look-back-month-challenge

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@look-back-month-challenge final day 28. Any toy you regretted letting go of?

Thankfully, I haven't regretted selling any of my dolls yet, I have a few I don't mind having again at most, but I have a doll I almost regretted letting go of - it's magic hair salon Fianna. An old friend gifted her to me in 2015 and after we stopped talking in 2018 on bad terms, she was just... there.

Last year I decided to downsize my collection as much as possible due to limited display space (not a concern anymore as I'm planning to have more shelves installed this year). and only keep dolls I truly love. So I put Fianna up for sale for a low price just to get rid of her ASAP and someone bought her soon. Only after shipping her and later getting a notification that she's arrived to her destination, my heart sank: I didn't actually want to let go of her and selling any gifts at all went against my morals. So I spent the next week biting my nails and praying the buyer doesn pick the package from their post office. And… 9 days later they still haven't picked it up and Fianna got sent back to me. This was the only time a buyer didn't pick up an order from me. I took this as a sign to never let go of her again.

I immediately gave her a makeover once I brought her back home and I fell in love with her more than ever.

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27th day of @look-back-month-challenge. The surprise of this LOL Surprise Tweens Max Wonder was that the corner of his masquerade mask was squished while being sealed in its envelope. I don't mind, I found the mask uninteresting anyway apart from the tiny working buckle. But the nice surprise with this doll was that the Lottie dolls can wear his shoes.

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28: Je ne regrette rien?

The two dolls from my earlier collection that I recall with the most nostalgia are:

Barbie Basics 11 (1990 Teresa headmold with chin-length bob) transplanted onto a Fashionista body

McMillan (Germany) doll with Fashionista-type body and chin-length bob

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I don't have a single good photo of either, and not many bad ones.

Here's Gertrud, the McMillan doll, with some of her friends.

Here is Veronica, the Barbie Basics doll, modeling her leopard-print Infinity Dress:

That's it. I do recall that I never quite vibed with Gertrud, but I'm surprised at how thoroughly Veronica got lost in the mob of that era.

My conclusion is that I don't really feel regrets after all. I feel nostalgia for the experience of the Great Find (the Barbie Basics doll was at a thrift store!) and the Clever AliExpress Purchase (I did so, so much shopping for Gertrud).

Thank you @look-back-month-challenge for the great challenge prompts! This has been a terrific experience in re-evaluating my collection and getting started on sewing for the odd-sized ones.

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28th day of @look-back-month-challenge! This is not a doll I have given away. I took this photograph today. But there is a reason I chose her for this prompt.

I am very much "Out of sight, out of mind." type of person. So actually at the start of the month I couldn't even remember if I had given any dolls away and when I did remember some, I didn't regret it. But I once bought a DC Super Hero Girls Poison Ivy as a gift to someone and I sort of regret not buying one for myself too.

It has been a fun month doing this challenge. It made me think about my doll collection and actually call it a collection at all. Thank you so much for organizing it!

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@look-back-month-challenge day 28!

Any toy you regretted letting go of?

So I don't have any pictures of them, but I had a few Neopets plush from Limited Too my sister got for me while she was staying in the US in the early 00s. At some point as I got a bit older I had a falling out with Neopets and I'm pretty sure I ended up throwing the plushies out. ;__; It was a long time ago and I don't remember exactly, so I was in denial about it for a while, but I really haven't been able to find them anywhere so I'm pretty sure that's what I did. I had a full size white Aisha, and Scorchio and Kau keychain plushies. Why didn't I just toss them in the attic???

Well... I wasn't gonna end the entire challenge on a tiny stock photo from 2002, so I snapped a photo of some of my other Neopets plush I've gotten off the internet over the past few years! Shoyru, Chia and Cybunny are my favorite species.

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@look-back-month-challenge

　２７．　Toy that surprised you.

This is my beloved childhood friend Moggypuss. He's been with me for a very long time and I've never really had any questions about that.

About a year or so ago one of my friends saw him and immediately asked if he's a Tyco Kitty Kitty Kitten and I was genuinely surprised to learn that these sad wet cats can be quite popular with collectors.

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@look-back-month-challenge Day 27: Toy that surprised you.

Lulupop! a lesser known korean doll line inspired by LOL OMG.

I was surprized by their detailed outfits and unique accessories (not a single reused sculpt here!) though their hair quality leaves much to be desired. Their bodies are less exaggerated than LOL OMG's and I prefer their faces much more. I do wish there was more skintone variety.

I'm using old pics as both of the dolls I have are in my custom fodder box right now. I'd like to customize the blonde one into Misa from Death Note and customize the redhead one into Hatsune Miku (will probably have to make a wig because lulupop heads are as hard as bratz pixiez heads -_-)

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@look-back-month-challenge asks: Do you have any playsets?

I have 4 things I count as playsets and I fucking LOVE all 4.

Dream Castle, my absolute obsession from age 5, which I obtained my sophmore year in college, rode home with on public transit, and kept in my tiny dorm. When I finally got to live on my own years and years later I made sure that Dream Castle had a permanent on display position as a rebellion against many things. It is very important.

Esmeralda's Festival Tent from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I was so consumed with when I was 9 or 10. Didn't get one until I was 30, maybe? It usually hosts my Esmeralda dolls, but I cleared them out for this. The accessories in here came with the tent (and include a KNIFE :D) but are actually the items in Quasimodo's sanctuary. Seems they were quickly repurposed when the marketing for this movie was like holy shit let's just pivot to the festival no one can know that this is grim as hell haha

PARADISE ESTATE, the playset of playsets. Currently lives with all of its pieces in its original box in my closet because it is too large to display fully out like it is in the other photo on the regular, but I dream of a day where I can just have it on display. It's enormous, it's absurd, it doesn't make sense at all as a playset for My Little Pony, I got a deal on it that I still sometimes think might not be real and it will get taken away, it is magnificent.

1967 World of Barbie House, which I bought from some lady from Facebook Marketplace in a mall parking lot. I frequently take pictures of my new dolls in here. I lovingly and adoringly call it my psychedelic dream house, it is filled with retina searing Joy.

My Beloveds 🥲

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@look-back-month-challenge

Trying to get myself back into doing these because they're fun :>

17. Most interesting or unusual toy.

My Remus Lupin transforming werewolf figure is pretty cool. His chest is hollow and holds the other head, which gets flipped & the arms elongate. I find older figures have more interesting gimmicks and tend to feel a lot more solid than toys released today + I don't feel obligated to collect a whole series because I only find them randomly at flea markets.

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@look-back-month-challenge asks - Toy that surprised you?

I don't like children dolls.

I don't like a lot of things that are pastel.

But I looooove my Amooooore Adventure Doll.

Maybe Onyx doesn't love her as much.

I love her shoujo eyes, I love her retro glasses, I love her stompy boots. I love how great her backpack is, I love her colors.

I was shocked to be in love with her. She is so so charming.

She also came with this magnet

Sorry for these appalling photos, but it's funky lighting or none at all based on my functioning, so we go funky.

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@look-back-month-challenge asks about Toy stuff that isn't the toys!

Absolutely. I love me an item. Most of my things like this are G1 My Little Pony!

Firefly items!

Tiny suitcase! I use it to take One change of clothes to my mother's sometimes.

G2 Minty shirt which is actually part of a t-shirt quilt now.

Roller Skates! I want to learn to get better at this or like passable at all really! But I definitely have some fucked up ankles and not a lot of safe places to try. Someday, pony skates, someday.

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@look-back-month-challenge 27. Toy that surprised you.

In January of 2019 I was walking around Target and got blindsided by the Glitter Girls Sweet Shop just sitting on a shelf. I didn't know anything really about the dolls or sets like this. Never in my wildest imagination did this exist, and suddenly there I was staring at this perfect little fantasy of a thing, in a brick n mortar in a suburb.

The details! The colors!! The quantity and quality!

I just had this like, full body emotional reaction to it. I loved it.

So the price was a shock at first but the set has been more than worth the cost.

(caveat: some of the stuff in here didn't come with the set but I don't wanna look up which is what and unload it all at the moment sorry! link above has a photo in-store as it was brand new!)

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Look back month challenge day 16 (I missed a bunch and I’m no longer going in order): customs made by someone else.

Someone rerooted, repainted the eyebrows, and wiped the lips, then lost interest in the custom and sold her on eBay. So she’s mine now!

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Look back month challenge day 15: have you ever made a custom?

I’ve done so many customs, but I think she’s my most thoroughly customized doll? Rebodied, rerooted, repainted, all clothing sewn by me, and repainted shoes. She’s Duela Dent, the Joker’s Daughter.

(Note: Joker’s Daughter is her code name. In real life she’s Two Face’s daughter.)

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22. Favorite color scheme.

I think these three probably have my favourite colour schemes! I can't pretend it wasn't hard to pick, though. I considered adding my Shadow High girls to this lineup, but since they're both monochrome (with Shanelle Onyx specifically being greyscale), I felt like they weren't great examples of colour schemes.

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Look back month challenge, day 22: Favorite color scheme.

This was a hard choice! I love vibrant colors. I went with red, pink, and white. Here's Estelle in her christmas outfit and Jubilee (Jubi for short), the Mrs Claus alpacasso.

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look back month challenge, day 22: favorite color scheme

all combos of blue/green with gold/bronze work for me the best. also, my favorite skin tone is a light grey.

the base doll is a create a monster harpy, with a lagoona head, heath hair sculpt, and wings salvaged from a random eagle toy.