Peace Keeper

It could be China's claim on disputed territories causing tension in the region. It could be the rise of murder and extra-judicial killing victims in our country. It could be the diplomatically-challenged pronouncements of our president about going against the world while teaming up with Russia and China, even if we have territorial disputes with the latter (or, technically, as far UNCLOS is concerned, it's no longer a dispute because we've already won the case). Or it could be the U.S. (economic, military and political) forces in our country making us feel like a manipulated colony. These just call for peace keepers, not the United Nations kind. Not yet, anyways. (Things can still be handled with media spinning, trolling and misinformation.) I was thinking of peace keepers of the mind. Peace of mind is a luxury these days.



For me, toys helps with the peace keeping of the mind. What better way to do it than with the World Peacekeepers toy line? I, of course, picked up the Asian-looking doll. No matter how faithful I was to the American toy brands, they failed to address my need for a respectable male Asian doll. I have no choice but to patronize a Chinese toy brand even if I don't like everything I'm getting from the deal. Their male Asian doll looks respectable and not culturally misappropriated like some of those made by American brands. I just don't like the deadly weapons. They don't scream peace, right? And I'm not a fan of military fashion.



I saw at least three Asian-looking dolls. They seemed like they have the same face but with different hairstyles. I picked this one because of the ladder it came with. It also came with one pair of bare hands and another pair wearing gloves. The other variants only have gloved hands. It also has the least military-looking attire. He can even look like a meth cook. Our president will be pissed. He also has a balaclava, in case he wants to be a vigilante and support our president.



If there is such a thing as having too much chest, this doll has it. It is a little shorter than my other male dolls, providing at least some height variety. It has better articulation than your average Ken doll. The "best" part of this Chinese deal is the price, which is said to be a product of one-sided trade policies of China. That makes me wonder what one-sided deal our president recently got from China.



My patronizing this Chinese brand does not mean I will say goodbye to the American brand. It doesn't have be just one or the other. Making contradicting sides work together is key for world peace. I, thank you!

First dark-skinned doll in a while

If I remember correctly, the last dark-skinned doll I bought was the one wearing the ice cream romper. Dolls that looked like they have African roots are not sold locally, except for those that look like Latinos/Latinas. This doll looks like she's Latina to me and having not seen a dark-skinned doll on the local toy shelves lately, I grabbed this one.



She came with a petite body. It feels like I'm hating on the petite body when I rebodied her using an articulated body. I also can't help misread the rebodying of the curvy dolls to made-to-move bodies. It's like wish fulfillment for those hoping for weight reduction. I feel like I'm being manipulated to hate on the new bodies.

Whatever Wear

I really think this doll is pretty, especially with toned down eyes. There's just not much fashion options. But I really want to take pictures so I just made her wear whatever. The dress cannot be closed at the back, if you're wondering. 

I'm pleasantly surprised with this look. The pear shape body isn't too obvious. The body doesn't seem like it's being squeezed to emphasize the curves yet it looks sexy. It just flows freely like whatever!

There is no obligation to play with dolls.

It's not that I don't have play time, I was just not in the mood. There's more to life than dolls, right? But then, I paid for these two, so they have to entertain me in some way.



I'm not in the mood for a lot of doll stuff. It sometimes feels like too much work. I do like taking pictures. I just made them wear whatever, even if it doesn't fit right.

Curvy or Vernie?

It's not that I hate Curvy, I just like Vernie more. Curvy lacks a certain maturity I want in a doll. Maybe Curvy could use a makeover. Those eyes need reduction, for one.

Black Barbie Clone

I haven't seen a dark-skinned doll with this face mold before. With a cheap price, I just have to get two. The body can be thrown away like what I do with authentic stiff Barbie Fashionista bodies. The problem is I don't have an articulated doll body to match. I guess I just have to do some magic.

Cinderella Clone Doll

I like how cheap she looks now, yet she has a lot of potential. I like to play fairy godmother and give her a makeover.

I got her from Divisoria for around PhP100 only.

Update:
Repainted face

Little Steps

Filipinos can really be cruel toward dark-skinned people. Recently, a local celebrity posted a photo of her baby on Instagram.  A certain @joan132132 left a mean comment calling the six-month old baby "negra" (black) and "panget" (ugly). The netizens condemned the cruelty of user @joan132132 forcing her to terminate her account. Bianca Gonzales, the mother, narrated in a later post, how she herself was bullied for having dark skin when she was 10 years old. I really fear for my 8-year old nephew who has a dark skin.

A lot of Filipinos normally have dark skin. It's just sad that Filipinos were taught to hate themselves for what they are. It's deeply rooted, being a colony of people with light colored skin (like Spaniards, Americans and Japanese) for around three centuries. It cannot be easily unlearned in one go, especially if someone is benefiting from the idea that a light colored skin makes someone better, not even if you flood the toy shelves with black dolls.

But I still think that little steps matter. Having black dolls on local toy shelves help. It gives kids the idea that dark-skinned dolls, like people, are fun, too. It gives kids the opportunity to include dark-skinned people in their happy imagination. Through play maybe kids can associate positive feelings towards a dark-skinned person because most of us just can't.

Black Adjectives

I recently bought The Barbie Look Sweet Tea. I opted not to do the usual photo/review post since the doll has been criticized enough. I also don't  want to promote the doll mainly because of the marginal satisfaction one can get from it and to think that it costs around US$45 locally (more if bought from online sellers) versus US$30, the suggested price for America. I think there's a paradox there somewhere, a person from a third world country paying more than someone from a first world country for the same frivolous thing.

I'm digressing. I didn't want to talk today about paradox. I wanted to talk about adjectives, adjectives we associate with black dolls to be exact. In my previous post, I mentioned the need to associate positive images to the black dolls. Black dolls don't need to just be present. They also need to have a positive image.

The first adjective is artsy. In the original Fashionista line, the black doll was associated to the word artsy. The black doll was never labeled glam, sporty nor sweetie, only artsy. What's wrong with artsy? Artsy involves pretension. Between artsy and artistic, you want to go with artistic.

In my previous post, I mentioned how the black dolls from the Barbie Basics and The Barbie Look series sold out quickly. If you asked the collectors what they liked about the black model muse dolls, a lot would say they like how fierce the dolls were. Our second adjective is fierce. Fierceness can be seen as a show of power and we see power as a positive image. This kind of power is, however, associated with aggressiveness. Although aggressiveness can be called for a lot of the time, there are also other ways of displaying power, like in a cool, calm, and collected manner. The black presidential Barbie was never sold locally, neither were the queenly looking black Holiday dolls. The image of the black dolls displaying non-aggressive power didn't reach our country.

So today, I want to try another adjective on a black doll. In the Barbie Fashionista line, a white doll had a monopoly to the word "sweetie". In The Barbie Look line, this adjective was echoed by a white Sweet Tea doll. Why not associate the adjective sweet to someone black?

In recent releases, there were black dolls that portrayed sweetness. They just didn't reach our country. I also noticed that I don't have a lot of sweet looking black dolls. They either look fierce, somber, or beautifully pissed. My smiling black dolls don't look sweet with their heavy makeup. I could have been unconsciously made to think that black dolls can't be sweet. I had to do something.

The problem is I'm not black, so the image above doesn't have a black perspective. I don't know how it is to be black. I'm actually think that the doll I styled looks a little oreo. I am not saying black dolls should be dressed like that to make their image positive. I'm just saying white dolls don't have a monopoly for certain looks and adjectives.

Celebratory

This year saw me accomplish a number of things both in my personal life and in my hobby. I am still refraining to blog about my personal life so let's just talk about the hobby. Before I do, let me share a doll who is in a celebratory mood.



I did the usual head shrinking, dental extraction and face painting. She gives a bombshell vibe with the way she smile her full lips so I gave her a simple bombshell dress. Yes, the shawl usually adds a matronly vibe but I like the pop of color.



I like looking at her. She reminds me of parties. She compliments my celebratory outlook. Maybe I'll just stare at her for a while and talk about the little accomplishments later.

Waiting to Sew

The old sewing machine has been finally set up to in our new house. We moved recently and some stuff not used everyday are still in boxes. That means I can get back to sewing but the December will be a busy month. Sewing has to wait.



Plus, I have a lot of dolls that needs rework because I didn't like Mattel's version. Maybe, I can squeeze some sewing... I don't know. We'll see.

Patience

I like some fashion of the stiff Style dolls but I'm not willing to pay the full since I don't like dolls, so I waited for the discount. Finally, I got them for 50% off. The patience paid off.

I let some of my dolls with the Lea/Kayla face mold (which is still my favorite) wear it. I like it on them more than the original dolls but their skinny legs are starting to disturb me just a little.

Inevitable

"Should I do what Barbie does or do the last thing Barbie would do?" - Skipper



In a Barbie world, everybody plays by the Barbie rules. Nobody gets hurt.

Skipper will be another Barbie. Everybody wants to be Barbie. Check the rules.

Meant for her

When something looks this good on a doll, one can't help but think that the dress was designed with that doll in mind.



It's a playline dress with a big room for improvement. Don't expect it to look the same in another doll.

Mint

This is another Mattel dress I recently got at a discounted price. I like the color and the simplicity, although it's a one-trick pony dress unlike the previous one.

The New Girl

I was supposed to make another dress but I misplaced my patterns. I was too lazy to make one from scratch. I ended up buying new dresses. This is the first one.

I was going for a Zooey Deschanel (The New Girl) vibe for this Lea doll. I just got her because she was discounted. There's no point in paying the full price when I only wanted the head. She has been rebodied with Barbie Style Raquelle, the one with flimsy knee joints.

Girl Feelings

They are wearing the three variants of the Jianidi Girl Feelings dress. I was told that there's an orange one but I had enough.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Action Dolls

It was the first Avengers movie that got me collecting 4-inch action dolls. A lot of them became peg warmers so they were sold cheap. I didn't know back then that buying other characters wasn't going to be as easy. Three years later and weeks after the second Avengers movie, I'm still enjoying my action dolls from 2012. There is no Barbie doll that I bought in 2012 that connects with me in the same way.

So, I liked the movie

...and no new sewing projects maybe until June.

Ax-essorize