Frustrating week

It's been a frustrating week. When it rains, it really pours. Frustration piled on top of frustration. I wish it would rain literally, it's steamy hot on top of everything else.

But I feel a bit better, after capturing Wiggles in an unladylike pose.

Gloom Beach Cleo de Nile

She is finally mine. I decided to stop putting off buying her, because I don't want to miss out.























This is the best one I've seen so far, but she' still got a little damage to the eyeliner. If I can find a better one, I'll return this one, but I think this is as good as it gets.

Short morning eBay rant before my jog.

eBay makes such a big stink about seller stats, but their site is frequently buggy, and I really don't trust them anymore.

Take this for example, off my current selling dashboard.









I did sell one doll earlier this month for $10.49, they got that right.
But I have six active listings right now, and two with bids.
For some reason, everything ending today has escaped their tally, even the one with a bid.
It's not a huge deal, but what if their broken calculations affect something important some day? Ugh.

New Monster High dolls showing up, yay!

I can't tell if the newer dolls have smaller heads, or if only the eye prints are smaller. This release of Cleo looks much more intense than previous releases. I hope to get this one, but not this specific doll, her tinsel hair is a mess.

I'm really looking forward to the new dolls with smaller eyes.

I also wish they would make smaller boxes. The huge boxes make shipping so impractical.

2011 Japan Barbie and Ken

I just listed their clothes on eBay, so they're currently hanging out nude. I'm going to try to make Ken a casual doll, but I have a backup in case I ruin him.

His face is so wide. Mattel's current face sculptor really loves extremely wide faces. I wish they would hire a another person, because all the dolls after Edward Cullen, even the Monster Highs, have the same jaw line.

Barbie Basics Collection 002 Look 02

These have been sitting in a box for a few months, somehow I forgot about them.

It's a bit funny that the template has three digits for "Collection" numbers, but Mattel canceled the line after only 3 collections. We'll never see Collection 010, much less Collection 100. All those redundant zeros everywhere.

Moxie Teenz Shoe Pack

I bought this to see if the shoes fit Monster High and Sakurana. They're too wide, but I'm desperate for Sakurana shoes, so I'll keep them. The packaging is fabulous.

Batgirl gets a body thanks to Basics #13

Half of my Gilt orders came in last week, and several of the dolls were a mess. That's not Gilt's fault, that's all on Mattel. Luckily, I already purchased the Basics I wanted most in person.

#13 got mauled at the factory. You can see the line of shredded eyeshadow, and the damaged "skin" over her nose.


















But it turned out OK, the skin tone is a perfect match for Batgirl's head. No more yellow hands. I've been waiting a year or two to match it, awesome.

Gloom Beach Frankie

The box is really cute, and I felt a bit sorry to open it.















































Ugh, the doll has glue goop in her head. It's already seeped into the back of the card.



















But she's still an adorable little waif. I love seeing these for sale, even though I can't own them all.

My first Monster High doll

I liked the concept, but none of the dolls really did it for me. I saw Gloom Beach Frankie a few weeks ago, liked her, and decided today to get one. Wal-Mart had re-stocked, though about half the remaining dolls were various Cleos. Nobody wants Cleo.



























I hand-picked my Frankie to avoid sloppy paint. This poor Frankie "kissed" the window of her box with wet lip paint.
























And here are the previous two versions of Frankie. I prefer the more neutral face paint of Gloom beach Frankie. I would love all the Monster High dolls, but I don't have a money tree, so it's only Gloom Beach Frankie for now.

Twist & Dance Alexis and Katie

I want to get Alexis when there's a good sale, at least for the clothes. I'm not to crazy about them, but at least they try to follow current fashion trends.

Info from the BC Designers Chat

Basics 3.0 will probably be the final Basics line, and that's the biggest (and saddest) news to me. The 2.5 dolls will be much more limited than the others, and may be a Barbie Collector and dealer exclusive.

Dolls "in the works":

• A followup to Goddess of the Galaxy
• Holiday Hostess #3
• Another precious metal doll, 4th in the series after Pinch of Platinum
• Gold Label repros, with an exciting "new idea"
• another fantasy doll by Linda Kyaw "Thought you guys might be tired of the goddesses?"
• Possibly more landmark dolls
• Traditional Silkstones for 2012
  

Dolls not "in the works":

• more Farrah dolls
• more Harley Davidson
• more vintage-styled TV dolls
• more Silkstones for 2011, everything has already been announced

I'm not very excited. I don't do Silkstones or $100 Barbies. The only really interesting tidbit to me was this line from Robert Best:

"We are currently in discussion with a new and exciting designer who will be designing a brand new series of AA designer high-end dolls. But I can't say anything more than that. "

Oh boy!