Dollieh Sanctuary

My Goodwill score, tonight!

l to r: Hula Hair Teresa, Photographer Becky, (Blue) Flying Hero Kira

I look forward to the after pictures. It's rare to find a Teresa without plain brown hair.

These will be body donors for present head/body color mismatches.

My goodwill sucks.

Funny that Kira is cheaper.

Gift_in_Edge wrote:Funny that Kira is cheaper.

I didn't think about it at the time, but there is a poor market for minority figures around here [as toys]. That is why I am more stoked when I am able to score one.

There is a strong Oriental population in Wausau, to the south, so maybe that is where she came from.

Mattel's ethnic dolls have been hit and miss. I have a "Drew" sculpt that looks more Asian to me. The Kira I have was Tropical Miko so I always took her to be Polynesian.

If the demand is made for dolls of color then someone will have to meet it. Even American Girls come in different combinations.

If the demand is made for dolls of color then someone will have to meet it. Even American Girls come in different combinations.

I always found the general monotone-colour in the 1/6 Japanese market disconcerting. I know it probably traces back to cultural standards of beauty like Geisha and whatnot, but I wish popular brands like Obitsu would offer a bit more of range(I know about marrone and coconut, but they were LE and are almost impossible to find, besides, only females were ever made). Even Volks, with their already-limited supply, only offer "guy skin" which is about as dark as I can find in the ABS plastic range in 1/6 (we're talking Eastern dolls here), besides the one-off Taeyang that I own that looks to be some sort of....Arabic fantasy warrior if I had to hazard a guess? And his giant head definitely takes him off of the 'to-scale' market I'm talking about.

Also, that Kira is the least "damaged" in terms of frizzy hair, etc, so I find it rather side-eye worthy that she's the doll that got priced lowest. Although to be fair it looks like they were priced at different times (the different tags), so that could possibly play a factor? I like to hope it did. Sometimes the unintentional(?) colour blindness on the Eastern (and the Western to some degree, but I can't mount a very logical argument since they offer Barbies and GI Joe and PTE in all different ethnicity, even if most of the time those aren't the dolls that would fit best for my projects) market bothers me. My skin is literally about the colour of the "white" Obitsu (yes, I shine like a ghost in the few pictures I allow to be taken of me ) but my interests aren't in creating mini-versions of me, I have characters of all different ethnicity whose only, ONLY chance of being made is if I go outside and spray them with automotive vinyl paint, which tends to chip at the joints.

Bah, I'm rambling. Sorry. In pain and grumpy isn't the best state to make a statement about the ethnic elephant in the room. Please, take everything above with a grain (or a handful) of salt.

Edit: Just as a reminder, I'm talking to-scale ABS plastic here. I know companies offer some smaller dolls in different colours, which is wonderful, but again, not the market I'm aiming for.

MeltedCaramel wrote:Also, that Kira is the least "damaged" in terms of frizzy hair, etc, so I find it rather side-eye worthy that she's the doll that got priced lowest...

I wasn't so much attracted to their heads, but their joints are in great condition. The Gymnast body was out of production by the turn of the century/millennium, making them, at least, around 13 years old.

edit: I already own a (yellow) Flying Hero Kira that I bought new, years ago. She was one of my first complete Barbies, if not the first.

DollyKim wrote:Mattel's ethnic dolls have been hit and miss. I have a "Drew" sculpt that looks more Asian to me. The Kira I have was Tropical Miko so I always took her to be Polynesian...

I think it depends on the face-up. Mystery Squad Kenzie (right) uses the Lea sculpt.
126Angora, 126Penny, 126Fifi

I wasn't so much attracted to their heads, but their joints are in great condition. The Gymnast body was out of production by the turn of the century/millennium, making them, at least, around 13 years old.

edit: I already own a (yellow) Flying Hero Kira that I bought new, years ago.

Oh, I understand your reasons for buying them aren't necessarily , I'm just still side-eying that price drop on the ethnic girl, and I was commenting that it was strange because she looks to be the least damaged overall of the three, and someone wanting to buy a doll on the cheap (I'm talking full doll here, not just for parts) would probably gravitate towards the most groomed and well taken care of looking doll. At least, that's what I would do?

Like I said, I was a bit grumpy earlier (health scare) so my first post is a bit ranty and erratic, which I apologize for.