Christmas Treasures 2014 Post #8

Welcome!

A couple of posts ago I talked about a couple of Stacie dolls that I received for Christmas and how ridiculous it was that they had one arm up in the box. 

Like this.

One of my commenters said how this could be stated as a "Pick me! Pick me!" to little girls in the store, which I think is a cute idea.  

Another said that the new Barbie "Princess Power" doll has the arm up too. I honestly thought that this was a thing of the past. 

I bring you proof that nope, the one arm up is NOT gone yet!

And not having seen the new Princess Power doll, I took a cruise through the toy aisle and photographed my findings. 

Here is Barbie in her new role of the Princess Super Hero. Cute doll but man, no top? It seems like more and more dolls are coming with this "permanently dressed" business. But yes, the arm up. I guess because a sign of "power" is to have the arm up? 

Her cape magically changes to a skirt going from super hero to princess.  

More of my findings. 

Two Fashionista Dolls who have the arm up.

A Barbie Style doll with the raised arm. (Maybe to show off the purse?)

And a Barbie Style "In The Spotlight" again, arm up.

So I was incorrect. Mattel has not done away with the arm up thing. Maybe they are going for a Vanna White impersonation? To show off their fashions? Or maybe they are waving?

I guess we will never know ;)

My last gift for Christmas was another Barbie item. Remember back to my Thronecoming posts. The sale at Target was "Buy 2 get one free" and I needed the last three Thronecoming dolls. Unfortunately they were out of Apple White. So I chose this Barbie item instead!

The Sisters Tiki Hut!

I do apologize for not having more photos of this cute set. It got packed away in the shuffle of changing my "Barbie Room" to "Nursery."

One reason why I wanted this set was 1. I have a Tiki Bar on my deck. Grass roof and everything! We love having Tiki Parties in the summer. And 2. I don't nearly have enough Skippers. I love when playsets come with a doll so this was no exception!

First, here is what I love about it. ACCESSORIES! There are sunglasses, snorkel and fins, bottles of suntan lotion, drinks, a couple of chairs with a surfboard back, an MP3 player for Skipper and more! Unfortunately the back of the Tiki Bar is printed cardboard. I would rather it be plastic and stickers but I can deal.

I do love the Skipper doll. However I do wish that she came articulated. She can't sit on the chairs (without her legs sticking straight out) and it makes it hard if you want to pose her arm with her volleyball. 

I love how the volleyball says "Barbie." :) Again, probably to save on plastic pieces, one end of the volleyball net came with a stand and the other end connects to the Tiki Bar itself. Not too much of a gripe for me, I can display it that way. Also the volleyball is connected to the plastic net by string. Again, not a huge issue for me. 

Unfortunately, this set came with a couple of mishaps.

First, there was some awful sticky junk in my dolls hair. It seemed like it was glue from the box and it had to be cut out. You can't tell where I cut but it irked me a little. 

Second, take a look at this stock photo of the Sisters Tiki Hut.

www.mattel.com

Mine.

See what's missing? 

The Pineapple.

My tiki hut was missing the pineapple drink dispenser!

I contacted Mattel hoping they had a replacement part that they could send me. The lady exclaimed "Well, you can't have a Tiki Hut without a pineapple!" Unfortunately they did not have a part so they sent me a claim voucher and reimbursed me for the entire price of the product. Now that is great customer service!

I wish I had the pineapple but it does not warrant me buying an entirely new playset (what would I do with 2 tiki huts?) So this gives me something else to purchase. I have until May to use the voucher. Wonder what I could get with it! Any ideas? :)

Friends, do you have the Sisters Tiki Hut? Like it or don't like it? Let me know what you think in the comments! 

Until next time!

Christmas Treasures 2014 Post #7

I love that I get a nice long lunch break. Because this post is being written then! Baby has been taking a lot of my free time (getting the nursery situated and such) so blogging has been on the back burner. But I'm back for now! :)

I can't believe I am nearing the end of my Christmas posts! It's taken me a while to get through them. 

One more after this then I can tell you all about my awesome new additions :)

As I mentioned last time, I got 2 other dolls in the box with my Stacies. They are not more Stacie's. I actually got more "firsts" for my collection! This Christmas was a year of firsts. 

I got my first Midge...and I got my first Courtney!

This is Babysitter Courtney from 1990. And she is a cutie! (And apparently Everyone's Favorite Babysitter, haha) She is also Skippers Best Friend.

She has an adorable smile and looks like the older Skippers that I grew up with. And that baby? So so cute!

And did everyone catch what it said on the box in the first picture? In the little white box at the top? "Cute little baby and lots of fun play pieces"? YES!

I can imagine what comes in the box by looking at the back. Since I haven't taken her out yet I'll have to go by this. What fun all these accessories are!

I'm thinking that Skipper comes with some accessories and then Courtney has the rest. Maybe I can pick up the Skipper someday! And I'm guessing that there is a playset that has the bassinet, toybox and swing. These are so cute and I'm really glad that I have a Courtney to add to my collection. 

In the comments a couple of us were discussing Todd. Well, here he is!

This is the 1992 Party 'n Play Todd, twin brother of Stacie. 

Todd is adorable and I love his little outfit. Definitely dressed in an ultra-90's fashion!

Todd comes dressed for the party but he also has his "play" outfit for his soccer match! Cute!

He also comes with his own soccer ball.

The back of the box has a little story about Party 'n Play Todd and Stacie. She plays soccer too!

I'm so excited about these two additions to my collection. Do you have Party 'n Play Todd and Babysitter Courtney? Or maybe you have Party 'n Play Stacie and Babysitter Skipper! Let me know in the comments!

The VERY LAST post of Christmas goodies will be coming soon. Stay tuned!

Christmas Treasures 2014 Post #6

Hello!

We are almost done with the Christmas goodies posts! The next two will each feature 2 dolls (and then I have an additional gift to show you) and then we can get on with my new additions (you are going to LOVE them by the way!)

I got a box with 4 dolls in it. I was excited when I saw just who they were!

It's Stacie!

 
Anyone know which year she is from?

I love Barbie's sisters. I don't have too many of them but can't resist them when I see them (especially when they are distressed and sitting in a toy bin at the thrift store!)

She is so cute with this outfit. The hat really does it for me. I think it's super adorable!

But just a pet peeve of mine...I hate when they pose dolls with their arm up. I don't know why but it does. Anyone with me here?

She wears the most adorable shoes! Simple ballet flats with tulle bows and purple roll socks with pink piping. (And a bag to match the outfit!)

She comes with an extra outfit in the same print top and solid pink leggings with lace.

I did not know this but the box tells me that Stacie can share her clothes with Barbie! Is that why I cannot find many Stacie clothes out there? Because they just share them? 

I did try to dress this Stacie in Barbie clothes but it did not work out so well.

So I made her an adorable bathrobe and gave her this My Little Pony bathtub to be displayed with.

You might recall when I purchased a *VERY* distressed Happy Meal Stacie from 1993 at the thrift store a while ago. Well, I got a pristine one for Christmas!

And there they go with their arm up again!

Beautiful hair, beautiful smile, adorable outfit!

I love the leggings. She also has a McDonalds logo on her sweatshirt and blue socks. Her shoes were too far down in the box and I couldn't get a good photo.

She comes with her own Happy Meal. And this is not cheap cardboard accessories. These are actual, tiny accessories. LOVE those!

There is even a small cardboard box with surprise jewelry for you! I want to get inside and see what it is!

The back of the box features a maze to get to the McDonalds!

For now, these Stacie's will stay boxed. I think I might keep them there too. I might take the first one out. It would be cute to display Barbie and Stacie together in their matching outfits!

So friends, do you have either of these beautiful Stacie dolls in your collection? Let me know in the comments!

Until the next time!

Christmas Treasures 2014 Post #5

Welcome back!

I am pleased to say that our nursery is finished and painted a nice soft yellow color. (It was a mocha color, not much fun for a baby's room.) But unfortunately the Barbies have been carefully packed and stored. :(

My EAH dolls are still up though! A TV cabinet has to stay in the room (as there is no where to put it) and there is a set of shelves next to the TV opening. All the EAH dolls fit perfectly in there! 

And of course, Enchanted Evening Barbie had to stay up too :)

I'm guessing that a piece of rubber duckie fabric will have to cover this once the baby starts sleeping in there. If my son wants to play with dolls, that's his choice but I'm not going to encourage it. So for now, that's where they are!

And my newest doll for this blog post is in there. In the very back, left hand side of the bottom shelf. Blue dress? Blonde hair? 

It's none other than Thronecoming Blondie Lockes!

If you remember from my original post on her, she is not one of my favorite dolls. In fact, she is probably my least favorite. Her original dress is so so and her character doesn't really inspire me (she's always trying to get people to believe she's a royal.) However, they really jazzed her up for Thronecoming and did a great job!

She has the same makeup with the jewels on the face and straight bangs (the bangs on her first wave doll are a little curled.) 

Her dress naturally plays homage to the three bears and resembles the bodice of her original outfit. Her shoulders are lined in brown fur.

She has electric blue chandelier earrings.

And her corsage is simple white flowers.

Her skirt has bears on it which I think are super cute. The blue overskirt is fastened in the center with a black bow and has a gold bear and blue bow pattern on it. Her underskirt is a sheer layer with a gold dot and bow design over a yellow nylon base layer.

Her purse is a tribute to the three bears, only designed with bows. Three bows of different sizes accent the front of her purse. In this photo, you can also really see the design of the bears and bows on her skirt. 

Naturally the mask would be designed after a bear. 

The shoes honestly are nothing spectacular. Just a simple heel with a yellow bow.

Now her hair definitely needs to be fixed. The buns on either side of her head are great however being in the box leaves the end straight with no design at all.

It *should* look like this:

www.amazon.com

They should be curled so once I have something large enough to make that curl, we'll have a little hair re-design :)

 As I said, the buns are totally cute though. 

So everyone, do you have Thronecoming Blondie Lockes in your collection? Have any plans to bring her home with you? Do you like her? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time! :)