Necessity is the mother of invention

Or in this case, necessity is the mother of ingenuity.  I've got Monster High dolls that need duds, but Mattel is too focused on Barbie to make new MH threads, and the proprietor of my former favorite Etsy shop is now damnatio memoriae, so what's a girl to do?  As y'all undoubtedly know, I like to knit, and much of my knitting focuses on duds for dolls that can't get clothing elsewhere.  Unfortunately, free online patterns are few and far between  when it comes to Monster High clothes.  Luckily I've been able to find a few.

Enter This Joy, a blog that has superb knitting patterns for Monster High dolls.  This Mad Science Lagoona Blue came to me sans clothes (and part of one arm), and thus she is my innocent victim model.

All you need are small needles and sock yarn, and I happen to have both, so I went to town.  Lagoona's dress is made from this post, her cape came from here, and her hat is this pattern.  I wanted some continuity in this outfit, so the hat and cape are knitted from a ball of Premier Yarns Wool-Free Sock.  This yarn is wove together in an unusual way, so that a strand of it somewhat resembles a spring.  Thus it has a nice stretch to it.  This particular color is aproprately called "Grapes."  I used the same yarn to make a dress for Ju-hwang last summer.

See how Lagoona and Ju-hwang coordinate!

I've also used this type of yarn in a different dress for Ju-hwang, but it's a more earthy color called "Grand Canyon."

Unfortunately I made the Grand Canyon dress too short.  Ju-hwang will need some leggings before she can wear this one again.

Lagoona's new dress is...well, I had the band once, but it's disappeared into my collection of yarn bands.  I think it's another sock yarn, Red Heart Heart and Sole in "Green Envy."  I also used this yarn last summer, in another dress for Ju-hwang.

Why I wanted to spend last summer knitting, I'll never know.  Our air conditioner died and it was too hot to even think about knitted goods, let alone want to make or wear them.  Yet somehow Ju-hwang ended up with more dresses than I care to count.  Anywho, Lagoona and Ju-hwang again coordinate nicely.

There's also a blue dress that I've been tinkering around with, though it's far from done.  The pattern is a lolita-style pattern from Modern Monstrosities, and the yarn I used is a mecurized cotton called Omega Sinfonia.  The color I used is "Azul Rey," but any of the other colors will do.  It's nice to see a fine-gauge yarn in a bold, solid color, particularly when most of Hobby Lobby's fine yarns are either striped, white, or pastel in color.  Anyway, when I finish the dress I'll share it here!  As an aside, Lagoona's green dress fits the slim bodies of La Dee Da dolls with aplomb.  I'll have to test out the blue dress when it's complete and see if it will fit.

I bought a couple more balls of sock yarn over the weekend, so there will be other dresses in the making.  Stay tuned!

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987

Mattel's big idea

I assume that all of our readers here are familiar with Monster High dolls.  If you are then you probably know that these dolls are small, more so than Barbie.

Spoiler alert:  you'll see both of these dolls again this week.

Up until recently the largest MH doll has been 17-inch Gooliope Jellington from the recent Freak du Chic line. My assumption is that Mattel released Gooliope to test consumer waters, because four more dolls were released in a similar size.  Clawdeen Wolf, Frankie Stein, and Draculaura are apparently all making a transformation into Frightfully Tall Ghouls, and it looks like Elissabat may be following suit.

Step aside, Gooliope.  Today I saw THIS!  She is a Gore-geous Ghoul, and she is 28 inches tall.

Look at the size of that doll!  To give you an idea of her size, I put a standard-size doll next to her.  She is at least twice the size of your average MH doll.  I couldn't compare her to Gooliope since Wal-Mart didn't have any, but I'm willing to bet this doll is taller than her too.

According to the box, this doll's eyes can change, and it's possible to draw on her.  In other words, she's a combination of a Color Me Creepy doll, an Inner Monster, and one of the tall dolls all rolled into one.

But wait, there's more!  Apparently some of the Ever After High dolls are being upsized as well.  Add those huge Barbie dolls to the mix and that makes for a huge group!

This will either be a huge success or a huge flop for Mattel.  I predict the latter since these huge dolls are more expensive and harder to store than the standard dolls.  They will never be able to share clothes with their smaller counterparts.  Ando frankly, the don't have anything that the smaller dolls lack.  They're just big dolls.  Yeah, they're probably easier for little kids to manipulate due to their big size, but that's really the only advantage I can think of.

What do y'all think?  Big hit or big miss?

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987 

On the 2016 Girl of the Year

I'm going to strip off my griping mood and share something with y'all that I am VERY excited about.  The new girl has tentatively been named Lea Clark, and she has the most adorable wardrobe!  The clothes are full of bright, splashy colors and patterns that I haven't seen since Jess McConnell was the Girl of the Year.  Lissie & Lilly have been releasing steady posts about these clothes, so if you want to take a gander, the link is here.  They also have a post about the mini doll, and that's here.

In this post I worried about the possibility that Lea might be blonde or look too much like Kanani Akina.  Don't get me wrong, I adore Kanani, and I like the idea of a Kanani-lookalike more than I like the idea of another blonde.  We had a blonde doll LAST year, for crying out loud!  It does concern me a little though, that these dolls are getting to look more like older counterparts.  Grace looks like Chrissa, as I've mentioned before, and too many lookalikes suggests a lack of ideas for Girls of the Year.  Kind of sad too, since there are so many ideas that haven't yet been explored.  I'm still hoping to see a little Inuit girl from Alaska, since Alaska has not been represented by an American Girl yet.  Yeah, I know that the Maplelea Girls have an Inuit doll, but it would still be cool to see how American Girl would make an Inuit girl look; what she would wear, what she'd do for fun, how she'd get to school when the weather was extra bad, stuff like that.

As a final little tidbit, Lissie & Lilly's photographs are obtained from eBay sellers and fellow bloggers, and they are used WITH PERMISSION!!!  If you want to use L&L's photographs, be sure to ask permission from them first.  I in turn would like to thank Lissie & Lilly for allowing me to provide links to their posts.  Y'all run a great blog!

Love to all,
RagingMoon1987

Where did all the clothes go?

I had intended for Pix E. Flutters to be my only Lalaloopsy Girl, but as usual, I've proven myself a complete liar.  On the evening of the fifteenth I spotted Furry Grrs-a-Lot on the shelf, and since I have her big Lalaloopsy self I bought her.

She's similar enough to Pix that I don't feel a full review is necessary.  Like Pix she has plastic hair, a rosebud mouth, and big shoes that help her stand.  Also like Pix, she favors her larger counterpart.

The main difference is that Furry was a basic doll rather than the deluxe type like Pix was.  She didn't come with her pet or an extra outfit, and it's the lack of an extra outfit that left me with an eyebrow lifted.  Usually when dolls don't come with a lot of bells and whistles, the holding company makes up for it by making extra outfits and accessories.  Mattel does this for Barbie; even the most basic Barbie doll can have a large wardrobe if one's financial situation will allow it.  Once upon a time this was true for MGA Entertainment as well.  When I was a teenager the Bratz were enjoying their heyday, and MGA kept store shelves full of cute clothes, vehicles, extra shoe packs, stuff like that.  Moxie Girls got the same treatment, as did the short-lived Moxie Teenz and B.F.C. Ink dolls.

I first noticed MGA starting to slack off a little after the Lalaloopsy Littles and the Novi Stars were released.  The full-sized Lalaloopsy dolls got a modest wardrobe...well, most of them did.  Only one outfit was released that was specifically for boys, but the girls got plenty of cute threads.  Things petered off with the Littles and the Novis, though; each line got three outfits apiece.  Then the clothes stopped coming altogether, despite the release of a second wave of Novi Stars.  Usually when a second wave comes along, a new clothing line comes with it.  But not this time.

"What are we, chopped liver?"

The few Lalaloopsy Girls clothes that I do have will fit Novi Stars, but that doesn't matter much anymore because the Novis' spaceship has been grounded...permanently.  MGA has apparently pulled the plug on them, so there's that over with.  Meanwhile, Bratz have made a comeback, the Lalaloopsy Girls have held their own, and a new set of dolls called Project MC2 is attempting to interest girls in smart stuff rather than stylish stuff.  Guess what?  NONE of the new dolls appear to be focusing on stylish stuff!  I have seen no new clothes for Lalaloopsies or Lalaloopsy Girls, nothing new for the MC2 gang, nothing for the few Moxie Girls that are still running around.  The only MGA dolls to get new clothes have been the Bratz.  There are two-outfit packs and single-outfit packs, but since they don't fit any of my old Bratz I haven't bothered with them.

With all the hubbub that surrounded the re-release of the Bratz, it feels like the other girls have been left in the lurch.  That wouldn't be so bad except that both Lalaloopsies and Lalaloopsy Girls have unique bodies.  They both have egg-shaped bodies that can't wear conventional doll clothes without a struggle.  Oh yes, the Vi and Va dresses fit the Lalaloopsy Girls...but MGA pulled the plug on those dolls too.  Still, the Lalaloopsy Girls are better off than the full-sized Lalas, since I can always jerry-rig something for them.  It's just infuriating to see MGA put all their eggs in one basket.  They have a bona fide success story with the Lalaloopsy dolls, and since the Girls have hung around I assume that they're a modest success as well.  It would be nice to see MGA pull their minds away from the Bratz and start making some duds for their other girls again.  Because frankly, I think clothes sell better than dolls do!

MGA Entertainment isn't the only toy company to skimp on clothes, however.  Remember these?

These are Monster High dolls from Mattel, of course.  They are dressed in Inner Monster ensembles...and these dresses are the last dresses I've seen Mattel make for Monster High dolls!  Nothing has been released since then...that I know of, anyway.  The Ever After High dolls didn't even get this much; I've seen absolutely ZERO new clothes for the EAH crew.  New furniture for both lines, yes.  But no clothes.  Guess which doll has been getting all the new stuff?  Who else but Barbie!  Now, I like Barbie clothes.  I like them a lot.  But I've got the resources to make my own Barbie duds if needed.  As with MGA, Mattel appears to be putting all their eggs in one basket, and that's a shame because I thought Monster High clothes were far more interesting than the constant pink-and-glitter stuff that the playline Barbie dolls get.

What do y'all think?  Have you noticed this too, or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?  Discuss.

Best wishes,
RagingMoon1987

Another post about Moschino Barbie...and that infernal commercial

WARNING:  this post will dip into my conservative side.  If that may upset you, don't read this.  If you choose to read, don't get your panties in a wad and post something stupid.  If you post something stupid, I WILL delete your comments.  Consider yourself warned.

Begin rant.  A few days ago I posted about Moschino Barbie, and my confusion about her popularity.  I stand by my opinions, but I apparently am standing with egg on my face, because guess what?  Moschino sold out less than an hour after she was launched!  Don't believe me?  Here's the link.

Much to my chagrin, this doll was designed by Jeremy Scott, the very man whom I had hoped would design a doll in the future.  Like I said in the previous post, this doll isn't bad, but it's disappointing considering what a Scott-designed doll COULD have looked like!  Scott has done dresses emblazoned with Bart Simpson, totem pole faces, and rainbow-colored bricks.  The brick dress is my favorite, because it reminds me of Print Aplenty, one of my favorite Mod Barbie fashions.  In fact, having seen Scott's brick dress, I can't help wondering if Print Aplenty was his inspiration.  Maybe I'm wrong, but it certainly is an interesting prospect.  LOL, digression!

The commercial for this Barbie also leaves me shaking my head for a number of reasons, and the discussion on that will take up the bulk of this post.  The commercial seems to imply that this doll is appropriate for kids, and she's not.  The Barbie Collectors website says specifically that this doll is for the adult collector.  This is something that I've always felt passionately about.  In the past there have been drop-dead gorgeous dolls for collectors like Barbie Basics Model #10, Blond Diamond Barbie, Katniss Everdeen, and Tokidoki Barbie.  All of them were intended for adults as well, and yet parents had a fit about "messages" that they were sending.  Model #10 wore a neckline that was too deep, Blondie wore a fur coat that raised the hackles of militant animal rights activists, Katniss was believed to promote violence and Tokidoki's tattoo supposedly promoted deviant lifestyles.  If you look closely at the Barbie Collectors entries on all these dolls (Tokidoki no longer has one), you will notice that the page says "For the adult collector."  I wish the website said "THESE DOLLS AREN'T FOR KIDS, YOU DUMMIES!!!" instead.  Anyway, the same is true of Moschino Barbie.  She's a doll for adult collectors, and yet the commercial seems to imply otherwise.

But wait, there's more!  The children also bother me...or rather, it bothers me how they've been made to look and act like little grownups.  The three children, two girls and one boy, are perfectly put together.  They all have adult-style makeup, professional hairstyles, and clothes that look like designer kiddie threads.  You and I both know darn good and well that kids don't normally look like that.  They wear jeans, T-shirts, dresses, and tennis shoes.  Their hair is usually windblown and gathered up in braids or ponytails, or it's allowed to hang free.  The lack of childishness in these children disturbs me.

The childrens' speech also reflects this quasi-adult theme.  The first line is delivered by the blonde girl, and she gushes "She's the most Moschino Barbie, EVERRR," in a tone that sounds both vapid and melodramatic.  She sounds like she's forcing herself to get excited about this doll.  The boy's turn is next, and he does no better.  "Moschino Barbie is SOOOOO fierce," he says, and he too sounds like he doesn't believe what he's saying.  The black girl gets the next line, and she does a little better.  She closes her eyes and sighs "I looove you, Moschino Barbie."  That's more along the lines of something I'd expect a child to say to a doll, but again, the delivery falls flat.  The last line goes to the boy, who holds a tiny telephone to the doll's ear and says cheerfully, "It's for you!"  Much better, little boy.  That's how kids are supposed to play with Barbie dolls.

Lastly, I have some issues with the boy's presence in the first place.  As stated above I'm a conservative, and I don't enjoy this gender-neutral nonsense being shoved down my throat.  I might not feel this way if the little boy in this commercial acted like he was genuinely having fun.  The problem is that he just doesn't seem to be enjoying himself.  His first line of dialogue sounds overly passionate, the way people do when they're lying about how excited they are about something.  His smile doesn't look real either.  His second line of dialogue is much better, as he gets into the spirit of pretending Barbie has a phone call.  However, it's too little, too late for me.  I feel sorry for this little boy, and for the two little girls too, for that matter.  Watching them be forced to love this doll for the sake of money and political correctness makes me cringe.  Yeah, they're probably being paid, but how much fun are they having with this insanely expensive doll that just stands there and looks pretty?  It makes me yearn to take them all outside and do a remake of the Bubble Angel Barbie commercial.  Oh, how I loved that commercial!  The children run around on a cute, kid-friendly set, and in their hands are brightly colored Barbie dolls that double as bubble wands!  That's the type of commercial that I want to see kids in, the type where they're allowed to run and laugh and play make-believe all they want.  I could easily see a little boy having fun that way, and I wish the little boy in the Moschino commercial could've gotten to do that.  It probably would've been the same pay, but noooo.  He and the girls ended up in studio that was probably brightly lit and either too hot or too cold, being paid to recite lines that sounded fake and inappropriate for children.

I am RagingMoon1987, and I stand by my comments.  End rant.

Time to gripe: Moschino Barbie

Let's talk about Barbie again.  When I was a teenager the collector dolls always excited me.  I would eagerly look forward to the catalogs that Grandma got, and when they arrived I'd pour through them looking for Bob Mackie's latest creations, or for ballerinas or redheads, or the latest I Love Lucy doll, or one that might look like some member of my family.  Back then it was fun to get a new catalog, but nowadays the creations seem...well, they seem a bit "blah."  With the exception of the new Tokidoki Barbie, Claudette Gordon Barbie, and the zombie bride, nothing sets my world aflame.  The new Hunger Games dolls are monotonous, the Christmas doll is dressed in red for what seems like the millionth time, and even the Fashionistas are humdrum, with the possible exception of L.A. Girl, whom everyone seems to have fallen in love with.

I agree with those who have fallen for L.A. Girl; you don't run into too many Barbie dolls with partially shaved heads (a la Venus McFlytrap), and her face is to die for.  She's proven to be elusive, but I can do to wait for now, as close as it is to Christmas.  While I agree with the masses on L.A. Girl, I strongly disagree with the same masses on Moschino Barbie.  This is Moschino Barbie in black and in white.

They're both pretty dolls, as Barbie dolls inevitably are, but why the big fuss?  They're just a couple of big-haired, Superstar-head dolls clad in black pleather.  Their accessories consist of a plain white shirt with some sort of Moschino-themed message on it.  My Facebook friends (and a few enemies too, for that matter) are going absolutely ga-ga over this doll, and I can't understand why!  Yeah, she's been designed by a big shot designer.  Big friggin' deal.  Several of the other dolls have been designed by big shot designers, and I haven't seen half of Facebook go nuts over them.  I find Carlyle Nuera's creations far more impressive, but I haven't seen a single one in any of the groups that I'm a member of.  Odd too, because Mutya and Claudette Gordon are both more affordable than Moschino is, and they're more colorful!  I particularly love the color combos on Claudette; she's black with auburn hair, and she's wearing a blue flapper-style dress.  In my opinion, Carlyle really knocked that one out of the park.  I can't wait to see what else he has planned.

Of course I mean no ill towards those who like Moschino Barbie.  Tastes vary, right?  Thus why we have dolls as radically different as Moschino, Tokidoki, and Mutya are.  Something for everyone.  But I am simply unimpressed by Moschino.  Her outfit is very plain, her face is one that we've all seen (several times over), and the accessories don't impress me.  If she looked more like one of these models I'd be more impressed.  That's more in tune with the over-the-top designs that big shot designers make...and it also makes me hopeful that Jeremy Scott will design a Barbie in the future.  His Warhol-esque designs are humorous, colorful, and fun, and that would be perfect for Barbie.

Best wishes,
RagingMoon1987

A Christmas post already???

Yep, even though we haven't gotten far into November, I'm already wanting to post about Christmas.  No disrespect meant towards Thanksgiving, of course; I love most of my family, and I love turkey.  But since I've got some presents completed I thought I'd share them.  I have a cousin...well, actually she's my third cousin, but family is family, right?  Anywho, this child got a new American Girl, so I've been slaving over my needles for the past two months to make doll dresses.  I've got three completed, and I may make one more.  Depends on my mood.  Anywho, here's Dress #1.

I've already made one of these for myself; it can be seen in my My Twinn post.  I had plenty of yarn left over, and some buttons as well, so I duplicated the dress.  The yarn is Red Heart Boutique Unforgetable, 100% acrylic and oh so soft to the touch.  This particular color is called "Stained Glass," but other colors are available.  I even found a ball of it in a solid shade of deep purple, one color that doesn't show up online!  The pattern can be found here; copyright belongs to a lady named Elaine Baker.

Dress #2:

This too can be seen on the My Twinn post, but in a different color.  The dress I made for Denise is made out of mint green baby yarn and pink Red Heart Super Saver.  This dress is made out of the same baby yarn, without the Super Saver trim.  Since I now have pink baby yarn I didn't need Super Saver!  I think the baby yarn is Baby Bee Sweet Delights (60% acrylic, 40% polyamide), but I'll have to dig out the band to make sure.  If so then the baby yarn for Denise's dress is likely "Mint Charm," while this dress is made up of "Sugarplum (main color)" and "Bashful (accent color)."  "Bashful" looks orange online, but in real life it's pink with a very slight orange tint, rather like poached salmon.  It's wonderful yarn.  It makes soft, smooth stockinette patterns and springy, buoyant garter stitch patterns.  It's also good for Barbie doll clothes if any of you like to knit small dresses.  The pattern is from ABC Knitting Patterns.  I'm not sure who owns the copyright, but the website says these patterns are from a woman named Elaine Phillips, so I assume she holds the copyright.

Dress #3:

This came from another ABC pattern that I'd never tried before, but as it turned out I needn't have worried about how it would come out.  My biggest problem with this was finding circular needles in a size 7, which was a surprisingly difficult task, mainly due to my own inattentiveness.  Needless to say I did find the needles I wanted.  The pattern calls for Wool of the Andes, but rather than try to obtain that I settled for Yarn Bee Effervesce, 80% acrylic and 20% polyamide, which turned out to be a suitable substitute.  The main color is "Orchid Haze," and the accent color is "Morning Glow."  Hobby Lobby's website has "Morning Glow" listed as "Morning Glory," but they appear to be the same color so don't allow yourself to get confused if you want to find this yarn.

If I decide to make the fourth dress it will likely be this pattern, made out of I Love This Yarn Super Soft in Soft Blue.  Baby yarn also works for this particular pattern; I've made one in yellow for Xenia.  The eyelet panel shows a little bit of fabric torso underneath, but not so much that it's distracting.  In short, I've worked hard on these dresses and I desperately hope my little cousin will like them.  All three (possibly four) of these dresses involve the use of small buttons, so I'm a bit concerned that her fingers will be too little to get the backs fastened.  I may have to modify those button holes to make them easier to see.

So that's my cousin taken care of.  Believe it or not, I also have something doll-related for my grandmother!  Grandma has kept me in dolls for most of my life; Barbie, American Girl, porcelain, you name it.  It turns out that when she was a child she owned a Shirley Temple doll and a Madame Alexander doll, both of whom she cherished.  One day she came home from school and the dolls were GONE!!!  It turned out that her mother (my great-grandmother) had given them away to a destitute family whose daughter did not have a doll to play with.  Great-Grandma was a sap for children, and she hated to see one go without.  Unfortunately that meant her own daughter had to do without for awhile!  Grandma bears no resentment towards her mother for this stunt, but she still pines for her Shirley Temple doll.

Surprise, Grandma.  Look what we've got!

This Shirley is eighteen inches tall with her original wig.  I'm not sure if the clothes are original or not, but they suit her.  She's composition like the Creepy Babies are, and she has a few cracks and dings here and there.  I doubt Grandma will mind the cracks and dings; what concerns me is the size.  Grandma's Shirley was likely small, as most of the vintage Shirleys I've seen are.  This doll is tall enough to fit in with my larger girls.  In fact, she's a smidge taller than Ana Ming!

Positive, negative, or neutral, I'll share her reaction when we give Shirley to her.  We also shopped around for a replacement Madame Alexander doll; Grandma swears up and down that her doll was Jeannie Walker, though I doubt it since the dates don't match up.  Jeannie Walker was made in 1941, and Grandma was a young teenager by then.  McGuffey Ana might be a more likely choice, but what the heck do I know?  Jeannie was the one Grandma connected with when we went through some of my magazines, so I'm going to try to find a Jeannie for her.  Too bad those little gals are worth a pretty penny.  But then again, so is a decent McGuffey Ana!  I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled.

Best wishes,
RagingMoon1987

Dollies for Halloween

As I pointed out in my Liebster Award post, I'm a Christian who loves Halloween.  We made a big deal out of the holiday when I was small, carving pumpkins and decorating our house with appropriately spooky (and occasionally obnoxious) decorations.  We'd get a big bowl and fill it with candy a couple of nights before the main event, and my sister and I were allowed to take a piece every now and then.  The best part, of course, was Halloween itself.  We were rarely allowed to Trick-or-Treat, as Halloween often fell on a weekday and we'd all be worn out from school.  But we got to go to the parade and wave to our friends, and then we'd see more of our friends while our parents passed out candy.  Bottom line, I love Halloween.  If God has a problem with that then I know He will set me straight, but so far He's been okay with it.

I know it's a day early, but the weather promises to be downright lousy tomorrow, so I'm posting this today to give you a taste of how the weather is right now (lots of sun and a cool breeze).  Here's the star of my recent My Twinn review, Xenia.

Xenia is wearing an outfit that Mama got me for my birthday.  It consists of an orange handmade dress, a feather boa, and an unpictured wiglet that's constantly falling off.  As long as I hold Xenia still the wiglet stays on fine, but when I pick her up it falls off.  Bobby pins didn't work, so she just goes without it most of the time.

Next is Denise.

Denise has this cute pirate outfit, another gift from my mother.  The quality of this outfit is good enough that I thought American Girl had made it, but there are no tags anywhere so I guessed wrong.

Sadie is a cowgirl.

This costume is one I got from Hobby Lobby.  The boots are Madame Alexander boots that one can find at Wal-Mart.  Neither Hobby Lobby nor Wal-Mart had an appropriate hat; they did have cowboy hats, but the hats were pink or purple.  I'd need red or brown for the hat to match this, so Sadie is doing without for this year.

Gracie is a genie.

I originally wanted Xenia to wear this, but the pants were too tight for her so Gracie got it.  Since she's blonde she makes a convincing I Dream of Jeannie.

Smug little Alissa is a flower fairy.

Alissa wore this last year too, come to think about it.  Since dolls don't grow as they age, they can get away with wearing last year's costume this year.  This is one of my favorite costumes, by the way; not only is it green and blue (my two favorite colors), but it bears a passing resemblance to American Girl's modern dance outfit.  I never got that outfit and plan to rectify that.

Natalie is a witch.

This is an LTD Commodities costume, and I can't write home about the quality, but it sure is cute!  I crammed this onto Samantha last year, and let me tell you, I almost didn't get her out of it!  I even pulled out some of Samantha's hair (accidentally) while trying to pull the dress off.  This year I wised up and put it on a smaller body.  Natalie doesn't have the the witchy-looking hair that Samantha does, but she makes up for it in charm.

Speaking of Samantha, here she is.

I don't usually get my historicals in on the action, but as I mentioned above Samantha has witchy-looking hair so I wanted a costume for her.  This is the Spider Witch costume that American Girl had available from 2004 to 2006.  This was another birthday present from my mother, and it's so complete that it even still has its original box!  I'm not an American Girl purist by any means, but it's so nice to have a few brand-name things!  Needless to say, Samantha looks appropriately witchy in it, and no hair-pulling was required this time.

As you see, most of the costumes I've got are eighteen-inch scale.  However, three of my Barbie dolls got into the act.  Sophie, my California Dream-Wonder Woman chimera, is a witch.

This costume and the other two that I have came from Etsy, and were more birthday gifts from my mother.  The witch outfit is hauntingly similar to Natalie's, but it has one thing that Natalie's getup does not.  Every proper witch should have a broom!

Sun Jewel Shani is wearing a Jamaican-themed outfit.

I'm not sure if this is appropriate for Halloween, but I got it at the same time I got the others so Shani got it.  No way would I put this on a white doll, not when the majority of Jamaicans are dark and lovely.  Plus, the full skirt helps hide Shani's chewed feet.

Last is Connie, formerly a Really Rosy Kayla.  She is a pirate.

That's about as far a cry from Denise's costume as you can get!  I love the different spin on this, though; this looks more like something a real female pirate would've worn.  That corset is ridiculously tight, by the way.  I wasn't a big fan of putting it on, but it adds an authentic touch.  Who's ready for Gasparilla Day???  LOL, what a pity I don't live closer to the Tampa area!

Happy Halloween,

RagingMoon1987

Hujoo Berry review

Remember when I said I'd review my Hujoo when she got her eyes?  Well, they've been here since April!  That means that Ju-hwang (pronounced Joo-Hung, Korean for "orange") has been ready for a review since then!  I reckon I'd better get this show on the road.

I've played a lot with this doll in the time that I've owned her, so her appearance is going to vary quite a bit between pictures.  Anyway, Ju-hwang is a Hujoo Berry.  I purchased her shortly before Christmas and received her about six weeks later.  I don't remember why I went on the Hujoo site since I'm usually more drawn to Luts dolls, nor do I know why I was drawn to this tangerine-colored minx with an oversized head and oversized eyes.  All I can say is that I was drawn in, and since the price was reasonable I hit the "buy" button and settled in for the wait.  I ordered right around the time that South Korea has holidays, so it took a couple of months for my box to come.  When it did get here I received not only my doll, but a note apologizing for the delay and some free parts (rabbit ears and a cat tail).

Before the review, a little discussion.  The Berry doll is one of several 24-centimeter models that Hujoo produces; Berry's same-size companions include males Jake and Wings, and females Yomi, and...well, the other girl's name is Hujoo, just like the company!  These characters also sometimes come in different colors; the website once carried blue, chocolate, and lilac, in addition to the orange, white, and apricot that are currently available.  These 24-centimeter models are strung with elastic, and are made of ABS plastic.  This construction renders Ju-hwang off-topic for the Den of Angels forum, because she's not resin.

"What am I, chopped liver?"

Oh well, I'll share Ju-hwang here instead!  As I mentioned before she's 24 centimeters tall, which would translate into 9.45 inches.  This makes Ju-hwang taller than Pepper Parson (Bridge Direct), and a smidge taller than Kathleen, my Girls of Many Lands doll.  Kathleen doesn't look to thrilled about being photographed with these two, by the way.

Pepper, on the other hand, appears to be pleased that she's found a fellow freak.  Let's face it:  neither Pepper nor Ju-hwang are what one would call traditional dollies.

"Let's be friends, okay?"

For you older readers, here's how Ju-hwang compares to some of my vintage dolls.

Penny Brite (Deluxe Reading, far left) and Pepper (Ideal, second right) are both shorter than Ju-hwang, and Wendy, my beloved Little Miss Revlon (Ideal, far right) is taller.  Wait a minute...I'm just now realizing that I've got two dolls named Pepper!

Ideal Pepper doesn't look thrilled to be in the clutches of another oddball, but Pepper Parsons doesn't seem to notice!  LOL, this is a coincidence I never dreamed of; "Pepper" is not a name that doll companies tend to throw around.

Alrighty, back to Ju-hwang.  Starting from the top, her head is bald and comes in two pieces.  The headcap is dome-shaped and marked with the company's name.

Hujoo Berry takes a 7-8 inch wig, similar to those worn by MSD-sized dolls (and also MiM dolls, apparently).  I'll discuss wigs a bit more in a bit.  The headcap is held on by a series of pegs, and it's a bit tricky to take off and put on again.  Note the pegs inside the headcap, two just below the top and one at the bottom.

You have to line up those pegs with three corresponding pegs on the faceplate, which you'll see below.  It's fiddly but I've gotten the hang of it.  The rest of Ju-hwang's dolly brains are a little different from those of other ball-jointed dolls that I've seen.  Not much, but enough that I feel like explaining it all.

That looks like a lot in there, but it's really very simple.  In addition to holding the head closed, the large pegs at the top and center accommodate a pair of white rubber eye holders...

...as well as the elastic.  Each bit of elastic runs down through the body cavity and holds on one entire leg.  Notice that when inside the head the eye holders lie pressed up against two wads of putty that I'm using.  It just so happens that these holders can only hold full round eyes (the kind with the stem).  This is problematic because none of my BJD eyes are full round eyes.  I have hollow-backed half-round eyes from Ersa Flora and from an Etsy proprietor, and I have two sets of eyes that are flat like the yolks of sunny side-up eggs.  See?

Candy Kittens Emporium, 20mm Glittering Eden

18mm Oscar Doll

Since none of my eyes have backs, the rubber holders end up lying idle.  Luckily, Ju-hwang has shallow eye sockets inside her head.

They alone won't hold the eyes in, so I treat her like any other ball-jointed doll and use putty.  The two types of eyes I've got take two different types of putty, due to the composition of the eyes.  Ju-hwang requires large eyes, by the way.  20-millimeter eyes are recommended for the Berry model, though 18 millimeters will also work.  This has proven to be a bit problematic, because not all BJD companies make eyes that large.  I've found two suppliers that are very nice; Ersa Flora is one, and the other is an Etsy shop called Candy Kittens Emporium.  Both shops will take custom orders, both offer their wares for reasonable prices, and both are very pleasant to deal with, so if you're having trouble getting nice eyes for your ball-jointed doll, I recommend either store.

Now...on to the flipside of the head, more commonly known as the face.  Ju-hwang has her factory faceup mostly intact.  She has brown eyebrows that are painted in a light, feathered manner, and black eyeliner.  Her upper eyelashes are inset and her lower eyelashes are painted.  

The eyebrows and lower lashes are intricately painted; I detect no gaffes anywhere.  If I had any complaints it would be that the upper lashes do not match either the eyebrows or the lower lashes.  I'm unsure of the reason behind this; since Ju-hwang is a girl Hujoo may have been trying to emphasize this aspect of her femininity.  Either way the mismatched lashes are not a huge gripe.  I will have to re-glue the left lash, however.  It's come loose at the corner.

Ju-hwang's lips are probably either pink or nude, but they're painted in a pale translucent paint so I can't make out the actual color.  The detailing is great, though it's difficult to photograph; she has little lines on her lips, plus painted dimples.

Both of Ju-hwang's cheeks are supposed to be blushed, but notice that her right cheek is lighter than the left.  I'm not sure why that is.  I can't tell whether that occurred at the factory, or if it was some sort of mishap on my part.  No worries though, since ABS Hujoos can be repainted just like our resin friends.  I may do that in the future, if I can pluck up the courage to do it.  Faceups are often a daunting task for beginners.  LOL

Ju-hwang didn't come with any clothes, so there's nothing to review in that department.  Thus I'll move on to the body.  This is where things get fun; Ju-hwang is small, but her body is highly articulated.  The number of joints is comparable to those of a LIV doll, but the construction is completely different.  As you saw when I pulled apart her head, Ju-hwang is strung, and this renders her harder to pose than Daniella and her LIV friends.  Well...okay, maybe not harder.  I just had to get used to handling strung joints before I could get Ju-hwang to do what I wanted her to do.  It's been a learning experience!  But before I go into posability, let's look a little closer at the construction of Ju-hwang's joints.  Check out her ankles!

She's got little dome-shaped pieces in her ankle joint, sandwiched between the foot and the lower leg.  This enables Ju-hwang to rotate her ankles and flex them back and forth.

I like these joints, but they make it a little tricky to get Ju-hwang in a proper standing position.  I have to tinker around with her feet before I can get her to stand.  Once I've found the proper position she's good to go!

The hip joints also threw me for a curve, for they too have separate pieces to aid in posing.  I call these her "hip capsules."  The tops of Ju-hwang's thighs have four little prongs that fit into slots on the undersides of these capsules.

In order to get the legs in this position you have to pull on a leg so the elastic is showing at the hip joint, like I've done above.  Then you rotate the leg into the position you want it and let it pop back into the joint!  Make sure that the prongs line up with the grooves inside Ju-hwang's hip capsule or it won't stay.  It's not super-duper hard.  However, if you want this doll to sit, there's something else you should know.  Since Hujoos are strung they can't rely on Barbie-type hip joints for sitting.  At the top and front of each hip capsule, there's a groove like this:

On the back there is a much smaller groove like this:

To make Ju-hwang sit, first rotate the hips into the position that you want them using the instructions I provided above.  If you want her to sit cross-legged, rotate them so the knees are facing outwards.  Next, line up the forward grooves with the elastic and bend the leg upwards at the hip.  Reverse those directions if you want the leg down again.  If the leg doesn't lock into position, it's probably not aligned properly.  I always have to play around with these joints before they'll stay where I put them, so if you get one of these dolls you'll likely have to do the same.  Oh, and if you want a doll like this to sit cross-legged you'll obviously have to bend the knees.  Ju-hwang's knees are double-jointed and have the "peanut" piece that ball-jointed doll collectors know so well.

These knees have superb mobility.  Ju-hwang can kneel...

...and she can sit cross-legged, something few of my dolls can do.

Ju-hwang isn't very steady in this pose, so I usually either prop her up or place her on a flat surface and hope she stays.  Any sitting position is a bit of a balancing act, in fact.  Remember this picture?

It took me forty-five minutes to get that one picture, because Ju-hwang kept tipping over.  This next picture was no better:

Even before she got her wig and eyes I was determined to have fun with this doll!  As you can see, she's sitting on the dashboard of the family car, and she's having to use one hand to brace herself.  Her position was fairly solid once I'd gotten her in it, though; she didn't slide off the dash until Mama hit the brakes to dodge a pothole.

So Ju-hwang's legs are a bit tricky to master, but posability is great for the most part.  The rest of her joints are more simplistic in nature.  The shoulders are double-jointed, possessing a capsule similar to those found in the hips.  They have average-good motion.

The elbows are single-jointed and have very good motion.  They even rotate a little.

The wrists are a letdown.  They're double-jointed like most of Ju-hwang's other joints...

...but they just don't have the motion that a joint like this should.  They rotate just fine, but this is as far as they bend.

Both the arms are strung on a single piece of elastic, separate from the leg elastic.  I'm willing to bet that if I loosened the knot a bit these wrists would free up.  But such an endeavor would involve disassembling Ju-hwang altogether, and I'm in no mood to do that again.  I went through that little ring-around-the-Rosie when I put her eyes in the first time; the leg elastic slipped off my finger and Ju-hwang's whole body came undone.  It wasn't insanely hard to get her put back together, and if I had the right tools the job would probably be a cinch.  Unfortunately I have no forceps, and thus I had to rely on a crochet hook that kept slipping out of my hands.  Not fun.

Oh yes, I forgot that Ju-hwang has two other joints.  Her torso has a joint where the bottom of her rib cage would be if she had ribs.  This joint flexes forward and back.

She can also accommodate some side-to-side torsion, but the joint pops out of alignment and looks a little odd.  

The neck is also jointed, but it can't hold a pose.  I'll need to find a way to suede it without using hot glue.  Hot glue is not advised for ABS ball-jointed dolls, because it apparently gets hot enough to melt the plastic.

Before I move on I present...what else but a digression!  Y'all may or may not have heard of the Makies, British dolls that were once fully customizable.  Nowadays they come with 3D printed heads on plastic bodies, but in the beginning they were 100% 3D printed, bodies and all.  Miss Emily has two of the older versions (Glythia and Effie), and she says they pose like a dream.  I'd love to find one of these dolls with the older body and compare it to Ju-hwang's.  I have one customized on the site, though I haven't bought her yet.  Here's what I want her to look like.

As I said above Ju-hwang didn't come with any eyes, wig, or clothes, nor did I order said things since I was confident I could supply these things myself.  I'd seen online that Barbie clothes could fit Hujoo dolls, and that turned out to be true...with a few limitations.  Tops and shorts work nicely, as you saw when I first introduced Ju-hwang:

Skirts that are short or mid-length on Barbie will work, as will some dresses, like the two pictured below.  Penny Brite is wearing a dress that I knitted, and Ju-hwang is wearing a Fallen Angel dress from Mattel's short-lived Stardoll line.

Note that I said SOME dresses.  Anything that's too tight or too long in the arms won't work, and super-long dress and skirt hems won't work either.  And forget Barbie-sized jeans and slacks!  Shorts will work, but jeans and slacks are too skinny and too long for Ju-hwang's stubby little frame.  None of Barbie's shoes will fit either, since Ju-hwang has...well, for a doll she has very realistic feet.  I neglected to show these in the body review, so here's what her feet look like.

That's a lot of detail for plastic feet!  They're not ridiculously big, but they're large enough that most of the shoes I've got won't fit.  Old-style Ken shoes fit, but getting them off again was so hard that I abandoned that idea after the first try.  I do have some cute patent leather ankle boots, but Ju-hwang doesn't seem to mind going barefoot.

According to what I've read online, Neo Blythe clothes fit the Berry body quite nicely.  I don't have any Blythe clothes yet, but I do have some things that I've knitted from Blythe patterns.  Most of what I've made fits Ju-hwang like a charm, though I did accidentally make one dress too short.  No worries, since I wanted a pair of leggings for her anyway!  If all other clothing options fail, Etsy has a few things that will fit a Hujoo Berry.  My favorite store is Sammy's Treat Shop.  They are a lot like Candy Kittens Emporium, only they offer a wide selection of clothes rather than eyes.  You can request something specific or you can get a grab bag of stuff in the size that you want (sizes range from Pukipuki all the way up to 72-cm boys).  The items can be knitted, crocheted, or sewn.  I ordered two grab bags and I couldn't be happier with the contents.  The prices are great and the proprietor is a pleasure to talk to.  She even included two little cookies as freebies! 

Well!!!  That's quite a bit to mull over, innut?  And I still haven't done the good and bad stuff yet.

BAD

*Doll is elastic-strung.  This wouldn't be a bad thing, except that you have to know a thing or two about restringing a doll if you have one with strung joints.

*Some of the joints have poor mobility.  The wrists and neck are a letdown.

*Faceup is a tad uneven.  Not much, but enough that I'm including it here.

*Requires large eyes.  Not all eyes come in 20mm or 18mm gauge, which is a bit of a downer.

*Off-topic on Den of Angels.

GOOD

*Sturdy.  Instead of resin, which can break, these dolls are made of ABS plastic.  Keep acetone away and the plastic will hold strong.

*Easy to maintain.  No worries about breakage, chipping, yellowing, staining, or problems that plague resin ball-jointed dolls.

*Easy to afford.

*Customer service was good.  I had to wait awhile for this doll, but the lady running things was nice about it.

*Excellent starter BJD, for reasons I mentioned above.

*Unique!  I couldn't pass up that orange plastic!

*Posability is good.  It's not perfect, but it's good.

*Highly customizable.

In short, I've heard some nasty things about how plastic ball-jointed dolls are looked down upon by hardcore dolly lovers.  Apparently it's thought that if it's not resin, why bother?  I've got news for those folks:  it is just as easy to love and be satisfied with a plastic doll as it is a resin one.  Ju-hwang is a rewarding doll to own.  In the short time I've had her I've learned how to restring a doll, learned how to navigate Asian doll websites, learned about dolly sizes, and I've sharpened my people skills by dealing with the folks who run the Etsy stores.  No, that knowledge isn't going to find a cure for cancer, but it made me feel a little less inept when it comes to the ball-jointed doll hobby, so that's satisfying enough for me.  If you're looking for a low maintenance ball-jointed doll and don't yet want to take the dive on a resin one, I highly recommend the Hujoo Berry model.  If Berry didn't light your fire, keep in mind that there are other characters available.  Hujoo dolls can be found at their own website, and special models can also be purchased from Junky Spot.

Love,

RagingMoon1987