Dalicious Challenge 3

Dear Readers,

The third challenge of the Dalicious Photo Contest was: VINTAGE! One single idea came to my mind and I did not have any other so I went ahead with that initial plan. Can you tell what is going on in this picture?

Gerda (Dal Dotori) is having a yard sale and she is horrified to see Scout (Dal Tweety) fighting with Dal Cinnamoroll (She does not have a name yet!) for a much sought-after Kenner Blythe doll.

The inspiration for my photo came from two sources: one is from reading stories about doll collectors hoping to find a very rare Kenner Blythe doll for cheap at yard sales.  They Kenner dolls were the very first Blythe dolls but they were discontinued very early on.  It's extremely difficult to find them nowadays, especially when they are in their box.

The other source of inspiration was from my own experience at a Tuesday Morning store.  I spotted a DAL doll and took her in my hands to see.  Suddenly another customer ran toward me and took all the remaining dolls on the shelf!  Then she looked at me and my doll.  I thought that she was going to snatch it from my hands LOL  She asked me if she could look at it and I showed her. She complimented me on my find and left.  I then realized that I took the ONLY DAL doll from the shelf... all the other dolls in her shopping cart were J-dolls for which I did not really care to buy.  Well I like J-dolls but I am very particular about which one so I only like a few models.

So that was not a fight but it was such a surprising reaction from a buyer.  I never had seen somebody so eager to get the dolls!  I think she regretted that she could not get the DAL!

The most difficult hurdle I had for this challenge was to position my dolls to stage a realistic fight!  I could not make them stand up on their own.  So I put Scout on top of Dal Cinnamoroll.   Posing them was so much trouble because I could not get them to look like they were really fighting. I had to re-position them at least 10 times.  I took at least 50 pictures this time, more than I have ever done before in the contest.

Many of my pictures came out blurry during the two first challenges but for this one, I received some help!  My husband bought me a tripod from a garage sale (we do love going to yard sales!).  It was only $5 and in excellent condition.  Thanks to the tripod, I didn't have as much blurry photos.

Here is a behind-the-scene photo :)

I was excited for this challenge!  I got to use THREE of my Dal dolls and I took some time choosing among the "vintage" toys I have.  This picture also marked the return of Gerda (Dal Dotori) who had a broken arm.  I gave her a new body (an Obitsu 21cm).  She is a lot more sturdy now but her neck is floppy so I might have to cut the neck in half to fix that problem.  Otherwise, that new body is a dream compared to the Dal stock body.

It was a very fun challenge and I love having three Dals on display!  But I am terribly unhappy about my photo.  I wanted to redo the scene but time ran out so I sent in the best pictures I had.  I hope the judge will like it enough T_T  Wish me luck :)


EDIT: All the contestant's photos are now up!  You can view them HERE.

Best Friends Club Ink Fashion Pack

Dear Readers,

Did you have a pleasant weekend?  I was mostly at home enjoying my time off from work.  I took the kids to the park and we also went to the restaurant but it was otherwise a quiet and calm weekend.

I did however stop by the Dollar Store (where every item is priced at $1) and I found Best Friends Club Ink Fashion Packs.  There were five different sets.  I bought the following three.

You can see on the back of the package the five different outfits with the BFC ink dolls.  I didn't see any dolls in the store.  They were released years ago by MGA Entertainment (the same company that produces Bratz dolls and Moxie Girlz dolls) but are now discontinued.  The fashion packs shown here are for the small size dolls, not for the 18 inches dolls which were also called BFC ink dolls.

I don't own any BFC ink dolls but I bought the clothes for my small size dolls.  I opened the pink outfit.  I chose to buy this one because it has a nice pink top with tiny white polka dots, ruffle collar, and long sleeves with flower prints.  Also in the pack was pink hot pants (or very short shorts) with a pink belt and silver clasp.  A backpack, pink and white striped knee socks and purple sneakers complete the outfit.   The top and shorts have velcro closure in the back.  I tried the garments on a few dolls.

The first to try is a Stacie doll from Mattel.  She is one of Barbie's many little sisters.  It was a little difficult to dress her up because of her right arm's bent position.  The socks kept snagging over her legs while I was dressing her up.   The shoes are way too big for her.

The top looks great on her but the shorts are too big although you can hardly notice from the front.

From the back, it's another story!

The backpack is really cute and does open and close with a velcro stripe on the top.  However, the back and side pockets do not open.

I found this Stacie doll at a garage sales.  She was disheveled and naked when I got her.  She seems quite happy to finally have some clothes! 

Next to try the outfit is Hina-chan who shares the same body as Licca dolls.  It was a breeze to dress her up!  Licca dolls have such smooth body so clothes literally glide over their limbs!  The shoes are still too big.

From the front, you can see the sleeves are too long.

The back shows how tight the top is for her.  I could not close it completely.

Next in line is another of Licca's friend, Maria-chan but with Obitsu 23 cm body.

My photos do not do any justice to this beautiful doll.  She has strawberry blonde hair (that can apparently change color if you wet or heat them up... but I have not tried yet!) EDIT: her hair actually curls but does not change color!  I found the LINK HERE that shows the different hair styles!  The Licca doll that can change hair color is THIS ONE.  Takara has released a few other Licca dolls with the same hair color change ability.

I bought her head without a Licca body. It was cheaper that way (only $5 as opposed to $35 for a full body doll) and I wanted to try an Obitsu body anyway!  The BFC ink clothes fit the Obitsu 23cm very well.

The back closes perfectly for both the top and shorts.  The socks and shoes fit her well too.

The last doll to try the outfit is a Licca doll but with an Azone Pure Neemo S Body.  As it was the case with Maria-chan, I bought her head only and purchased a different body type that I wanted to try out for my dolls.

The top fits but the shorts were too small for Pure Neemo "fatter" legs.  The shoes fit perfectly though.  I gave her a skirt from the Re-ment Summer Clothes Collection.

The back velcro closes well without any problem.

Overall, I would say that I am extremely happy with the Best Friends Club Ink Fashion Packs.  They are so well made and super affordable!  For $1 only, I got an entire outfit with shoes and bag included!  They can fit many dolls and you can mix and match with other outfits!

I wished MGA Entertainment still produced the dolls who look really cute from the pictures I saw on the flyers included in the fashion packs.  There was also an iron-on picture in each pack.  

I regret not buying the other two fashion sets so I'll probably go back to the Dollar Store tomorrow to get them now that I know they can fit so many of my dolls.