New dolls I brought home

Ever since I started the blog I decided for myself I'll update on every doll purchase. Not because I want to boast, but because I want to keep track of my progress - how often I get new stuff and how much time passes before I start working on it. So, after my latest trip, it was inevitable I bring home a few goodies. Let's see what I found.

I mentioned earlier that hubby wanted very much to get me the black MH kitty - Catty Noir - and he was very disappointed that he couldn't find her. I was sure I didn't want any of the animal dolls (furries ruined it >.<) but he was so eager to have a black kitty doll that, y'know, I started rooting for him to succeed. It was a difficult hunt too. The doll was never in stock at the local TRU (we went there almost every day), although it was advertised as fully stocked and was featured in special offers twice in three weeks. They told us to buy it online (and pay 7 euro for shipping! Ha!). Finally, when all hope was gone, we found a whole bunch of Cattys in a little shop for a bargain price of 30 euro! There she is, with perfect hair and dress:

This doll is perfect. The amount of pink and glitter is so outrageous that it somehow looks cool. I don't even know what I would change. They even got the eyebrows to match the hair! I'll probably just gloss the eyes and leave the factory paint intact. The box was very pretty too. I loved the broken glass design:

This beauty took 20 minutes to debox. There were no less than eight (!!) of those tiny invisible plastic ties in the dress train. The hair was unbrushable at first, but now it's better after a wash and conditioner. The only defect is that the boots don't close very well:

That, and I'm not a fan of the heelless soles. But the boots have potential and I know how to make them to my liking.

I love how Catty's huge hair and dress double as packaging:

Oh, one thing that's been bugging me: I noticed a wedge cut out of the left ear, under the big "13" earring.

I didn't find any explanation for it online. Can anyone say why it's there? Cause I don't know about other places, but here in my city this is exactly how they mark spayed stray cats. Wedge cut, left ear. Does this mean that Catty is... a sterile hobo? I need to know the truth!

Anyway, moving on to the next girl. I had bought Scaris Rochelle in spring for the outfit alone, but while I had her, the unexpected happened - I fell in love with this doll. As the time approached to give the nude doll to the friend she was promised to, I made up my mind to find GNO Rochelle to replace the previous one. I couldn't bear to have a Rochelle-less doll shelf now! The GNO version came at the right time, considering my hate of hair fringes:

There she is, my angel

The hair, unfortunately, is the complete opposite of what I saw on the Scaris doll. It's thinly rooted and caked with glue; so much that it leaked through the two layers of the cardboard box. I did a few rounds of my hair treatment and tried this method too (which didn't work! only made it worse for me but maybe it was because of residue from the oil I used). I omitted the tea tree oil and I'm beginning to think this is the key ingredient. After I'm done cleaning the hair, I'll be adding light waves at the bottom like the Scaris doll had.

Another problem that's staring right at us in the above picture is the dress. Look at the pose. This is seriously as far apart as the legs will go in it. Trying to put the feet together distorts the knee joints. I like the print so I want to save the dress. Here is a preview of what I'm trying:

While on this subject, I have many more dresses and shoes that I improved, or plan to improve, with little modifications. I'm thinking of starting a new section with short tips and ideas for this kind of things. Will this be useful? Naming suggestions are welcome!

In spite of the shortcomings, Rocky is gorgeous. The face is sweet, the accessories - amazing! There is even the diary-thingy with artwork which includes Catty (Catty's own diary is a crippled translation of the bio from the English box, not the actual diary). So, no regrets about this purchase.

Some more interesting gems turned up in a general purpose store in Kehl, Germany. Fashionistas were discounted at only 13 euro and of course I had to pick one. Thus, I got my first Raquelle:

I love the black hair and the glittery halter neckline:

All the dolls in this line came with some big plastic stuff on their dresses and tinsel hair. I was relieved to find that the plastic thingy isn't attached to the dress in any way, but the tinsel? Come on. It doesn't style and never looks right. As soon as Raquelle was out of the box, I yanked it all out and forgot to take a "before" picture. Accept my humble apologies and this blurry crop:

I wish the fancy fabric extended all the way in the back, but it's still very pretty. I'm keeping the chest plate, too, thinking it will make a wicked armour some day. The purse will be repainted.

I was a little disappointed about the lack of a torso joint in this line. I thought it was pretty neat on my older Fashionistas.

The same store had Barbie dresses for 4 euro. At first it seemed expensive to me, but later I saw the same ones for almost twice at TRU and returned another day for this purple dress:

It's supposed to fit "most Barbies", but it's extremely tight in the hips, making it more suitable for Model Muse:

I prefer it on Nikki though, so I'll see which seams I can loosen. Again, the double fabric makes me cry:

Why, Mattel?

The last find was a ball of black synthetic yarn. What for, you may wonder? I wanted to give my ruined Barbie dreadlocks and I was unable to find anything messy looking that didn't have wool, mohair, cashmere etc. (I'm allergic to wool). I misjudged the scale, my Barbie being the older style with a small head, but the yarn separates easily into three reasonably straight strands. Doesn't this look pretty?

Ignore the face; the Mona Lisa thing going on here
is a result of all the cleaning attempts

The full yarn may be useful for my bald Draculaura, but I'm not entirely sure about that.

Full yarn in front and separate strands in the back

I went to the doll stores quite often and managed to see most of the other dolls I was interested in. Raquelle in the evening dress wasn't nearly as good as the promo picture. Scarah Screams has a deep indentation at the base of the nose which makes her face (eyes) look weird from any angle except straight from the front. The single basic EAH girls look terrible in profile and their heads are just hopelessly round and baby-like. I wanted to like Raven, but she was much tanner than promo pics had me believe and as I found out on myself, purple hair does not look good with yellow skin. Oh no. DT Spectra's hair was too light, no different than the PD Spectra I already own. I'm glad I had a chance to examine them in person, otherwise I would have been very disappointed!

When you go on vacation, what do you like to buy? What do you pay attention to when picking a boxed doll? Do you modify stock outfits? I will be happy to hear your thoughts about my projects and discuss yours, too!

The Black Kitty
(^^)~