2015 Fashionistas at Walmart $7.97

I first saw the new Fashionista doll line at Amazon and they are carrying them for $10.99. Tonight, I saw the dolls and their fashions at Walmart, all for $7.97. You cant see the shoes if the box is facing you so I've put a fuzzy photo of their shoes underneath each doll.

This is the only one with flat feet!

This dress looks very poor quality in person

I think this is the worst tennis shoe I've seen them do

I totally got this doll because of the shoes

Got this one

and this one!

When compared to the unarticulated Style dolls that have been rolled back, this years Fashionista clothing packs and older single clothing sets:

I think $7.97 is a darn good price. It's like they are taking into consideration that these dolls have no articulation and in addition, are lowering the price of multi clothing sets. I'm okay with this. Now if this is just Walmart's introductory price and they are all going up to the $11 that Amazon is charging, then pfft, I'll be happy with the one doll and two packs that I got.

AA Power Team Guys in Stock?

I've been travelling a lot for work the last few months and in a small Florida town called Avon Park, I saw these guys in a Big Lots.

Way over a year ago, Ms. Leo posted about finding them in her area and this is the first time I've ever come across them. Either this store is super outdated or the guys are now being released in Florida maybe?

I've never bought anything at Big Lots without there being a 20% sale or having a $5 coupon and I really didn't want to pay 15 whole dollars. But I didn't want to risk them not being in my home town so I sucked it up and got the last two guys since I like their accessories the most. Good thing I did because they are not in my stores. In fact, my stores aren't even carrying ANY Power Team 1:6 dudes anymore, just the 1:12 stuff. Whew, glad I grabbed some.

Dreamhouses at HouseBeautiful

Check out the Barbie post (linked below) at the HouseBeautiful website to see larger photos of these older houses.

A Look Back At Barbie's Dreamhouse Through The Years

While I think that the 1979 A-frame is probably the most innovative structurally, if I could only choose one, I would like to have the 1974 version. The décor reminds me of how crafts looked when I was growing up. I feel nostalgic just looking at it.

Trying to Remove Product from Doll Hair

Direct Link to Video

Dialog and Images from Video:

"You probably can't tell from the video, but my fingertips are pretty dry. But after I run them though this dolls hair a few times, they now have a shine to them. I'm going to try some things to get rid of the oily residue applied by the manufacturer.

First attempt will be with regular dish detergent. I will not be trying shampoo and conditioner because mine come with various oils in them anyway. But I will be giving baking soda and vinegar a try. I don't put any water on the hair first. I just slop the detergent on it. I smoosh it in real good and then comb it through. I left the detergent in for 15 minutes before rinsing it out in cold water. My dryer has a cold setting so I'll use that to speed this up. The hair is completely dry, but still looks wet. It also still feels oily. That didn't work, so onto the next thing.

I'll be using a small bowl, the doll (of course), baking soda and vinegar. Spread the baking soda evenly throughout the hair. Next prop or position the doll so her head will rest in the bowl. I put the vinegar in a smaller cup just to make it easier to pour. Put in enough vinegar to reach her hair line but don't let it cover her face. Let the hair stay in the solution until it stops fizzing, which might take 3 to 5 minutes. Press the hair into the liquid to make sure it gets all the strands. Unless you are used to touching vinegar and baking soda, you should wear gloves to do this or you'll feel a burning sensation on your tips. Once it stops fizzing, rinse the hair out in cold water. It still looks wet once it's dry and it still has an oily feel to it, BUT not as oily as when I started.

I want to try one more thing. Boiling Water!

Stove on high. Pot of water. Comb doll's hair so it's hanging upside down. Let water come to a full boil and then turn stove off. Once it stops boiling and is just simmering, it's ready. Submerge the hair into the water up to the hair line and don't let the water go over her face or let her body touch the edge of the pot. Count to 10 and pull her out. My camera was at a bad angle, but you should have seen the amount of oil that spread into the water. Maybe 3 fresh dips into hot water would have done the trick, but I think I've done enough to this poor doll.

Compared to a "normal" haired doll, you can see that because of the still existing residue, the test doll's hair dries in clumps while the other doll has singular flowing strands. And when you comb them, the test doll's hair retains the spacing of the comb. But the other doll's hair will just flow back in on itself.

Final thoughts. Dish detergent did nothing. Baking soda and vinegar had some effect, but not much. The boiling water did have an immediate impact but I think you'd have to dip it multiple times to see a significant reduction in oil."

Trying to Remove Tinsel Hair

Direct Link to Video

Dialog directly from video:

"I found a couple of Cleos at the thrift store and they both had tinsel strands that I wanted to get rid of. This one though had really greasy hair and it was hard to pull the strands out.

Regular needle nose tweezers didn't work well on this hair but they worked fine on the other doll. Even when I could get a grip on the hair, it would split the strand and then be even harder to yank out. So frustrating!

I gave up on the needle nosed and tried these angled tweezers to see if they would work any better. Cool! They have a tight grip and pull the hair out easily and fully. I also tried pulling out the hair with just my fingers to see if that would be quicker. It didn't really work and left fuzz right at the root of the scalp. Oh, well, back to the tweezers.

It was very slow going, but it did get the job done thoroughly. Glitter free after 20 minutes. Time to condition! [Using Pantene Co-Wash] I probably should have done this before I started and maybe her hair wouldn't have been quite so greasy. Too late now, but I'll know for next time. I let the conditioner stay in for at least 15 minutes, but more if the hair is particularly jankie.

All done and they look FABULOUS!

And on an unrelated topic, look how different their hands are. I'm guessing the more closed one is a first line release. Sweet."

Barbie Townhouse: Lights, Sounds & Screwups



Click here if video doesn't play

It was really bugging me that the TV in my Townhouse wouldn't go back down properly so I tried to "fix it." ^_^

No narration in this video because my throat is sore and I didn't type out the captions in the blog post because too many things only reference what can be seen in the video.

New and Notables at Walmart

I haven't been to Walmart in about 30 days so while this was my first time viewing all of these items in person, I know others have already found and blogged them so I'm basically showing stuff I thought was cool or notable.

Rainy Day, Cowgirl and Camping $8.97

I like these themed sets a lot. For the cost, I'm impressed with their efforts and details. Though, of course, not as well made quality wise, as say a Moxie themed set, they still offer you playability and decent fashions. The Rainy Day one is my favorite and it gives me such a Parisian vibe.

Fairy Tale Collection $22.88

I am not a "Princess" person, so these do nothing for me, but I think a kid under 4 might like them. However, a kid older than that is probably more brand name aware and might turn their nose up at a Disney-ish clone.

Princess with Horse $16.97

There were 4 different versions of the doll, but the horse is the same in each pack. $16.97 seems a tad hefty to me, but you are getting a horse, a doll and a pretty cute dress. If you ever wanted to build yourself a carousel, then a bunch of these horses is the way to go.

A Pack of Trouble - Wolf Family $45.97

$46?! Oh my goodness. I know that only equates to $11.50 per doll, but dang. I dunno, I'm just not feeling it and Clawd having one hand posed in a rad sign looks a little awkward to me.

Day/Night Dreamhouse Fashions $11.97

Hmm. I like some pieces as separates but overall, my fashion tastes lean more toward the simplistic wear that Sparkle Girlz produce. I would like the cat shirt if it didn't have "Barbie" on it. I like the black and white stripped pants and I like the metallic silver and purple dress. That "Fab!" pack looks like something the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Nicki Minaj would wear on a date in 1990.

Style Fashion with Doll $8.88

I'm not gonna lie, I do like the dress with the hot pink top and black bottom. However, I still dislike the direction Mattel took the Fashionista's and then they turned them into these non articulated mannequins. Barf.

Ken Gift Set - Walmart Exclusive $19.97

Wow, I could not believe this was only $20. At best you can find individual Ken clothing packs for $5.97. So if you buy this, you'll be getting a doll and an extra jacket for only $2 more. That's a darn good bargain, especially if you compare it to the girl's pack also available.

Barbie Gift Set - Walmart Exclusive $29.97

Granted the Barbie set comes with stickers, but whoop-dee-do. I guess she's more expensive because she's "Barbie" and has actual hair.

Barbie Glam Camper $89.97 versus Kid Connection Camper $19.97

$90 mother freaking bucks. I mean, it's got a lot of stuff in it, so don't get me wrong, but you can buy the Monster High High School for $70! If you've got the funds, more power to ya, but if you're a broke bee like me, the Kid Connection Camper might be more your speed.

True, it's a little sedate and rather plain, but it will get you where you are going and probably with reasonable gas mileage.

It does not have a pool though, lol!

But if you insist on being fancy, the Glam Camper is the way to go.

I was feeling good about finding all this cool stuff and then I get to checkout and had this conversation:

A-hole Clerk mutters: "I didn't know people still bought Barbie stuff."
Surprised Muff says:  "Excuse me?"
A-hole Clerk repeats: "I didn't know people still bought Barbie stuff."
Ticked off Muff says: "Well, they still make it so why wouldn't people buy it?!"
A-hole Clerk just shrugs.

I wanted to snatch that trick's twists off her head. Why cant clerks keep their negativity to themselves? Ugh!