Top 10 toys of 2009 … #3  (almost to the end here! oh no!)  :woot:

3

Wong Ka Kui -1993 Album version

Description of Toy/Toyline:

Wong Ka Kui was made by Hot Toys. They made 2 (maybe 3) different versions of him (I liked this one best due to the shorter hair). I don’t know much about the actual guy it’s supposed to be other than that he was born in Hong Kong & was a pretty popular musician with an eye towards philanthropy. He’s got the usual Hot Toys body.

So why did he make my list?
He looked good. No. He looked better than good–he looked interesting!  :woot:   I didn’t see his action figure face plastered all over various doll & action figure forums. He was different.  I liked the sculpt & I liked the fact that he was on a hot toys body = good articulation.  His skin is something nifty (and nicely enough it’s a good match to the actual body he’s on). He also had some nifty accessories of a guitar, picks, mic. jewelry, extra hands (with rings on them) and high top sneakers. Gotta love it!

What I didn’t like AKA why he isn’t number 1 on the list:
Ah. Well to be fair it was a difficult decision. He’s a nice figure, and the sculpting is up there for me. He looks interesting & is going to make a great character in my photostories.
I guess if I had to give a reason his price would be why he’s not in the top 2. I’m not rich & money spent on figures is something I think, re-think and then think again before actually doing. (and I usually have to justify 8 ways to sunday). Wong Ka Kui was expensive–he is without a doubt the most expensive figure in my collection. He cost me 155.00 + shipping and I sat on the fence about it at the time.  Still, I don’t regret buying him & enjoy having him as part of the 1:6 crew.

As always, this post is sparked by Shaun Wong’s invite over at the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude.
And here are some other folks I know who are taking part in the Top 10 Toys of 2009 (please check em out as we all have different tastes in our toys!)

D7ana http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/
Mick http://mickbaltes.de/blog/
And C —whose list is up and finished! Check out her blog!  http://smidgehouse.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year & Welcome to 2010~ Following my usual guidelines I had no intention of wrapping up the top 10 before the new year (why? because!)

#5

Lori & Stella Vanderhoff

Description of Toy/Toyline: Stella & Lori are made using Volks Dollfies & the older C type head pre-rooted with platinum blond hair. Lori is on a Volks Excellent Base J Body & Stella is on an excellent B type body.

So why did they make my list?
They made my list because they filled my requirements as characters. Also, I was particularly proud of myself for being able to paint them and capture at least some hint of a family resemblance.  Stella’s personality is one that I’m having a lot of fun thinking about–while Lori….Lori is quick to becoming the Bad girl everyone hates (or wants to know). Yes, they’re fun characters for me.

What I didn’t like AKA why they aren’t number 1 on the list:
Well, part of it is the painting. I still feel I could have done better in a technical sense. They’re both successes as I think their personalities are pretty clear from their faces, but as an artist I find certain aspects lacking. And in Lori’s case there is a more pronounced skin tone difference between her head & body than I like.

As always, this post is sparked by Shaun Wong’s invite over at the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude.
And here are some other folks I know who are taking part in the Top 10 Toys of 2009 (please check em out as we all have different tastes in our toys!)

D7ana http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/
Mick http://mickbaltes.de/blog/
And C —whose list is up and finished! Check out her blog!  http://smidgehouse.blogspot.com/

Top 10 toys of 2009 … #7

Sometimes it’s not easy deciding what’s really worth mentioning in a top-10 list.   No, really. I have a good number of pretty snazzy toys  but which ones are worth the writing?
Dolls?  Sure.
Action Figures?   Of course.
Clothing? Hmmm…  maybe?

I’ll continue to brood over this while I share with you entry number 7:

#7

Jillian Carmichael

Description of Toy/Toyline:

Jillian is a combination of pieces from Volks.   They have a line of 27 cm dollfies (doll+figures=dollfies) that are meant primarily for customizing.  It’s a wonderful mix n’ match system.  Jillian varies between the Volks excellent B body & Volks Beauty B body (different shots get different bodies).

She has the old version of the C head (when the nose was still thin and narrow before it became more defined & full).

So why did she make my list?
Jillian has attitude.

Despite the flaws in her appearance & face up–she just speaks to me and I gotta love that in any of my figures.  So much so that although I see her flaws I am reluctant to try to repaint her in case I can’t recapture the attitude.

Volks has long been my favorite doll/body manufacturer.  They have offered many types & kinds of bodies (back in the good old days they offered not only dolls with different bust sizes (and shapes) but also different Butt sizes too!  Of course, now, sadly it seems that Volks is either planning on a re-tool of the whole line or possibly dumping more of the figure choices from it.

I’m not sure how many more of them will be around in the future.  I can only cross my fingers for luck & hope mightily that they realize there are more collectors out there than just the BJD folks. (and no, volks & 1:6 obitsu dolls are NOT BDJs. They are NOT strung.**sorry pet peeve there**)

What I didn’t like AKA why she’s low on the on the list:
Did I mention her face up?

Her eyes are wonky.

Hher lips a little too rough…
I could do a better job on her now that I have some decent brushes–but as stated above I’d really worry about not getting it right.

Anyway that’s number 7!

As always, this post is sparked by Shaun Wong’s invite over at the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude.
And here are some other folks I know who are taking part in the Top 10 Toys of 2009 (please check em out as we all have different tastes in our toys!)

D7ana http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/
Mick http://mickbaltes.de/blog/
And C —whose list isn’t up _quite_ yet but she is working on it so make sure to check out her blog!  http://smidgehouse.blogspot.com/

If you’re someone who reads my blog and you have a top 10 list feel free to share it with me and I’ll include it!

Here we are hitting number 8! Yay! 

(as per the invite from ShaunWong)
I’m afraid the toy collecting for this year has been rather sparse–and although I could separate them to better fill out the list — I think a couple of figures fall in the same spot on the list so I’m forcing them to share the spotlight.

#8 London by Night Ayumi & Old is New Giselle

Description of Toy/Toyline:
London by Night Ayumi & Old is New Giselle are part of the Fashion Royalty Nu Face line.  Fashion Royalty dolls are pricey but occasionally come with good accessories (most notably their shoes & highly detailed purses & nicely made clothing).  Integrity toys are the makers of the Fashion Royalty Doll line btw.

Prices for FR dolls range between $99 USD — upwards (I’ve seen them for 500+) and can sometimes be gotten off doll boards for a decent price.  It does pay to shop around.  :wink:  Ayumi was bought off a board (nude but new) &  Giselle was bought as an anniversary present in November.

(I was going to link to the FR site but frankly it’s so out of date I don’t know wtf they’re upto. Giselle isn’t even listed!! You want more info — search the web, I guess?)

So why did they make my list?

1) They have fantastic facemolds, and they also have a lot of potential for customizing if I ever get bored of their current faces. Ayumi is a favorite facemold & I can probably admit to getting any future releases of her. That might also hold true for Giselle.

2) Giselle is part of the new “Hand speak System” (This is Integrity’s way of saying oh! We’ll give the dolls replaceable hands) IMO it’s a step in the right direction although I’d have expected either a better selection of hands or bubble packs/accessory packs selling additional hand styles.

Hello, Integrity? Want to make some money? Make more hand poses!

3) Giselle’s outfit. I love the Blazer & Sheer floral Blouse. (see below)

What I didn’t like AKA why they’re low on the on the list:

• Articulation (or lack thereof).

They still have “fashion doll” bodies & the half-assed articulation that goes with them. IMO there really isn’t any reason in this day & age (and with all the examples out there) for them not being better articulated and still aesthetically pleasing. (Although I’ve seen other people body swap them with relative success:   I will likely leave these two on their current bodies–and keep an eye out on feebay & the boards for heads for sale to body swap) Jendini has done a good comparison here.

• Eyelashes

Maybe it’s just me but so far, to date on the 3 FR dolls I’ve gotten so far the eyelashes have been screwed up a bit (or totally) on all of them… which means I have to

1) go back and fix them or 2) remove them.  I like the look they add it would just be nice if the Quality Control could be more on their toes.

• Handspeak system is pretty limited with (as of yet) no additional hand sets to be bought. I think this is an area that Integrity Toys / Fashion Royalty dolls would do well to expand upon *and yea, I know it’s a step in the right direction towards articulation…I know* 

So that’s it for Number 8!

Here we are with The Top 10….. (as per Shaun Wong’s post)

#9

Description of Toy/Toyline: So in Style Trichelle:  Mattel’s 2009 attempt at …um…Diversity?

Why is she on the list:

I liked her headsculpt.  It’s as simple as that.

I hoped to use her as a cast member for my photostories.  My current cast is short on other ethnicities aside from Hot Toys’ Terrence Howard & Claudia and some Hot Toys guys.

Why is she so low on the list?
Let me count the ways…  :undecided:

• The body.  She comes with a crummy playline body that although it has articulated arms (wrists, elbows) it does not have articulated knees/legs. That to me is a big bummer. Because of that I swapped her head onto a Barbie Fashionista Body (Fashionista Sassy is a very good skintone match not Artsy as one would be led to believe see photo below). I should note that even with the body swap her still body sucks–just not as horribly as the original.

• The hair. Her hair is disappointing. I wanted hair with body or at least curls that were promised by the packaging (I’d have preferred her to have come with Generation Girl Nichelle’s hair).

• Price.   Even though I got her on sale she was still more than I would like to spend on a playline doll (especially when you consider I bought her only for her head).

Ah! At last! After spending the entire day sorting out my husband’s computer I finally get a chance to say good night to my own! (Ok and post this real quick-like!)

Here is the beginning of my top 10 toys of 2009! (as followed up from the original invite via Shaun Wong)

#10

Description of Toy/Toyline: Momoko. This is a Japanese fashion doll produced by Sekiguchi. Momoko has a strong & devoted following in the doll world. Pricey is the keyword to remember about Momoko. Everything about her is expensive from her clothes onward.

So why did they make my list?

Hmm…Well I have to admit that I got my first Momoko partly to get a real sense of her size & scale (so I could make furniture & clothes & stuff), and partly out of a strong sense of curiosity.  I ended up getting 2 Momokos this year Everyday B-girl & Day off Delight (Day off Delight is shown above in her original appearance, and below with her customized appearance).

So many people extol the virtues of this little doll that I really wondered if I was missing something. (I’m often slow to come into the game where new dolls or figures are concerned).

Momoko dolls do have nice headsculpts that IMO have a lot of potential. It is unfortunate that they are so expensive as I’d like the chance to experiment more with them (but the $$$ they cost makes that unlikely).

I think the strongest things that Momoko has going for her is her facial sculpt & the detail of her clothing & accessories. Do I think they’re enough to justify her price? No. Definitely not. That said, her headsculpts are the reason Momoko is on the top 10 for 2009.

Downsides to Momoko -AKA why she’s only 10th on the list

(yes you can tell I’m not a die-hard fan, right?) are the fact that her body articulation is severely lacking. Yes, she has some but it is very limited.  I’m not comparing her to a volks or a Takara CG.  I am in this instance, comparing her to a Fashionista Barbie.  Her wrists only flip up or down, if you want to rotate her hand you need to do the whole arm at the elbow joint. Things like that won’t matter to many collectors–but to me–someone who primarily plays with my figures by setting them up in dioramas, that’s a major point.

My favorite Momoko head (Everyday B-girl which I got in trade from E’mila –see photo below) was quickly popped onto a Volks Beauty B body.  I find that the skintones are a good match and the improved articulation well worth it to me. (I know a lot of Momoko fans would be disappointed about the body swap)

Will I be buying more Momokos in the future?
It’s unlikely unless one comes out who for one reason or another really speaks to me. But even then– $50–100+ dollars for a head to pop onto another body sounds a bit crazy to me.

I’ll update tomorrow with #9 on the Top 10 List