My Life As Doll Outdoor Boy! A Guest Post From Dolly Friend!

Hi Doll Friends!!

My wonderful Dolly Friend sent me this amazing photo review of the My Life As Doll Outdoor Boy!! I had considered buying one just to check him out myself but since I already have four MLA Boys, I am so glad she did a review for me!! 

Enjoy!!

Thanks Dolly Friend!! You Rock!!

XXOO
Heather

The Boys Of The Doll Village!! A Group Photo And My Life As Doll Boy Makeover!

Greetings Doll Friends!!

Recently I had a lovely kind comment from a reader of this little blog who also happens to enjoy the YouTube videos I've made... It's always so wonderful to hear from ya'll cos sometimes I forget that I am not just writing this and sending it off into the out reaches of the webs-o-the-world-wide with no hope of it reaching anyone. As a person who's lived through the entirety of the Information Age, there are still days that the internet itself blows my mind and so... Well, whatever, I am rambling. But thanks for the comments when ya'll leave them! It's nice to hear from ya'll! 

One request this reader had was to see an updated post about my boy dolls from the Doll House Village. As it had been quite some time since I had done my last 'Boy Dolls in the Doll House' post, I agreed that it was a great idea! So, this past weekend I got all the boy dolls together and we did a group photo. That sounds a bit easier than it probably is especially given the population of boy dolls around here. Hahaha. I had to reconfigure my 'risers' three times to get them all into a photo! But it was well worth it to get this group. It reminds me a lot of 'class photos' from when I was a kid. Right? 

This is a panorama photo... I think those are so neat!

So who are the boys? Let me run through them for you (all left to right):

Front Row: Randy (black & white shirt) Giuseppe (red shorts) & No-Name-Yet (purple & black shorts

Second Row: Milo (in hat), Adam (grey shirt), Tyler (Blue jersey) Mike (white shirt & tie), Jon (blue sleeves), Kevin (red/white/black shirt), Gabe (gray hoodie), Ash (green/yellow jersey) & Heath (New York jersey)

Third Row: Steve (Hawaiian shirt), Elvis (black shirt), Hector (gray hat), Frank (gray shirt), Bill (white hoodie), Drogo (black leather jacket), PJ (blue button shirt) & Joe (Yellow shirt)

Fourth/Back Row: Paul (green hat), Ashbee (navy jersey), Jamar (black & gray shirt), Josh (plaid shirt), Vito (black/yellow jacket), Omar (blue/yellow), Skywise (hocky helmet), David (striped shirt) & Aubrey (gray shirt). 

So, that's all the boys in the Doll House. Holler if you have any questions about any of them... They are mostly customized from girl dolls obviously. I think they are fantastic! I need to use them in more posts instead of focusing so much on the girls. I'll have to keep that in mind in future posts.

Since I am here talking about boys... I wanted to get your opinion on this guy. I found him at Goodwill for only $1.99 when I found the Food Truck . I already had a boy doll of this exact sort with my Bill Doll and so I knew I'd want to make him over even though his hair was in great shape. My first thought was to give him a blonde wig and make him look like a surfer guy... However, recently, My Life As Doll has released two boy dolls with long hair. Hmmm... So, one day, as I was considering a wig for another doll and had my 'wig bag' out, I ran across this Madame Alexander wig that I'd gotten at Tuesday Morning a while ago. I'd never used it because, while it is a pretty good quality wig, the wig cap is stark white. What?! So pony tails and such don't look all that nice... But... For a boy.... Hmmmm...

I put it on him and I think he looks smashing! I haven't cut off the other hair yet, since it's short I was able to try on this wig over the top but I think it's a keeper. What do you think? 

Well, I better run! Where does the time go? 

Hope you have a great day Doll Friends!!

XXOO

Heather

New My Life As Doll and Our Generation Boy Dolls!!

Doll Friends!

There are so many neat 18inch Doll items coming out right now that it's hard to keep track or to knwo which I want to buy more with my Doll Mad Money! Oy vey!! Ever since My Life As Doll released their first boy dolls, then Our Generation followed suite and finally American Girl Doll did, it's been so much fun watching the boy doll market take off! So I was in Walmart this weekend looking for the 'new stuff' and all I found was a whole lot of nothing on that score... Untill... On a shelf that wasn't even in the My Life As Doll section, I see this fella.

He's one of the two new boy dolls out from My Life As Doll this year and he has a man bun!?!?!

Both of the new boys do although I only saw one of the two on the shelf. 

Here he is next to another new release doll, a skater.

And another new one, I love the donut PJs! If the consensus on the Doll Groups of Facebook are any indication, My Life As might've bombed out on these new guys. Mostly I got 'that's horrible!' reactions... A few people mentioned re-wigging and I laughed because it's like going back to square one really... A few years ago the only way to get an 18inch boy doll was to chop off a girl dolls hair and customize her into a boy. Now... A boy doll is coming out and we are still talking about scalping the doll! I don't think I'll buy either of them any time soon. Perhaps if they get slashed to deep clearance this time next year I'll grab one or two and rewig them but for now... Um. No.

However... I've been shopping researching Target for new items in the Our Generation Dolls and low and behold.... 

Much like the Tyler Doll, they knocked this out of park. I think he is adorable. 

So.... yeah....

He's on the way to the Doll House... Teehee.

I may very well run out of August Doll Mad Money before the 10th at this rate but... Meh... You only live once!! Right? Can't wait for him to arrive so I can show him to you! I am not keeping his name Gabe.... I'll reveal his new name after he arrives... So I can make sure the name 'fits' after I see him in person. 

So... If you've been waiting on taking the plunge on an 18inch boy doll for your Doll House, there are so many great options now! The only downside of the boy dolls being mass produced now is that the sellers who's specialty was making custom boys have likely taken a bad hit. But... That's the free market for you. If there is a market for something, people rush to fill it. Isn't it grand?

Better run! Have about five different drafts I am working on currently... Let's see if I can't get another one finished this morning before I have to be a grown-up again...

XXOO

Heather

Farvision Boy Doll School Uniform From Amazon!

Hi Doll Friends!

I've been on a bit of a mini-break... So I haven't posted in nearly a week! I didn't take the four days off from doll-ing completely but I did take the time off from the Internet for the most part... Well, other than shopping researching. Totally different, that. Right? 

*giggles*

Anyway, so over my mini-break, I had some parcels arrive in the post! Ever since the Fancy Spring Dance, I've been keeping my eyes out for 'dressy' doll clothes... So maybe the next time I have a dance the boys can come and not have to dress in 'jock clothes'. Amazon has had a line of dolls and doll clothes that have intrigued me for a while now. They are called 'Farvision'. So... When I saw their boy doll school uniform I decided I'd try out an outfit first. Maybe someday I'll get one of their dolls... We will see. I've been waiting for Amazon reviews of them but so far not much. Do any of you, dear readers, own a Farvision doll? I'd love to hear about it!! I digress... 

Aaaaand... I think it's pretty fantastic especially considering the whole outfit is only $14.99. I think I'll be buying more.... Teehee... I mean, they'd all look the same but I've been playing with ideas on how to make doll ties so.... We will see.

Here is the card included...

Kind of sweet! A little card!

Nice fabric...

Real buttons!! Nice!!

The inside tag...

The khaki pants... And belt!!

Velcro AND snap! Nice feature.

Real pockets!

Handsome outfit. Yes, I am sure I'll buy more... 

(look in left side mirror? LOL The mirror made his face look funny. Weird right?)

Better run!

XXOO
Heather

Josh Doll Get's New Clothes! AKA New In Box Tolly Tots Doll Clothes Set!

Doll Friends,

Sometimes I am my own worst enemy. *giggles* Since telling ya'll about the adorable Tolly Tot's Clothing Ensemble sets I got recently on eBay, I've started keeping my eye on that search on eBay more carefully recently. Because I am telling you, the clothes I got are so utterly top notch in every way and so adorable.

Side note: One thing that makes me smile about a few of the ones I got the other day, they were made in the 1990's, I think, and the styles are very much from that time period. Bell bottoms and platform shoes had made their way back into fashion that decade, much to my horror at first, but then I got used to them and they became my style.  So, now I am one of those pathetic old bitties who won't dare wear the strait legged jeans, skinny jeans I think they call them, now because I can't stand how they look. Luckily I think there is a rule that if you wore a style the first time around you're technically not supposed to wear it when it rolls back around again so I've been saved from skinny jeans by being 45 years old. Ha! I am pretty much like a uniform in my style honestly. In the summer I wear a long tank top under a long short sleeved tshirt, jeans and sandles. In the winter I wear a long sleeved thermal shirt, a long tshirt, jeans and a hoody with knee high socks and slip on flats or Born tie up shoes. So, yeah, I am stuck in the 90s I guess? (At least I packed away my Doc Martens! I refuse to get rid of any of my three pairs though because those shoes could survive a nuclear war I think...) For a little while I owned/operated an Etsy store selling vintage clothes and that particular few years I kicked up my style a notch, wearing 'signature' pieces from many a fabulous wardrobe... But in recent years I've settled back into my jeans wearing self. Gotta be me I suppose, gotta be me. I digress. I do love clothes though and style... Now I just reflect it through my dolls more than through my own wardrobe! 

One weakness, when it comes to doll clothes, is, when I find them for a good price, boy doll clothes. They are becoming easier and easier to find luckily since American Girl, Our Generation and My Life As Doll all have a boy doll in their line now. So that's good. The other day when I was shopping researching on eBay I came across this adorable outfit:

It actually looked like this in the eBay listing and when I got it.

The box was kind of smashed. If I hadn't just found those other Tolly clothes recently, I might not have even taken a closer look because it does look pretty mangled. If you don't know how great Tolly clothes are, you might pass it up. I got it for $5.00 plus $3.50 shipping. So, cheaper than the My Life As Doll outfits at Walmart but so much more well made and adorable! It came with a pair of shoes and a soccer ball! (I forgot to photo the ball in the photo of Josh Doll modeling the outfit, sorry!)

It came with a sweatshirt in addition to this windbreaker hoodie and pants. The pants have zippers on them so you can convert them into shorts. The shoes are probably my favorite part but I love the entire ensemble! So... If you're looking for great doll clothes, keep Tolly Tot's on your eBay search engines. I am almost reticent to tell you that because I'll be creating competition in the bids! Hahaha! Since you're my Doll Friend, I'll risk it because I love you. Teeheehee. Also, it might keep me off the Hoarding Show. So, go,, now, run, buy them all! There are two on listings right now even... Luckily they are $12 each plus shipping and I am a cheapskate. That doesn't mean they aren't on my watch list though. I am weak!! Ha! Sure you understand Doll Friend. Right?

Still working on the 'My Collection So Far' posts but.... I've got a few of them posted as videos on YouTube!! YouTube Videos are easier to produce in some ways than blog posts because there is no writing involved, just photos. So oftentimes posts make it there first. Not that I have all that many viewers... But I make them as much for myself as anyone because I get a kick out of seeing my doll photos on our huge TV screen... Like seeing my dolls being famous. Technology is a trip, eh?

Tolly Tot's Collection Video

Journey Girl Collection Video

Lotus 18 inch Doll Collection Video

My Life As Doll Collection Video

And the Adora Doll Collection is uploading as I type... Soon enough I'll get the posts done about them but in the meantime at least you can see the photos of all of them if you'd like. 

Better run!

Happy Tuesday!

XXOO

Heather

Vintage 1998 Shopko Battat Doll Garage Sale Find

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I went to a Garage Sale Saturday and there at a sale, mixed in with like 10 porcelain dolls was an old school Shopko Battat doll new in its box!! She was asking $10 but accepted $8 since it was like 2pm on last day of sale. I knew exactly what I was going to do with the doll!

I bought this fantasy boy wig a while ago with no particular doll in mind... I just thought it was cute and suspect that the Muzi Wigs on Amazon will not be as inexpensive as they are indefinately. After I bought my first one for Sasha I put a review good review on it and the price almost immedately went up. Funny! So I imagine the current prices will last until they get a bit of good feedback and then will all go up. So, I bought a couple of them. Teehee. 

So when I saw this doll, knew the wig would be perfect! 

I honestly had no idea that Battat ever made an 18inch doll for Shopko?! I guess I kind of assumed that all the Battat 18inch dolls had always been sold at Target. So when I found this one that was clearly marked as a Shopko doll, I was intrigued and, of course, Googled it. Apparently there were two sorts of 18" Battat dolls sold at Shopko in the late 1990s. There was this sort, the "Autumn Harvest" kind and there were also some called Collector's Lane . They even, apparently, had Mini Collector's Lane Kids dolls. too. Fun! 

The box was in good shape for being about 20 years old. It was very simple with only illustrations of a vicotrian looking house with a leaf in the middle talking about the dolls. 

See what I mean, not a whole lot to the box.

Here is the doll out of the outer box. The outfit seems very top notch and was probably worth every cent of the $8 I paid for the doll. See why I can never pass them up?? Teehee. 

I could tell strait off that the wig was not good quality. I have found other vintage Battat dolls  and both  I've removed the wig from and they were both dreadful wigs that were nearly impossible to pry off. 

Being as these dolls retailed for about $30 in 1998, if I am reading the information on them correctly, I think they must've put all the money of production into the doll and the outfit. So, naturally they had to scrimp on the wig. Kind of like the Heidi Ott Faithful Friends dolls I have found in the past. I digress...

Interesting note of warning. Eh?

I could tell I was in for the oh-so-fun 'hair sewn to the plastic' like some modern dolls.

I knew I'd planned to remove the wig but since I also wanted to show ya'll the doll as she came out of the box, I went about removing her hair from the plastic like I planned to keep her hair. 

She had this tag on her wrist. Apparently there was a Jill, this Cindy and a Susan in the line. 

See? Right out fo the box the wig looks pretty bad!! See the frizzy tangled mess underneath!

The cute little backpack was sewn to her outfit.

Did I mention the outfit was great? That was before I realized how great. The pockets on the cute little sweater are real, as are the buttons. The little skirt is made of corduroy in red with a perfectly matched mock turtleneck top. Very cute!

I was surprised to see that, under the cute outfit was some pretty well made underwear, both panties and a tank top. Sweet! These little white tops often work well for boy dolls with a pair of shorts or something. So nice to have another one.

Here she is... About to have her wig removed. 

Look at that! The wig was partly stuck to the neck. Very poorly done. Which was nice because it meant that I didn't have a moments pause in removing the wig. 

I just sort of pulled at the edge of the wig to see if it was, like, superglued on the way of all the other vintage wigged Battat dolls have been. I have literally just cut all the hair off all but the first one and haven't even tried to pry them off because they are extremely hard to remove!! I've just glued the wig over the wig cap after I cut off the hair. So I was really surprised when the edge of the wig gave way pretty easily... So I started pulling it off and was able to pull it off without even using nail polish remover or anything. Nice! 

I forgot to get much of a photo of the wig before I put it on. It came packaged in a plastic bag with a carboard sleeve around it to make sure the wig doesn't get squished. Aren't the colors nice!

I loved him right away! I have a few fantasy girls, Prism and Spectrum and so I needed a boy! I haven't decided on a name for him yet... When I look at him I think of anime boy with white hair and it makes me smile. Two of my favorite comic book characters of all time are Cutter and Skywise from Elf Quest and they both have white hair. I realize this little fella has brown eyes and not blue but I think he might be named Skywise Cutter anyway just because I like it. It kind of matches Prism and Spectrum's names.  

I think he's adorable.

Here he is with the old wig. I don't even think I'll save it for a forlorn looking thrift store doll... It just needs to be thrown away!

Here is Skywise with Becky, another vintage Battat I own. She was made after they began to give them plugged hair and it's actually pretty nice. 

I thought I had several of the Autumn Harvest doll's face sculpt already but when I got home to compare, nope. It's a different one than I have ever seen?

Here is Becky, Vito, Skywise and Mike. They are all vintage Battat dolls. 

I also have this fella Hector who is also an older Battat but again, a different face sculpt. So, it's fun to have the new one in my collection

Better run! 

Have a fantastic day!

XXOO

Heather