From the stockpile

It has been years since I got her. I have dressed her in numerous outfits. I have taken a lot of photos of her. The thrift shop where I got her from has closed down. I have acquired new and more expensive dolls that didn't quite give me joy as she did. She remains a favorite. 

Marvel Universe Jessica Jone aka Jewel

Despite the reduced articulation for the recent 4-inch Marvel Legends or more popularly known as Marvel Universe dolls, I was really interested in this Jessica Jones figure. It might be due to her unicorn-inspired color scheme. Who doesn't love pink hair, right?

She also has a good face sculpt, one of the prettiest for the toy line, to be honest. Her hair is gorge, not over the top. Her face is painted perfectly. She could use a lighter expression to match her unicorn-inspired look, though. Her tough expression is more appropriate to her jaded version. It was in her happier and naive days when Jessica Jones went by the name Jewel and wore this costume. A number of tragedies transformed her to a tough and serious character portrayed in the Netflix series.

If it wasn't for her molded belt, I would have bought a number of her. Without her belt, she could be a great base for custom female figures. It's good thing I only bought one, though. She has problematic knees.

Despite her shortcomings, I decided to get her at full price since we rarely get female characters. When we do, they usually sell out instantly.  And this is my first Marvel character with pink hair!

More Conversion

Here is the Jessica Jones action doll. This costs PhP749.75 while Hasbro sells it online for US$12.99. This is distributed locally by Playkit.

And here is the comparison of price conversion of some toys from Hasbro and Mattel.

From Mattel (distributed locally by Richwell/Richprime)
- Barbie 2017 Holiday doll = US$39.95 = PhP3,999.75 (PhP100.12 per US$)
- Barbie Fashionista = US$9.99 = PhP999.75 (PhP100.07 per US$)
- Justice League True-Moves (12-inch doll) = US$9.99 = PhP899.75 (PhP90.07 per US$)
- Justice League basic figure (6-inch) = US$9.99 = PhP899.75 (PhP90.07 per US$)

From Hasbro (distributed locally by Playkit)
- Star Wars Forces of Destiny doll = US$24.99 = PhP1,999.75 (PhP80.02 per US$)
- Star Wars (12-inch basic figure) = US$9.99 = PhP799.75 (PhP80.06 per US$)
- Marvel Legends Series (6-inch) = US$19.99 = P1,499.75 (PhP75.03 per US$)
- Marvel Legends Series (4-inch) = US$12.99 = PhP749.75 (PhP57.72 per US$)

The US$ prices are the prices posted on Habro or Mattel online shops. The PhP prices are the local retail prices prior to discounts, if any.

What a difference!!!

Jeep Talk

Because there are far more serious problems

A Barbie Fashionista is listed at US$9.99 on the Mattel online shop, so is a Justice League basic doll (both 6-inch and 12-inch). Same price, right? You'd expect the same price for those toys locally  since they are being sold by the same seller, Richprime or Richwell. 

Nope. The Justice League toys cost PhP899.75 each (for both 6-inch and 12-inch) while the Fashionistas cost PhP999.75. The prices are for both online and physical stores. It is very puzzling how toys having the same original price will have different prices after conversion. Having realized this, I feel like I was being duped by Richprime/Richwell.

If one will reason out the size, like the bigger toy will cost more to ship or to display on a shelf, I'd like to point out that the conversion for the 6-inch and 12-inch Justice League toys are consistent.

While Richprime/Richwell has the right to price the items they're selling to whatever they want, it is just interesting to point out the a major difference between the Barbie dolls and the Justice League toys: the Barbie dolls are mainly intended for girls while the Justice League toys are intended for boys. Richprime/Richwell may have not nothing to do with that intention. It's just that local toy store layouts clearly separates toys for boys, girls and infants/toddlers. A big distributor like Richwell/Richprime does have a say on how and where the toys will be displayed.

No matter how offensive that may sound, local Barbie fans like me would probably just shrug it off and continue to support the brand and the local distributor. No big deal. I do live in country where 88% support the drug war even if 73% thinks that extra-judicial killings is involved.

Yes, we need a Wonder Woman.