WHY??

What is it with Blogger, do they get bored or something?? Do they not have something better to do? Why is there a need to continually change things all the time? Every time, when I'm just getting comfortable with Blogger and think to myself, "okay, things are finally running smoothly", they go and change the whole darn system AGAIN!

This is very annoying for this ol' duck!! I mean I am not stupid, and I can still figure out things, but who wants to be wasting good dolly time, learning how to use this b****y new system? Of course, you can bet your bottom dollar, this latest move of theirs, is most probably the reason for all the photos mysteriously disappearing from our blogs in recent weeks!

Does anyone else get as fed up with the constant changes as much as me? Blogger you are a pain in the butt!

Wicked Descendants

After my private discussion with Chiriann about her Descendants dolls, and after viewing the ones she had, I went browsing.  This gave me a chance to look at all the different releases and eventually I found two which really appealed to me . . .  I think these were dolls from the first release in July 2015. However, the prices now asked for these 11 inch vinyl/plastic dolls was incredulous!!

Meet Mal (left) Isle of the Lost, the wickedly lovely daughter of Maleficent and a beautiful addition to your modern-day Disney adventures. Unlike her mother, the darkest villain of all, Mal chooses good above all else. She comes with an outfit for the Coronation Ball and fashionable accessories fit for a Queen, including a tiara and matching shoes.

Meet Evie (right) Isle of the Lost, the enchantingly beautiful daughter of the Evil Queen and a beautiful addition to your modern-day Disney adventures. She may have villainous roots, but that doesn’t mean her fate is sealed! She comes with an outfit for the Coronation Ball and fashionable accessories fit for a princess, including matching shoes and crown-shaped earrings.

It appears these dolls were released in "waves" and several variations of the same dolls appeared over the following years. These were simply outfit changes as far as I can tell from photos. Below are the Disney Descendants Villain Descendants Signature Figure Wave 01 - Mal & Evie. Personally I much prefer the Coronation dolls better than their Signature versions.

These costumes do nothing for me, so I went looking for pre-loved dolls, preferably nude and I was lucky enough to find one of each, but the condition of these dolls was 50-50 and I think they are Wave 01. Their bodies looked great, but that hair . . . oh boy, their heads looked like they were wearing rats nests!! Still I could see their potential, so I offered a very low price, which was finally accepted and here they are, just as they were listed.

Yep, Evie's hair surely is badly tangled and Mel's looks like a chunk of hair is completely missing at the back, however this hasn't been cut, according to my research, it's the way the doll comes! Their faces are all still in perfect condition and their joints are all sound, so I am happy. :) I'm not sure if I can remove the "gloves" off of Mel's hands, but I will try, then all I'll need to do is begin their restoration to beauty!

So a big thank you goes to Chiriann for enabling me (not that I need much pushing to buy a doll or two. :)

Dolly Thoughts

I sometimes find myself wondering how we all became so involved with dolls, and why each of us are drawn to different types of dolls. I mean, some people like to collect antique dolls made of porcelain, some like the vintage dolls from the 1950's and 60's in either plastic or vinyl, some prefer baby dolls while other prefer fashion dolls, some like to specialise and only collect Patsy, Nancy or Barbie dolls. Others will only collect BJD's, or limit their collections to anime dolls.

Where as me, I never intended to collect dolls at all. I really mean NOT EVER! I was a teddy bear collector all my life! I had spent sixteen years designing, teaching and making teddy bears the traditional way, by hand. Looking back, I cannot remember exactly how the doll collecting all began now, but if my recollections are correct, I can blame it all on Blythe and the few lessons I took to learn how to customise them.

That initial purchase of a single Blythe doll, turned into twenty seven, many of which I customised and sold on, keeping just two.

One was my beautiful Amaya, customised by Kate Hardin of Chantilly Lace in 2012. Kate also used the names Moofers and Moofala. Amaya was the first chocolate coloured Blythe I had seen and close to my last Blythe purchase. I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her. The dress and cardi she is wearing in these photos, is a replacement outfit which I received in a swap and the hat I made for her.

The other Blythe is the Petit Dejeuner Champs Elysees who sat in her box for so long I had forgotten about her until recently. As you already know, I am currently working on her and as I am really happy with her progress, I shall probably keep her. Now that in itself, presents another dilemma. I don't usually like to have even numbers of a particular doll, so maybe, just maybe, I will add another to make them a trio. :)

For some unknown reason, I seem to progress from one type of doll to another, which means my collection is very eclectic and most of the time, I find it hard to part with any of them. However, there are some exceptions. I took quite a fancy to the Disney Animator dolls for  a little while, but they just take up far too much shelf space, so those are disappearing from my collection slowly (much too slowly for my liking). It's not that I dislike them, I don't, I still think they are cute and they are a good size to knit and sew for, but I really need to make way for my latest compulsion, which at approximately seven inches, are really quite tiny in comparison.

Do you ever wonder what it is that other collectors see in the dolls they collect? Help me out here girls, what is it about your own collection that reeled you in hook line and sinker? Why do you collect the dolls that you do? I'd really love for you to tell your stories and I think everyone else who reads my blog, would enjoy reading about how you began your journey into the wide world of dolls. :)