She HAS to come.

That brings the count to thirteen dolls.  Two porcelain, one vinyl, and ten Barbie dolls.  Diverse enough to be interesting, small enough to be controllable.  Of course, I can't guarantee that I won't gather some more newcomers while I'm at Mountain Home; I did that when I was away at SEMO and I probably will again.  When I do, you can guarantee a new review.  Until then, cheers!

Yours Truly,
RagingMoon1987