.•:*¨¨*:•. Club Chic Pippa .and Crystal Anthropomorphic Dolls •:*¨¨*:•.

Amazon.co.uk

Back in 2014, MGA Entertainment released a series of anthropomorphic dolls, called Club Chic. The gimmick was they all attended a school called Bear Valley Hills, and each one dressed in her own style which was designed to appeal to the fashion trends of the time, there was a "Chic" one, A "Geek" one, a "Goth" one, a "Pop" one and a "Hip Hop" one...

 Sounds horribly similar to those gawd awful Spice Girls, doesn't it?

Unlike the Spice Girls, these dolls were actually pleasant to look at and had thier own individual "talents"!

Pippa, who you can see on the far right was the Blogger of the group, with beautiful long magenta hair and oversized "geekish" glasses... she came with a cute little owl faced bag, which is too big for her and so doubles up as a mini bag or purse for her human owner.

Next to her is Candy, dressed in a "Pop" inspired outfit with streaked pink and yellow hair, she is an International Supermodel apparently.

Then comes, Lil' B the Hip Hop dancer, wearing street clothes, headphones and comes with a little bag in the shape of a retro Boombox.

Violet is a Gothy artist who has a blue streak in her otherwise black hair and comes with a cute little spider's web bag.

And finally, Crystal the Film Starlet, who comes dressed in a silver gown ready for her red carpet debut.

In terms of posability there isn't really much as they only turn at the head, shoulders and hips, plus they have their left arms moulded into a "hand on hip" type pose while their right hands are formed into what I like to refer to as a grabby hand.

I did however, really like thier faces and thought I might be able to turn one or more of them into a cute little anthropomorphic custom, so when I saw one come up on Ebay a few years after their release, I snapped her up, and so purchased my first  Club Chic Pippa!

Once I received her, I changed my mind about customising her, she is just too cute and has little pads on her hands and the bottom of her feet, she also has a cute little pot bellied shape to her body and her face transfers and little freckles are adorable too, so of course, I couldn't bring myself to do it to her!

Her head is made of really hard plastic and as it turned out not easy to remove... I unfortunately marked her head hole trying so I decided the best thing to do would be to buy another so I can keep one as is and customise the other, so that's what I did.

Only, things changed again, because the more I kept looking at Crystal, I kept wondering if it would be possible to alter her face somewhat to make her look more like one of my dream dolls - Peteena Fashion Poodle by Hasbro.

Peteena  - worthpoint.com

 I decided to keep an eye out for another Pippa as well as a Crystal, I wanted to get them second hand as I don't need the accessories or clothing, just the heads, for that reason, condition wasn't so much of an issue either.

So I was really happy to find both for sale in one lot at a really good price, so I snapped them up.

Here's a photo' of Crystal, from her Ebay listing prior to me getting my hands on her, decapitating her and striping her face...

One thing I noticed was that her right arm was bent, not her left so I reasoned I could possibly swap her left one with Pippa's bent left arm, which means I'll be able to keep her body but not have to deal with the pre-posed arms that these dolls come with, and as both have the same size bodies, I'll have two outfits for my new doll while I get around to making her something more fitting to her new look.

Of course having a much bigger head than Peteena, she is not going to be a perfect replica, but you know me, I love big headed dolls...

Now I've just got to find some time to make my vision a reality, wish me luck!

Eric Idle as The Dead Collector By Sideshow Toys

As I mentioned in my "Ye Olde Deluxe Cow Catapult" post, one of my favourite films is Monty Python and The Holy Grail, has been ever since I was little, in fact I love and own all the Monty Python films as well as the series.

So when I was nosing around Monty Python Online a few months back and discovered they were selling 12 inch Sideshow figures of "Holy Grail" characters for 5 quid each I had no choice but to buy one.

Eric Idle as The Dead Collector was the only one they had left, not that I minded, I think he's a great character, unfortunately he doesn't have much screen time but the time he does have is priceless!

This figure was released in 2002, in a Limited Edition of  7,500 pieces World Wide, so are no longer in production.

The Dead Collector figure comes in an awesome box, the front is designed to look like the poster of the film with added dirt because, if you've seen the film you'll know the Ancient Britain was a very muddy and filth covered place!

In the top right corner there is a small white rectangle with age appropriate information on, it reads: 

And the Ages shall be 12 and up! No more, no less.

Monty Python Online 

The front of the box opens like a book to reveal the figure inside, it's held in place with a small Velcro dot so is quite securely closed when pressed shut.

Inside the front cover is an image of The Dead Collector as well as more dirt and mud splats!

There is a short paragraph about the film and more humorous messages, it reads:

Released in April 1975, and filmed on a budget of less than 230,000 Pounds, Monty Python and The Holy Grail explores the legend of King Arthur, his Knights of The Round Table and their search for The Holy Grail. The talents of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin combined to make Monty Python and The Holy Grail one of the funniest movies ever made with many of it's characters becoming legend. 

Bring out your dead!

Better yet bring out your Dead Collector played by Eric Idle!

Bring him out to walk a wretched, impoverished, plague - riddled village past mud scavenging mongrels and emaciated, contorted peasants all the while beating his chime, alerting the locals to dispose of their bothersome dead.

Enjoy this character as he trudges through historic and legendary muck. Delight to his ragged and dirty countenance and take pleasure in his loathsome and reviled career. And cherish the moments when he might swiftly bring up a club and whack an old man upon the head who just won't stay dead!

In the bottom left is a white rectangle which has this written on it:

This space has been left blank intentionally.

Under no circumstances should anything (not even mud) be placed here, lest you be bonked on the head with a wooden spoon, the end result being a nasty, large, lumpy, disfigured and downright odd-looking welt, the likes of which has never been seen in the world or any other.

Action Figure stands at around 12 inches tall, is fully posable and is dressed in a replica of Eric Idle's costume, his hat and boots are plastic but the rest of his outfit is fabric.

 He comes with a wooden club and an iron triangle in keeping with his onscreen accessories, both these items are made of plastic.

The triangle has a metal chain so the Dead Collector can hold onto it while he beats it with his club and yells out "Bring out yer dead".

The head is sculpted to feature the likeness of Eric Idle, the back of the box states; The Dead Collector portrait sculpted by Olaf W, Hartvigson and the Figure and accessories designed by The Sideshow Toy Team. 

It goes on to give  further credits... 

Musical triangle training provided by Yutte Hermsgervordenbrotborda. 

Cart-driving classes provided by Horst Prost III.

'Chatting With Corpses' written by Bjorn Irkestron-Slater Walker.

below this is written...

We apologise for the fault in the box credits. Those responsible have been sacked.

Which is of course a reference to the credits of the film, which strangely mostly involves llamas!

I love the attention to detail on the box's packaging and the figure itself. The back of the box shows The Dead Collector figure in front of the part of the script for the Dead Collector / Introduction of King Arthur scene.

 Below the film stills from the scene is a disclaimer, which is also very silly, it reads:

Disclaimer: This is The Dead Collector!!

If you purchased one of the other characters from Monty Python and The Holy Grail, then you received the wrong item! THIS IS THE DEAD COLLECTOR! Please look scrupulously at this package and read all the text vigilantly. If it in no way indicates that there is a remote possibility that it might contain the DEAD COLLECTOR then you have truly requisitioned the right item. If this is not the case, and you have procured the DEAD COLLECTOR in error, to which you have spent your hard earned wages on, then please accept this item along with our apology. If you have not received the DEAD COLLECTOR and this is indeed the character you wanted, then please purchase...

THE DEAD COLLECTOR!!

At the bottom left the Sideshow Toys website address details are shown in a Pythonesque manner...

And thy quest shall lead you to the ever popular www.sideshowtoys.com!

 Even the bottom of the box has much silliness on it! 

CAUTION: Thou shall exercise extreme caution whilst removing the contents herein. If you doubt your courage or your strength, cease entry to this package, for severe flesh-wounds await you all with nasty, tiny, sharp,pointy edges! 

On the right there is a small guidance note which reads...

Figures may need hand support when posed in their own particular idiom or in the silly, knees-bent, running about advancing behaviour.

At the bottom there is an extra cautionary note which is just as silly...

ADULTS NOTE

Cut the plastic, twisty, annoying attachments with scissors and discard in the trash. And yes we really do need all of these ties so stop snivelling. 

Everything about this figure and his packaging is awesome, I can't find one thing about it that I don't love!!

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Azone Kikipop Kinoko Juice Clone Doll.

dollyinsider

I fell in love with Kiki Kinoko Juice dolls when I spotted them a few years back, however they were Azone exclusives and not available outside Japan.

The following year Azone released more of these dolls in different styles, all of them were made of resin, standing at 12 inches tall

A few months ago a saw one for sale for cheaps, not a real one but from the photographs she looked very close and as she was a fraction of the cost, I snapped her up...

I expected her to come in a box but when she arrived she was in a cellophane bag, like some of those cheap outfits you can buy for dolls, it didn't have anything written on the top of the packet, not even a Country of origin.

 So I checked her body for maker's marks, but sadly she didn't have any of those either so I have no idea who made her.

She stands at 12 inches tall and is made of hard plastic, not resin like the real dolls are, but she is jointed in the same way as a Kikipop.

She can stand by herself due to her large feet and is very posable. 

She holds the poses really well and her joints are not too tight or too loose so she is very easy to manipulate into poses.

Her torso and head are held together with screws so I decided to see how easy it was to open her head and change her eyes for glass ones.

I really didn't expect what I found inside her head... Her eyes had a flesh coloured piece of plastic over them which was hiding a small strip of paper in which her eye details are printed.

This sits against a half dome clear cabochon type piece of plastic which fits perfectly inside her eye sockets.

I could have removed all of it and replaced the eyes, but I would have had to use putty to hold them in place as the cover wouldn't be able to fit back inside afterwards.

I decided I'd leave them for now and maybe change them another time if I decide she'd look better with something else.

 Due to her being 1/6 scale she is able to wear many of the cute outfits available for this size doll, as long as they had loose legs and sleeves as these dolls have very big hands and feet in comparison to the rest of their bodies.

I made her a wig from some Argyle Sheep fleece which I think really suits her it makes a nice contrast to her eye colour and put together a little outfit for her which I think she looks great in!

I did tweak her factory paint a little I removed the red from inside her mouth and changed it to a more relistic shade, I also gave her lips a more flesh like tone and gave them some moisture as well as painting the eyeliner she had to extend on each side rather than the half black paint she originally had.

I'm really happy with her, I think she's a cute, quirky little lady but she's really whetted my appetite for a resin Kikipop, so I'll most likely be getting one as soon as I can to go with her!

Hugs,

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Bleeding Edge Princess Ai "Borrowed Threads" Doll by Tokyopop

fanpop.com

Princess Ai is a bit of a weird one, the idea of Courtney Love being into Manga is strange enough to wrap my head around but when I discovered not only did she like Manga she was actually instrumental in the creation of a Manga herself!

To be honest, I don't like Courtney Love, I'm not a fan of her music or acting and I don't follow her career at all, but the discovery that she made a Manga intrigued me no end.

Amazon

I found out about the Manga after I purchased the doll, up until then I knew she had something to do with the dolls (it was mentioned in several listings) but I had no idea what.

 I was originally interested in the Princess Ai dolls because at the time they were released, 2005, I was collecting Bleeding Edge dolls and the Princess Ai dolls were so unlike them it really got my noggin jogging.

For a while the dolls were pretty easy to find and at the time there were so many other things I wanted more so I didn't bother seriously looking into them, as time went by they started to disappear from the market and to be honest I forgot about them, until last year when I saw one for sale on Ebay and decided the time was right to check them out.

Listing Photo

After she arrived and I read the little Manga preview she came with I decided to purchase a copy of the Manga itself so I could get more insight into the design of this doll and Courtney Love's involvement in their creation.

I'll tell you about that in a minute but first I want to talk about the doll herself...

She stands at approximately 12 inches tall.

Her face is very unlike any of the other Bleeding Edge dolls, her head is smaller and her face is thinner and has a "Western look" that is often seen in female Manga and Anime characters.

She has blonde hair, presumably because she is Courtney Love's Manga Mary-Sue. The style is very Asian in it's design.

The doll's body is quite rigid and only articulated by a ball joint at the shoulders and hips just like the other Bleeding Edge dolls I have.

Her legs have the 2 clicks hold posability like Pedigree Sindy, so Azone type posability is not something she possesses, neither is a stand which would have been really useful.

 She does have cute little painted nails though, not that that really makes up for it, but it's a nice touch!

And of course she did come with a little Manga preview, to tempt you to buy it, which I did so I guess that worked.

Her outfit is made up of a pink and red rah-rah skirt, long sleeved top (full of holes) a black bodice over that, tied up with pink cotton.

Black fishnet stockings and a red garter that she wears on left leg above her stocking.

On her feet she is wearing a pair of pink fabric ballet shoes also tied up with pink cotton.

It's an odd mix.

 As for the character's background and the Manga, there isn't a huge amount of info' I can give you on that score, I really don't know much and can't find much out about it either,

Apparently Courtney Love spent some time in Japan and while she was there, fell in love with the people and their culture.

The upside of this was the idea and subsequent creation of Princess Ai - Ai meaning Love in Japanese.

Princess Ai is the story of an alien creature (?) definitely alien to Japan anyway, who finds herself in Japan, not knowing anything about her past or where she is.

The only clue she has to her past is a heart shaped box which is very important to her.

She begins working as a singer in a club and meets a musician who is very similar to Kurt Cobain whom she falls in love with all the while she is trying to discover her past and where she came from.

The Manga was created by Courtney Love, writer D.J. Milky and illustrated by Misaho Kujiradou.

The characters for the Manga were designed by Ai Yazama, who is also a Manga author and artist.

The first volume of the Manga came out in 2004, the second in 2005, the third and final, in 2006, but if you are interested in getting them, I suggest you buy them in one volume as I did.

Look for the Princess Ai Ultimate Edition on Amazon, it contains all three books and also a few little extras that you don't get if you buy them in single volumes.

A few versions of the doll are also available on Amazon at the moment and come up on Ebay from time to time too, one thing to remember if you want the doll is, there are also 8 inch vinyl moulded figures available so make sure you read the description carefully.

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💀 Macumba - Living Dead Dolls Series 4 💀

When I was little, I used to love visiting my "Jamaican Grandma" TC, or when she visited us, she used to teach me how to cook Jamaican food and told me stories of Vodun Rituals she attended, how they were preformed, taught me the dances and drumming, hexes, about honouring The Ancestors and told me some of the things she saw conjured...

I was fascinated by the stories of the Loa and how they could help those who asked, for a price. My favourite was always Baron Samedi. 

She said he stands at the crossroads and watches over the dead but is also a kind of gatekeeper and can connect you to the spirits of  loved ones past.

James Bond 007

The way she described him he sounded really jovial, although he could be grumpy and was often drunk. I think my image of him was further influenced when I watched Live and Let Die in which he appears quite tricksy, the parts with him in are the best bits of the film for me.

When I first saw the Macumba Living Dead Doll my mind instantly went back to those images and stories of Baron Samedi.

 It was around 2007 when I first came across the doll for sale as a Mini version from series 5 on Ebay.

 I placed my bid and was really happy to discover that I won him and couldn't wait for him to arrive.

When he hadn't arrived after almost 2 weeks I contacted the seller and discovered he had gotten himself lost in the post. 

I got my money back but I was left with a Mini Macumba shaped hole until a few years later when I saw an auction listing for a full sized one from series 4 for sale on Ebay.

I tried my luck at auction and yay, I won him for the same price I had originally paid for the Mini version!!

The reason he was listed so cheap was because he had somehow managed to loose his trousers, this was also more than likely the reason why I was the only bidder.

I really didn't see this as a problem, I knew it world be easy enough to make a pattern and I had recently scrapped a pair of thin trousers in a similar colour and placed the pieces in my fabric stash.

When he arrived he came with all his accessories - A top hat with skull motif,  bone necklace, tatty coat, shirt, death certificate and his little Voodoo doll. 

The poem on his inner box reads:

"With a doll,
He casts his spell.
No one is safe
From this zombie hell."

His death certificate reads:

"Date of death: 6/15/1881

Cause of death: Voodoo Curse

Placed under a voodoo curse,
It was an evil spell he could not reverse.
A soul trapped behind lifeless eyes,
All things alive are now despised."

I really loved this little touch, Living Dead Doll Minis I have don't come with Death Certificates instead they have a little string noose on a key chain so you can hang them by their necks and carry them around with you.

I was surprised to find out his dreadlocks are made of wool, until I purchased him I had only ever bought mini Living Dead Dolls and all those came with nylon hair, in fact I'm sure he's the only Living Dead Doll I've seen with hair made of this material.

I had to made him a new pair of trousers and tied then to his waist using a little piece of twine.

I found out that the dolls Series 4 dolls were released in 2002, and have long since been retired so they are no longer in production and getting harder to find for sale.

When I started writing this post in 2018, I checked on the availability and prices he's going for online and found 4 for sale on Amazon.uk, of course because my little guy is wearing replacement trousers he won't be worth quite as much, but it's still interesting to see how much he's going for these days.

I have no plans to part with him any time soon, he's one of my favourite dolls... I just love this little guy!

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🗝️ Coraline - Poseable Replica Dolls by Neca 🗝️

In 2008 Neca released a line of Coraline bendy dolls as a tie in with the movie of the same name. I was lucky to find one for sale the same year, so I snapped her up!

She came without her box but with her original outfit and a stand to help with posing. 

The doll is a replica of the figures they used during the making of the film, each of them are fully posable and stand 7 inches tall.

 Her body is plastic over a wire armature and has a removable face to allow you to move her eyes for more realistic posing she also has hands that turn at the wrists.

Her outfit is an exact replica of one she wore during some of the scenes of the film, it is made of fabric and is most likely removable but I haven't attempted to do so yet.

Her hands turn at the wrist, but not the fingers they are moulded in pose. She came with a stand which had a flat base and waist holder to help her remain in position once posed.

Since finding her I have been trying to get the other dolls that were released as part of the line, in various outfits and different facial expressions.

tenor.com

My other Neca posable replica Coraline is the version wearing a raincoat and wellington boots which were re-released in 2017.

As far as differences between the original line from 2008 and these "replicas of replicas" released some 9 years later there really isn't any differences that I can see. 

They both have the same weight and body construction and to be honest if I didn't know they weren't both from the same line and produced at the same time, I'd never have guessed!

While I never got to inspect the original "Raincoat Coraline" this new version looks identical to the ones I saw for sale at the time I bought my "Sweater & Jeans Coraline".

She still comes with her own stand but it is a very different kind to the ones the original dolls came with.

The stand that my "Raincoat" Coraline came with is flat and has 2 small pegs to slot into holes on the bottom of the doll's boots and so allow sturdiness while posing.

"Raincoat" Coraline has a different facial expression from "Sweater & Jeans" Coraline, but so did the "Pyjamas" and "Star Spangled Jumper" versions too.

Her face is also removable in the same way as the original doll's is and again this allows access to the eyes to allow them to be posed.

The back of her box shows the new versions of the doll I already own and the "Pyjama" versions as well as the "Raincoat" version herself.

 I hope this means they will soon be releasing the other versions for sale and also the "Star Spangled Jumper" version, which is one I would dearly love to own in either original or new line versions.

That's me done for now...
Take care,

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