New faces for the Patch...again

Once again it is blisteringly hot in the Bootheel.  The cicadas are keening, the dragonflies are gorging themselves with mosquitoes, the grasshoppers are beginning to congregate on every big window in the area, and I saw the season's first shellbug...what day was that???  Last Friday or Saturday, one of them two.  Either way I saw a cicada husk clinging to a telephone pole, and a big one it was.  Devout readers of the blog will know that I'm always looking for those.  Don't tell Cara Raelean or Sammy Sloth, but I found this one without their help, LOL.  That can be our dirty little secret.  In other news...well, this is old news, really, but our blogging buddy Tam's husband is in rehab and recovering after at least one stroke.  In her last post Tam said that Ken said it was wonderful to stand on his own!  I haven't had a stroke, but I do have a bum leg so I understand that sentiment to a small degree.  Mr. Ken, I love you and I'm praying for you!

As for me, I brought two new Cabbage Patch Kids to live at Casa Pizarro.  Mama is gonna kill me once she notices, but I'll die happy.  These are my thirtieth and thirty-first Cabbage Patch Kids.  This first boy's name is Matthew Tommie, but I call him Matt the Brat or just plain Matt.  He is from Flagstaff, Arizona. 

Matt has the #2 head, one that collectors have termed the "brat" head, hence the nickname "Matt the Brat."  Indeed, Matt does look like he's got his own dirty little secret.

I'd best keep him away from Lucey Dena.  These two look like they could be sneaky!

Lucey:  Who, us?

Yes, you two!  Lucey is quiet, but she's sneaky!  The other Kids never know when she's gonna pull some stunt on them, though she never hurts anyone.  But with Matt around, the pranks will probably increase in frequency.

Regarding other attributes, Matt is hiding a bald dome underneath his hat, but while he lacks hair, he does have his papers.  Three guesses as to what his birthday will be!  The first of which month?  September, October, or November???

November!  This means that Matt shares a birthday with Cara Raelean and Esmond Brant. I guess having all Cabbies born on the same day made it easy to send out those birthday cards.  Jakks Pacific also sent out cards on a Cabbie's first birthday, but their birthdays weren't the same.  So I bet sending out the cards was no small feat then.  Matt happens to be very fond of birthdays, by the way...and other things!

For the sake of completion, and because I'm going to discuss the next Cabbie's clothes, Matt is wearing a knit set.  These first hit the market in 1984 and were sold separately, but later dolls were sold wearing them.  I don't know if this set is original to Matt, but he wears it well.

Shee-yoodie, it's too hot to be wearing knitwear, but Matt and Esmond Brant give no flying burritos.

I love it when a doll wears knitwear, though.  Cabbage Patch Kids are already soft enuff, but those woolies add an extra layer of cuddle to the mix.

With that, I've got examples of all four of the first heads.  #1 (left) is termed the "shy" face, and as I said above #2 is the "brat."  #1 has no dimples, and #2 has two dimples and a long nose.  Matt is only my second doll with a schnozz like that, by the way (Idalia Gale was the first).

#3 (left) is "happy," and #4 is "paci."  I also call it "binky."  #3 has a dimple on its left cheek, while #4 has two dimples and a hole for that binky.  These first four are easy to tell apart.

Still no #30 in sight, but all in good time.  I have a brat head and that's good.  Matt is NOT Nathan and Esmond's brother, by the way.  He's just a friend.  They look cute together, though.

In addition to the Brat I also have something fairly rare, and that's even better.  Matt's friend isn't a gaudy yellow, but he IS a Tri-Ang Pedigree Cabbie, and thus another foreign doll off my bucket list.  

Tri-Ang Kids were made for distribution in South Africa and are hard to find stateside.  In mint condition their prices are high as a cat's back, but my feller is not quite mint.  Few Tri-Ang Cabbies are, for reasons I'll soon discuss.  My new boy has two names, Randolph Fergus and Kitrick Randolph.  His birthday remains the same on both papers.  I guess his owner (a little girl named Sharla Finch) wanted to change his name at some point, but now the choice is mine.

Decisions, decisions.  I like both names!  Since both names incorporate the name "Randolph" I'll just call him that.  Randolph comes from Diana's Patch and has thus been well-cared for, so for a Tri-Ang his eyes are...well, fair.  Tri-Ang Cabbies have unstable eye paint that clouds and smears with time, and indeed Randolph's eyes are murky.  They're supposed to be brown.

For comparison, Matt's eternally-smiling Coleco eyes are still bright.  I love brown-eyed Cabbies!

Randolph's muddy eyes aren't any fault of Diana's, of mine, or of anyone's really.  Indeed, he probably had the life of Reilly with Diana, as he will with me.  Faulty eye paint is sadly an issue common to all Tri-Ang Cabbies.  For example, Diana's gaudy yellow has the same problem; I think her eyes were blue at one time, but now they're dark.  I freaking love Diana's gaudy, by the way; she's got that hair, and Diana redressed her in an outfit that looks freakishly authentic.  That doll is a gem.  

I'm sorry to say that I don't know as much about Tri-Ang Cabbies as I should.  I know about the unstable eye paint, I know that bright yellow hair is most sought after by collectors, and I know that flowered overalls are...either rare or highly desired by the same collectors.  I also know that like Jesmar Tri-Ang monkeyed with hair and eye color combos a bit, and like Candela Laura I appear to have gotten one of these.  Randolph's hair is "rust"-colored and loopy, and according to one of Diana's lists rust hair is not so common.  However, to me Randolph's hair looks...well, it kinda looks like Coleco's gold shade.  Whadda y'all think?  That's Idalia Gale's hair, by the way; I don't yet own a Coleco with gold hair.

Regarding foreign hair colors, this YouTube video shows Tsukuda and Lily Ledy Cabbies with hair that doesn't follow the Coleco color matrix.  Thus all four of the foreign manufacturers apparently played by their own rules.  I like that; it makes the foreign Kids more like little individuals.  For the record, two of the Kids in the linked video, a Jesmar girl and a Lily Ledy boy, have a lovely shade of blonde hair called "champagne."  It's very fair hair, but it has a subtle pink tint like Aurora's hair does.  I know now what hair color is going on my radar!  I'm not closing the door on a gaudy yellow either, but I'm also not holding my breath, LOL!  Diana also mentions a shade called "taffy"...I wonder what that looks like?  Probably another shade of wheat; wheat hair has a lot of variations.  EDIT, 1/21/26:  Apparently Randolph's hair IS taffy!  I found images of Tri-Ang Cabbies with taffy hair (here and here), and their hair matches Randolph's nicely.  So that answers my question!  End edit.

Okay, moving on.  Like Jesmar, Tri-Ang only used head molds #1 through #4, with Randolph's head being a #1 head.  I have three other Cabbies with this head (yep, three!), but they're all babies and all bald so it's all good.

Of the first four heads the #4 is my favorite, and normally I feel very meh about the #1 head...but I like it a lot with hair!  I said above that #1 is called the "shy" head, but of my four dolls with this head Randolph is the only one who lives up to that name.  So far, that is.  He may just be tucked in his shell, as new dolls often are.  

Moving to clothes, Randolph's eBay listing said that his getup is handmade, and a fine getup it is!  None of my other Cabbies are quite this dapper.

Bow ties are cool!  LOL, Diana apparently made this outfit herself.  The striped bits are rippled, giving the overall fabric a nice texture.  Randolph's little tie is sewn to his shirt, which is good.  Sandy McCall's tie had loosened elastic and thus it's a pain to keep it straight.  Overall this is a lovely, soft outfit, perfect for a Cabbie to sit around in...or play in, take your pick.

But wait, there's more!  I want to readdress Randolph's papers, because there was a lot more than a birth certificate and adoption papers in that envelope.  In addition to those items there was a child's drawing, a slip of sheet music for a Barry Manilow song, and these.  I've never heard of Komfy Kids, but apparently they had adoption papers too.  Sharla Finch owned a little girl, Natasha Jean...

...and a Christmas boy, Timothy Alan.

Those are nice names!  In addition to those items Randolph's first birthday card is here...in English and Afrikaans!

Here's the inside.

The envelope was addressed to both Sharla and to "Kitrick Randolph," confirming that my doll's name was officially changed from one to another.  I love this little peep into Randolph's past life, though!  He clearly was loved dearly at one time, and now he will be again.  EDIT, 11/30/24:  I had been wondering why a Tri-Ang doll came to live in a place like Nampa, Idaho, and it turns out that Tri-Ang dolls may have been available here in the U.S. for awhile.  Or at least that's what Hilary's Cabbage Patch Clothes Closet implies.  I'm taking that info with a grain of salt, but if true it's very interesting.  End edit.

All four of the foreign markets lost their license in early 1985, thus why no Tri-Ang Cabbies have popcorn hair, grasping hands, or any head other than the first four.  Sigh...can y'all imagine a gaudy yellow popcorn girl?  That would be a dream come true for me.  But it wasn't to be, and Idalia Gale and Beryl June are perfectly good popcorn girls without sunshine locks.  For reasons unknown Beryl June has become a favorite among my Failbook friends.

But nope, no Tri-Ang would be a popcorn unless someone customized her.  But that's alright, I've got a Tri-Ang doll and I'm very pleased with him.  Here's how Matt and Randolph look together; they make a cute pair.

I envision them as the stereotypical Tommy/Chuckie sort of pair; Matt is bold, fearless, and a little (a lot?) mischievous, while Randolph is cautious, thoughtful, and very on the shy side.  He's also not word-perfect in English, but Candela Laura has already said she'll help him with that.

Now...I need to cut out the buying!  That's thirty-one Cabbies, and unless a Tsukuda or a Lily Ledy turns up for a steal I need to quit for awhile, LOL.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Decora Girlz review

It's rare when I'll throw together a review so soon after buying a doll, but in this case it was kinda easy to do.  I'd been hearing whispers and seeing videos on YouTube about Decora Girlz (there go the cutesy consonants again), and since I love decora fashion I grabbed a doll.  

In a nutshell, decora is a Japanese street fashion (remember how I like that?) that relies on bright colors, cutesy motifs, and a ton of accessories.  Hair may or may not be colored unnaturally, makeup is usually over-the-top, and stickers are used liberally.  Decora has quite a few similarities to kidcore, which is also childish and colorful (and which I'll admit to dabbling in).  As to the dolls themselves, they're done up in the blind box manner.  There are nineteen to collect, all in the decora style, but with different themes.

Obviously that's nine and not nineteen, but y'all get the drift.  The one obscured by the flash looks like this.

Some of 'em have cute names, stuff like Luna, Heather, Celestia, Sweetie...SWEETIE???  That's a nickname, not a name.  Celestia and Buzzy are my favorites (Buzzy has a bee theme), but they're all cute.

Alrighty, this is a blind box toy, and every piddlin' little item this doll has is wrapped up, like so...

...but I'll spare y'all the excruciating descriptions of everything and show pictures instead.  I could've done without that dumb comb, though. 

Second pair had the shoes and three puffy, bow-shaped stickers.  I guess they are the advertised hair ornament.  

A stand and flat stickers came in one bag.  The stand threw me for a loop at first, because I only had the upright bit and the base.  I eventually did find the clippy bit, though.  It had fallen out of the baggie and slipped into the couch cushions. 

Finally I found the dress, along with another sheet of puffy stickers. 

The doll comes sheathed in two layers of opaque, thin plastic that I neglected to photograph.  I popped this open, removed the plastic band from the bangs, and this is her!

Hmmm...she reminds me of Hairdorables, of Blume, and of Kawaii Crush all in one.  A few Redditors also compare these dolls to Shopkins Shoppies, and I see that parallel too.  Judging from that hair, I appear to have gotten the little gal on the package...

...but I don't know her name!  Some of the dolls had their names revealed on the package, but not this one!  And get this:  all of the blind bag toys I've bought have collector's guides, but not Decora Girlz!  I turned to Google and Reddit for help...

...apparently my doll's name is...Decora.  I am not amused.  Okay, so Decora is a small doll, at four inches.  She's of comparable size to the Hairdorables and to Strawberry Shortcake, but I don't have either of those with me at the moment.  Regarding dolls I DO have with me, Decora is shorter than Susie Sad-Eyes and Checkerboard Shannon, and on a wildly different scale from the two.

My little porcelain doll Jessica is smaller than Decora, and in the process of face-planting.

Decora's hair makes my rainbow-loving heart sing.  There are six colors at play here:  hot pink and orange on the far right, yellow, lime green, and blue at the center, and purple on the left.

The hair is floor-length, stick-straight, and slippery-smooth, to the point that it feels a little greasy.  The bangs are blunt-cut and are unfortunately uneven on the right.  

Frankly, I think Decora would've been just fine without bangs.  The bangs hide her cute pink eyebrows and make her eyes look that much more crazed.

Decora has neon green eyes with enormous pupils, black mascara, and sky blue eyeshadow.  This is actually pretty tame eye makeup for the decora look, but it's painted evenly.  The same is true for Decora's goofy mouth.

Some of these dolls have teeth showing in their goofy little mouths.  I'm kinda on the fence about the teeth and am glad that Decora doesn't have them.  Overall though this isn't my favorite doll face.  The black eyeliner is too harsh.  To be fair, my Blume doll and my smallest Liddle Kiddle also took a heavy hand with their eyeliner, and admittedly I find their eyes off-putting too.  So Decora isn't alone in this boat.

As always, let's look at ears.  Decora's ears stick out, and I'm kinda bummed that they aren't pierced.

However, I can use some of Decora's stickers as earrings.  I did the same thing many years ago, when my What's Her Face doll was new.

Decora came out of her pod undressed, which turned out to be a good thing (we'll discuss why in a bit).  Here's what she looks like.

She's got a teeny-weeny body to go with her huge noggin, and her decency is preserved by purple undergarments.  To my surprise, Decora's tiny little arms are ball-jointed at the shoulder, enabling them to move all the way out.

Here's a better look at these hands.  They're tiny and delicate, and VERY bendy.  Keep that in mind for later too.

In contrast, Decora's legs are thicker and do not bend.  They're bent slightly at the knees and the toes are turned in, the way people in decora or lolita dress sometimes like to stand.

Decora's hips aren't as flexible as her shoulders.  She can sit, but that's about it. 

She's got cute feet.  There isn't a ton of detail, but she does have ten toes visible, unlike some of my dolls.

Now...I did have Decora dressed before I remembered to review her body, and I am NOT under any circumstances taking that dress off again.  Why?  Because that dress is ridiculously hard to put on.  It's made out of soft vinyl...

...but the vinyl isn't anywhere near as soft as the vinyl clothes that L.O.L. Surprises wear.  There's a slit in the back, but getting Decora dressed was still a chore.  I will admit that I like the little puffed sleeves though, and the overall color scheme. 

The shoes weren't the easiest things either, but they went on with less of a fuss.  I think it's funny how the mismatched socks stand up, by the way.  Vinyl socks DO that sort of thing, but it gives off sort of a Fox in Socks vibe.

Fox.  Socks.  Box.  Knox.  LOL, Decora's purse is a brightly colored hunk of plastic.  It does fit over her wrist, but like the comb it probably could've been left out.

To add to the difficulties in dressing, Decora's bendy fingers hung up in the sleeves, and it took the better part of thirty minutes to get her dressed.  I did it all without saying a naughty word, I was so proud of myself!  But I've NEVER encountered this much difficulty dressing a small doll in vinyl clothes.  It's worth it, though.

However, since Decora is a Decora Girl, something is missing.  That's where the stickers come in.  There are two sheets of puffy stickers and one set of flat ones.

Decora fashion is supposed to be over-the-top, so I wasn't shy about putting these stickers on.  Most of 'em went in Decora's hair, and though I didn't intend this, two of the stickers do indeed look like dangly earrings. 

I'm only now realizing how lopsided Decora's eyes are!  That's unfortunately a risk one takes with blind box dolls.  Anyway, I used the whole sheet of small puffy stickers, and two of the big ones.   It was surprisingly satisfying to gussy this doll up.

And then...well, I guess that's it!  Stickers lose their tack if reused, so all I can do now is put Decora on her shelf.  Her dress all but immobilized her joints, and it's too difficult to redress her.  So much for that mixing and matching advertised on the box.  Overall I think Decora is cute and visually exciting, but there's not a lot to her.  I initially thought she'd be better as a bigger doll...and then I learned that there ARE bigger dolls..

Bigger and with cloth clothes!  Looks like there may be a part two to this review pretty soon.  Anyway, learning that my Decora is a mini doll made me think a little more highly of her, but that dress is still incredibly frustrating to deal with.

Sparkles,

RagingMoon1987 

Two little gifts

My friend Jessica (the same lady who gave me this doll) paid us a visit at the library today, and she brought these young ladies with her.

These little girls are music box dolls, not terribly unlike one of my Walda girls.  I received one similar to these from my grandmother; I was graduating high school then, and she played "Pomp and Circumstance."  The young lady in the flowered dress plays "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music (which I never liked).  These dolls don't have names that I'm aware of, so the song earned her the name "Maria."

The doll in dark blue plays "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  Mama and I heard that and simultaneously named her "Dorothy," even though she doesn't look a thing like Judy Garland.

Indeed, Dorothy looks kinda like she's seen something that freaked her out!  LOL, that's par for the course with porcelain dolls, especially the mass-produced ones.  Their eyes can be intense, and thus I can see why some folks would be creeped out by dollies like this.  But...well, I like 'em.  And as always, I send my deepest gratitude to my friend Jessica for these little gifts.  They'll join Diana on her shelf and keep her company.

Love,
RagingMoon1987