Doll Impulsions (Part 1)

I really haven't been a good blogger lately, lol, mainly because I'm having difficulty transferring photos from my phone to the computer. So in the mean time, I will do a lot of writing. I still look at dolls online, and sometimes I find things I want to buy but couldn't because I just can't afford to spend at the moment. So I'm starting a series of posts called Doll Impulsions, as a way to curb my spending, hahaha!

Aah! I'm looking at that Hasbro Pocahontas doll, and that tiny Novi Stars doll with multiple arms. I don't want to buy them even though I know that Pocahontas doll is already cheap, and that Novi Stars doll is hard to come by.

This MiWorld OPI set with the tiny nail polish and stuff!! These things would look cute in a diorama, but the rest of the accessories are too tiny for 1:6 scale.

Pinkie Cooper's pet, Li'l Pinkie!! I already have one but it's missing its ears and her scarf. 

I don't want to buy this doll, but oh my, look at how big Jessie's eyes are. They are looking into your soul! Haha.

This proud poodle! I like collecting pets, but she's too pricey for me.

This other dog is so cute. She even has a skirt!

This photo is from the seller I transacted with, and I purchased the tall doll from her. It's a Hi:Glamm doll and her name is Kit! I've always been curious with Hi:Glamm dolls and even Leggy dolls from the 70s, so I was glad I found one online for a cheap price.

My friend and I went to this place where there are lot of gardening stuff sold. She bought some tiny stones for her garden, and gave me a small bag of stones for free. It's gonna be perfect for my diorama making!

DohVinci Fail

I'm entirely convinced that DohVinci is not worth it. It's been two weeks since I made ears for Li'l Pinkie using DohVinci.

Before

 

After

OK this is not a good 'After' shot, but I only have my webcam at the moment.

Before

After

Before

After

If you could only see the After shots much better. Basically, Li'l Pinkie's ears are still sticky, gooey and wet. It didn't dry up at all. The doh has my fingerprints all over them because I kept touching the thing to check if it's already dry. Apparently not. I'm ready to scrape her doh ears off of her head and replace it with something more solid. DohVinci, sadly, is frustrating.

I'm not going to stock up on the stuff anymore. I don't know what else I can do with the other bottles of DohVinci I have, now that I know that it doesn't dry up and harden. Either this weather we have in the Philippines is just not right for DohVinci, or it just doesn't work.

Update on Li'l Pinkie's Ears

I read up on the drying time of Dohvinci and found an answer here:

If the compound still feels soft or wet then it is possible that environmental factors including humidity or the thickness of the application of the DOHVINCI compound may be affecting the drying time for your design to achieve the spongy or dry quality. However, you can display your finished projects as soon as you're done designing! Unless purposefully removed by hand or with a tool, the compound will stick on the surface as it dries.

I'm actually observing how the Dohvinci dries up on Li'l Pinkie's head and I have to say, it's not looking good.

The swirls on her head have become less defined. The doh has become sticky and not hardened. One time I accidentally touched the doh and it's still soft.

I don't even know how long I have to wait. It's been more than a day, and I could see a speck of glitter that stuck to the doh. The glitter most likely came from Elsa's skirt, and we do know that glitter transfers on things like crazy.

I can't say much about the lasting colour of the doh right now. I mean, I used white. Of course it's bound to get dirty while it's still not dry. But I do hope it remains white until it's dry, and not grey.

This DohVinci stuff is testing my patience, haha. Is waiting fun for kids? No. For adults? It depends, I guess. I'm not getting positive results along the way so this is quite tough.

If DohVinci doesn't work out, I'll probably use the doll hair I was talking about earlier, or yarn. I just want to complete Li'l Pinkie soon. She actually looks cool next to my The Secret Life of Pets toys from McDonald's Happy Meal. A photo of them soon!

Making Ears for Li'l Pinkie

I have a Pinkie Cooper doll, and I bought her naked and without ears, er, wigs, er wig ears. I managed to complete her look by adding a Monster High wig on her. She looks fine now so I don't need to work on her. However, on a different occasion, I was able to thrift her pet, which happens to be called Li'l Pinkie. Like Pinkie, Li'l Pinkie has detachable ears/wigs, but the pet I found didn't come with any at all.

I wasn't able to take photos of her when I got her. Oops. When I brought her home, I was thinking of ways to complete her. Like, perhaps attaching some doll hair on her head. I thought of using the blonde hair that I cut off a Bratz Babyz doll and which I photographed here, but I couldn't settle with a method of putting the hair in place. For a long while, I've just secured the bundled hair around Li'l Pinkie's head with a clear loom band.

Tonight I decided to work on her using DohVinci. Here is Li'l Pinkie with her DohVinci ears.

I am waiting for the DohVinci to dry up. It would probably take days because I applied it quite thick, but it's part of the plan: wait for it to dry, add another layer, wait for it to dry, add another layer, repeat... basically just build up Li'l Pinkie's puffy ears. I made her ears swirly, heh.

I haven't experimented on what else I could do with DohVinci, but if this turns out well, I might stock up on it because DohVinci is on clearance at the toy store, and I could get loads of refills while it's still available. DohVinci is really soft; I think it's much softer than Play-Doh, and it has an applicator called a styler which is convenient because I don't have to keep touching the doh with my fingers all the time. I actually saw a styler at the thrift store way before I bought a DohVinci set, but I wasn't interested at the time and didn't think it would come in handy. I kinda regret not getting it because I could just buy refill packs afterwards instead of buying a new kit, but oh well. What's done is done, or rather what was not done is... oh you get it. LOL.

Now I wonder if after this project, the DohVinci ears would become removable. I would love it to become removable so that I could make more DohVinci ears for Li'l Pinkie in different colours. Li'l Pinkie is, after all, owned by a fashionable jetsetter, Pinkie Cooper.

A pet with a pet! Haha!

What's In The Bag?

Yesterday I was feeling crafty so I made head bands for my dolls. I forgot to take photos of them after I was done, so that would be for another entry.

Anyway, I went to my new place and brought some stuff over. Then I picked up a few items from there. Afterwards, I got hungry, so on my way home, I stopped by a local shopping centre to grab something to eat. I also thought of going to this centre because I want to visit a shop there selling pre-loved items from Japan, including toys.

I've been to this place before, but I was in a hurry so I wasn't able to look around that long. This time, I checked almost everything. There are some nice things in there but the price wasn't good enough for me.

I was about to leave when I spotted a clear plastic bag filled with stuff. What stood out for me is a green item that resembles a doll hanger. I asked the attendant if I could check the bag up close.

Took this photo in the car because I was that excited.

There's the doll hanger at the bottom of the bag. I checked the other stuff inside and soon realised that I had to get it. I asked for the price...

... and the attendant told me it's P75. DEAL! 

Here is what's inside the bag:

Four Takara doll stands, three clip on Barbie hangers, one green Barbie hanger, a doll sack of rice, and plastic carrots inside a small mesh bag! 

Red Ranger was quick to model the doll stand on my dash. Red Ranger and I have been apart for a while and I want to give him new hands soon, so he is one of the items I picked up from my place!

This kind of stand secures a doll by the calves. I just slip the doll legs through the stand in a certain manner and the doll would stay there in place.

At home, I wanted to try out the doll stands using different dolls. Of course, Licca (far right) passed the doll stand test like a champ. Her dad, Pierre, can also use it, but Licca is still my first choice for this kind of acrylic stand.

Next to Pierre is Barbie Film Director Nikki. If her knee joints were loose, she wouldn't be able to stand at all. She would just fall face down.

Anna in a Liv doll body is next to Nikki, and her calves are quite big for the stand. Because of her calves, her legs tend to go forward and her feet couldn't stay flat. I had to bend her knees a little so she could maintain her balance.

The one wearing the zebra hat is Pinkie Cooper. I had to bend her knees so she could use this stand. This is also the case for the tall blonde, Moxie Girlz Avery.

Dawn, in the black polka dot dress with ribbon trim, can use this stand just fine.

I tried a Barbie Twist and Turn body with articulated knees on the stand as well. I had to fix the knees first before I could make the doll balance.

Howleen's calves are quite big for the Takara stand, and her knee joints that are a bit loose make the task more challenging, but I managed.

I chose Cleo to represent Monster High in this stand test because her knee joints are quite tight. I found out that her calves are too big for the stand just like Howleen's, so it's better to use stands that have a clamp on the waist area instead.

Jenny has no problem using the doll stand. She's after all a Takara doll. That hair though. Not even boil wash can take it down!

Pocahontas can use the doll stand too, but she is so tall for this kind of stand so she's a bit top heavy for it. Any slight movement to the box the dolls are standing on could make her topple down.

Now my two Liccas are using the stands, then Skooter uses the third one. The fourth one is now in storage. I am pretty pleased with them all.

Oh, by the way:

There must be a Carrot Man joke hidden in here somewhere, haha.

I Love VIP Pets Dakota

Because I've gotten a Pinkie Cooper doll recently, I've been thinking about anthropomorphic play line dolls. The only dolls that come to my mind at the moment are Peteena, and those animal dolls from Petworks. And oh, the Disney movie Zootopia is so timely right now. Have you heard of their singing gazelle doll??? It's so strange looking but I want one. It's only available at the UK Disney store right now.

Then I became more curious and checked out Littlest Pet Shop doll hybrids online. Basically, collectors take of the head of LPS figures and put them on human doll bodies. Some are really strange to me, while some do work well and look adorable.

Then I stumbled upon an I Love VIP Pets doll hybrid. I Love VIP Pets are fashion toy dogs with colourful and styled hair, bright eye makeup and fashion accessories. I've seen this line at the toy store previous times before but I didn't really bother to check them out. However, because of this LiveJournal post, I thought of making my own I Love VIP pets hybrid myself! Well, what are the chances of me getting a VIP pet at the toy store for a good price? Pretty slim. I've seen them being on sale, but I didn't take advantage of it at the time because I wasn't interested.

Lo and behold, I found one at Toy Kingdom.

Dakota was the only design left on the shelf. The saleslady explained to me that this is on sale because a newer but more expensive I Love VIP Pets stock came in, in a plastic dog carrier packaging and packed with more fashion accessories, ergo, stuff I don't necessarily need.

It was on sale for P200.

A closer look at Dakota.

One side of the box.

The other side of the box.

The back of the box.

Other characters from this line. I think I would have loved to get Alex or Sophie, but Dakota is fine.

The top of the box with the cool paw print design. 

Dakota out of the box but still attached to the cardboard insert I pulled out of it.

The back of the cardboard insert. There are plastic flaps and adhesive tape on it.

Dakota free from the box and with her accessories: a brush, a pair of earrings and a cowboy hat. The earrings are weird because they attach to their cheeks, not her actual dog ears. What??

I decapitated Dakota. Doing so reveals an extra accessory: a dog collar. Her gold rickrack hair band is also removable.

I brushed her hair and a hair plug came off, but I don't know from where. It's not that important though because if I can't find the spot where it came from, so can't you.

Remember my Breyer doll? I left it naked because I don't like it a lot.

Decapitation time!

I've compared neck knobs. This head transplant might just work.

And bam! The body is too orange for Dakota's skin tone, but because of her long orange hair, it just might work. And Dakota is a cow-girl dog, and my Breyer doll is a horse-riding doll, so it all fits!

Switching heads and stuff.

Heh.

Dakota all dressed up. I made pony tails out of her hair because it's unruly.

Dakota, Harry, Anastasia and Pinkie.

On Dakota: Daiso seifuku, miniature Furla jelly bag, Pocahontas moccassins

On Harry: my Breyer doll's suit

On Anastasia: Goya bits candy container cap, Daiso seifuku, La Dee Da bag, Barbie sneakers

On Pinkie: Monster High Create-A-Monster wig, Daiso seifuku, Chanel bag cellphone charm, black Barbie clone shoes

I think they are the only dolls I have of similar built. I can't wait to take photos of all my dolls to compare their height.

Dakota's big head is really overwhelming when she is next to other dolls, but I think she'd fit right in with Blythes and Pullips. I don't collect those though. I'm ok with Dakota and don't plan to make more VIP pets hybrids because I have no spare doll body of this size anymore.

This makes me want to try other kinds of hybrids though. We'll see...

Pinkie Cooper

I finally have a Pinkie Cooper doll! I bought one from an online seller. I got her for P350.

Photos from the seller:

The online seller was selling Pinkie with 2 Liv doll wigs, but I didn't want the wigs because I already have one plus three Monster High Create-A-Monster wigs. So Instead of paying P450, I paid P350, and P50 for shipping.

Here she is with a Create-A-Monster wig.

She's tiny!

I haven't brushed the wig that well when I put it on so the hair has a lot of volume.

If you're wondering how I managed to attach a Create-a-Monster wig on her head when it's too small, I attached it using Faber-Castell tack-it. First, I stuck a tiny piece on the inside of the wig and pinned down the plastic peg inside (that is really for CAM doll heads) so that it lays flat under the wig cap. Then I strategically placed four more pieces of Tack-it on the inner edge of the wig cap so that I can securely stick the wig on Pinkie's head, trying my hardest to avoid the hair strands getting caught on the tack.

Her hair gets stuck to her eyelashes sometimes. I have to keep combing her hair to the side so that it won't get stuck there anymore. Her knees can click twice, and her paw hands are not as versatile as the usual doll hands, but they look cute. She has no ears! That's because her original wigs serve as ears well. Hair ears or ear hairs, yeah? Her feet are small but arched very high so she can only wear high boots from other doll lines.

Here she is with Anastasia, and they are both wearing Daiso seifukus. Pinkie's hair is so flat now and it looks like she's balding, haha. I might change her wig someday to another one with bangs instead.

Harry, Anastasia and Pinkie. Whoa Harry, slow down with the doll collecting.

/I changed her wig. Took a little while to do it because of the sticky tack, but it's fine.

She looks better with bangs, I think. And she's another purple haired doll for me, YAY!