Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Moxie Modifications


These are the Moxie Teenz's I picked up last weekend.  I got the second one at Toys R Us for $1 less than Ross thanks to a comment by Georgia Girl.  Both are the Melrose version.  After opening the guitar version and fiddling around with the doll I really wanted to modify the body.  I was this close to cutting a good inch out of her thighs and lower legs before I decided against it.  My thought was to make her into a "plus sized" doll verses the thin stature of a 1/6 doll.  My reasoning was that if she were shorter, she would look fuller.


However, the more I played with her the more I really liked that she was so tall.  She does not have a pivotal waist or knees.  She has what I would call a single knee joint versus the double knee a Liv.  So, her knees bend 90 degrees compared to the 45 degrees a Liv can achieve.  Her boobies sit lower on her chest (which pivots) than a 1/6 doll.  Her neck knob is also very tight and close to the neck opening so there is limited range of head motion.


Although I saved her legs, her feet however, were another matter.  I have exactly 4 pairs of Moxie Teenz shoes and I'm not about to start hunting more up.  Therefore, surgery was required so that she can wear Liv shoes.  Her original shoes will still actually fit, but now she has more to chose from.


How she compares sitting down.  The oversized play line Barbie heads fit well on a Moxie Teenz body and seem totally in proportion to their larger size.  The neck knob was thick so I cut mine in half horizontally.  Her compatriots have had their heads shrunk.  Middle body is an I Can Be with articulated arms, but just bendable knees.  Last body is a Liv.


Comparison standing next to a Liv and my tallest male.  When I looked at the Toys R Us Moxie's, they had a single male version, Gavin.  Much like Liv's only have Jake, I guess.  Unfortunately, I didn't think he was worth the cost.  If I see him for $7 then maybe I'll get him.  One thing that put me off was that his chest was so freaking enormous that I would have to make all his clothes!  Forget that!


I'm not a Frankenstein for nothing though, so I attempted to turn my other Moxie into a male.  I gave the body a slight chest reduction and rudely spliced a Ken head to make it slender enough to fit the neck.  Unless "he's" going to be wearing an ascot at all times, the smaller neck size makes him look kinda sickly.  Longer hair would give the illusion of a thicker neck though.

I probably wont go through with this operation because to make this work, I would have to reduce the breasts all the way which would leave holes in the torso plate.  I find that rather unappealing.  Sure I can fill the holes, but then the torso wont pivot.  I would also need to reduce the size of his hips for a better fit of male clothing.  I may come back this, but who knows.


This is my favorite discovery about Moxie's.  They can wear a lot of the clothes my mom made!  Yay!  Their hips are way too big and legs too long for the pants, but most of the fitted bodices with flared skirts fit just fine.


My mom's hip hugging clothes don't fit as well, but as long as I don't turn her around to show that her booty is sticking out, it's okay, lol.

Behind the Scene: Front and Back

Not much to this single walled dio.  Not really even a dio.  I taped 3 pieces of scrapbook paper together and tapped them to a metal PC monitor stand.  The light above me is a 200 watt chandelier and next to the dio is my 150 watt desk lamp.  Carpet is a dining matt.

Stuff to Know
  • Moxie Teenz's can wear Bieber pants but only as capris.  They wont fasten in the back if she's sitting.
  • She can wear some of Ken's pants but they are tight in the cootch and don't fasten in the back.
  • She can wear some of the Liv/Barbie stretchy tops but none of the pants.
  • She can wear all of Ken/Bieber tops but add a belt if you want a more fitted look.
  • If you don't cut her feet, she can wear Ken and Bieber shoes.

40 comments:

  1. I love it! Great job! Your mom's clothing is beautiful. It looks fantastic on her. You go Miss Frankenstein lol

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    1. Morning, Chynadoll! I love that I finally can use my mom's stuff.

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  2. Wow Muff your really knowledgable about this Barbie stuff girl I wouldnt know the first thing about transforming a doll like that I Respect you for that. I love the clothing and the creative structure you gave her nice job :)

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    1. Tinisha, I've only been collecting for a year. I like to take things apart so once I got interested in dolls it was only a matter of time before I started wondering, "Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if I did this...?"

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  3. Muff im so jealous u have fallon(Beach doll) And Melrose

    Elijah

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    1. Hi, Elijah. I have a Fallon? I wonder if that was an old name because both boxes said they were Melrose. Hmmmm.

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  4. Love this post and the pictures very informative and your mother makes great clothes!

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  5. Wow,doll surgery and gender transformation - your talents know no bounds. It was really interesting to see the Moxie body and also how good it looked with the larger Barbie head. I see what you mean about the articulation. The dresses your mother made are gorgeous amd look fantastic (no-one needs to see the back).

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    1. Hiya, Carrickters. LOL, you are right, no one needs to be looking at what's happening behind her. Thanks for stopping by. ^_^

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  6. OMG I have to try this! And I wasn't even planning on getting a MT ever (that's what they call enabling haha). Ken looks great too. He could wear a turtleneck if you're tired of the ascot :D

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    1. LOL, Alrunia. Lil' ol' enabler, that's me. I'll have to make a few fake turtlenecks or he can wear thick ties or something. Moxie legs are not elastic strung, they are plastic ball jointed.

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  7. Oh, the Moxies' legs aren't elastic strung by any chance, are they? But it's probably possible to swap the legs for Barbie ones thus making them shorter. Not sure they wouldn't be too short though.

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  8. Moxie Teenz seem to be amazing, we don't have them in Italy, btw I like to see this kind of works, is always interesting. Thank you for sharing this with us

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    1. I think the Moxie's are pretty cool, Sergio. I'm glad I got them. This was definitely a fun purchase.

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  9. Muff fallon is the beach barbie in a mermaid tale 2 doll when i get her and kylie ill name them linette and kylie

    Elijah

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    1. Ah, okay, thanks Elijah. I've never seen the movie.

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  10. I love how tall she is - she's like a basket ball player! (or Brienne of Tarth if you like the A Song of Ice and Fire series!)

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    1. What doll are u in the icon

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    2. Hiya, Tabitha. I was going to make her a basketball player, but I figured that was too easy. She does like outdoor sports though. Volleyball is her favorite.

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  11. Hello from Spain: Congratulations to your mother for elegant clothes as it does to your dolls. I really like sewing fabric. Thank you for showing the body of Moxie Teenz is valid for Barbie though has to adjust the feet. I congratulate you for the informative input. I love watching all the changes you make. We remain in contact blog blog

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    1. Thanks a lot, Marta. I enjoy a little doll experimentation every now and then. ^_^

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  12. Whoo! Now I'm tempted to get a Moxie Teen!

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    1. Give in to the temptation, Verona. Give in... lol.

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  13. Awesome transformation! That head looks so much better on that body. She does look like a basketball player. We can always count on you to cut, snip, alter, etc. You an d that exacto knife are quite the pair. Love seeing your mother's clothes.

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    1. Vanessa, could you help Elijah out and answer a question he has about your dolls in the comment section of this post? Thanks. ^_^

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  14. Vanessa, thank goodness Ross had that single one poking out of a Liv bin or I never would have paid attention to such a big ol' doll. A very happy purchase indeed.

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  15. i luv your blog and for a favor can u ask vanessa morisson what doll her morales family terresa is and the transformation was good fallon on a melrose body nice plz have her be a basketball play she would be good for that

    elijah

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    1. I asked her, Elijah, but she's working on her wedding so you may have to wait awhile. And okay, I'll make it so that one of the sports Fallon likes is basketball.

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  16. Thanks muff so are u keeping her name fallon or giving it a switch

    Elijah

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    1. Elijah, I think I'll probably change her name but don't know to what yet.

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    2. Oh i really like the name linette
      Elijah

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  17. Great that you were able to get another one from TRU. You are truly amazing with that exacto knife...wow! I love how she came out. Very nice post.

    P.S. Thanks for the mention.

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    1. Thanks a lot, Georgia Girl and thanks again for the heads up! ^_^

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  18. Wow!!! I learned a lot today about changing doll bodies! Thanks!!

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  19. Wow! You are bold. I don't think I would have try to cut the feet let alone cut the legs! I was tell folks about you and what you do to dolls! I have to give them your site! I had thought about buying the fashion when they were on sale for my Happy family grandmom. See the comparison you did, I think they might be too big.

    OK, I want that rug! where can I find it?

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    1. Ms. Leo the feet are the soft fleshy ones. I wouldn't have done it on the hard plastic feet.

      Some of the Moxie fashions work on 1/6 dolls. I'll do a post to show how the few Moxie clothes I have fit my other dolls.

      I got a set of those placemats from Walmart exactly 12 years ago when I moved into my place. The cloth ones make a pretty convincing dio rug. I keep meaning to check and see what Dollar Tree has in stock.

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  20. Muff, your dolls looks nice to compare to one another, but the Moxie doesn't look that tall when standing next to them but she looks so tall only. Did you do any other modifications besides doing the feet? This will be a great alternate to buying FR dolls. Your mom clothes are lovely.

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    1. Hi, Kat and thanks. (=^.^=) Nope, the only modification I did was to her feet. However, I didn't just shorten the toes, I also flattened her arches by removing a good portion of the pads and balls of her feet. If you'll go back to the photo with the exacto knife, look at her ankles. See how much higher the other ankle is on the untouched foot?

      Also in the photo of her standing next to the Liv body, the Liv doll's feet are fully arched because she has on high heels. The Moxie is wearing flat BFC shoes. When you add in the fact that I'm not using the Moxie head, she almost lost an entire inch. She is exactly 13 inches tall if she's not wearing heels.

      I don't have an FR doll so I don't know if the range of motion is greater at the joints. I think for the cost, a Moxie is worth experimenting on. Hope this helps!

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