June Roundup!

Another month, another roundup of how i've been keeping busy in lockdown.

So my camera is well and truely borked, so i've been using my phone to take photos. Problem is, my phone is a bit shit and has a really bad flash. So pics are a bit grainy.

and then I have to spend half an hour arguing with Dropbox to get it onto my pc.

Bah.

I don't like this system, it feels incredibly inefficient. Still, the alternative is to buy a new camera and the options and specs paralyze me. They're expensive and I don't know enough about cameras to know which one is good and I just get super stressed trying to make that kind of decision.

I'm not GOOD at decisions like that.

So phone camera it is for now.

anyway, let's start.

Technically I think I got this little critter last month, but oh well. I don't think I blogged about it already so... yeah.

It's a 1960s Kamar pony and I watched it get relisted over and over again and felt sorry for it.

Honestly it facinated me because the eye shape really reminds me of the Bratz Ponies

Even knowing this thing was made in the 60s there's something very wierdly early 2000s about the style of it and that I found really interesting.

Those big sultry eyes are quite something.

Little pony is made from some sort of suede-like fabric that might have been cream once upon a time but is more of a yellowy beige now. Even washing it it remained pretty brown.

The eyes are a felt-like fabric glued on in a series of decals which is interesting.

The mane and tail appear to be some sort of fur, it feels a bit like the mohair stuff they used for the Dam Trolls but coarser? I dunno what it is. It smells musty and dust-like. Is it wierd I actually really LIKE the smell of old dusty toys?

The tail has a little wire in it so it can be posed.

The head is too heavy for the neck so kinda flops a bit.

The whole thing is tightly stuffed with i'm not sure what (It doesn't feel like wadding, it's sorta crunchy so could be sawdust for all I know) but over the years it has migrated leaving a few areas a little less tight (like the neck).

Interestingly, the head is a completely separate piece to the body.

As are the ears, they insert through holes in the head piece.

This pony is TINY, way smaller than I thought it would be actually. It's only about 7 inches tall. Sindy there is the same height as a Barbie doll for reference.

I also bought a couple of Livs in a bundle because they were cheap and their bodies are very useful. I haven't decided who gets their bodies yet.

Haydin has a damaged wrist which seems to be a factory error, the clip piece pulls away and her whole hand comes off if you try to bend it 90 degrees. So hmm.

I got another Creatable World because I really enjoy them.

they play into my specific enjoyment of dolls. CLOTHES, lots and lots of mix and match CLOTHES.

As a kid genuinely this is the only way I played with dolls. I'd get them out, mix them up a new outfit and then put them away again.

dressing dolls is one of my favourite things to do and Creatable World come with so many bits to mix up. I love it.

It also helps that they're gender ambiguous so I can indulge my love of boy dolls hehehe.

Amazon are clearancing some stuff which means the 2 pack Capsule Chix were only £12:50, half price.

I couldn't resist taking a gamble at that price.

I wanted the boy but of course i'm seldom lucky with blind bags.

The big problem I have with these two packs is that in order to get the ONE of the three mystery characters you want (or even all three) you have to buy duplicates of the visible doll and that's fucking STUPID. Nobody wants an army of duplicates ffs, it's boring and their bits aren't mix and matchy enough to justify it.

It irritates me.

And it's why I haven't bought any others of this set.

The back of the box is cute. Gotta love Garret Sander's art style.

But FUCK is this wasteful packaging. I mean seriously Moose, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER guys.

This is a huge box for TWO tiny little dolls.

And it's actually two boxes stuck together. 1 regular capsule machine box (eugh) and one small plastic fronted box that shows the visable doll.

Hey Moose? Can we just buy them like this please?

I'd have bought SO MANY more if they came like this and I could see what I was paying money for.

The capsule machine works like all the others. The balls get stuck a lot, you have to shake it to get them to drop, it's way easier to just undo the tape at the top and take them out that way.

Useful info, the baggies all have a number printed on them which directly corrosponds to who's in the bag.

You can sometimes see this number by peering into the clear part of the capsule machine while they're on the shelves, which with some effort means you could, theoretically, pick which one you got.

Thank god.

sadly I got these from Amazon so I just have to take whatever. Bleh.

The baggie says 52-03 which would corrospond to the middle girl in this picture. The "common" doll for the set is the one with the ombre hair who's 02 and the fabric outfit uncommon boy is 01.

Sure enough, it's the "rare" wigged girl.

She's cute enough. I like her lip colour. She has pale blue lips and some fun circuit board patterns on her face.

The head cap is clear purple which is neat. The wig has a little plug that slots into the hole on the cap. Like Liv wigs.

You can't really make it out in this picture sadly.

the wigs are tiny but pretty decently made. They're soft and have a hard plastic wig cap that you can't really see when it's on. Hey Mattel? Can you take note?

The other girl has a huuuuuge set of blue curls and comes wearing a cute little silver dress.

I did some mixing and matching with the bits in the set.

I don't really LIKE open mouth smiles which is what she came with by default, but it kinda works for this combo (the dress is Polly Pocket lol)

Sadly I didn't get the boy I wanted but I got a few useful bits.

still, I really do wish they'd stop the dumb blind bag bullshit and just let us buy the dolls we wanted again you know? I'm sick of the disappointment and waste of cash getting dolls you just want to sell on because they don't appeal.

cut it out companies, it's extremely offputting and it hurts your sales long term.

I haven't bought any Capsule Chix at full price since my first 2 because I was so disappointed by my second one. I just can't bring myself to waste money on something I might not like or be able to use.

I got another 2006 Sindy to repaint because i've wanted to do so for ages.

This is Butterfly Princess Sindy and she's fucking AWFUL. Her dress is exactly the kind of doll clothing I hate. it's pink, it's got stupid fur shit, it's not that well made and it's all sparkly princessy puke. Bleh.

Noooope.

She has a bland as shit face because for some reason Pedigree decided to paint her in the most generic way possible.

Thing is, the sculpt isn't that bad. I mean it's simple, but it has potential to be cute. I know this because the Turkish Sindy that uses the SAME FUCKING HEAD is adorable and the British Airways girl they did who also uses the same head is really cute too.

It's just for some reason they made the majority of the mass market releases fucking BLAND.

It's a travesty. Sindy deserves better.

So she's on my "to repaint" pile.

I also got this gorgeous girl.

She's a Spiritdoll Snowdrop in white resin.

She wasn't a doll on my wishlist (Spiritdoll Ginger IS though, I love that wierd as fuck face) but she was extremely cheap and inspired me.

The same seller was also selling a load of other dolls for cheap but none of them appealed to me despite being cheap as shit. They were also selling some gorgeous outfits including this one pictured.

So I ended up buying a few outfits from them as well.

Snowdrop has a factory faceup which is cute but I intend to wipe her and repaint her as a sweet little clown girl to go with Hugo.

The wig I put on her is a shitty cheap as fuck Makies wig and i'm shocked at how well it suits her, like wtf?

She still has the eyes she came with in, they're sparkly green with no pupils and a bit random.

She has a HUGE bust which i'm considering sanding down because it's honestly comically huge. She's like at least a DD if not bigger and the poor girl, it looks so uncomfortable.

I just am NOT a fan of huge tits on dolls, they make me cringe.

Snowdrop is gorgeous  though and such a nicely made doll. Spiritdoll are fairly expensive and I can see why, their dolls are very very nice.

Makes me all the more eager to get a hold of Ginger now lol.

I've also been buying wigs and clothes for my dolls which are in transit still. My two Resinsoul Bodies should be here by the end of the week so Twilight and Choma should finally have bodies, horah!

I'm trying to prioritise finishing stuff off, getting together shoes and clothes and wigs and eyes for dolls I already have or have incoming but I have very poor impulse control lol.

Still, i'm going to enjoy repainting Snowdrop. She has a lovely little face and she's going to be adorable in pastel tones.

Sadly it's 32C here right now which is too hot for me to go outside, let alone focus on anything. I'm too hot even inside in the shade. So sanding boobs and wiping faces will have to wait.

I don't like summer, it makes me cranky. The UK is NOT set up for 30c+ weather at all and they always act like it's a shock. Assholes we've had heat like this for well over a decade now, plenty of time to get your shit together and install air con and put up awnings outside shops ffs. But instead every year the Brits are all "oh my, it's hot and I somehow didn't expect that even though it was this hot last year and the year before it's still a surprise to me"

-_-

the heat is making me cranky. Sorry.