Friday, August 11, 2017

Stardoll by Barbie

     Now I admit, I had never heard of Stardoll until I ran across these dolls in Target. The first one I saw reminded me of Barbie, so I was interested. Picking them up, I discovered a new line of dolls I wasn't aware of previously. I hesitated to get them as I wasn't sure what they were about, but some of them were just so beautiful, I had to have them.
     Since the dolls came with currency for the Stardoll website, I had to check that out as well. I discovered the dolls were associated with some of the different stores on the site. The site itself is like an online paper doll with practically unlimited clothing and accessories. You create a doll, dress her up and can decorate her living area. The site also allows interaction with other users. It's pretty fun to use and it's still going, so check it out!
      As I mentioned, the dolls themselves were associated with the different stores, two for each store. Three of them, I recognized, which are Fallen Angel, Pretty in Love and Bonjour Bijou, but the fourth, so named Dollspace in an online article, seemed to have disappeared before I joined. The giftcards the dolls came with also gave clothing to your online doll in the form of the outfits the dolls were wearing, except the two "oddball" dolls, which gave repeats of the others if I remember correctly. Three accessory packs were also released to correspond with the Fallen Angel, Pretty in Love and Bonjour Bijou dolls, but not the Dollspace ones.
      The first doll I saw was a blonde wearing a black, white and pink outfit, which I mistakenly believed was Barbie, but it was actually one of the Dollspace dolls. The dolls themselves aren't very articulated, since they are supposed to be like the online paper dolls, but they were still beautiful. They had rooted eyelashes and came with stands for displaying. 

Dollspace doll #1 - I thought it was Barbie at first

Dollspace Doll #2 - She has a really cute smile
     The Dollspace dolls had no extra fashion/accessory pack, which was kind of a shame, since there wasn't a whole lot of mix and match for these dolls. Luckily, the other dolls had extra clothes to play with.
     The Bonjour Bijou dolls seemed more fashion oriented. They make me think of France, of course. I picture them as high fashion models or something along those lines. 

Bonjour Bijou Doll #1 - You'll see her shirt in another picture
Bonjour Bijou Doll #2 - I love the red hair
Bonjour Bijou fashion pack - the scarf, skirt, shoes and purse were included. The shirt is the doll's original. 
Bonjour Bijou fashion pack - everything else included
     The Pretty in Love dolls are just that, pretty and flowery. They make me think of small towns, sweetness and romance. I can just imagine soft Southern accents on these dolls.

Pretty in Love Doll #1 - Very Barbie like with her pink color scheme
Pretty in Love Doll #2 - Hearts and flowers. She has such a gorgeous face!
Pretty in Love fashion pack - the shirt, sunglasses, necklace, boots and purse are included. The skirt is the doll's original. 
Pretty in Love fashion pack - everything else included
     The final set of dolls is my favorite. Probably because I love the goth look. My Stardoll on the site is very goth looking. The first doll I bought was the doll in the red dress. She is my absolute favorite. So gorgeous!

Fallen Angel Doll #1 - so gorgeous with her pale skin and dark hair with the red stripes!
Fallen Angel Doll #2 - I love her bangs!
Fallen Angel fashion pack - I didn't put the pants on her since I wanted to show it was a bodysuit
Fallen Angel fashion pack - the dress, shoes, silver shoulder pads (which are separate from the dress) and hair accessory are the rest. The gloves and tights are the doll's original. 

     There was a second line planned for Stardoll, but it was never produced, which is a shame because the dolls were GORGEOUS and the accessory packs were adorable! I was able to find pictures online of them. They were all apparently from the Rio store.

Those boots are to die for and that purple dress! I also love the blonde hair with the dark stripes. 
I love that blue dress!
These fashion packs were just adorable! 
     I think a lot of people didn't like the fact that the dolls weren't very articulated, but for me, that was the beauty of these dolls. They were like the original Barbie doll, a paper doll, but in 3D. They were posed like the website and they were perfect for modelling fashions. 
     Even though they were made by Mattel, they didn't have the same body as Barbie, nor the same feet, so they couldn't share clothes. Some other dolls' shoes can fit these dolls, though, so that does open up other possibilities for making fashions for Stardoll to wear and model!
     

Friday, August 4, 2017

Teen Time Skipper

     In 1964, the Roberts family was blessed with another daughter. Barbie's younger sister, Skipper, made her debut then and has gone through just about as many changes as her older sister! She has gone from a little girl to a SuperTeen (more on her later) to a younger teen to a 16 year old (more on her later) to currently, a younger teen again. 
     This post is about one of the younger teen Skippers from 1988, Teen Time Skipper and her friend Courtney, as well as a playset for the two of them, the Sleep and Study playset. I believe, and I could definitely be wrong here, but I believe this is the first time Courtney was introduced. 
      The girls came with accessories for both school and a sleepover, which is one of the best things about these dolls. The skirts of their outfits were pulled up to create nighties for them and they came with fluffy slippers for their sleepover party. Each girl also came with punchouts for school and sleepover. 
       The playset is just awesome! It has so many things to customize the looks each time you put it together. Each piece can also fit inside the bed, which snaps to the walls so it can be carried. It can be a bedroom on one side and a study area on the other. The walls allow for items to be hung on them, so you can move them around and create the look you want. 
      
As you can see, her leg is spotty. 



Her accessories - she also came with a phone, a soda and a popcorn box. I've misplaced those items.
 
Courtney - the glasses are adorable! She also has spotty legs
     
Her punchout accessories - two slices of pizza can be removed


Her accessories - I love the "clipboard" front of her box


The study room

The sleepover side - the slippers are adorable, but don't like to stay on their feet

The rest of the accessories - the mirror is the back of the chalkboard

Almost everything is tucked in the bed. Those pieces on the walls are securely on it, so I didn't take them off. 
     This set is just too cute! I do recommend it for others, even though the dolls' legs are breaking down, which is a fairly common problem for dolls made during the late 90s. Still, these are some of my favorite dolls!