Hollywood Dolls

Every now and then I give in to my 'dark' side and buy a Pink Box item from Mattel.  I liked Jane's cloak. The price was right as I used my $20. coupon.  She doesn't look quite evil enough. I still like her.




Her cloak is sewn shut at the front seam. It will be quite easy to rip the thread open and put in hooks and eyes. What I didn't expect was sewn on gloves! Weird.

Michael Williams pointed out this resemblance earlier tonight.

Fall 2010 Runway Alexander McQueen

Mattel's Darya Barbie Doll 2011 FMC

According to the Barbie Collector site, this doll was designed by Robert Best. The 'resemblance' is unmistakable.

Maddie's Dolls & More of Canada is offering this Barbie-Ken set for free with a purchase of $50 Cdn or more. There are other items on sale as well.






...I don't know. I think I'd rather have Ken's balls.



Seriously! When will Mattel pull this item?

Here is a link to Michael William's fabulous photos from 2011 NY Toyfair's Mattel Displays.

Photo By Michael Williams/mawphoto.com

Mattel sent out email to all members of Barbie Fan Club showing two sneaks of actual dolls and a drawing of another. The fourth is still a secret.
Redhead Silkstones are winners in my opinion. This one is BFMC Ekaterina. She is the first club exclusive and will be available in February with free shipping.

This is a screen shot of part of the email. The Platinum Label doll is the blonde in the white dress. She is called Pinch of Platinum and has the endlessly skinny, hands-on-hips model muse pose, a boring vapid smile and an un-articulated body and collectors will buy every last one the minute she goes on sale. The sketch of the witchy-styled doll is called "Fall Holiday Hostess." The outfit is cute - nothing new but cute.
 "The opportunity to purchase Ekaterina™ Barbie® begins 2/9/11 at 11:00am CT for $99.95, for 2011 BFC™ members only, in the online shop. No more than 3,000 of these dolls will be available for sale. Doll purchases are optional and available only to members of the 2011 Barbie Fan Club." 

Information on joining (or re-joining) the BFC is coming next week.

Definitely among the top toys this holiday season are the Monster High character figures. Mattel is capitalizing on their popularity by releasing a third wave of dolls called Gloom Beach. The last wave was called Dawn of the Dance.  I was browsing eBay this morning and found this photo:

Mattel Promotional Photo

Atamaii. Com has a limited source of what's new in this line.  Angelic Dreamz is taking pre-orders for the entire line of Gloom Beach dolls at the SRP of $19.95. Don't bother going to eBay where you will pay twice that. George is also taking orders for the Monster High furniture, separate outfits and other related items such as plushies, fortune telling skulls, key chains, electronic fearbook journals and the  iCoffin hand held Device.

I am amazed at the number and variety of related products such as costumes, plush toys, games, jewelry, furniture, separate outfits, electronic devices, handbags, masks and more! Isn't it fun to play dead?

I gave seven Monster High dolls to my little girl cousins over Thanksgiving and they love them. I received this picture from them showing the dolls posed on the American Girl stage. So cute.

The only MH dolls currently in my possession are Holt Hyde and Ghoulia Yelps. I love their names.

They had to get in on the Chanukah action.

More to come!

The Thanksgiving Feast Barbie has arrived and I am very pleased that I ordered her! She looks even better in person than the promotional photo.

I will be leaving her in her box. Just look at the background. It's perfect!

Her stand appears to be a vintage type with pins that insert into the bottom of the foot. Yay!


The food tray is nicely detailed and executed and although the doll's hands can't really hold anything, the rubber bands are supporting the tray at a 'believable' angle.


The box was completely tissued and came in it's own mint shipper box inside of another peanut filled box. So how did the upper right corner get smooshed?  It doesn't really bother me but it is noteworthy.

This doll is available for purchase to Barbie Fan Club members for the retail price of $50. One doll per membership. She is a Gold Label and part of the Holiday Hostess Collection. No more than 3100 units will be produced worldwide.

I heartily recommend this doll.

I'm a little bit hooked on these adorable, cheap dolls. I ordered the new Cleo de Nile Dawn of the Dance doll (below on the right) directly from the Mattel shop today. The list price is $16.99. I got free shipping and if you sign up for a free account you get 10% off your purchase. Because I live in taxable New York, the 10% tax was pretty much canceled out but my total was only $16.51 complete! Not bad at all.

As always, you should shop around for your best deal as many are overcharging for these dolls. There are a total of 9 figures not counting the plushies right now. Some dealers on eBay are selling the entire collection of 9. Do the math and find your best price.

Frankie Stein, Clawdeen Wolf, Cleo DeNile

Images above were created by Mattel and were adapted by eBay vendors.

There is one caution I should add. The joints on these dolls are fragile in that I've had arms fall out from the lightest handling. It doesn't happen all the time but it will happen. Additionally, some of their little accessories are attached with clear rubber bands. I suggest leaving the bands. I have already lost one leg fin from one of the girls. My Deuce Gorgon's legs were detached inside his pants. The pants are so tight that I didn't notice until I had discarded all the packaging. Luckily I have a friend who can fix this for me.
Save the boxes and the receipts.

Krystal - Estimated delivery date .December 2010 $34.95

Alexis - Estimated delivery date December 2010   $34.95

John Forsythe, himself a handsome and distinguished actor, is the man in the middle. In the show he is married to Krystle. He'd make a hot-looking doll. Forsythe passed away in April, 2010 at the age of 92.

The dolls still look like Barbie. The hair is close to the actress' styles and the fashions are very good replicas from what I can see but the faces are still very Barbie. Isn't anyone else getting tired of that body pose? Such a waste of vinyl.

Linda Evans and Joan Collins were gorgeous in that series.

Joan, at 77, still looks great.
Linda's plastic surgeon should be shot.

Every now and then you just need to have a new doll immediately. At 9:30 PM tonight I found myself in that situation and off to Walmart I went. I live in nowheresville and 9 miles away is a slightly larger nowheresville called Kingston, NY. We have dollar stores and CVS by the dozen. Our Walmart and Toys R Us are not mega stores so the pickings are usually quite slim. The Barbie fraction of an aisle was kind of barren as I expected. The aisle over had lots of big head Livs and Moxies and tiny pet thingies. But I spied some Monster High dolls and snatched up the two that I wanted. I almost ordered these several weeks ago but stopped at the last minute.

Four individual characters were there but I chose the two without fangs. They are Lagoona Blue , Daughter of the Sea Monster, and Frankie Stein, Daughter of Frankenstein (Duh.)

At under $38. for both (that includes NY tax), I got a kick out of them. They're more articulated than any Barbie doll ever made! Dressed in their platform heels, they measure 11". Add another 1/4 inch with the stand. Each girl has a pet. Lagoona Blue's pet is a piranha that goes inside her fishbowl handbag. So cute. Frankie Stein's pet is a dog who is stitched together, just like his owner. He also has angel wings. Does that mean he is dead and risen? 
The little details on their outfits are hilarious like the lightning bolt on Frankie's belt. Lagoona has webbed hands and lovely aqua streaks in her hair.
Their forearms are removable. These dolls are skinny with giant heads but it works and it's fun and now I want the Deuce Gorgon and Cleo de Nile gift set. It never ends.

Did I mention they're made by Mattel?

In a piece written by Stephanie Finnegan in Dolls Magazine, the author tells us that many men who identify with the era of anti-feminism and steno pools are collecting these dolls and adore the show. But...the real life Jayne Mansfield hips, thighs and chest of several of the actresses are not appreciated. These "men" want the good old days of women in shirtwaists pushing a carpet cleaner around the living room in the Levittown ranch home. However they are fixated on the current trend of skinny girls being the idealized figure for a woman.

Don Draper et al. remind me of my father, his brother and their 5th Avenue office. The hairstyles, the skinny ties, the suits, the drinking and the smoking are over-the-top accurate. It's painful to watch.  I do, however, appreciate how well the show is done and the look of it is amazing. I guess that's why it is able to tap into the memories for me.

"“Mad Men” takes place back in the days when “men were men,” and a combo of chauvinism and arrogance were the necessary ingredients for a young executive’s rise at the workplace. (Women on the show, by and large, are left to languish in the stenographer pool, hoping that a well-turned leg and a nice neckline will land them a hubby and a happy home in the suburbs.)"



 Here is the link to the rest of the article.  It's a great read as she ties the dolls in with social issues of the past and current. I recommend it.

Looks like the giant, scary Mattel isn't all that powerful in the courts these days.
I thought this statement by an Apellate Panel Chief Judge, Alex Kozinski, was very true and just:

“Even assuming that MGA took some ideas wrongfully, it added tremendous value by turning the ideas into products and, eventually, a popular and highly profitable brand,” the appellate panel said in an opinion written by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. “It is not equitable to transfer this billion-dollar brand, the value of which is overwhelmingly the result of MGA’s legitimate efforts, because it may have started with two misappropriated names.” 

Read more. 

From the Flickr photostream of callme_crochet

"High school sweethearts Cleo De Nile and Deuce Gorgon are the most popular couple at Monster High and the most fashionable! And they have some very famous scary cool parents as well! Cleo De Nile is the daughter of the Mummy and Deuce Gorgon is the son of Medusa. The Deuce Gorgon doll comes with his pet rat, Perseus, and his cool shades. The Cleo De Nile doll has her pet snake, Hissette, and golden purse. Includes 2 dolls, 2 pets, 2 accessories, 2 diaries, a brush, and 2 doll stands."

The new Monster High Dolls and related merchandise has launched and I think they're going to be very popular. Their clothes are trendy; they're affordable, quirky and adorable. The two-doll set is $34.99.

"Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Frankie Stein and Lagoona Blue are the coolest ghouls in school with their trendy fashions, accessories and scary cute pets! And they have some very famous scary cool parents as well! Draculaura is the daughter of Dracula, Clawdeen Wolf is the daughter of the Werewolf, Frankie Stein is the daughter of Frankenstein and Lagoona Blue is the daughter of the Sea Monster. Dolls are fully articulated so they can be posed in many different ways! Includes 1 doll, pet, accessory, diary, brush, and doll stand. "

The Monster High Doll Assortment Case of 6 individually packaged dolls sells for $109.99.

For more informaton: Entertainment Earth.

The clothes are to die for. The details are amazing but what else would one expect from Karl Lagerfeld? I was not familiar with Chrome Hearts clothing and jewelry as I rarely purchase things like $800. hoodies. (rarely=never) OK, so I'm sheltered, too. Putting fabulous clothes and edgy hairstyles on stiff-armed, weirdly proportioned 3-foot tall figures is artsy to say the least. How on earth is Mattel marketing this to these designers? There are much better looking dolls out there. Anyway, there is no resemblance to Barbie except for the stiff arms, perennial smile and the big head.

Is this Mattel's casual/punk version of Theatre de la Mode?

"Karl Lagerfeld's favorite ring-maker, Chrome Hearts (they make other stuff, too, like $800 hoodies and $190 trucker caps) has collaborated with Mattel's Barbie on a 12-doll retrospective.

Now, these are no ordinary pocket-Barbies, oh no. The Chrome Hearts Barbies are each more than 3 feet tall, dressed head-to-toe in intricately detailed Chrome Hearts clothing and jewelry, and they all have their hair done by celebrity stylist Oribe—who usually charges human clients about $500 for a haircut. The clothing, accessory, hair, and makeup detail is actually stunning—check it out in the gallery (above). The Barbies are valued at $18,000 to $25,000 each and will be on exhibit from April 10-24 at Roma Cohen's Alchemist in Miami, after which the tour will continue through New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Shanghai."

Image and text from RACKED. Click on the link for more pictures and information about individual dolls.

Let me say right off the bat that this is one of the best Kens ever made. He's good looking, his hair is done well, he's fully articulated -wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles, knees, legs and neck and the clothes look good on him. He's a winner. He comes with an adjustable waist gripper plastic stand but he can stand on his own. The Barbie doll on the other hand is articulated only at the knees, legs, shoulders and neck. Why is she a second class citizen? It just doesn't make sense to articulate one doll and not the other. Her outfit is adorable and fits her well. Her hair is another story. The texture of the hair makes it knotty. Some of it comes out when it's combed. The bump thing on the crown of her head is not hard and could easily be taken down if one wished.
They both come with sunglasses and helmets. The helmets are a joke. They are very small and look like batters' helmets rather than motorcycle helmets. Barbie does not have applied lashes and she does have a rhinestone in her navel.
Barbie's stand is one of those sway types for the models although her body is not like that.
The set, while not cheap, is worth getting just for Ken. Keep her clothes; get rid of Barbie.

The bike in the photo was picked up at a rummage event. It is not Mattel as far as I can tell.

There are quite a few adorable or unique-looking Barbie dolls for 2010 that I enjoy looking at. Just for fun, I am going to post their pictures here.

"Dolly Forever" Barbie by Christian Louboutin was announced today and Mattel is collecting names for a VIP wait list. Those whose names make it to the list are guaranteed to learn when she goes on sale. What a bunch of marketing hype. A total of 7,700 dolls will be produced worldwide for the price of $150.

The boots and shoes are very nice. The rest of the doll is average. The safari style dress is a bore and looks cheap. And the anorexic, unarticulated body of these dolls leaves me cold. There's nothing exciting about Dolly Forever above her knees.
You don't really need to get on the VIP list at all. The doll can be pre-ordered from your favorite Barbie dealer.