Sheng Yuan No. SY327 Quinjet

There was no inner tray or box and the big plastic bag containing the small packs was torn. The cover of one instruction manual was almost torn because of the packing design. I was worried my set was incomplete but fortunately everything is there. The comic version of the Black Widow is shown on the box but the set comes with the movie version.



I wish they made finding the parts easier so I won't have to worry too much. There's no comic book and brick remover like in the original Lego set, which is no big deal.



I hurt myself building this because I was too sleepy. I stayed up late to build it. That could only mean that I have a new addiction.

 

Comparison with the X-men's Blackbird

Not Lego (6869) Quinjet Aerial Battle Brick Set

Loot for the day. This costs from PhP1300 to PhP1500 at Divisoria.

2015-07-04 update

This set is now discounted at Php900 at Divisoria.

Lessons from DVF

Aside from the comedy series 2 Broke Girls, one can get important business lessons from the reality TV show House of DVF. It was where designer Diane von Furstenberg, the woman behind the wrap dress, found a brand ambassador for her line of clothing. I like DVF's style sensibilities and this was a way to learn more about her. I got the chance to see only four episodes and I got these lessons so far:

Dolls in wrap dresses

X-MEN shorts: Everything is Awesome

Not Lego (76022) X-men vs The Sentinel Brick Set

I started buying brick minifigures and then brick sets for my nephews. There wasn't much on my favorite group, the X-men, anyways. When I found out that there's an X-men set with a Sentinel and a blue Blackbird to boot, I knew I have to get one just for myself.

This costs for only PhP500 (US$11) in Divisoria while local resellers ask for PhP600 up to PhP780. It's a bootleg-o and it's awesome!

Hell no, Hasbro!

The lack of attention on the 4-inch Marvel action dolls by Hasbro could be taken as a tactic by the company to make the consumers buy more of their other products, specifically the Legends line. Previous releases of the 4-inch version had collectors torn between those and the Legends line. That could spell a split in the sales. Hasbro decided to release less of the 4-inch line and adding salt to injury, they have reduced the articulation.



They also have a 2.5-inch line but for people like me who thinks smaller is better for a miniature world, brick minifigures are better options. They are a lot cuter, too. They also have a bigger universe from DC to Marvel to manga and even TV series characters! With those 2.5-inch Hasbro figures, well...good luck with that. People only want them for their elaborate playsets, something the brick toys can definitely offer.

So no, Hasbro won't be taking my money. Instead it will go to the Chinese companies who manufactured these knockoff Lego toys which we'll call bootleg-o. These companies initially started copies of the Lego products but they have already started releasing their own designs. You should expect people from the upcoming Superpower to have some ingenuity otherwise they wouldn't be able to gun for world supremacy, right?



Now, let's see if Nick Fury here can assemble the X-men.

Modern Family

I think it's cool that the Storm siblings were re-imagined to have different ethnicities.

Don't expect white Barbie to have non-white siblings. Barbie maybe fashion forward but she's not exactly progressive.

Buyer's Remorse 1

Hervé Léger Barbie is currently on top of my buyer's remorse list. I'm not a fan of the Louboutin face mold mainly because of the size of her face, especially on a skinny model muse body. If it's such a wonderful mold then why was it revised to create the Mermaid mold? Plus, there were a lot of dolls with this mold that didn't sell well, they had to be sold at discounted prices. Overrated.

I bought the set because of the accessories but I think the dresses are just glorified sock dresses. Sock dressmaking is level 0 in doll dressmaking. These are not real body-contouring dresses that are designed to shape and support the body. Barbie's body does not need support and it's the (sock) dress that follows the contour of the body. If one can find the right socks, one can make a similar dress. Like what I've said, glorified.



I thought of selling the pieces I don't like but selling is such a hassle as compared to just forgetting about them.

2015 Tokidoki Barbie factory offcut

A photo of what seems to be the head (with the hair chopped off) of 2015 Tokidoki Barbie was posted on FB.



Like most offcuts, if there's one, there's probably more.

Spot the Difference 104

How many differences can you see?



Clue: How many African-American Barbie dolls were prevented to be sold outside America?

Lull

There's a certain kindness to her beauty that can keep me staring mindlessly. As some of the best stories go, nothing needs to happen.

Best Buy Brushes

If you're a hobbyist from the Philippines who wants to try repainting dolls, don't use the Best Buy brushes from National Bookstore. You want the bristles of the brushes to cling together for you to be able to paint fine lines. The Best Buy brushes don't behave that way. I use brushes from Deovir or Lil's Hobby Shop at SM Malls.

Who is Barbie?

A video entitled "Who is Barbie?" was posted on Youtube recently. The answer to the question was shown in the frame below.



It is attempting to redefine Barbie as dolls of different ethnicities rather than just the blue-eyed blond with the rest as just her friends. Mattel is trying to score some relatability points with the campaign.

Will this work? I doubt it. For it to work, they should change all images of the blue-eyed blond in non-doll Barbie merchandize like kid's clothes, school supplies, party favors, books, similar items AND all their tags and labels. I mean billboards, too. How about in Barbie's IG account, will there be race-bending?

Plus, how will they explain the other dolls having different names like in the Life in the Dream House webisodes? There's going to be a conflict with Barbie having an identity and Barbie trying to be everybody.

Spot the Difference 103

How many differences can you see?



Clue: How many dolls were you tricked to buy only to dispose of the heads?

Spot the Difference 102

How many differences can you see?

Clue: How many layers of makeup does one need to be beautiful?

Cockroach Dress

I was smiling when I made this dress. I have fun childhood memories with cockroaches. I'm even smiling as I type this.



This was inspired by a dress (below) from Plains & Prints, a local brand.

T-shirt Dress

I wanted a dress like the printed Valentino suede (t-shirt) dress (below) from the spring-summer 2015 collection but it's close to impossible for me to get a fabric with that exact same print. Reality check: I'm not privileged like Barbie.

(from @barbiestyle and @maisonvalentino on IG)

Divisoria Doll Stuff

While looking for Barbie shoes to match the new doll clothes I've made, I saw my stash of doll items I bought a few months back from Divisoria. Most of them are basic and uninspiring so I didn't blog about them. Some are too small for Barbie dolls. They could probably be for Licca dolls. Each Divisoria clone fashion pack costs PhP100 (it could be less if you buy more) while Mattel fashion packs each costs PhP500.Divisoria, as usual, is the bigger bang for buck.

(The dolls are not from Divisoria and were only included to show the size and fit of the clothes.)

A good sign

I thought that matters requiring my attention would keep me from sewing until this June. It's always a good sign when one has enough time to spare to make doll clothes. 

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.

Spot the Difference 101

How many differences can you see?

Clue: How many times has Skipper been prettier than Barbie?

Any other would seem secondhand

Another fashion pack I considered buying is modeled by Nikki below. I decided not to buy the dress because none of my dolls can match how Nikki carried the dress. Any other doll would seem secondhand.

Mermaid Nikki in Barbie 2015 Fashion Uploaded by fashiondollcollector on January 25, 2015 © All rights reserved Just follow this link to see and comment on this photo: »  http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0090009/photos/fashiondollcollector/16336525526/

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.

Flat and Halfhearted

Barbie attempts to be relevant by “living” a hashtagged life centering on fashion. That means keeping up with the trends like flat shoes. These shoes have been having their moments in the runway since 2013 and Barbie, being a fashion icon that she is, caught up with the trend late last year.  Blame Mattel’s rumored lengthy design process for the delay.

If you’re within Mattel’s favored distribution area, you probably have seen Barbie dolls with flat feet on the toy shelves. Along with the dolls, fashion packs and accessories were also made available. The curious thing is that the fashion pack never came with any flat footwear. A separate accessory pack can be bought but each pack only has a pair of flats. 

 fashion packs without flats

It seems like designing dresses that can go with flat shoes is way beyond the skill of any Mattel doll designer/stylist. (I'm exaggerating, of course.) It just feels like that Mattel is halfhearted in promoting the flat feet design. If there are minimal clothing options, who will buy these flat footed dolls? After the poor sales of these dolls, people will conclude that the consumers don’t want to deviate from high heel formula.

 accessory packs with one pair of flats each

They could have packed the clothes with both heels and flats. I have shown in my previous posts that some dresses can work with flats. Instead of the lousy plastic bags the dresses came with, a flat footwear option should have been provided. More flat footwear design (shoe mold) should also be made available. 

 

 a flat shoe for Raquelle

I know consumers like me sound like whining brats sometimes. It’s just sad to see a toy line we have grown to love die. The new Fashionista dolls have lost their articulation. It would be sad to have them loose their fashion versatility. With the low sales of Barbie dolls recently, the next thing we’ll know is that we have totally lost them for good.

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.

Black Widow

"The result is an overdue character exploration for Black Widow that still manages to reduce the baddest bitch in the MCU to a shell of a superheroine who’s sad she can never be a complete woman."
- Jen Yamato

Having taken a few courses from the Natasha Romanoff Academy, I have learned (though I still need years of practice) to use my emotions to my advantage. Tears can be used to manipulate people, to make them do your bidding, or at least catch them off guard by creating an illusion that you are vulnerable. Sensuality, too. To do that, one must not be controlled by the notions of sex that the society/religion has propagated. It's taking control and following your own notions of your sensuality. Nick Fury thought that she'll do a good job in assembling the Avengers.

In one scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Bruce Banner was in drama queen mode about his inability to have a normal family life. Everybody knows what happens when Bruce cannot control his emotions, right? It's a good thing that Natasha was there to provide emotional support for the most emotional Avenger.

She painted a picture of herself as a vulnerable person having no ability to bear children. And it's okay for her and that she can still have a relationship despite that. The sadness was used to get the message across that she can relate to Bruce, that he can trust her because she has made herself relatable to him. If you ask me if who I'll choose between Black Widow and Hulk, I'll go with the Widow. She's in control. That is why she's in charge of the big guy and his lullaby. Yes, Iron Man can make the Hulk sleep with Veronica but Natasha does it with so much less destruction.

I don't agree that the Black Widow character was reduced, but I do agree about what Jen Yamato said about the lack of female superheroes and the lack of female action dolls. Marvel and the toy companies like Hasbro is the villain in that story.

I still like the movie but Hawkeye should have died. That will be more dramatic. Plus, Jeremy Renner called Natasha a slut. I'm not hating or anything. Hawkeye did die a number of times in the comics. As for Chris Evans, I expect Captain America be killed in his 3rd solo movie or at least turn over his shield to someone else. That happened in the comics, too.

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.

Marvel Universe (4-inch) scale Hulkbuster

Ever since watching the second Avengers movie, I have been hunting for a Hulkbuster toy that blends well with my 4-inch action dolls. I almost bought the old figure from the Iron Man movie but toy reviews weren't kind to its size. (Men and the size of their toys...) I figured, I can wait for the movie figure even if there wasn't any announced for release. Maybe next year...

The waiting paid off. It's not a licensed product but I don't care. It will just be a prop or plaything for my Hulk. It's not a major character. It's not like the Hulkbuster will appear in another movie in the future. Aside from the small size of the licensed toy, the higher price also kept me from buying it knowing that I won't be using it as much. This unlicensed Hulkbuster is a better choice for me.

comparison shot

This toy costs less than half of the current local price for the fully articulated 4-inch figures. It has more than 5 points of articulation, the standard for the 4-inch movie figures. Even with the limited articulation, posing it with my Hulk action dolls is still fun.

The shoulders can rotate 360° but the arms cannot be raised sideways. The elbows can be moved by just about 45°. The knees can be moved by about 90°. The helmet can be flipped open to show a human head but it doesn't look anything like Tony Stark (not pictured). The hips are ball and socket joints and they are really loose. The legs can be removed and returned from the hip joint.

This Hulkbuster looks good from the front but the manufacturer skimped on the back paint details. The holes for the screws don't help the aesthetics either.

Before I forget, upon opening the package, the toy had an unpleasant chemical smell which lasted for about a day. Or maybe it's still there but I just got used to the smell. Who knows? Talk about dangerous toys. It's a risk I'm willing to take. It's not like I'll be handling this toy for a long time. Like all toys we accumulate, it will be in storage most of the time.

 

This figure is about $5.50 in a toy store at EDSA Central. A local eBay seller is selling it for about $5 while another sells it for less than $7. This is sold for only $2.60 in Divisoria.

Daredevil

One thing I like about the Daredevil TV series on Netflix is that they're not trying to be pretty nor be cute.

Broken Jianidi Hands

It just broke. This should answer questions about the quality or durability.

So, I liked the movie

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