New Finds This Month!

A lot of new dolls are starting to appear on store shelves. This month we will feature new dolls and new finds. I managed to find some of the new Fashion Fever dolls myself. They are slowly appearing in stores. So far the Rocker Barbie has been hardest to find. She seems to be available only at Tuesday Morning so far. Here is the Rocker Nikki doll I found at Tuesday Morning for 7.99. It's great to buy new dolls on sale!

Sugar is So Sweet

I was shocked this evening to find out that Sugar™ Barbie® Doll is part of the sale at the bc.com shop! I figured she would be $59 or $49. When I logged in I realized she is only $39.00. For once it paid off to wait to buy a doll. I had been watching a few on ebay and was almost ready to buy too! I took advantage and also bought Ferrari for $49. Another great deal. I'm so excited! Here is the picture of Sugar I took at the Barbie convention in 2006 to celebrate!

Good things come in fives?

Five Good Things About Today

1. I received an email that my Grease Cha Cha shipped from TRU.


2. I received an email from Walmart that my AA Cheerleader is ready for pick-up.


3. I heard from Pinkponytail that my Kimora Lee Simmons Doll is in.


4. I read about limited edition Vidal Sassoon Barbies on the Barbie Collector board.


5. Em has finally seen the light!

The Vidal Sassoon Barbies are part of a promotion for the Vidal Sassoon products in Japan. You buy the products for the chance to win one of 300 of these dolls. I'm not sure if they come in a set or any other details. There is no way to "buy" them. I e-mailed Kazue and she said she will try to obtain some of them but I'm sure they will be a pretty penny! The prize winners will not receive the dolls until October! In the meantime, re-rooting some of the current Steffie molds is an option . . . The dolls are based on a Japanese pop group that have currently running Vidal Sassoon commercials. The commercials were styled by Patricia Field. You can see the commercials here in You Tube Links from Patricia's Blog.

Another Doll Week, and Increased Ebay Activity

It's the start of a new week and I'm very proud that the work on the Grand Opening continues. I don't want to say much more but I hope that many new and exciting things are in the future for the Cafe.

I've made some changes to my identity over at Barbie Collector. In the five years I've been there I've only had two avatars. The first was Katiana Jimenez Barbie. I guess I picked her because her designer is Latina and I've always thought that doll was so pretty and I wished I looked like her. LOL. I had that avatar from 03 to 06. In 06 I picked the Monte Carlo avatar in honor of my love for the Model Muse dolls and the darker skin tone. I changed again today to the Opal Birthstone from 2003. The doll is pictured in one of my recent posts. It's such a shame that she was the only doll from that collection with that skin tone. She is just so precious. So, I wonder how long it will be until I change avatars again. I am changing my nick there too. I used my real name when I first signed up. Maybe that's not a good thing so I'll post my new nick soon once the change goes through. It's kind of a process, lol.

As if I have nothing better to do, I've been stalking Ebay a lot more than usual. Lol. I'm always looking for cheap mm bodies for donors. It's really hard to beat the current sale on the birthstone dolls at Barbie Collector but I found a lot of five mm bodies that are great for re-bodying. The one that really caused me to "Buy It Now" was a nude 70s Cher. I've been wanting an extra one for ages. I'll keep my original NRFB so I'm thrilled to have one to re-dress. The four other dolls are Marisa Pretty Young Thing, Marisa Beach Baby, Lily Pulitzer and Jeff Gordon. All the perfect skin tones for girls awaiting their plastic surgery. As a bonus I also got the Stacey doll that comes with Lilly. If anyone wants to buy some heads or even Stacey please leave me a comment and I will contact you.

Now here is another of my recent re-bodies. She is 2005 Sears Holiday Barbie on Aquamarine Birthstone's body. Again, just a quick head pop and she looks beautiful in the Aquamarine outfit. She'll probably stay like that for a while. It takes ages for us to redress our girls. She is currently on display in the doll room (Steph's room).

Have I Gone Too Far?

No news on the Grand Opening Today. Still doing working on the forum and the final touches. I'm hoping the Grand Opening will take place sometime by the weekend! There are always delays in a new undertaking though . . .

Today I won a doll on Ebay I've been wanting for a long time. She is Kate Spade Barbie. I'm always watching for a good price and I'm happy with what I paid. I sold some things recently so I have the Paypal funds to cover her cost! I can't wait to receive her!

I thought long and hard about rebodying Princess of the Nile. I bought her nude on Ebay so it wasn't a matter of de-boxing her and removing her beautiful outfit. When I first got her I wasn't enamored by her. I put her in a box and left her there for a long time. In my big Barbie clean-up starting last President's Day, I found her again. She looked so lonesome without clothes or any friends. She spoke to me this time. I thought I should at least clothe her. Still she sat waiting for the right outfit. I found another box with an extra dressed Monte Carlo Barbie and a little light bulb went off. I could transform this Princess of the Nile into the Queen of the Runway. So here she is with just a direct body switch from Ms. Monte Carlo. I'm still not sure though. Should I keep her this way? I keep thinking, have I gone too far?

Still Cleaning Up and One More New Girl

I've been working very hard cleaning up the galleries for the grand opening. Looking through the various galleries and deleting many pictures also brought back some memories. The Mattel playline has really changed in recent years. It seems like the playline is really trying to separate itself from the collector line with the body changes and head mold and head size constantly changing. But then again, Mattel adds Model Muse dolls to playline with the Top Model collection. It's hard to know what direction Mattel will go in next.

On that note, there is always Ebay and I could always go back and buy dolls I missed out on! Speaking of new dolls, today I ordered the AA Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader. I'm really eager to get her. She's the last one I need from the set. I haven't de-boxed the Blonde or the Hispanic doll but I'm sure as soon as I receive the last one I'll have a little de-boxing party . . .

Here is another doll I worked on last weekend. With the Barbie Collector $12.99 sale I picked up two extra AA Birthstones. One of them was Opal. I thought she would perfectly match the Birthstone Opal from the last collection. I'm quite fond of this doll because she was the only one with this skin-tone in the entire collection. In addition, very few Hispanic or African American dolls are made with the Mackie mold and this is one of them. In addition, my birthstone is Opal. I'm quite pleased with the way she turned out.