Hero Business

Disney is popular for creating female hero characters unwitting people look up to. Whether or not that company is in the business of empowering women is being questioned with the lack of female characters in their Avengers merchandise. (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/disney/11552960/Are-Disney-ignoring-Marvels-female-fans.html)




Barbie has also entered the hero business with mask, cape and all. This time Mattel honored real life people who some of us can consider as a hero or shero, as they call it. I was just pleased that, at least, there was an Asian looking doll in the mix.

Articulated Feet Comparison

Jianidi doll versus Barbie Style doll (Raquelle)

Ax-essorize

Razyera, isn't that hoarding?

The Wasp action doll has been a peg warmer that is why it has been offered for  a reduced price of PhP500 locally. Unlike other characters, the Wasp toy sold out after the price reduction. I thought it was normal because it can be used as base for a customized female character since there are few female characters. When I saw an online seller (Razyera) posted a lot of Wasp toys, I figured that it was possible that the toy was hoarded. The ad posted above is only for local buyers who could have bought the toys themselves locally had the toy not been hoarded.

Hoarding is different from reselling as the latter helps in the distribution. We know that toy manufacturers can't reach everybody. Resellers help alleviate the distribution problems. If a well distributed toy is hoarded, it prevents others from accessing what should have been an accessible toy.

Yes, I know a lot of people do it. I don't mean to single out this specific seller but I figured I needed an example. More than hating on possible hoarders, I'm curious on how to deal with them. Sure, ignoring them is an easy thing to do but it feels like a big cop out. It's not something we learn from the superheroes that inspire us.

Is the collecting community a society that allows opportunistic people to propagate? I know we have no right to keep them from doing what they are doing. I guess we can just talk about them and serve as warning to others, make a blacklist of sorts on which people to avoid even if they are offering some good deals. This blog will be my blacklist.

Mattel goes Quirky

...I mean goes to Quirky for help. They probably are looking for the next big thing in toys and I guess it can have nothing to do with the Barbie toy line.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/smallbusiness/mattel-toy-inventions/

As for me, I'll pass.

Store Math OR Predicting some toy store will rightfully close down soon

If a toy kiosk owner pays 10,000+pesos per month for the store space that has 200 boxed dolls in their inventory, a monthly cost of 50+pesos per month is added to cost of the doll. The store owner pays 600+pesos a year just for keeping a doll on display.

A Holiday Barbie from 2011 could be had for 1,500+pesos. The small toy store is still trying so hard to sell it for 3,000pesos since 2012. Three years have passed so that means the owner has already spent about 1,800+pesos just by displaying the doll for that long. The total cost so far is 3,300+pesos and is still increasing as long as it doesn't sell.

If some misinformed collector buys it for 3,000pesos, the seller still has a net loss of 300+pesos.

The figures above are just rough estimates. The loss in one toy can be covered by a profit from another toy. That explains the high markup in the prices. But it doesn't explain why they can't cut their losses early on by offering discounts after a year of not being sold like what normal toy stores do.

This old thing

The doll is old and so is the dress. My mom made it.

The Death of Barbie

Barbie's popularity is waning even if her price is increasing. If I were to think of a gimmick to promote Barbie, I would kill her first. Superman, the Lion from Narnia and Jean Grey all did it. I guess that is why Barbie is entering the superhero business, to die.

Imagine 5 years without Barbie. Trap her soul in the Cloud, no tangible toy, just some android game, like "Clash with the Clones" where she fights clone Barbie dolls who have taken over the world because they are more reasonably priced.

Barbie collectors will cherish all their dolls because they probably are going to be their last. The demand may build up. The dolls prices might increase in the secondary market knowing that there is no more supply. The amount people are willing to pay for a doll will increase.

And then she does a grand resurrection! Immaculate. Better than ever in all aspect--high fashion, better articulation, more durable with a god-like status.

OK, fine. Maybe it's no big deal if she remains dead.

Going Through Something

For three straight years, Barbie is still on a losing streak. On the 1st quarter of 2015, sales were up in the US but international sales pulled it down.

I wish they don't have a sole distributor locally. Richwell, the local sole distributor marks up the Barbie dolls way too high. If they only had a competition, the prices will be more reasonable and maybe, the dolls will sell more (unless the new distributor agrees with Richwell's price scheme, then let them suffer the same fate).

I wonder how it is in other international market.

Store Story

I went toy store hopping yesterday. Nothing is worth buying at the moment. Sale season is over. I did notice little interesting things.

First stop, Cool Republic Toy in Greenhills. I had a good experience buying from this store before. They allow customers to haggle. The store owner was ranting when I walked in. He was ranting about another customer who was driving a hard bargain. The owner said that if someone wants a toy, they should be willing to pay the price. That makes sense, right? But he sounded like he meant that if someone wants a toy, they should be willing to pay the price no matter how unreasonable.

I went out that toy store immediately. I don't like to patronize sellers who speak ill of their customer in public, no matter how unreasonable the customer is. Yeah, sure they can rant all they want in private but when they do it in public, it speaks a lot about how bad sales people they are. And sales is not just about the quality of product. Customers also pay for the buying experience.

I went around other toy stores in Greenhills. It is interesting to note that they are selling Marvel Infinite Series figures for more than US$10 even if major toy stores have a more competitive price. Major toy stores have more resources so they can offer these figures at lower prices. Small time sellers in Greenhills buy it in foreign retails stores so they don't get bulk discounts. I love a healthy competition. It's good for the consumer. I won't buy the new figures from Greenhills because they are more expensive there than in major toy stores (except for the Blue Beast which is offered by some Greenhills stores cheaper). Old figures that are no longer available in major toys stores are great buys in Greenhills when it comes to Marvel Universe figures.

I also visited the major toy stores. I wasn't interested in picking up any more Barbie Style Resort/Glam Vacation so I wasn't really looking at them after I bought Grace. Yesterday, I was reconsidering getting another with the hat. I immediately dismissed getting another after I saw the price. It has increased by more than 50% in less than a month! That makes me really glad that I bought Grace earlier. That makes my wallet happy, too.

I know someone who works in retail. He told me that they usually double the price so that when they offer it at 10 to 30% off the original price, they still get a profit. When I bought Grace, it's safe to assume that they already have a big enough profit margin. Increasing her price by 50% makes their margin a lot bigger and unreasonable if you ask me. So I'm taking down my blog entry where I promoted those dolls.

I keep telling that we pay for these people's (the store owner, sales person, toy designer etc) salary. We are their boss. We should teach them how they do their business.

Research

Sometimes I'm too tired to spoon feed people. I say what I want to say. I don't say what I don't want to say. If that leaves questions, then maybe the point is to leave questions.

Support System

A "stand" is used to help a doll stand. What do we call something to help a doll seem to fly, float or levitate? A fly, like the insect? Float, like with the root beer? Levitate? Let's just call it the support system, for now.

I have been seeing these in toy blogs I follow and I have been wanting to have some. It would be nice to use these in a toy tableu for the flying, high-jumping or levitating characters. I was lucky to find one at a secondary market.

The packaging comes in a completely foreign Asian language as shown above. I have no idea about the manufacturer nor is there any readable instructions on how to use it. I guess part of the fun is making sense of the parts and customize the assembly based on your needs.

I was able to set it up to support two action dolls, with a few parts to spare. Although the support system is made of light plastic, it can carry the weight of the figures without moving at the hinges even if I left the setup for a couple of days.

A pack of the support system costs about US$5 locally. It's about the same price as a Kaiser doll stand for playscale dolls. While the Kaiser stand is durable since it is made of metal, this clear plastic support system is more versatile. I just wish that it came in a resealable box or plastic bag. There are too many small part that one can easily lose.

Resurrection

I was supposed to gather all my action figures characters that supposedly died and came back to life and take a group photo but that takes a lot of setup and cleanup time. I settled with Spider-Woman instead.

Almost Forgotten

When we have dolls that we have almost forgotten, does that mean we shouldn't have bought them in the first place?

Yeah, sure, we can always have an excuse that we enjoyed them when they were new and that they gave us happiness and that made it worth it. That was then. What about now?

Or we tell ourselves that maybe, just a big maybe, we can use the doll in our future projects. Maybe our interest in that doll will be resurrected someday. You can never tell, right?

No matter how we delude ourselves, the doll is there and you don't want it now.

Organization

This how I organize my patterns.



I got the idea from a doctor. She said I should organize my medical records this way so that whoever will examine me will have some sort of history.

Two Princesses

If you want to call me baby



Just go ahead now

Discounted

March is when new toys get released locally both from Hasbro and Mattel. In the Mattel lineup, I only wanted resort Grace. The rest can wait until sale season.  With Hasbro, I want a number of Marvel Infinite Series figures both from last year and this year.

Local Hasbro distributors are doing the same gimmick once again of creating an illusion that there is a low supply. They did this with the Avengers movie figures back in 2012. They did this last year with the later waves of Marvel Infinite Series figures. And now they are doing it again with the 1st wave for 2015.

They just display a few pieces on the shelves to create an illusion that they ran out of stock, that a lot of collectors are panic buying. In a lot of toys stores I went, I asked for the Beast action figure and the sales clerks are trained to say that it was the first to ran out and that I should just get the other figures left. That was two weekends ago. Although I wanted what was left on the shelf, I don't want it that bad. I can wait for the sale so I left without buying. Luckily I was able to get one, and at a discounted price to boot.

In the collecting scene, the word "rare" is often misused. A lot of times, the rarity is controlled by the distributor and not the manufacturer. Just because it was made scarce in one location, Marvel Infinite Series figures are rarely rare. It just means that some other location got more shipment. And sometimes buying from that location is cheaper than buying locally. That is how I got my Sandman figure, from a secondary market at a discounted price.

I am not falling to the local distributor's trick once again. They created an illusion that the Ares, Valkyrie and Red She-hulk figures were rare. I was forced to get them at a secondary market. Although I got them at a price lower than the local distributor's original price, the distributor lately offered it at a much lower price. I should have waited but no, I became emotional about the low supply and the illusion of rarity.

Lessons learned.

Aubrey

This ensemble was specifically made for Aubrey. It's the second outfit I've made inspired by Audrey's gown from the movie Sabrina. The first was in 2011.

Of the dolls who have modeled my clothes this year, Aubrey is the first to model a second ensemble. (The first ensemble is here.) I really like this doll and to think she's a clone (head and body from two clone dolls). I have been playing with her since 2011. Who does that? These days, it's always about the new doll.

Barbie Style Glam Vacation (a.k.a. Barbie Style Resort) Grace

From the promo pictures, I have decided that this doll is a must-have for me. We'll go to the why's later but like most things, let's start with the name. Others call this wave as the Barbie Style Resort but the box clearly says it is Barbie Style Glam Vacation. The price tag at the back of the box agrees with the former. To keep it simple, let's just call her Grace.

Of the three dolls, I just wanted Grace. I initially like the hat on Barbie and Summer's outfit but the hat seemed very heavy and shiny in person while the pants are shiny, too.

Style can be timeless but timing factors in fashion and demand. Dolls should be made available while they are hot (or "trending" in today's words). I'm glad that it was the case for this doll. Usually, the dolls are released locally 6 months to over a year after it was popular in social media. They are passé by that time.

A proper and timely distribution means that the manufacturer and distributor know how to listen and cater to their client. And clients like me will continue to support them because of that. I'm done with jumping through hoops (like buying online) just to get a doll. If a toy company doesn't know how to make their toys reach me on time, my money won't reach them either. This doll passed the distribution criteria and that is one of the reasons why I'm glad to talk about this doll.

Another reason is the price. These are being sold at the same price as the stiff Fashionista dolls (which have become peg warmers and are now being sold at 30% off the original price in some stores). The fully articulated Barbie Style dolls are being sold over twice as much as this doll so they will be peg warmers as well, rightfully. These Glam Vacation dolls are reasonably priced and that is why they get my support unlike other Barbie dolls.

I also like Grace's style. It's a good idea that she can mix and match outfits later on. Blue is my favorite color but the main reason why I must have this doll is the strappy gladiator sandals.  Since I'm too lazy to create something like those, I opt to buy them. Not only is this doll freed from the high heels which most feminist see as a some sort of binding (like fashion doll collectors really care about that), dolls can now wear fashionable flat foot wear. Mattel should recreate them in different natural colors.

Grace compared to a clone Teresa head on a Nikki body

Speaking of colors, this Grace doll comes in a new (relative to the last year's Fashionista, Life in the dream house and Barbie style dolls) skin tone. Grace is slightly darker than Nikki. New skin tones will be added to the playline lineup as well but most of them come in stiff bodies.

As expected, flat footed Grace is shorter than the dolls with arched feet. The new foot design prevents her from wearing a lot of Barbie shoes. It also makes her shorter than other dolls.

There are some little details that I don't like about the doll. The lack of articulation (on the bust, ankle and knees) is one. The head is also little wobbly on mine. There's a little paint splatter on the bag. All of these I can take as long as there's a lot of saving grace.

Grace  typically uses the Mbili face mold. This Grace doll looks like she is still using the Mbili mold but inspecting the nape reveals that it is a new mold patented in 2011. The Mbili mold was patented in 2001.

Personally, I don't see any difference between the two, even in the size. I initially thought that Grace's head is bloated like the rest of the playline dolls but it is really nice to find out that I don't have to shrink her head. Her eyes needs to be smaller so she will be repainted later.

Horrifying Heroes

Deathlok and Ghost Rider

Today is Horrifying Heroes Day. It is celebrated internationally every decade. To celebrate this important trope in delusion propagation, I'm sharing some of the differently beautied heroes from the Marvel Universe.

Beta Ray Bill smashing the gorgeous face of Thor

Marvel Universe Infinite Series Ares vs Sentry

Before I took this photo, I looked at myself in the mirror to see how I'd look like if I'm hitting somebody with an axe.

Marvel Universe Infinite Series Valkyrie

So I got burned out with making and talking about dresses and my dolls. That happens to every doll hobbyist. That is why we have other things to keep us busy. If fashion dolls take my mind off the real world, action dolls take my mind off fashion dolls. Plus, I haven't taken a decent picture of Valkyrie since I got her last year.

I think it's funny (and sad, if they don't realize it) when a doll collector passionately whines about dolls lacking articulation and then post photos of his/her dolls in a model muse pose.  In the same way, I feel sad when someone post photos of action dolls posing like fashion dolls. I can take some catalog-type photos of action dolls when used in a review or for documentation. I think something is lost when you take the action out of the action dolls. They'll just be dolls.

I wanted to take a photo of Valkyrie in action, (duh) but I know nothing about handling a sword. I don't just want to show her handling a sword, I want to show some of her intensity. I found the drawing below and used it as an inspiration.

The trick is how to get her to pose like that. I hang her on a string. She kept spinning so it was hard to take a clear shot. It's not that great, I know. I deleted over a hundred (no exaggeration) of more blurry pictures. I wanted some light on Dragonfang (her sword) but I have limited light sources. There's a blank look on her face which doesn't help. Looking back, I should have just adjusted the light so that there is some shadow on her face but then I was shooting a moving subject. How am I supposed to set that up? What the heck!

Let's

...get this series over and done with. This is the last piece for this series. So there.



And of course, the ritualistic group photo.



I figured, I talk too much about a dress. And who's got the patience?

Melt

I can't imagine myself mass producing any dress I have made. I don't have the patience to do the same things over and over. This is the 5th variation of the drip outfit and although I was looking forward to see how this will turn out, I was not looking forward to sewing basically the same thing. The repetition will end in my meltdown. After this collection, I will just sew any outfit I want when I want. No more themes.

Ken doll shoes?

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the photo above are Ken doll shoes. They are Superstar shoes by Adidas. I wonder if Mattel will follow suit.

Another Jianidi

I got me another Jianidi doll from that far off place. I got it for about 50% off the original price. There were two dress colors left for the Girl Feelings doll, yellow and this. I realized too late that a photo of the three dresses together (I already have the pink one) might look interesting. Plus, who knows when I'll need another articulated body that can work with the Peace skin tone. I might go back to get another with a yellow dress. You'll never know when they'll run out of stock.



The problem with clone toys in general is that they don't have the longevity in the toy shelves. Once they've sold out, you can't expect the manufacturer to produce another variant. The only reason why these these Jianidi dolls haven't sold out (despite the interest based on the statistics on searches that land visitors in this blog) is that the store is in a remote location and I don't even know the exact address. I just know how to get there.

___________

A few weeks after this entry, the Jianidi dolls have been sold in major toy stores. They don't really sell well maybe due to quality issues posted in another entry.

Bright

There is nothing like bright colors and a bright smile to cheer someone up. I like serious looking dolls but there are days when we can use all the smiles we can get.

Teresa is wearing a purple skirt and an apricot (or is it peach) top with an asymmetrical hem with a drip detail and red yoke. And yes, the fairy boots for the quirk.

Flow

Christie's personality really shined in this photo but she kinda took the attention from the outfit. That's not how a good model does it.

Aside from the drip detail, these outfits have shift tops. I'm also experimenting on color blocking. Unlike in the first outfit, the colors used here aren't that bold. The outfit seems dull, shapeless and faded when compared to the bright background colors above but they doesn't seem so in the photo below.

The shoes came from a clone Barbie. I'm glad they fit since Christie's feet (which were originally Tiana's) are bigger than your regular Barbie.

Drip Drop

Drip drop, I do my dance like
Drip drop, drip drippity drop
Drip drop, drip drippity drop

- from Drip Drop Lyrics (Empire)

The drip detail on the shift blouse was carried over from the previous dress. I used a different yoke shape and coupled it with pants. I used fairy boots for an added quirk.We'll be seeing more variations of this in the coming entries.

Continuous Learning

I don't claim to be an expert on fashion, styling and dress making.  I try to study them whenever I can, and apply what I learn in the doll clothes that I make.

I find it silly that I can't even describe my work because I'm not aware of the jargon. Aside from English not being my mother tongue, my background in world of fashion is non-existent.

In addition to exposing myself more to the world of fashion, I have decided to use my blog to take down notes. I have added a page to store my notes. I will update this page as I learn more.

Although I'm exposing myself more to fashion, I'm selective with what I'm exposing myself to. I let my sense of style limit me. Although my style is still evolving, I generally have a sense of what I like and what I find off-putting.

It's not what's popular that's going to make me excited. It's not what other people will say. Style is my conscience that will guide me in this new world I'm exploring.

Some Toilet Humor

Deandra The New Girl's 1st single
Featuring Daft Poop

http://youtu.be/KbjTEthseDg

D' Drip

The blouse have a drip detail on the hem. I got the idea from Phillip Lim's pre-spring/summer 2015 collection.

Notes

1. For 3 consecutive years, sales of Barbie dolls have declined. It is down by 16% last year, 3% in 2012 and 6% in 2013. (source1)
2. Sales of toys in the US grew by 4%. (source2)
3. Barbie's core demographic narrowed down to kids 3 to 6 years old (from 3 to 9 years old). (source1)
4. Young girls have been favoring electronic toys and toys based on movies. (source2)
5. Habro's revenue increased by 5% last year. (source3)
6. Overseas sales is about half of Hasbro's revenue last year. (source3)
7. Hasbro's overseas sales increased by 8% last year, while only 1% rise in US and Canada. (source3)

How telling is that?

Eyes pop less

Others like big anime eyes on their dolls but to me they look like eyes that grew a face. Not that I don't like funny looking things (I do keep a couple of Takara Licca and Jenny), I just don't like to have most of my dolls to look too funny. I think there is more humor in the irony of looking serious but nobody is taking you seriously.


When I got a Hairtastic Barbie doll, I was itching to do something with her eye-popping look. I wanted to shrink her head but I don't want to risk what acetone will do to her purple hair or to her vinyl face. I heard about dolls that got discolored after shrinking. Shrinking was out of the option.

I figured I can repaint her eyes. Her head doesn't seem too huge when compared to other dolls. I retained the lashes and resized the eyes. Her molded lower eyelids now looks like eyes bags. Honestly, I can take the eye bags than have her eyes bigger than her mouth.

I wanted to have dolls with different hair color. She used to look funnier when grouped with my other dolls. But she's okay now.

Do you know that I resisted buying this Hairtastic Barbie for over a year? I was waiting for it to go on sale last December but I didn't see it at the warehouse sale. I visit this certain store every now and then just to check if it is still available, but every time I resist buying it. A few days ago, I decided to get it to complete my rainbow hair collection. I got it despite its exorbitant price even after being a peg warmer for about a year. No matter how reasonable in a business perspective the price is, I sometimes get the feeling that I got cheated. The problem with getting the feeling of being cheated is that there is a chance that one won't buy again. I wonder how many more times do I need to feel cheated before I my eyes pop open and completely stop buying Mattel products.

Hair Ado

For the Mattel face sculpts that I like, I want to have them in varied skin tones, hair color and hair styles, although I want the facial screening to be more or less the same. There isn't a lot of dolls that have updo's and most of them are over-priced. That is why I had to learn how to give some of my dolls an updo. The Midge doll (Golden Qi-pao Barbie) had her hairstyle restored since the bun has become undone. She got a some repaint to make her look less inert.

I found out that the dolls with thinly rooted hair works best for an updo, otherwise the hair would be difficult to twist and turn. And since it's quite difficult to restore when undone, I decided to sew them in place.

The girls are naked for now because I felt that they need gowns to go with those hair. I'm not very motivated when it comes to making gowns. Maybe I should review some red carpet moments to get some inspiration.

Beautiful Happy Time Girl clone doll

I live in a country where the best selling beauty products always involve a skin whitening ingredient. Dark skinned dolls also don't sell well in our country. You can't blame me if I have lost hope of seeing dark skinned clone dolls being sold here.

Last night was a surprise. I saw this in Shopwise. She's just about US$2.

Another look

Here's another look at the outfits.



When the dolls are not interacting, I like it when they look at the camera. The two on the right have clone fashionista bodies which are difficult to pose. It's difficult to make them look at the camera.

Kayla's knees are a bit loose so it bends on it's own. She looks like she's working it, though.

Variations

I challenged myself to make outfits using a gingham fabric I bought. Personally, I think gingham is boring. It reminds me of tablecloths and waiter's uniform. I also challenged myself to use only fabrics in black and white, and without buying new ones. After a few variations, the gingham challenge became, what else, boring. Plus, I really want to work on other clothes.

This will be the last for this series.



It's my version of this:

When more isn't better

I used to not like these figures despite the increased points of articulation. They took away the wider range of motion in the hip joint. That just won't do for acrobatic characters.



Good thing is that it can be modified but do we really to go through all that trouble?

On Taste

Bad taste creates many more millionaires than good taste.
- Charles Bukowski

I applied my personal taste on Kira's face. Now, will I be a millionaire?

Keeping Inspired

Although I wanted this outfit for my doll, I struggled to make it. This is my eleventh outfit for this year. I could use a break. One side of me wants to just sleep all day or be a couch potato. I did but I'm no Sleeping Beauty. At one point, I have to wake up. I figured I can watch the TV and sew at the same time. Nothing good is on anyways. So I created this outfit.

We all have resolutions. Mine is to cut down on buying new dolls, experiment with styling and create more doll clothes. How do keep I myself inspired and motivated?