Alyrenee's Copious Spare Time

  I adore Naomi Osaka. I think this doll is a pretty good likeness. I am surprised that they did not use the more muscular body sculpt like the one used on the Billie Jean King doll. This is a super cute little tennis dress and I am dying over the yonex racquet.  More info on ordering here. From the press release: Naomi Osaka Barbie® Celebrates This Amazing Role Model! news By Allen Voivod  In 2019, she was a Barbie® Shero, honored with a doll in her likeness. Now, in 2021, we're thrilled to honor tennis player Naomi Osaka with a Barbie® Role Models Doll that's available for collectors and tennis fans around the world! Osaka represents Japan as a professional tennis player. She became the first Japanese player in history to win a Grand Slam (one of the four major annual tennis tournaments) at the U.S. Open in 2018. The following year, she won another Grand Slam tournament (the Australian Open) and reached #1 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She already wo...

 Oh she pretty.  I am going to keep an eye out for her on sale.  I still need to get the Diana and Steve Wonder Woman 1984 set too.  She is a Barbie.com exclusive.  There is also a version in the black uniform as well.

My resistance is high as of late. (Well mostly high). I even managed to purge down the collection recently by four or five gals so that we could buy a car. I also resisted this gal.  She is a beauty and the hair and skintone are amazeballs.  The dress does nothing for me though and I already have a bronzed gal coming with the Bossa Nova Poppy.  And whoa...we still haven't seen THIS YEAR's Poppy lineup.  I adored the spy gals in the first go around, so I can only imagine how tempting the new collection will be. IF WE EVER SEE IT!!!!  And of course it will all ship like two days before or after the October convention.  Le sigh. Anyway...the convention package recently dropped.  There was NO CHANCE I was dropping money to pre-order the convention collection.  I learned that lesson the hard way when I had to practically beg someone to buy that Simonetta gal at a huge loss from a couple years back. Nope. I just wait to pick up the gals that I lik...

Another year down. Here are my personal favorite doll acquisitions of 2018. I’m only counting dolls in hand and not the ones on pre-order... In no particular order: Wonder Woman by Robert Tonner Featuring a pretty good likeness of Gal Godot and exciting new articulation, the new Wonder Woman Doll based on the film was a impulsive addition to my collection that I don’t regret. After being unimpressed by promo photos (Tonner’s promo photos have been absolute rubbish for quite some time), I was driven to buy her after seeing his unboxing video of the doll. In hand, she is gorgeous and the outfit is very detailed. I also am a fan of the new stand. I have not added any of the fashions or the training version. The price points are daunting but I am keeping an eye out for good sales. ***gahhh...Tonner just announced that Tonner Doll is no more. So no chance of the other Justice League dolls that were in the works...and no 1985 Wonder Woman. Booo. I hope to score one more doll just t...

Rarely am I temped by Barbie Collector dolls mostly because they are hella spendy for what usually is sad articulation, sometimes glued on clothes, and total lack of accessories.  BUT...these X-Files dolls look amazeballs. The sculpts and face screenings seem perfect. The clothes look really nice and look at those little badges people. They better come with phones too. If not I will steal some from one of those accessory packs...and maybe the guns from the Poppy Parker spy movie line. There is a great and shockingly informative blog post about the dolls including behind the scenes photos from the design room over on the Mattel blog.

So I might have broken my no-new-clothes resolution due to cuteness overload at Unique-vintage.com. They have a great collection of Barbie inspired clothing featuring retro barbie fashions. I found a code to get a nice discount U-2M95CD. Needless to say, many many things jumped in my cart.  https://www.unique-vintage.com/collections/the-barbie-collection I picked up this skirt below...so so cute.

These fashion packs are just the cutest. I think my current favorite is the Twin Stars shirt that comes in the single pack (pictured on Lilac Mood Changers Poppy). The skirt in My Melody complete outfit (pictured on Gigi) is HUGE...I have it pinned in the back on Gigi and it is about an inch too big. I am planning to take it in permanently. *PICK A SIZE MATTEL* I am finally see these in Target now and Walmart has some of them on their website now for order (though mostly out of stock). The Care Bears packs are popping up in stores but I don't think I will hunt for them. I might try for a couple of the nintendo offerings when they hit the stores. I am definitely psyched for the DC Comics packs that are hopefully coming out this year. The individual shirts look so cute. I hope there are complete look outfits too.

Another year down yall. As I look back over my collecting habits for the year, I see some consistencies and a few surprising new directions. So here is my hit list for 2017 in no particular order. And note...I am skipping dolls that are still on pre-order and not arriving until next year. The Hits Gigi Hadid Barbie After teasing us with her on the Barbie Style Instagram , Mattel delivered a very nice doll. The sculpt is gorgeous and she comes with a cute Tommy mini fashion on an articulated (but not made to move) body. I heard the sweatshirt stains but I have not checked mine yet. I just adore the little shorts. Barbie Fashionistas...Diversity continues Holy Man Bun! Mattel continued to deliver new sculpts and even added additional body shapes for Ken (Broad, Slim, and Original). We also saw an articulated curvy doll and images for an Curvy Made to Move coming in 2018. Once again, I found myself purchasing a playline doll. Blue Beauty 69 is ADORABLE. Then I had to hunt down...

Well. 2016 was not my favorite year. A lot of that was politics related. I finished my first year of my new job (which is great) but we are still not wild about Charlotte or the state of North Carolina. As is often the case when one is not completely happy, one compensates in other ways. To say that I indulged in plastic divas this year would be an understatement...I like to think it was no worse than previous years, but I know that is not the case.  However, I did purge at least a quarter of my collection before we moved here in the fall of 2015.  I then sold a good chunk of my Tonner collection too. I have a spreadsheet listing all my doll holdings and the number is relatively steady with outgoing dolls matching incoming for the most part. Of course, based on my financial realities, I should have sold everything and cut up my credit cards.  Best of intentions right? Maybe I will be better (stronger) in 2017? It could happen. Stop judging me. Here's What Was Good... ...

I got a new job! The family will be moving to Charlotte, NC in August.  I will be the assistant professor of costume design at UNCC.  It is all very exciting.  I have barely had time to tell people. I started packing up all the dolls and it feels like I just recently got them unpacked from the last move. Groan.  I still don't know what my housing situation will be but I am assuming that I cannot bring all these guys and gals with me.  Hence the purging. From a non-smoking home.  Prices do not include shipping.  Paypal or postal money order. BARBIE: Fashionably Floral Silkstone NRFB $60 INTEGRITY 2014 Gloss Convention: "illustrious" Friday Night Bazaar Red Fashion NRFB $50 La Villa Lumiere Simonetta NRFB $125 Starlight Poppy $160 Nightshade Kyori Sato NRFB $130 Color Infusion 2014 Convention: ( All NRFB) Monroe Jillian $100 Bad Girls $50 Foxy Lady $50 The Hustle $50 What's Going On $50 Sugar Pie Guy $50 Regular Line Dolls: Omb...

I signed up for the first time. Not sure what to expect.  I don't really collect Barbie...but I do really love the furniture and some of the fashions they have had recently that would work with my FR dolls.  The membership is only $24.95 and you get some nice discounts...so what the heck.  Plus, you get an adorable little barbie sunglasses case as a membership gift. http://www.barbiecollector.com/shop/doll/2015-barbie-fan-club

Very interesting to see the proportions side by side in reality. http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/artist-creates-real-body-barbie

Sign it!  https://www.change.org/petitions/mattel-offer-party-supplies-featuring-barbies-of-color#share

Wonderful album by Carolynn R. Whitford .  I am particularly impressed with the Doris Day & Rock Hudson dolls and the adorable Robert Best Francie !  I love that mold...and that dog is darn cute.  V. tempting.

All items are on my show and sell page with photos! Hats are $25 shipped...or three hats for $55 shipped!  A sample of a few of the items.... Hide & Go Creep Viktor $80 Fashions for Cami, Jon & Antoinette. $20-35 Tiny Betsy Fashion Designer $50 nude pure antoinette $55 Vitamin C Doll $10 Agent 99 $90 nude mrs coulter barbie fashions and much much more... I will combine shipping, cut deals if possible, and I will ship international.  Just ask me for a quote.      I will also consider the following trades:  Wrapped in Decadence fashion, 13" Wonder Woman, Hitting Midnight Outfit, FAO Wonder Woman trunk and fashions, Diana of Themyscira fashion, and Ellowyne Ennui Thrift Shop Boutique pieces. Powergirl complete., Bambola fashions.

Awesomeness in the form of makeup from Stila. I adore Stila and this Barbie Loves Stila tie-in line is fabulous. You can find it at Ulta and Sephora as well as department stores that carry Stila. I got the All Doll'd Up eyeshadow palette . Enjoy!

behold...more twilight goodness . Thanks for the heads up Stacey!