Updates, Disney Store Princess Dolls, and Photostories (Very Lengthy Post)

Hey, hey! It's been a couple of months since I've posted anything, so I decided now is as good as ever to write something. Blogging is definitely one of those hobbies that it's easy to slip out of, but once you've away from it for a while, it's difficult to get back into.

It's not that I've lost the inspiration to write, but other things have taken priority in my life. If you have been a longtime reader of my blog, you'll notice that one of those things is my dolls. I have always played with dolls, but for the past couple of years, I've really become "serious" about it. I'm sure most people won't care, but I plan on doing a post about my doll collecting.

Anywho, I wanted to give people on update on my life over the past few years, and then move into doll related stuff, so if you don't want to read about dolls, you can stop reading after the next two paragraphs.

As some of you may know, I recently moved to Baltimore, MD for a new job. My previous job was one horrible experience after another, I didn't fit in the culture, it was frustrating and stressed me out, and I felt like a failure because nothing I did seemed to be good enough. My former supervisors were very passive-aggressive in that they would say I was doing a good job, but then at the end of the year during performance appraisal, they would bring up all the major things I was doing wrong and tell me that if I didn't do better, I would lose my job. They were also significantly more lenient with other employees than with me. I don't like dwell on that experience, so if you want to know about the nitty-gritty, you can read my past posts.

I currently have a job that I love, and am in an environment that I feel that I fit in and am appreciated. Frequently, the people I work for praise me and thank me for my hard work. The praises doesn't inflate my ego, but it does make me feel that what I'm doing in being appreciated not only as a worker, but also as a human being, which to me is very important. Despite things going so well in my work life, my personal life hasn't been too great. I don't want to say that I've been depressed, but I have been down-and-out for the past 6 months. As bad as it may sound, my job and my dolls have been the only things giving me even the slightest bit of enjoyment. Actually, I think I may be suffering from light derivation. I had a little mini breakdown Saturday when it was cold and started to snow (yes, snow in April!), but the sun came out a few hours later and it was sunny for the rest of the day and all day Sunday. By the time the sun came out on Saturday, I wasn't feeling as distraught. Hopefully, with warmer weather and more sunny days, I'll begin to feel better.



On to the dolls! I bought my first Disney Store Princess dolls last week. I've seen pictures of the dolls on Flickr, but I had only seen the blonde ones, and since I don't have much interest in blonde dolls, I never really paid much attention to them and never considered buying any. I don't remember exactly what made me go to the Disney Store's website last week, but I did and was browsing through the dolls when I saw Pocahontas. Pocahontas has always been my favorite Disney movie and the most gorgeous Disney Princess, in my opinion at least. I like the doll so much that I decided to buy her on Amazon, where I was able to use my Cash Back bonus to get her for free (well actually $0.76) and free 2 day shipping. I then decided to get Snow White and Jasmine (Jasmine is going to be a body donor).

First, here is Pocahontas fresh out of the box. She arrived Saturday.

As you can see, she has articulated elbows and wrists. I was a little hesitant about getting her because her knees aren't articulated. Thanks to Mattel, if I don't see the joints on a doll, I assume they are stiff and don't bend. But in fact her knees to bend like the old Barbies (take notes Mattel).

I was surprised at the amount of detail and quality of the dolls for only $15. As you can see below, her feet are fully formed and have individual toes, a feature also not found on Barbie dolls, even the collectors dolls.

My second concern was her body shape. From the few pictures I could find of Disney dolls and Barbie dolls comparisons, it seemed that the Disney dolls used a body similar to the Fashionistas. This is a problem for me because most of my dolls are now collectors dolls (either Integrity Toys on Barbie Model Muse), so most of my dolls clothes for these dolls. Below is her undressed.

Of course she has painted on undies, which is annoying, but these dolls are for kids and not necessarily for adults, so it's to be expected. She also has some black smudges on her chest, which isn't noticeable unless Pocahontas decides to go topless. Let's hope she doesn't, but with my dolls sometimes they get a wild streak, so I never can tell. I will say that I love the bellybutton on this doll; so cute!

I was too lazy to day measurements, and all of my other dolls are fully dressed and I didn't feel like taking off their clothes just to do a body comparison, so I did the next best thing: I put Pocahontas on various sized clothes to see where she fit in the body spectrum.

Since practically all 12 in dolls can wear playline Barbie clothes, I didn't bother trying her on any. I went straight for the smaller sizes.

Here she is wearing a Project MC2 top and a ClearLan skirt made to fit Poppy Parker dolls. Project MC2 dolls are much shorter and thinner than playline Barbies, and actually closer to the body proportions of early 90s Skipper, but, based on my personal experience, all of their clothes fit Pivotal Model Muse, Dynamite Girls, and Poppy Parker dolls. The shirt is a little stretched in the chest, but since the Project MC2 dolls have much smaller bust, this is to be expected. The shirt is also shorter than on the original dolls. The skirt fits perfectly!

As you can see, it even closes, meaning that the Disney Store dolls have similar sized waists as Poppy Parker dolls, making their waists thinner than playline Barbies, but slightly thicker than Pivotal Model Muse dolls.

Here she is in a Project MC2 blue jeans romper. The romper fit, but because she has the rubbery legs, it was a pain to get all the way up. These dolls will not be wearing tight fitting bottoms with me, that's for sure.

Another pair of ClearLan pants made for Poppy Parker. The fit is pretty good, like the skirt.

Here she is in a traditional Model Muse bikini. The top fits great, and so does the bikini, but I could tell her hips were slightly wider than the traditional Model Muse dolls. Since the bottoms didn't stretch too much, but the fit was still good, I believe the Disney Store dolls' hips are similar in size as Poppy Parker dolls, which can fit Model Muse clothes but do require a little more "give" in the fabric.

Now, let's compare the Disney dolls to some of my other dolls.

First, we have the new Disney Store Pocahontas compared to my original Pocahontas (c. 1995).

The new doll is shorter and her head is much larger. Obviously, she is also articulated, but her face is also more expressive. Even as a child, I always thought it was weird that the original Pocahontas didn't have a pupil/iris, just all black for her eyes. The new doll has the pupil/iris distinction, which makes sense because black is not an eye color. The new doll's hairstyle is also truer to the original character. I don't think my original Pocahontas ever had a part, but then again I bought her when I was about 6 years old, so maybe she did and the years have taken it's toll. Speaking of hair, the new doll also has softer better quality hair. I'm not too familiar with the various types of doll hair, but the original Pocahontas has the stiff hair that a lot of dolls from the 90s to mid 2000s have.

I can't really tell which is darker, but the original doll has more of an orange/red tint to her skin while the new one is more tan/light brown. 

Second, let's further compare head sizes.

Here we have a Fashion Fever doll next to Pocahontas. I don't usually mix dolls with hugely different proportions, but I like this doll, and I've already decided to add her and Snow White in with my other dolls.

Pocahontas' bestie arrived on Sunday. Naturally, I've restyled both dolls to match the characters I've created.

Aren't they cute! Snow White's hair was very well done out of the box, but I wanted do modernize it a bit, so I washed out the hair spray, trimmed the back to even it out, and brushed out the curls to create a shoulder length bob. I may cut it shorter for a more punk look, but for now I like it.

You can see what these tow are up to on my Flickr photostream, and they should also be making an appearance in my photostory, 6 Degrees.

I'm assuming most people who read this blog are not avid doll collectors, so you probably have never heard of a "photostory." Basically, it's when you create a story with dolls, like a movie or tv show, but you take pictures instead of filming. It's a "thing" among doll collectors. Fortunately, I can't see all the looks a disapproval on my readers faces right now.

I've decided to start my own photostory called 6 Degrees, and it can be read here. If you are into photostories, or just want to see what it's all about, have a look. I'm new to creating my own, so it may be a little cheesy. I'm still decided if I want to do another, and have two going at the same time, 'cause whew, doing one is challenging enough!

Thanks for ready, and I apologize for the lengthy post.