“Owl Be There For You” Fuchsia (Blythe), Twilight Sparkle, And Sammy The Brown Owl Enjoying The Wonders

In 2000 and 2001, Mattel paid homage to the designers working on the dolls themselves with a two-doll series (perhaps originally intended to be ongoing longer) called the Grand Entrance series.

The first of these is in a blue and white ballgown, with a collection of white roses adorning her hip.

The second was elaborately dolled up in shades of pink. Both were packaged with a "guide to collecting", in a bid to encourage would-be collectors to become full-time collectors.

Each of the doll credits the designer on the front of the box, and provides a brief blurb about the designer on the back, including a brief list of other Barbies that they worked on designing.

One of the reasons I suspect this series might have been intended to be ongoing and then wasn't is because of the designer they picked to showcase for the debut of this collection, Carter Bryant. Carter Bryant is not exactly a household name, but it may be recognisable to people "in the know" in the doll world.

On May 21, 2001, only a handful of months after Carter Bryant was showcased as the second designer after BillyBoy* (and the first designer who was a regular employee of Mattel rather than a collaborator) to be credited by name on a doll, MGA Entertainment released a doll that was to become one of Barbie's big competitors.

And why is it relevant when Bratz hit the market?

Yes, the same Carter Bryant.

This became the crux of the lawsuit Mattel v MGA Entertainment, as written about by Orly Lobel in her book You Don't Own Me: How Mattel V. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie's Dark Side, which I read not long ago and highly recommend.

I don't know for sure whether this was relevant to Mattel not continuing the collectors series showcasing their designers, but let's just say I wouldn't rule it out either.

another hybrid doll, this time a magic mixies pixlings unia + g1 monster high operetta.

in moose's official photos for unia, she looked much closer in color to draculaura, but she's actually a perfect match for operetta's skintone (last pic). and with all her fancy face designs, operetta's carved neck and shoulder details don't look out of place. i did buff out her black and red arm tattoo though.

the pixling neckholes are much smaller than the monster high ones. i ended up having to use my dremel and a drillbit with a circumference of abt 3cm (the size of the largest part of the mh neck bulb) to drill it open wider. it isn't a perfect solution, because if you pull or push on her head too hard it'll pop out of place, but for display and photos it works well and she's got a full range of motion.

Day at the Beach

“The ocean is my happy place.” ♫Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin (Dal doll by Groove, Pullip type doll)

Mattel have done a number of superhero Barbie dolls over the years, but one of the ones that is most interesting to me is the 2006 Superman Returns Lois Lane.

She came with a poster for the film and naturally there was a matching Ken Superman doll released as part of the same set. He also came with a poster, though it was a different poster.

None of that however is what I personally find interesting about the Lois Lane Barbie.

Much like actress Kate Bosworth, the Lois Lane Barbie has heterochromia - specifically, her right eye contains both blue and brown pigment, while her left eye is only blue.

This makes this Barbie relatively unique from a design perspective!

You can learn a lot of things from the flowers for especially in the month of June

kjp on ig 🍂

One Sixth Scale Apartment Bedroom DIORAMA DIY Part 1

Everyone is dressed for fall and reorganized! They’re now taking up two sections because I keep getting more