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?

Nyokitto

The photo of the nyokitto sprouting in front (below) taken from the book Pattern Magic 2 by Tomako Nakamichi is really interesting. It has inspired me to make my own version for dolls. 

I decided to work on a gingham fabric. I thought it would be interesting to see how the lines move on the surface of the nyokitto. I modified the pattern such that there will be no seam on the chest. This is what I came up with.

It doesn't seem to be as interesting as the photo in the book. I thought that I've made a mistake or something. I searched for others' work, for comparison and saw this: https://charlotterowanscott.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/bodice-with-curved-nyokitto/. It seems that the bodice really have a basin for a chest. I studied the photo from the book to find out the difference. A quote from the author gave me a clue. "Drape is a play on light and shadow."

The lighting really made the 1st photo more interesting. The weight of the fabric, allowing light to pass through the nyokitto is what is different. With the light passing through,it's as if the blouse is very light and almost floating.

Whatever the outcome, modeling a misshapen outfit is no challenge for my fashionista queen Kayla.

Headphone Jack/Dust Plug Mini Bags

I have been seeing this mini bags intended for headphone jack/dust plugs since last year. I wanted to get some but I didn't know where. Sure, there are some being sold online but online shopping is such a hassle, at least here anyways. I chance upon these in a mall in the province being sold at about 60% off their original price.

From the looks of their packaging, these are old stocks that didn't sell well. Well, it's original price was way too unreasonable, if you ask me. But with their current price, I was willing to buy 10 but these are all the design/color that were left.

My favorite is the Celine trapeze bag mainly because of the bright colors. The Balenciaga motor cycle bag looks ordinary especially because it is stiff when it should be slouchy. The Birkin bag seems too small. Plus, I already have a couple of Birkin bags for dolls. I got these mainly because they are colorful. I have a project in mind where I can use this bags. Maybe the other bags that I already have will work better but I couldn't pass up the chance to buy these since the mall is out of the way and it may not be available when I get back.

Slowing Down

It's February and for me, it is a busy month. I see myself cutting down on dress making and maybe blogging, or not. We'll see. Before that happens, lemme talk about my latest project.

When I did the clothes of the Life in the Dream House (LiDH) dolls, I had a plan. Before I made them, I bought the things I needed. I already knew how to style them even before I started cutting the fabric. That's not the case now.

I pick a doll and I create clothes for it from the stuff that I already have. Sometimes I have an idea for a doll but I don't have the right materials. I don't want to have a huge stock of fabric so I'd either edit the idea or scrap it altogether. That's going to take a lot of time.

Even when it's done, sometimes the final fitting on the doll is not as I expected. Like this one, I really wanted to make a simple cropped top and a gingham skirt for this simple doll. The mix of all the simplicity makes it a little boring even for me, especially after doing the LiDH doll clothes. This came out very secretarial. Although, I was really thinking of something she can wear at the office. That was the goal, and I guess it was met but...

It (the one on the left) still is boring to me, not to mention basic and old. So I challenged myself to make it a little bad-ass. The one on the right is what I came up with. I got the idea from the runway shows of popular brands. A lot of the dresses there have a classic timeless silhouettes and they just make it look more interesting by making them wear boots and/or hats. They added pops of color but I personally limited myself to black and white for this project. Maybe on my next projects...

Stop the Props

At times, this hobby can be time consuming. For somebody with a full-time job and who is technically the head of the family, it can get overwhelming sometimes. My training has taught me that when things get overwhelming, one should learn how to break things down, to keep them simple.

Some of the most time consuming areas of this hobby are (1) storytelling (2) making dresses (3) styling (4) taking pictures and (5) making props and dioramas. After breaking things down, one should prioritize. Storytelling went out the window a long time ago, although it creeps back in from time to time. I had to figure out in which area I really wanted to improve. I decided it's the dress making. Dolls can be beautiful even with a crappy background, right? Making dresses is more fulfilling with the right styling, in my opinion, so styling stays. And don't expect me to let go of taking pictures when I'm willing to spend more on a camera than a smart phone. Making props and dio finally has to be cut to a minimum.

Still, I wanted my doll photos to have an appropriate background and Photoshopping is not an option since it also takes a lot of time. My  interest in action figures lead me to a photo in Flickr that showed how to have an interesting background with minimal set up and clean up time (as cleaning up is also time consuming).

If you know how to display image files on a big enough TV or LCD screen, then it will be easy.  The screen will serve as a digital background, a sort of video wall. Another toy blogger wrote about it here. The solo pictures of my Life in the Dream House dolls in the previous entries all have digital background. All you need is the floor to be installed. The tricky part is lighting the scene such that the camera does not capture unwanted reflections from the screen.

I usually download suitable backgrounds on my phone during a commute or any waiting time or while in bed trying to make myself fall asleep. Not only did this cut down the time I need to take pictures, it also cuts down the toys I wanted to buy. Having less props also means I need less storage space. It's a win-win-win solution, if you asked me.

All Together Now

These are my version of Life in the Dream House dolls. Let's have one more look at all of them before I move on to other stuff. Plus, I want a picture where they all seem to get along.

Ryu

I love this doll. Unlike what Ken wore in the previous entry, I can wear Ryu's outfit, that is if it came in human size.

Almost

One sewing frustration I have is making a good enough (not necessarily a perfect) blazer. Constructing the collar is always a challenge for me. Finally, I have succeeded but I have to alter the pattern because it is a little short.

And yeah, I'm into pastel these days.

Hippity

Hurray! I'm still motivated to sew doll dresses. Experimenting with new patterns is a box of chocolates. This one turned out not the way I intended it. Just because a fabric flows in human size, it doesn't mean it will in Barbie size.

Is it just me?

Or the Mutya Barbie really looks like a Bratz doll? Not that there is anything wrong about looking like a Bratz doll. I don't think it was intended, though.

Simple

That's how I like it.

Beware: The Thrift Store Doll

Thrift stores offer some of the most interesting doll finds. I never thought it would be as interesting as this.

I came home from the province and saw that the few dolls I had on display have fallen down, except for one. It was probably due to the earthquake that hit Metro Manila early this year while I was away (10Jan2015). I just fixed the dolls on their stands and went on with my life.

I go to the province almost every weekend and last weekend was the same. I came back and saw that the dolls have fallen again, except for one. There was no earthquake that time. It was like those times when we can't explain what happened and then we have those cliche feelings we get from ghost stories. Goosebumps.

Although the Philippines is known to be a Catholic country, majority of Filipinos still have pagan beliefs, like me. I have a friend whom we believe to have a sixth sense.  I asked her to meet me in a mall last night. I brought her the doll that remained standing so she could check it.

She asked me if I knew the former owner. I told my friend that I got the doll early this year from an online seller who bought it from a thrift store. The online seller said she needed to raise funds because of some misfortune. I didn't bother knowing exactly what.

It was haunted. According to a friend, the original owner of the doll had a violent death. She was in her doll room when she died. And she loved all her dolls so much. She advised me to get rid of it. I immediately looked for a trash bin in the mall. I pity the person who will find that doll and decide to keep it.

This experience have made me think twice before buying from the thrift stores. Tonight, I'm going to the province one again. I would really freak out if when I come back and see all the dolls I have on display fall once again and the haunted doll back at the shelf.

Awesome Overlap

I have observed the return of the overlap skirts. Overlap skirts are easy to make and with a new twist, the old overlap is awesome.

This year, I heard that the trend is for longer (below the knee) skirts. I like it. It makes the doll look less immature, less slutty definitely.

On a Roll

This is the third outfit I have created for this year and it's just January! Sometimes I'm just inspired to make doll clothes. My dolls inspire me. Do your dolls inspire you?

I's not perfect. There should be a cowl neck but it's difficult to drape fabrics at this size. I like it, anyways.

Hasbro price increase

Hasbro toys specifically the 4-inch action figure line recently increased their prices by at least 30% in the US. Locally, the price increased by 50% long before the manufacturer increased the price.

Collectors resisted buying locally. A lot imported the Marvel Universe figures. It cost less to import than to buy locally. The result: there are a lot of peg warmers in local toy stores.

If we consumers collectively disagree with the price scheme, we can collectively boycott their products. (The reduced articulation is also another reason to boycott the new Marvel Universe Infinite Series line.)

This, I think is what happened locally. The local distributor had no choice but to revert their prices. That is why I got me these new figures last night. The Wasp figure (my 2nd) will be used for a custom.



I keep telling everybody that we consumers pay the employees of the toy manufacturers. We are their bosses. If we don't like their work, why should we pay them?

Safe Sucks

I see Summer as one of the most adventurous friends of Barbie. I really don't want to make her wear something "safe".

This Summer doll has been repainted to have smaller eyes. Her lashes has been trimmed short and her head shrunken, of course.

New Nikki

Most Fashionista Nikki/Artsy dolls I've bought ended up as body donors with their heads used for experiments and eventually disposed. This one experiment ended up nicely so I decided to keep her.

Her mocking smile is gone. The eyes were repainted to be smaller. Her head was shrunken, of course. She actually inspired me to start sewing doll clothes again! That's how much I like her.

I was told that she's a fashion blogger so I styled her to look like one. I hope I did not commit any fashion crime.

Wonderful

I got surprised by...

1. The appearance of another wave of Marvel Infinite Series (formerly called Marvel Universe) action figures in a major toy store. I've only seen them in secondary shops last year and they're usually loose or not in original packaging. I skipped buying the Wonder Man figure since it wasn't a priority figure for me. I expected it to be less popular like the 1st version so it will be a peg warmer as well. I wanted to buy it later but when I was ready, it was no longer available. I'm glad to get another chance.

2. The price of the figure is 33% off. But then again, it was the regular price for early last year. At least, it was being offered for a price I'm willing to pay. It is also the same price in secondary markets so I guess they're just being competitive with the pricing.

3. The price was further reduced by 20% when the cashier scanned the item. It could be a glitch in their system or the tag price is wrong. Either way, it's good for me.



When I was younger, I saw an art work depicting Wonder Man. I instantly had a crush on the fictional character. I also liked that the character is not flat. He has sided from good to evil and back to good again. Kinda reminds me of myself today, turning good or evil, depending on the situation.