Another Paola Reina doll

  When I bought Barbara, I did my usual thing of checking prices at various shops before I bought her. I kept seeing the 60cm Paola Reina dolls and I was intrigued by their articulation and I wanted one. But in Australia they're $240! And I can be a bit of a cheapskate. And then I stumbled across this, heavily discounted Mei and couldn't resist. With shipping she was just over a hundred dollars, so I effectively got Mei and Barbara for the usual price of one of the big dolls. Yay me!

But, she then decided to tour the country on her way here. A few days in Adelaide, a few days in Sydney (Why!? That is further from Adelaide than Melbourne is!), a few days in a town I have never even heard of, then on to Melbourne, and eventually to me. But she's finally here.

That is one big box! For some reason Tiny was convinced her brother was inside it!

She is mammoth. She has rotating joints at her ankles and wrist, and those hinged joints that always remind me of calipers, at her elbows and knees. But weirdly, she just has standard "dolly joints" that only rotate without any inward or outward movement, at her hips and shoulders.

For a new doll, she isn't in fantastic condition. She's obviously been used for display and has a small scratch on one eye, a snag on the print on her top and her hair is a mess. If I had paid full price, I would be annoyed. But the scratch isn't noticeable, I don't like her clothes anyway, and her hair can be brushed, so I'm not fussed.

Her face is quite lovely but I'm tempted to add some colour to her cheeks and maybe a couple of light freckles.

When I took her jacket off, it looked like it may have slightly stained her arms, so I've taken her tights off as well, as a precaution.

She is absolutely lovely, and once she's had her hair brushed and has a new dress, she might be even lovelier!

Tiny with Mei, unboxed. The box is quite a bit bigger than Mei. Mei is 60cm (23inches) the box is 80cm (31.5 "). Tiny is 84cm (33")

New Arrival!

 Meet Barbara. My first Paola Reina doll. I don't usually like the pursed lip faces at the Paola Reina dolls, but I do like Barbara's cheeky smile.

I first saw a picture of her on Xanadu's blog and even though I really liked her, nobody had her in stock yet, and I forgot all about her. But then last week I stumbled across her on EBay and couldn't resist.

If I could have chosen her in person, I probably would've chosen one with brighter flowers on the very front of her dress, but that's just how it goes.

I think she'll be able to share clothes with my Maru and friends, mini dolls, but I'm not sure yet. I've literally just gotten her out of the box.

Barbara is a funny, old-fashioned kind of name (sorry Barb) for a little, modern girl. But it suits her funny, little face, and I know some really nice people called Barbara, so she'll keep the name. And because I'm a little disappointed with the placement of the print on her dress, maybe I'll make her a 1950s dress, to go with the name.

But look at this cute little face!

I had been told by someone I knew in real life, that these doll STINK! (They're vanilla scented.) This lady had one of these in her collection for less than a week before she "had to get rid of it", because the smell was so strong. I have to say, that's insane. Barbara has been sitting two feet away, while I typed this, (and it took me a while to work out how to make a link in the new format) and I can barely smell her at all.

She also came with this

A cute little folding hairbrush, which is probably going to end up in my handbag.

That's really all I have energy for today. Yesterday was Tiny's birthday and between presents and video calls and jealous brothers, it was exhausting.

But I'm going to add Barbara to my doll count now, instead of putting her in a collection post, when you've already just seen her.

Update.

I did think maybe Barbara could be a friend for the Maru dolls. But hmmm no. Her head is too big and her colouring makes the Maru girls look dead by comparison. It looks even worse in real life than in this picture. Seriously, the blonde girl looks like she's been dead for at least a week, standing next to Barbara.

Doll count: 71

My Collection Part Six

I'm not going to bother with the whole blah blah about how slack I've been on these posts and promises to do better. Things are crappy, they're crappy for everyone and we're all doing what we can.

Since my last post, actually in the last week, FOUR more Baby So Beautiful dolls have found their way into my doll room. They don't have names yet, because I'm tired and can't remember what names I've used. But here they are.

The three on the left, came from the same EBay seller and are in lovely condition, even their hair! The three on the right have original dresses. The poor, little one on the far right has a dress that badly faded on the back and crispy faded hair. Her hair has gone pinkish in patches.

But her face is still lovely 

I thought the other blonde had the same face but her lower lip isn't as wide. I'm not sure if it's a different sculpt or just different paint.

The girl in the lace dress needs her curls neatened.

The last girl has a darker skin tone than my others but I think her face may be the same as the new girl from my last post.

These next, tiny, kidlets were a Cabbage Patch Kid blind bag thing a few years ago. They're only about two inches tall, and came in little boxes, just like the big Cabbage Patch Kid boxes, with little birth  certificates.

 The gimmick was that you couldn't see the birth certificate and they had little cloth nappies over either blue or pink painted nappies. The surprises were their names, birthdays and gender. I bought a few to be dolls for dolls but ended up with so many because the Giant Husband kept saying they would all be girls and I wanted to prove him wrong.

I gave up when my last two were named Henry and Liam (or maybe William, I'm not sure) and were STILL girls!

Next up is a Lady Lovelylocks doll.

She was a Stacie sized doll from the eighties. Originally she had plastic hair clips shaped like forest creatures with long, coloured "tails" like clip in hair extensions. I desperately wanted one as a kid but never got one. I've had a few as a grown up but won't buy any more because they age so badly. This one is missing that disc thing that holds her head on and their legs get REALLY gross. REALLY. After I took that picture, I looked up her dress and

I think I should probably put her in the bin. I haven't yet. But I definitely should.

Last up for today, another toy from the eighties, are my Rose Petal Place girls.

They were all named after flowers and scented. They were supposed to be flowers that came to life when a little girl's tears fell on them. Each doll had a rhinestone tear, somewhere on her outfit.

They're about six inches tall and look surprisingly good if you replace their heads with Kelly doll heads. When we were kids, my sister had Rose (the pink one), and I had the blue haired ballerina, named Lily Fair. I remember hiding her in my pocket when my Nan took us to visit her friends or relatives. I would pick flowers and make dresses for her by stabbing her arms through the petals. I got these years ago to fix up, but forgot that I had them. I've put them on display now, so I don't forget them again.

That's all I have time for today.

Doll Count : 70