Monday, April 29, 2019

Heidi Ott's Charlie a New Boy in Town


Charlie by Heidi Ott, made in Switzerland in 1997, recently arrived brand new, never removed from his original box.
While browsing eBay for Heidi Ott auctions, I stumbled upon this boy that I had seen recently in a photo shared by another happy collector who recently acquired him.  At that time and still now, I marveled at his face because he reminds me of my brother.  Lucky for me, the price was very reasonable and the auction was a buy it now; so I did just that. 

Charlie has been released from his box.

Charlie is from Heidi Otti's 1997 handmade "Little Ones" series.  He is 12 inches tall and has a natural-textured human hair wig, vinyl head, arms and legs, and a stuffed cloth body.  A small area of his upper arms and upper legs is stuffed cloth.

Charlie has hand-painted brown eyes and a beautifully sculpted face.

He is wearing a mushroom color genuine suede vest, a green and tan plaid hooded cotton jacket, red knit short sleeve shirt and dark green pants.  His feet are bare.
Charlie's red sleeveless shirt is worn underneath his green/tan/red plaid cloth hoodie.
He has a nonremovable handkerchief in the mock pocket of his suede vest.
Charlie is marked on back of his neck, "Swiss Design Heidi Ott."  He is a welcome addition to my collection and has now met the others that are here from this series.

Meeting the Others

Charlie met Tom #1 first.  Tom was purchased during the late 1990s shortly after he was released to the market.

Next Charlie met Leonie.  Leonie, also from the late 1990s, arrived in 2017.

8-inch Baby Harry was introduced to Charlie next.  

Finally, my other Tom and Saddie, who arrived with Tom #1 during the late 1990s, met Charlie.
 All the barefoot little ones joined together to take this final picture before returning to their separate areas of display or boxes.  Tom #1 and Saddie remain on display.  I do still have their original boxes.  Baby Harry returned to his original box.  Tom #2 (a gift from a doll friend) and Leonie are kept in Tom #2's box.  Charlie will probably remain in his original box, too, unless he desires to spend some time on the shelf with Tom #1 and Saddie.  

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Thursday, April 25, 2019

17-inch Doll by Nathaniel

Formerly unnamed 17-inch all-vinyl doll by Nathaniel Dolls
This happy little girl arrived on Good Friday wearing a floral-print A-line dress and white undies.  She had no shoes.  A small baby bottle was her only accessory.  The remaining money on a money card that I had received at Christmastime was the reason for this purchase.  At that time, she was priced $19.99, just enough for me to exhaust the card funds.  Ordered from Aliexpress, it took her a month to arrive in her small packet.  She was wrapped in air-filled thick plastic, which was shipped in a thin plastic envelope.  I am surprised she made it unscathed.  She does have a shiny circular quarter-size blemish below her right ear, but I believe she already had this before her departure from China.

This close-up of her too-cute face reveals her upper and lower teeth.
She has black curly hair that was styled in a single ponytail Afro puff upon arrival.  Her brown eyes are stationary with upper eyelashes.  Her smiling mouth exposes four upper teeth, two lower teeth, and her molded tongue.

 Her teeth are better visible in this close-up that was taken while she laid supine.

Finding Shoes and Making Socks

Two years ago, Betty A. sent this pair of white shoes along with the faceless cloth doll (Patty-Jo) that she made for me. The shoes fit this doll perfectly, but she needed socks.
One of my doll pet peeves is dress shoes worn without socks or tights.  I used a white headband to make this little girl a pair of socks.

The headband was cut along the original seam.

The necessary length for the foot and ankle area of the socks was measured by placing the cut headband against her foot and extending it above the ankle area.

After the approximate length for one sock was measured and cut, the cut piece was placed on top of the remaining headband and an equal length was cut for the second sock.  The open end of the second cut portion of the headband was stitched with white thread to form the toe of the sock.  The original seam of the first cut portion remained intact and serves as the toe of that sock.

With the socks flipped outside in so that the seams would be on the inside, she tried them on for size.  The fit is perfect.  To prevent fraying, the tops were rolled over twice.

The double rolling of the top of the socks was undone to create knee-high socks.  The top edges were rolled under to prevent fraying.

Here is a close-up of the socks and shoes.
Ear Piercing

A pushpin was used to pierce her ears.  She smiled the entire time.

Due to her firm, artist-type vinyl, I had to apply pressure with the pushpin to pierce the earlobe.  (The tip of the piercing tool can be heated for easier puncturing, but I rarely use heat for piercing.)

After both ears were pierced, faux diamond studs were placed in each earlobe.
Undoing the Afro Puff and Redressing

The rubber bands that held her Afro puff ponytail in place were removed and her hair fluffed out with my fingers.  A comb or brush should never be used on hair that is this curly because the curls will become frizzy.

Her mound of thick, curly hair is rooted close enough to be worn loose without scalp exposure.
Now she wears a yellow seersucker dress that Betty A. made for Patty-Jo.
In addition to being able to wear Patty-Jo's extra white shoes, this cutie can also wear one of the dresses Betty A. made for Patty-Jo.



To keep her hair away from her face, I created a headband bow using white lace.

Mani- and Pedicure


I painted her fingernails and toenails using off-white acrylic paint.  Initially, I was going to use fingernail polish but decided to use paint and a thin paintbrush instead.




For a more casual look, she opted to wear a pair of white sandals that I had on hand.  The sandals were purchased from Aliexpress along with a brown and orange pair shortly after Reema Afia by Makedaa Dolls arrived.  They fit this doll perfectly.

Ready for Spring

Her smile reminds me of a toddler whose photos and images I have seen online.

Named for an adorable toddler who has her own YouTube channel and Facebook and Instagram accounts, Milan Marie, the doll, is ready for spring and summer weather.  She can change her more casual look to dressy by simply replacing her white sandals with her white socks and shoes.

Related Links
Betty Ativie's Patty-Jo
Reema Afia's Sandals...
The real Milan Marie in one of her viral videos

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

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Monday, April 22, 2019

Just for the Record

(Edited version of the original)

I know the readers of this blog understand why adults who collect dolls collect them, but for those who happen by and wonder why a grown woman collects dolls, this explains it all.  What do you like?

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

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Saturday, April 20, 2019

Happy Resurrection Day!


Easter Egg Hunt Wendy by Madame Alexander 2012 wishes you a Happy Resurrection Day

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Friday, April 19, 2019

Khari's Video Review Can Be Viewed Now

Brains and Beauty Dolls Khari


The video below was published on April 15, 2019, with my blog review of Brains and Beauty Dolls Khari.  Unfortunately, I failed to make the video public.  I have changed the privacy setting to public.  It should now be viewable here as well as in the original blog review of Khari.  I apologize for this blunder.







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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Beautiful Russian Nesting Doll Set

Set of 5 Matryoshka by Svetlana Lukina

Doll artist, Svetlana Lukina, is currently offering a one-of-a-kind authentic, wooden Russian nesting doll set in her Etsy shop. The set includes hand-painted Victorian children with scenic images on the back. They range in size from 2 to 7 inches.  This is the artist's first Russian Matryoshka doll set that represents brown-skinned children.

For additional information and/or to purchase before the sale ends, please visit the buy page for this beautiful set of five dolls.

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Monday, April 15, 2019

Khari by Brains and Beauty Dolls

Brains and Beauty Dolls Khari arrived in a beautifully designed box.

Khari by Brains and Beauty Dolls is 18 inches tall and made of vinyl with a cloth midsection that houses her voice box.  The second doll in the Brains and Beauty Dolls line, she uses the same head sculpt as Malia, the first doll by this company.  Khari’s complexion is lighter than Malia’s.  Her eyes are gray.  She has human hair styled in an Afro. 

This closeup photo was taken while Khari was still attached to the box liner.

Full-view photo of Khari, taken while she was still attached to the box liner

Box Graphics
The back of Khari's box has a quote that reads as noted above.

A graphic image of Khari is on the back of the box below her quote.

Out of the Box Photos
First out-of-the box photo

Khari's gray eyes are better visible in this photo.  Her dense black hair is a nonremovable wig.  Khari's ears are not pierced.

Her yellow Roman-style sandals complement her fashion well.

As illustrated, Khari wears a green, brown, orange, and white African-print dress with Roman-style yellow sandals. 

Undressed
Khari has been undressed to illustrate her cloth midsection.

In the back, the midsection has a zippered compartment that houses her voicebox.

This photo illustrates the unzipped midsection and voicebox.  A white tab must be removed before the voicebox will function.  The tab simply slides out. (Khari's voicebox compartment has more room than Malia's).
When Khari's tummy is pressed, she speaks 20 empowering phrases to inspire young girls to believe in themselves, to know that their complexion is beautiful, that they are beautiful, that they can be whatever they want to be, and other positive statements. 

Khari poses with Malia. Malia has been redressed in an Adora Dolls fashion.  This fashion is an example of other clothing brands made for 18-inch American-Girl-type dolls that fit these two.
These two girls are perfect companions.  They "play" and display well together while empowering girls to "dream big!"

View my short video review of Khari below.


As indicated in the video, Khari and Malia are available at brainsandbeautydolls.com.

Related Link:
A Mom Created These Beautiful Black Dolls To Teach Our Kids Self-Love

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

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Thursday, April 11, 2019

Cute Redress for ZiZi

Light blue maxi-length halter dress by Laylee M Doll Clothes

Instagramer, Laylee M Doll Clothes posted pictures of one of her dolls modeling this image-graphic halter dress.  I didn't know which of my dolls would have the opportunity to wear it.  All I knew is that I wanted one. 

After it arrived, several ladies argued over it and were actually given an opportunity to try it on.  Ultimately, because of the wider fit at the hips, Curvy Fashionista ZiZi (Zig and Zag) won the "who gets to wear it" debate. 

ZiZi Models the Dress

Dress graphics include several fashionable women with an African American woman on the front center.  Images of hairpins, nail polish, and lipstick are included in the graphics. 

ZiZi wears black strappy sandals and holds a gray tote.


She wears her black sunglasses on her head and completes the look with light blue hoop earrings.  (I painted the originally gold-tone earrings with light blue fingernail polish.  A woman must coordinate, you know.)

A seated brunette, a blonde, and another African American woman are visible on the back of the dress as illustrated here and in the final photo.

ZiZi looks fabulous in this very well-made dress that shipped free!

Fashions for Barbie and Fresh Dolls by Laylee M Doll Clothes are available in the Etsy shop of the same name.  Visit and/or follow her Instagram page here.  Shipping is free in the US only. 

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There is always something to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

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Check out what I am selling here
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Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
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