Cave Club

[WhiteDove01s]

Ok, I made a fairly big splurge for me ($50 and change) and netted seven of these as 'art supplies' for a planned OOAKing project. Four of them (two Emberlys and two Slates) have arrived and the three-pack I managed to get for $10 ought to be here by early Feb at the latest. So I thought I'd share a few first impressions and let everyone know I'm open to being asked things about whose hair color or skin tone matches other dolls (tho I doubt headswaps will work here, it is sometimes good to know in terms of getting past monitor limitations for a better idea of what you're dealing with), or whether clothes or accessories fit other dolls (as long as those are dolls I have. No pictures yet, but I can work on that later when I have some time.

Also, while I think of these dolls as 1/6 (they blend in surprisingly well with Monster High and Ever After High dolls, looking like kids with similar proportions), if the board mods feel this should be elsewhere instead feel free to move it.

So, first, Emberly.

I didn't pay much attention to the accessories as these dolls are getting quickly stripped and all that tossed in a baggie for later. The clothes are TINY, and most parts aren't hemmed, but the top of her top was and the fabric doesn't feel extra-plasticky like some more recent Barbie clothes.

One thing I did notice that made me a bit sad was the hair. The long neon hair was and still is something I hoped I could salvage for other projects. (I remember thinking when I first saw these dolls "The 80's called and want that hair back" and mentally comparing it to Jem dolls. I almost always save the hair I remove from a doll that's being rerooted unless the hair is way too damaged to use or way too short.) But this hair... the feel of it reminds me of the old fake grass from easter baskets when I was a kid. I don't know if it's because of the type of plastic or whatever they did to crimp it. I'm hoping I can still salvage it tho, and the straight bits (bangs) do make me think this is a damage of some kind from however they crimped it. There is a lot of it, and close inspection reveals there are actually three colors I can identify. The obvious yellow streaks coming from her temples and around to the top, and then there are actually two shades of pink in her hair. The underlayer is a slightly more orangish-pink than the overlayer and it also feels less damaged. The pinker overlayer is a fairly-near match to the pink hair on that one AA WWE Superstars girl, while the orange-ish hot pink layer is actually closer to Kimber from Jem. It actually blends together well enough I had to put on glasses and look at it in different lighting to be sure of what I was seeing. The yellow is a basic bright primary like that on the Daffodil girl from Rose Petal Place (the name is slipping my mind at the moment)

She has green eyes and actually has freckles but then they went and put the facepaint over them on one side. Her eyebrows look like they're just brown, which is odd since they bothered to make Slate's match his hair. I should also note I am looking at all of this with the light from my desk lamp currently as it's night time and will re-compare the colors again when I have natural lighting.

Her skin tone is actually a shade lighter and more yellow-toned than barbie neutra. She seems to match best to either the blond haired blue eyed Liv or the green eyed brunette Liv doll (names are slipping again, sorry, I am bad at names), but again I'll check in better light and maybe hope I have a better eyesight day too as it hasn't been great today.

The dolls have some fairly big feet, with divided toes which means making sandals could be a thing. Bigger issue is that the feet are wide. A pair of BTS Boys shoes I had nearby went on no problem, and don't jiggle around loosely when on, but they're too long and make her look even more clownfooted. One advantage though is that the dolls can stand up fairly easily on their own barefoot (or in the shoes I put on one). I really wasn't expecting that.

The joints are basic, but at least they're there. 90 degrees at elbow and knee, decent wrists and sholders. The hips don't move out or back much at all, just forward. Still, she can "sit in a chair and touch her hair" which is basically my minimum poseability test. Also the hands are kind of rubbery, which can protect from broken fingers when dressing the dolls.

On to Slate:
One of the reasons I rushed to get this order is because of how the guys always end up scarcer and pricy in the secondary market and the markdowns honestly have me concerned Cave Club won't last long. They seemed perfect for an OOAKing project I wanted to do, so I wanted to make sure I snagged enough of them before it was too late.

He has oretty much the same jointing as Emberly, and a similar hair problem though it doesn't feel quite as bad here. Maybe because there's less to compare. The front of his hair is crimped at the back isn't. It has two pastel green streaks that are much greener than Maddie Hatter's teal but about the same degree of 'pastel', if that makes sense. The hair streaks are actually almost the same color as Venus McFlytrap's body (tho not her own streaks). The rest of the hair is a gorgeous shade of blue that I can't find an exact match for anywhere in my room. It's darker than Aja (from Jem) and less purple-y and more towards the cyan than Stormer (also from Jem). The best description I have is that it's Aja's hue but Stormer's depth of color. The closest match I found was the wig on my old What's Her Face doll, and even that was very much Not It. I really wish it were a whole lot longer and none of it was crimped for better salvage possibilities. Only the front of his hair was crimped, but the hair here is so much of a style disaster I can't tell if that was intentional or not. On much closer examination (as in I put on the 6x glasses) his hair is actually a blend of a purple color that's even closer to Stormer-but-without-the-purple-tones and a cyan that's only a shade darker than Aja. The colors are mixed very throroughly and not striped by plug, so it would be risking insanity to try to seperate them. The effect tho causes some very nice highlights and undertones and even with it being so short I am going to try saving the hair for wig wefts. Only the very top of his head is rooted, the rest is just painted (and not even flocked).

Even the uncrimped hair, tho, while a beautiful color, does feel kind of plasticky and cheap by today's standards. It's thick and actually feels a lot more like the hair on my older dolls like Jem or Rose Petal Place than on newer dolls.

His skin tone has no matches on my shelf, being a much redder tan than most barbies. The closest match I found was the asian girl from my old TnT-bodied Sun Jewel (I think that's the name) Barbies I've had since I was a kid, and she has more yellow undertones while his are more red. They wouldn't be a close enough match for a head-swap (not that that would be possible anyway)

In regards to head removal, I haven't done it yet, but the vinyl of the heads feels nice and soft, so I'm hoping for no problems (one never knows what kind of neck peg mess might be sprung on you with an unfamiliar doll).

I'll go over Fernessa, Tella, and Roaralai when they get here if anyone is interested. Also the three pack of them is still $10 on Walmart's site as of when I posted this... I have high hopes for some more salvageable hair there as there is less crimping involved, even if I think I might use it for wig wefts instead of direct rerooting because of the thick and plasticky feel.

[DollyKim]

For neon hair check the party supply aisle. I once found packs of foot long neon braids on matching hair clips.

[WhiteDove01s]

I have no access to physical stores so I miss out on all the fun little finds and bargain bin stuff like that. If it's not online and deliverable to home, I'm out of luck. That said, planning to OOAK this lot into the Color Kids from Rainbow Brite (probably with some minor artistic reinterpretation in terms of being able to have more color depth than an 80's cartoon or plush toys with yarn hair could manage at the time, and apparently with tans like they've been having a beach party going by the two boys), so the neon is all coming off of there. I just habitually save hair whether I have a plan for it yet or not. It's saved some money sometimes going through the empty big-icecream-tub I keep it in and finding I already have just enough of a color I need for a chara. One of my current reroots is all salvage hair in a very pretty golden blond. (It does mean I have an overabundance of blond from various barbies tho. XD). I already have some reds and purples to work with... And I still think what's already on these will make for some bright and fun wigs. I need the practice there anyway.