"Our Gen" Clothes on eBay: A Review!!

Hi Doll Friends!!

As I wrote about here, I recently came across what seemed to be currently styled OG Clothes on eBay! Intrigued, I'd bought about three sets and they arrived and were lovely. One thing about eBay though is that not all auctions are created equal. Some of the items arrived a little bit less than perfect...

Don't get me wrong, some of what came was top notch and cute as a button too!! Such as this ensemble I had to immediately dress Frann in because she is who I imagined wearing it when I bought it. It's so fashion forward and classy. Perfect. 

The outfit on the right is from two of the items that arrived, for instance. The skirt is in perfect shape and so is yellow jacket other than it missing it's buttons. 

Here is the way they arrived. All in plastic bag by ensemble as they were purchased. All looked pretty up and up... Until I opened a few of them... To find flaws...

All in all they were pretty great. Some of them were mighty wrinkled but a trip across the ocean in a plastic bag will do that to a garment and so no harm, no foul. Mostly I am delighted with the separate pieces... As separates, they are going to make some really cute outfits when paired with items from my rather expansive doll wardrobe. (Not trying to sound braggy there, I am 43 years old and dolls are my thing... LOL It's just a fact). I only mention it because while I am going to find some fun outfits out of all of this, together as a group, it'd be tricky to find things that looked 'correct' together. I mention it in case a Grandma is out there wanting to buy a fast wardrobe for her granddaughter or whatever. This would be a good way but also buy a plain white tshirt or two to go with it and it'll work out fine. 

I hung all of them on what used to be my doll bed... "Used to be my doll bed?? What happened to it?" I got a new one! Post to come soon! But the old doll bed made a perfect little 'closet' to show you what I got before I took it down stairs to become a shoe rack again in my daughters room. Isn't it nice that it was my doll bed for years but with the removal of a few zip ties, it goes back to its original purpose...? Neat! Anyway back to the clothes...

So as you can see, I got some pretty nifty items and quite a lot of them...Aren't they cute? 

I love most of them!

See, here are the wrinkles I mentioned... And... the flaws...

This top looks like it got wiped on the bottom of a warehouse floor or something.... It's on the inside of the lapel and will likely come out? But it's pretty filthy...

And the adorable coat has a bad stain... Again, might come out? 

This top had a wierd flaw... Both velcros are the 'soft' kind and so it won't stick as it has no 'loop' type. I just tucked it into the skirt and the top closure works so... It works ok.... But it's a flaw. 

Both these items had flaws.... but interestingly enough that there are two of them...! I only ordered one? It was in same bag so I presume when they pulled the lots to make the auctions, they accidentally grabbed two yellow jackets and put them in the bag. So... Flawed but bonus? I have buttons so that's fixable...

This bummed me out though... A hole!! In blue and white shirt. Bummer! I must add though that I contacted the seller and they say they are sending replacements!! I sent them photos of flaws of course. So... Hopefully it's only a temporary setback and will be set to rights!! So my 'review' of them is to say that they really are the top notch OG items you'd normally get at the store but generally matched up oddly in ensembles, a bit wrinkled and with a flaw here and there that, if you tell seller about, they will send a replacement for. So... All in all, a pretty good deal!! If you're looking to bulk up your dolly clothes wardrobe on a budget, this might just work for you. Just don't expect them to be as perfect as if you picked them up at the local store!

Have had a chacne to review this dress yet but it's SO CUTE!!

This was so nice! They had covers on the sticky side of velcro to keep it from snagging garment! So that and some of the others were all top notch in that regard!

See?

Frann looks so cute and happy in her new duds!!

Better run! I said I'd blog until 10AM and it's 10:05AM!

Till next time!
XXOO
 Heather

Pen Pal 18 Inch Doll Leanne Gets MakeOver Again!!

Hi Doll Friends!! 

My friend Leanne, after whom one of my Pen Pal Dolls is named after has already gone through a makeover once before... But I still wasn't entirely happy with her wig. The color was right and the style was pretty good. I liked it a lot until it'd been brushed a few times and started to seem tangly... 

So I decided she needed a new wig to go to go with her new body. I got this one on eBay and I absolutely love the way it came out! She is perfect now!!

Here she is in front of the Doll House (Or Hobbit House... haha!)

See, this is her with the other wig and body... Pretty wig but... just a bit tough to keep styled right. 

So muh better!! I need to trim the bangs up just a smidge but think I am going to beg my lovely friend who cuts hair professionally to to them for me so I don't mess them up. Not like they'll grow back out, eh??

One detail of the Pen Pal dolls I might not have mentioned before and one of the reasons they were perfect to be doppleganger dolls for who they are is their eye pigmentation. If you look closely, it looks just like blue camo! Which, for my Leanne doll, is perfect because she is in the Army! 

So pretty!! I love her so much!

Better run!

Till Next Time!
XXOO

Heather

Body Transplant's Galore at the Doll House!!

Hi Doll Friends!

So I recently did a doll body transplant for a doll who's vintage face scuple I loved but who's body I wasn't too fond of... Well, after loving the results of that so much, I got on a bit of a kick. 

This recent Vintage Sekiguchi Doll eBay find got me to thinking... "What would a Sekiguchi be like with a 'poseable' body?" Well, I still had the Our Generation doll I got here always seemed, to me, to have a bit of a 'green' tinge to her hair.... So... I decided to change out the Sekiguchi head onto the OG body. 

As you can see, the Sekiguchi doll bodies are not poseable at all, mostly cloth. So they always have to sit and never look just 'right' in the doll clothes made for 18" dolls. 

To get head off, you just have to open up a bit of the seam at neck, take a 'seam ripper' tool and get it up under the old zip tie... Then after you have the seam ripper in there, it's easier to get scissors in and snip the tie. 

Only trouble? The OG Doll was a 'poseable' one and I forgot they come with armatures. Not normally a problem except the Sekiguchi had a 'neck' attached to their head just like the Vintage Mattel Cameo Doll had. 

I was committed at this point... So I went and yanked the wig off another OG doll and took off it's head instead. Helps to have lots of dolls and have some that, while you like them, you haven't 'named' them yet and so aren't all that emotionally involved in them. Haha!

This one was a 'standard' doll and so no armature. Perfect. I pulled a bit of fluff out to make room for Sekiguchi doll's 'neck' and then zip tied them back on...

Awesomeness!!

So I had the head off the other doll already... And my Leanne doll's body hadn't ever been a favorite. I loved the face sculpts of Pen Pal Dolls but the bodies and hair were a total disappointment. I even re-wigged both of my Pen Pal Dolls. So, I solved it finally by giving her the OG body with the armature. What's funny is that she ends up with a different wig as well... So "Leanne Doll" is really custom! Haha! I'll show you her new wig in an upcoming post!

However... I had a different doll that hadn't really ever made it out of a box in basement simply because I loved her face but really disliked the design of her body. Her shoulders didn't look good in anything... She is a "TAK MAY" doll per her kneck markings but I've never been able to find any doll like her much of anywhere, even on eBay. So she is a bit of a mystery... Anyway, so now I had the 'spare' Pen Pal Doll body. As much as it wasn't my favorite, it was a huge improvement over this one and also the skin tone was pretty much spot on! Hmmm....

See how weird her shoulders are? 

This is her tag. It says: "Creative Designs Int'l Ltd. Travose PA 19053" (etc) but despite all that information I've never been able to find another doll like this... Until...

The other day at a Thrift Store, I found a brunette of the exact same brand!! It's like finding two unicorns or something because I am telling you, these dolls don't exist! Not really... Obviously they do because here they are... But do the research! I can't find them anywhere in eBay even in 'history' of passed auctions. That's pretty rare. Have you ever seen them before? 

Here is the top of the Pen Pal body. They come with strings, kind of like American Girl dolls but they aren't the quality by a far stretch. I mean, they can actually pose reasonably well and can sit really well (with legs forward instead of all spread eagle!) but they are very 'light weight' plastic and feel 'insubstantial'. Not the best... but better than the TakMayBlonde had before!

So I switched them out. I used a zip tie because the strings never seemed to work well. Again, I wish I had zip ties with smaller 'tie' parts. I need to research them and see if they make them (well, obviously they do... but where to buy?). If I find them, I'll go about replacing the ones that I have that are like this...

So here she is! With a body that will look nicer in clothes! Woot! Doesn't she have a pretty face! Those eyes!

Here is the Pen Pal doll tag.

So then I decided my other doll needed a 'proper' body. Since I had a couple of boys made from the 'Battat 1998' face scuplt, I decided to take the wig off one and steal it's body for this girl. As a side note... Perhaps I should confess now. About half of my 're-wigged' dolls don't have thier wigs glued down. Since no children play with my dolls and generally wigs stay on pretty well once you get them in place, I don't see a need to make them 'permanent' unless the doll is just 'perfect' as it comes out and I know I'll never ever want to change them. If that makes sense. It's paid off a few times when I've changed my mind about a doll wig. So, in this case, my 'Elvis' doll is no more... But Kevin doll was born! So it's a progression sometimes, right? LOL

Here they are before surgery! Haha!

Oh no! They've lost their heads!! Haha!

Here they are, all swapped! Naturally I'll likely donate the 'cast off' dollies to Goodwill. Who knows who might find them the right spare part for their doll project, right? Halloween is coming... People need dolls to make into Halloween decorations and this sort of doll would be spot on for that. Right?

So, here they are, all new bodies!! Able to stand up and pose and look fabulous in clothes! Doll body swaps are fun. Pretty sure I'll never be able to pass up a second hand doll again if the body is in good shape because you never can tell when you'll find a doll with a beautiful face but a sub-par doll body! 

Till next time!

XXOO
Heather

American Girl Doll Knecklace Project!

Hi Doll Friends!!

Doll accessories and jewelry are crazy expensive and kind of hard to find... Especially cute and original ones!! So... I decided to make some of my own!

I got the idea in my head when I found these charms at Micheal's (I think? Hobby Lobby?) that were perfectly doll sized! I couldn't figure out a 'chain' though so they kind of sat in a drawer for a few months... Until about a month ago at a Garage Sale I found this nylon cord. Perfect!! So my dolly knecklaces all cost me less than $4.00 and I still have more charms to make knecklaces for other dollies too! Awesomeness! I simply strung the charms on the cord and knotted in back. You have to untie them to remove but it's not that hard... I imagine they make actual 'clasps' but this works too. 

I will be looking for more doll sized charms in future! 

I just love that Diane and Lilly doll have nearly same knecklace. It makes me smile. Because Lilly, in real life, is named after Diane in real life. (Her name is Lilly Diane). 

That's it for now... 

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather

Our Generation Ponies Score At Goodwill

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

The only trouble I find, mostly, in my doll hobby, is the nagging 'How much is too much?' side of things... As you may have noticed, I have a bit of a knack for finding treasures for next to nothing. A noble skill until you watch the Hoarder's show and realize you are only one life tragedy away from being one of those people if you're not entirely careful. Teehee. Kidding. Sort of. I don't mean to make light of the people on those shows, they seem to be very sad and lonely most of the time. I am digressing again here but my point is, 'How much doll stuff is too much?' What do you think? I don't want to alienate my ever-so-sweet husband by surrounding him with too much doll stuff, if you know what I mean. Mostly he doesn't care and likes how much I enjoy my doll hobby but sometimes, when I bring in a big item, he looks at it like "Where are you going to put THAT?" For instance, my doll horses... I store those in the basement, not the doll room. Because they are huge. He is pretty forgiving though, my husband, and I think he thinks that, at least with doll stuff, it's all small! I don't ever buy anything for my 'real' house anymore! 

So... As I am out and about, I sometimes come across a doll item and have to fight with myself "I really like it but do I need it?" and as my doll collection grows and expands, the answer, more and more, has to be "No" unless I am going to bring said item home and 'upgrade' something and get rid of the older item. If that makes sense. Although I can't ever seem to pass up a DOLL. Especially if it's a versatile doll that I can use for a body transplant or re-wig and make new. It's a weakness. 

However, these two beauties I just couldn't pass up. Interestingly enough I found them both the same day at two different Goodwill stores. Also, the prices were different. The brown pony with blanket I found first and it was $1.99 and then the blonde pony I found at a second Goodwill and it was marked $3.99. Funny huh? So, $5.99 for both ponies isn't bad at all! The same Goodwill that had the second one also had another full sized horse that was different than the three I have a home and I left it there. I should've thought to photograph it. Don't think I haven't kicked myself more than once about not buying it but I do try to be good! It was one like these two, more 'realistic'. I have one more that is more 'realistic' that you can see here. I also have two other doll horses but they are more 'stuffed animal' looking. I don't even think I've shown them to you yet... So many blog posts I have in my 'to write' list! Just recalled perhaps I hadn't... I'd been waiting for a good weather day so I could bring all three horses out to compare. So... Something to look forward to!

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Here is Frann with the ponies! I need to clean them up a bit better but they sure are cute! I think all kids, at some point, dream of having a pony of their own. My son was actually gaga for horses and ponies when he was younger. He just loved them. So... Dollies had to have ponies too! Right?

Can't wait to take better photos!! 

Better run... More blogs to write!

Till Next time!
XXOO
 Heather

What a Difference A Wig Can Make And Kevin Gets a Name!

Hi Doll Friends!

So recently I've been doing a lot of 'Doll body swaps'... I decided to steal a body from one of my boy dolls because I had three boy dolls of that particular face sculpt. (The 1998 Battat) That boy doll had a black wig on and so I stole it for my brown eyed "My Life As" boy doll...

Here is the 'My Life As' boy doll as a blonde... By the way, I have a disproportionate amount of blonde boy dolls because I often find that particular wig for 99cents plus ship on eBay but only in blonde! So I buy them pretty often when I find them and have a lot of blonde boys. Haha!

The black wig makes him look like a totally different doll!! I hadn't ever named this boy doll because I couldn't figure out a good name but now he has black hair, he is totally going to be named Kevin. I know two Kevins in my 'real' life that this could totally be and so it's perfect. 

Better run! Have a lot of drafts to turn into posts this morning! I love Saturday mornings. 

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

American Girl Julie "Meet" Shirt and Matching Sock eBay Find!

Greetings Doll Friends!!

As you well know if you've been reading here lately, I've been on a bit of an eBay buying spree for a little while now. What can I say, when I get a windfall of cash, I spend it on dolls. Being me, I pinch every penny until it squeels out a protest! Haha! And eBay is where I most often find the most bang for my buck, as it were, when it comes to 'new' doll related items. Obviously you can't beat a thrift store find but when you want to go looking for something specific... eBay is a great place to look. I digress...

So I'd seen this shirt in the bids for a while now... One of those kind of common ones where a seller must have a whole 'stock' of a certain garment so you see duplicate auctions of it at any given time. I thought it was interesting looking...

So I bid my 99cents and won one! When it came, I was delighted by the quality... I didn't realize it was actually an American Girl item until I looked closer, at the tag. 

It's super cute!!

Interestingly enough, a seller of some other items I bought (I won mulitple auctions with them so like five or six items?) threw in a 'freebie' of a pair of socks and I got them about a week before I got this shirt...

Only to realize when the shirt came they were an exact match! Score!! How perfect!

Here is Diane (custom doll) and Lisa with Lisa modeling the new outfit! I think I am going to buy a few more of these tops.. They'd be cute as 'twin' shirts or as gifts for doll friends. 

So, go find one of these tops yourself and give it a bid... They are pretty common and if you don't win one at 'your' price, you're bound to win one eventually... Show me a photo of your dolly in yours when you do!

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather