Saving Frankie

I thrifted a broken Frankie Stein doll and it's supposed to look like this brand new:

It's the Classroom play set doll. I found her wearing her spare dress, which is cool because I don't have a lot of Monster High clothing.

Unfortunately, Frankie's former owner, a person named "Angel F." cut her hair in some places so I couldn't style her hair this way. Also Angel F. branded Frankie with her name using a black marker. This is the reason I know the owner's name. The marker ink stained her moulded underwear and I couldn't get the stain off with nail polish remover for some odd reason, but that's okay.

Anyway, I just settled with saving what I could. I decided to give Frankie some kind of hime cut. I didn't want her hair to go really short so I just trimmed her hair on both sides of her face.

I tied the rest of her hair in a ponytail. Ugh bald spots ahoy. I'll probably cover those with a ribbon tied around her head like a hair band. 

Her hair resembles Picture Day Frankie, doesn't it?

I dressed my doll in a Daiso kimono because the Bratz clothing I thrifted are still drying. But I also thought of using the kimono on her because of the semi-hime cut I gave her.

She has no arms now. Actually she did have one forearm but I donated it to my School's Out Frankie, which is actually my favourite Frankie out of the three I have. And some body swapping revealed that Classroom play set Frankie has severe glue head. A chunk of glue fell out when I removed her head from her body. Eww. It took a while for me to remove the stickiness from my hands, which reminds of the time I rerooted Draculaura. It was such a sticky mess inside that pink head.

Despite the hair situation, I still adore this Frankie. In fact, Frankie is one of my favourite Monster High dolls ever because her design most of the time is fantastic. I actually found another Frankie before at the thrift store, a Sweet 1600 doll, but I didn't get her. I think I didn't because of her unruly tinsel hair. In retrospect, I hope I did get her, then I could have taken out her tinsel hair with a tweezer.

The only Frankie I don't like so far would have to be the Ghouls Alive doll because Frankie looks so vacant there. Just. nope.

To date, I think I have three Frankies, three Draculauras, four Clawdeens, two Lagoonas, and a bunch of other Monster High dolls. I don't mind getting more Frankies, but I'll probably stop with Draculaura. Clawdeen, I don't know... She's so pretty though. I love Clawdeen with purple and/or green hair. She looks so fierce in those colours. 

By the way, the title of this entry, "Saving Frankie", is based on the Monster High movie Freaky Fusion, which is Frankie-centric. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I enjoyed it so much because of what Frankie did in the near end of the movie.

I haven't taken photos of my Deuce Gorgon yet. He's actually wearing the same kimono Frankie is wearing now, haha. I don't have a lot of clothing option for male dolls, you see.

Manila Ocean Park mermaid dolls

This Easter Sunday, my brother and I went to Manila Ocean Park. We were supposed to go on Black Saturday, but I had to be elsewhere that day, so we went the next day.

It's quite impossible to miss the souvenir shops in Manila Ocean Park because they're situated where foot traffic is heavy. Here is one of them near Trails To Antarctica.

While passing by this certain shop, I saw some cheap looking mermaid dolls at one of their aisles.

A four-pack! They are called Ameiya Mermaid. They all have the same face sculpt and seem to have hollow plastic bodies.

Here's another mermaid doll I saw. It just says 'Beauty play sets' on the packaging.

This shot is quite blurry because I was in a hurry. I didn't want my brother to wait on me for that long over a bunch of dolls. (I don't think he fully understands my doll collecting and blogging needs, haha.)

There were other cheap mermaid dolls sold in tiangge stalls at the ground floor but again, my brother was in a hurry to get to the places we need to be. I couldn't stop by and check out those toys. I know they're going to pricey so I had no intention of buying any doll. But I saw some cheap shoe keychains for P20 a piece (not a pair, so you need to buy two to complete it). They're knee-high boots and I would have wanted to get a pair, but on second thought I could just make my own with foam sheets.

The faces of the dolls remind me of something, but I can't put a finger on it. I'll still file these under 'bootleg'. Basically everything I file under the 'bootleg' category are clones, fakies and cheap versions. I can't assure that all these things are illegal, as the term 'bootleg' is defined, but they're definitely cheaper than mainstream fashion dolls out there.

Licca's Papa doll - Pierre

When I shared to my friend that I've already bought a bootleg Justin Bieber doll for her son, I started looking more into male fashion dolls. My doll thrifting wish list has now expanded to boy dolls such as Wataru-kun by Takara, vintage Allan by Mattel (haha, I wish), Aaron Carter and Justin Bieber. I was also interested in getting an adult male Takara doll. This is what I received from an online seller today:

This is Licca-chan's Papa, Pierre Miramonde. He is of French descent and a musician! He also goes by the name Pierre Kayama: Kayama being Licca's mother's surname. Pierre likes his wife's surname so much that he uses it as his own. That's probably why Licca also uses Kayama as her surname and not Miramonde.

I stripped him of his clothes so I could inspect if he has any flaws in his body. His legs are kind of bent but I could probably straighten them because his legs are quite rubbery.

That satin underwear...

He can bend his legs while sitting down!

His arms are spaghetti-like. He can't hold this pose without me tucking his hands just behind his ears. His right arm is quite limp compared to the left one, but that's fine by me.

Do you want some flat noodles?

His legs seem to take bending just fine, but I don't know up to what extent.

The back of his knees has creases though. I hope bending the legs doesn't damage this part at all.

Here is Pierre with his original clothing:

I think I got his stock pants and shoes. His blazer and top are missing, but that's OK.

Here is Pierre with his daughter, Licca-chan. I didn't know that Licca is actually a hafu, and can't believe that she is so well-accepted in Japanese culture despite the fact.

I don't think I'll be getting the rest of Licca's family because it isn't my priority right now. Besides I have Jenny and Mimi that could stand as Licca's other family members when the need arises, which is probably never, haha. And of course, I have a Licca doll, too.

Now my male fashion doll count is up to 4: Hunter Huntsman, Harry Potter, Deuce Gorgon (which I have yet to blog about), and Pierre Miramonde. Note that this total only includes my fashion dolls. This number excludes my other male toy figures.

/I read up on Pierre some more. Apparently he was hailed as Ikumen of the Year 2014. Ikumen is a slang Japanese term for men who raise their children hands-on. In this case, Pierre actively raises Licca and her siblings: a set of twins, and another set of triplets! Six children, whoa! There are photos here. The article is posted by Oricon and it's in Japanese, but you could check out the photos of the Kayama family. It's pretty cool. Oh, on that note, don't be surprised at the Kayama family being in a tub together because it's a custom in Japan for families to bathe like this in an ofuro.

Monster High Scream & Sugar Nefera de Nile and Amanita Nightshade Two-Pack

These Monster High dolls aren't out yet, but the photos of Nefera de Nile and Amanita Nightshade (Scream & Sugar two-pack) can now be found on Amazon:

At first I thought that Nefera is Cleo, but I think the difference between these sisters is their hair. Nefera normally has blue green hair while Cleo has more black hair with gold tinsel. 

At first I thought Amanita Nightshade is so pretty when I saw her Gloom and Bloom doll, but then after I saw the Monster High movie of the same name, I became less fond of her. Haha. Must be because of her rude attitude.

She seems to have less vines on this upcoming version, yeah? That's rather sad.

I didn't notice before that Amanita and Nefera have the same height. So Amanita has a big sister body sculpt then? 

/Nope. Nefera is taller than Amanita.

I totally want to make a doll mesh shirt that looks like Nefera's. It looks so chic and light.

I wonder what kind of story Nefera and Amanita have together that they'd be in a two-pack. I mean, Amanita did betray her family by leaving them behind in the tomb, so does Nefera still feel protective after all these years? Are they still friends? Did they make up? Curious...

New Monster High dolls in the Philippines: Great Scarrier Reef, Brand Boo Students, Ghouls' Getaway etc.

Long title, I know. But yeah, I've seen these Monster High dolls at Toy Kingdom already:

Great Scarrier Reef

Brand Boo Students

Ghouls' Getaway

and the budget dolls, which by the way aren't even budget dolls because they're so expensive! P1,299 for a doll that has no articulation in the elbows. Womp womp!

Sorry, no photos taken from the toy store at the moment. I'm just too tired to transfer my photos from phone to computer, sigh. That's because I was at Manila Ocean Park for like, 5 hours, so I'm just exhausted to exert effort into that right now. (I even spotted some cheap dolls there, too. That's for a later time!)

For Great Scarrier Reef, I think Posea Reef and Kala Mer'ri look good. I need some time getting used to Pearl and Peri Serpentine because of the two heads, haha!

Brand Boo Students... I just have a soft spot for Kjersti Trollson. She's so cute and tiny! And her face sculpt is just so pretty!

Ghouls' Getaway... Sadly I have no favourite between the four dolls. I thought I really liked Spectra Vondergeist as she appeared in the stock photos, but no, not anymore. It's not the doll though. It's me. Her Ghouls' Getaway doll is just not my preference anymore.

The budget dolls. Wow. Frankie Stein is still the best among the bunch. Her hair is gore-geous! I love her straight hair with blue streaks.

Speaking of Monster High dolls, omg I found a Deuce Gorgon doll at the thrift store! His left arm and hand are missing, but that's OK! I'm not letting this Deuce go anymore. I once did, during my early days of doll thrifting because the one I found was severely broken. This one I found recently is salvageable though. I need boy doll clothing now. And shoes! I think Deuce's feet are bigger than Ken's.

I'll post more about Deuce after I clean him up and take photos of him!

Quick Craft: Doll Top Hat

I was watching a doll crafting video a while ago. It's Easter related. Fitting, because tomorrow is Easter Sunday.

Watching this gave me an idea, and it's a long overdue one.

A while back, I bought 2 hair ties with top hat accessories on them. I posted a photo on this blog entry. For months I had no idea how to put them on my doll. I tried wire but it wasn't pretty looking. I tried ribbon but it's too troublesome to put on and off a doll's head.

The video above suggested using a bottle cap ring, of which I had a bunch because we collect used plastic bottles in our house and sell them as a lot to a junk shop. I thought it's a fantastic idea to use plastic bottle cap rings because they come in different colours. I think I made eight of them in one sitting.

To prepare the top hats, I had to cut them off the hair tie first, of course. Then I clipped the plastic ring underneath to keep the bottom of the top hat flat. I also sanded the clipped bottom of the hat with a nail file to smoothen rough edges. 

Then I hot glued the top hats to the plastic rings, et voila! Instant top hat accessory for my dolls.

Here is Madeline Hatter modelling a top hat:

Madeline's outfit:

McDonald's Bathing Girl Beth bear bathrobe

pink Daiso room dress

unknown pink sheer tights

Kenko World/CD-R King shoe charms

red plastic bag charm

OK, I know this kind of pink doesn't belong in Madeline's colour scheme, but this is what I prefer her to have at the moment. And I don't have a lot of doll clothes anyway, haha.

I hope next time I can give her a teacup hat.

Monster High reboot dolls

The first wave of Monster High reboot dolls are almost out:

Frankie Stein. She really looks younger here. Cute, but I still prefer her old face.

Draculaura. I'm still not a fan of her face, then and now.

Cleo de Nile. I like it. She looks Asian to me though. That's OK because I'm Asian anyway, heh.

Clawdeen Wolf. Her fierceness is gone because of this new face. I don't know how to feel about this.

Justin Bieber bootleg doll

I found this bootleg doll on sale for P100. It's for my friend's son.

Her son is getting envious of her mom's growing thrifted Barbie doll collection so he wanted a boy doll of his own, a Justin Bieber doll, but my friend couldn't afford the real thing. Then I remember I know where I could get a bootleg doll, so here it is.

The doll body is hollow plastic. And I don't know if it has at least 5 points of articulation.

I looked close enough without opening the box. I saw the left leg has extra plastic. I advised my friend to just trim that excess plastic when she gets it.

I haven't found a good photo of the authentic Justin Bieber doll face to compare with this photo, but I think the hair of this bootleg is much lighter. Oh and I did find a Justin Bieber doll at the thrift store once but I let it go. 

Speaking of boy dolls, there was a bazaar at the Philippine Heart Center years ago, and I definitely saw two Aaron Carter dolls still in their box. I didn't buy them because I wasn't collecting dolls yet, but in retrospect, I wish I did buy at least one. And if I have a Hilary Duff doll (which by the way looks like Mariah Carey), they could be childhood sweethearts. Haha.

Posting this link because I think it's a bit funny: 

https://www.instagram.com/therealaaroncarterdoll/

/My friend finally got the doll. This is JB out of the box.

A face comparison I made using my friend's photo, and this photo:

A Photo Dump! [Part 9]

I saw a display of Japan-related knick-knacks at a restaurant franchise called Dohtonbori.

Vintage stuff, I guess.

The usual Japanese style food display shelf. Look at those origami tanuki on the upper right part of the shelf!

A big Daruma, displayed on its own. I want to have a big Daruma like this but I have no place to store it, too bad! I can only collect small ones.

Geisha dolls. Man, I used to have one, but I was too young to appreciate it, so I wasn't able to take care of it very well and preserve it. That's one of my regrets. It was a gift from my father's Japanese colleague.

Some random toys I managed to photograph before I transported them to my new place:

A small astronaut figure from a Chupachups blind capsule. I had to assemble it and add the sticker.

A bootleg Loki mini figure which I was supposed to give to a friend. But we're not friends anymore, so this toy isn't going anywhere.

A McDonald's Super Mario toy. I thrifted the Mario figure and the stand on separate occasions.

Vintage style Goofy and Mickey Mouse gashapon figures. They both have five points of articulation (neck, shoulders, legs).

Took these photos years ago. I think these are terrifying.

The first one is a Kokey doll from a defunct Filipino TV show, and the pink faced doll is his companion. Creepy!

Dolls from my aunt's estate. These came with the Marin Chiclana dolls I photographed previously.

Look into my eyes...

Months ago, when I was still new to doll collecting, I checked out the Monster High shelf at a department store and was just floored by seeing the Werecat twins.

Very expensive dolls even with the discount.

Some of the dolls on sale at the time. Ghoul Spirit Venus McFlytrap is so pretty!

Creepateria Howleen Wolf and Ghoul Spirit Spectra Vondergeist, aka Queen of Perpetual Cheek Bones.

Zombie Shake Rochelle Goy and Venus McFlytrap. I'm not feeling Venus here even though I like zombie dolls.

A random Barbie I Can Be fashion pack on sale. It's cool, but I don't need to buy new Barbie stuff.

I still would like a Mars space suit pack though.

Gloom and Bloom Venus McFlytrap. Pretty sure she was the one that opened my eyes to Monster High.

At first, I really couldn't understand the appeal of Monster High, and how people manage to figure out which doll came from which line when there are TONS of Monster High dolls in the market. Venus here, however, changed my opinion on Monster High dolls. Her dress for Gloom and Bloom somehow brought me to the "dark side". I thought it's a pretty neat looking cocktail dress that I could totally imagine being worn in the real world. And that's how I decided to immerse myself more into the Monster High universe.