davidd's A Doll A Day 2019

[werepuppy]

Weirdly, I would say Jade has a sense of tiredness about her. As if she's looking over a pile of work to be done and is just... not in the mood to do it. Since I have been having this feeling a lot lately, I have to say well done to you for managing to capture it in doll format.

[Alliecat]

I think I agree with Elfy, that she's up to something.

[davidd]

She looks like a host of one of those renovation shows!

You're right! One of those home renovation shows hosted by a "cute chick" who is always blowing stray hairs out of her face after breaking down walls with a sledge hammer.

I get a secret agent vibe from the doll, maybe it's the beret and the fact that she is popping up out of a hiding place.

Jade says, "I like this guy! He gets me!" Jade does not say that about many other people, so I think that's a compliment. 

Even the tired & uninspired shots show their personalities.

I feel that this simple, inex-pensive Bratz Holiday Jade playline doll is one of the most ekspressive figures I own; or in Jade's case, one of the most ekspressive figures who deigns to bless me with her presence.

Weirdly, I would say Jade has a sense of tiredness about her. As if she's looking over a pile of work to be done and is just... not in the mood to do it. Since I have been having this feeling a lot lately, I have to say well done to you for managing to capture it in doll format.

The photo may be reflecting how I am presently feeling, as well.

I think I agree with Elfy, that she's up to something.

She usually is! 

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31 March: Pinky Street Series 10 PK030 – Urban Hipster looks out of place in Rural Nowheresville

[Cornflower Blue]

I'm so behind on this forum!

Smart Doll option hands: so many options! I've seen people selling some of the individual pairs on the FB group, meaning they are only keeping the ones the like the best. Something to keep in mind if you find you don't use all the pairs.

That Kermit is interesting in that he's wearing an outfit.

Those ICarly figures are cute. The combination of that sweet smile and a gun held so casually looks dangerous.

Pinky Kokoro has such nice green eyes. You've also reminded me I have a few of those pin badges that came with mine. I've currently misplaced the box of Pinkys again, but they're probably in the box with the figures.

Bratz: I like how Elmer, the bull on the glue label, seems to be looking like he's smiling because Jade can't find him.

Urban hipster Pinky is something else!

[Elfy]

Urban hipster Pinky, trying to hitch a ride back to civilisation.

[neon_jellyfish]

Unicorn! ...Almost.

[werepuppy]

Urban hipster Pinky seems a bit like she has an almost 50's style quiff there. Very rock and roll.

[Alliecat]

Urban hipster Pinky still looks optimistic that she might find a party somewhere.
Rural Nowheresville sounds like it should be somewhere outside Central Nowhere, which I sometimes call my area.

[davidd]

1 April – Taranee Cook action figure from the comic book and TV series W.I.T.C.H.

There's a funky shadow on her chin that makes her look like she has a beard. I didn't even notice that until I posted the photo just now. Oh well, I'm not gonna attempt a re-shoot. Just pretend she's cosplaying as King Tut from the Batman TV show.

Online descriptions of the Taranee character describe her as as either a "shy 13 year old" or a "shy 12 year old." For a shy pre-teen, she certainly dresses... or under-dresses... or barely dresses in a provocative manner. The W.I.T.C.H. costumes kinda make the Winx Club outfits seem conservative by comparison.

But then, the series, which aired between 2004 and 2006, was French. However, it was also co-produced by Disney. So... okay, never mind.

INFO:
Comic book
TV series


Anyway, I found poor Taranee discarded along a bicycle path nearly ten years ago. I didn't know who the character was, but I brought her home, posted a photo on Flickr, and somebody identified her. I don't think she's seen the light of day since. The figure is in pretty poor condition; to be ekspected, I suppose, of one that was out in the weather getting run over by bicycles. I've thought about discarding her. I've thought about trying to repaint her. Chances are, however, that she'll go back into a box, and maybe make another appearance in five or ten years.

Oh, hey! In looking online just now, I learned that this figure was part of a W.I.T.C.H. (the acronym is based on the names of the five primary characters: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin) series of McDonald's Happy Meal toys issued in 2005. In near-mint condition the figures sell for... about five bucks. With another five bucks for shipping (thank you, United States Postal Service, for the recent rate increase). The amulet or medallion on the string is supposed to be bright pink, and her now-purple face was originally a light tan color. This girl spent some serious time in the sun out there on that bike path.

Maybe she would have been happier out there on the bike path, rather than being stashed away in a dark box filled with clutter. Perhaps I should set her free out in the woods somewhere. Although that would basically be littering, I suppose.

Little bits of molded plastic with faces on them are so difficult to discard. They just look at you and say, "Oh, please, don't throw me away! Don't donate me to a junk shop, or I'll probably end up as a doggie chew toy! Please let me stay here with the other toys!"

Oh, hey! Additional research... yeah, I'm taking, like, forever to type this caption because I keep looking up W.I.T.C.H. stuff on eBay... indicates that there was a line of 8-inch W.I.T.C.H. dolls; and speaking of Winx Club, the W.I.T.C.H. dolls were manufactured by Giochi Preziosi, the Italian company that made the Winx Club dolls in Europe. Giochi Preziosi also made the tall, slender Hi:Glamm dolls, which were distributed in the US by MGAE in their pre-Bratz days. Apparently Giochi Preziosi specialized in producing figures of trim young girls in revealing outfits. Because, y'know, Italy, which has an even higher appreciation for tolerance for... stuff like that... than France.

Wait... what's this? Now I see that W.I.T.C.H. was a French production based on an Italian comic book! That eksplains a lot!

Apparently Giochi Preziosi also released a line of mini-monster type non-articulated figures that were not based on stylized teen girls called Gormiti: The Invincible Lords of Nature, which are similar in size and appearance to the M.U.S.C.L.E. line of miniature fantasy wrestling figures, which were, in turn, based on Japanese Kinnikuman gashapon fantasy wrestling figures. The Gormiti figures appear to be fairly popular collectables on eBay.

I think this caption has meandered sufficiently far afield that it would be better to stop. In fact, it should have stopped before it started.

TL;DNR version: W.I.T.C.H. McDonald's Happy Meal figure "Taranee," circa 2005.

[Cornflower Blue]

Interesting info about a figure I've never seen from a series I never heard of. She looks like a customizing opportunity waiting to happen.

[werepuppy]

Oh, I remember watching the cartoon. The outfits for their magical selves are a bit much for their age, you're right on that. Still, it's an interesting example of a magical girl show that isn't an anime

[Elfy]

I get the feeling Martian Manhunter crossed with a Skrull.

[Lejays17]

Interesting figure and backstory.

We learn so much about different toy lines doing these challenges

[neon_jellyfish]

Ooooh, I completely forgot about W.I.T.C.H.! I actually bought a few issues back when the comic was published here. I bought first issue because it came with little shiny trinket (me likes shinies), but I got bored with the series after the first arc or so... Poor Taranee, she really is in bad shape...

[davidd]

2 April – Goodbye, Dan. I'll miss you. – Your brother, Dave

A number of members of this forum have lost close family members over the past few months. Some have mentioned it on the forum. Others have not. I have now unex-pectedly joined that unfortunately growing group. I learned earlier today that my brother passed away suddenly early this morning.

This is an old photo from my Flickr account. This Sea Adventurer was one of my brother's "GI Joe guys," as we called them. My brother and I have not been very close in our adult years, but when we were kids, we spent many happy, fun, exciting hours acting out adventures with our GI Joes, our green army men, our Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, and our space toys.

I miss those days. I miss my brother. I miss the relationship we had when we were kids.

I can't believe that, just like that, he's gone.