Featuring: Jinafire

你们好， 我叫 Jinafire 龙 和是中国人，可是住在美国。

Rawr.

Today I'll be reviewing 1.5 Jinafire dolls from Monster High. Sort of. Basically (as I mentioned in the Swim, Girl post a while back, it was driving me batty to have two of the same doll, so I stripped my less favorite of the two and donated her clothes to the other. The doll I've photographed is the Scaris version, as Scaremester Jinafire has been returned to her original box for safekeeping until further notice. I'm not sure if I want to sell her off (low demand for a nude doll like that), or turn her into a project (but what other less articulated doll is in need of a gold body with a tail?). If you happen to be in desperate need of a nekked dragon, I just might be your chick. (I'll totally trade for a naked Rochelle Goyle if she has the long hair with no bangs.)

Edit: found these low-quality pre-box-opening pictures on my iPad when I was cleaning out the camera roll. She is really cute as a comic. ^^

So Amazon drops off the box one night (too late for any good natural light photos, and let's face it, you're too excited to play with your first MH doll to wait to do the unboxing), so you pop her out and this is what you get. Lots of fun doodads.

But wait, there's more, because you ordered two!

The detail on the shoes are incredible. Scaremester is worth it just for the shoes. I cannot believe they carved such detailed little 獅 in the heels of a shoe. When I was in China, someone explained it to me as the male lion is the one with the ball and the female is the playful one... sorta. Actually they said the ball was there for a different reason, but imma keep this blog PG, k? In this case, the male is the one on the left shoe and duh, women are always right. Anyways, these shoes are the best thing I've seen come out of MH. I love them. 

Quality? Overall these dolls are good playline quality. I swear this particular Jina body has a larger posterior than the other doll I own, because it is difficult to get her shirt on (and the unfinished edge in the back worries me I might cause damage), and pants are more difficult to fasten. It's a bit endearing to me, though. If you'll allow for a momentary trip down memory lane, allow me to state that man, I have had times in my life where my pants won't go past my calves. (And other times where I was being brung to outpatient clinic treatment at the hospital for being underweight.) Now my weight is average and haha I appreciate that my doll has for whatever reason a little extra rump.

All packed and ready to jet set (read: faceplant as soon as the wind picks up). Gotta hand it to MH. Forget the stands, these dolls can practically walk on their own.

Ugh, school drools.

Yes, I do have like a bazillion joints.

When we returned to my room, Jina couldn't help but show off her shoes to the new girl, who also has some pretty snazzy kicks. Heh, foreshadowing. Guess who my next MH guest will be!

And it wouldn't be a blog post without Yui. She's sporting some adorable Mary Janes from Dollb on Etsy. I love Dollb. Their customer relations are sublime, and they've always been more than willing to help me. I've got another pair of shoes and some socks from them, which Yui will show off as soon as her new outfit comes in the mail!

Happy weekend everybody!

Xoxo for now,

-R

Featuring: Karito Kids Ling and BFC Yuko

So, of my fledgling collection, there are two girls who stand a head above the others, literally. I'm not really going to review these dolls, just give some of my thoughts. (When I unboxed these two I had camera problems that prevented me from getting many decent pictures.)

Meet Ling. Ling's story is cool to me. After reading the back of her box I realized we have a lot in common. Ling was made in 2007, at which point she was 11 years old. While she was 11, she moved to Asia. I was born in July 1996, so I was also 11 years old in 2007, and I moved to Asia in June while I was 11 as well. That puts her character and me in both the same grade and situation, and now we are both living in Texas.

She goes for $300 on Amazon these days, but to me she was a gift (from whom I am not sure whether or not I should mention). She is an incredibly photogenic doll, even though her posing can be stiff, as she only has five points of articulation. It has been long since I've held an American Girl in my grubby paws (and then only for a few moments at friends' houses, as I never was allowed to own one), but Karito Kids apparently are somewhat similar in quality, though these dolls have vinyl going further down... past the armpits, I guess? Haha I do not know how to write that flower-ily. Anyways, it means she could wear lower cut shirts or a swimsuit. This doll's original retail price was very close to that of an AG. What I love about Ling is the attention to details in her face. AG Ivy, the only historical (part?) Eastern Asian doll does not have a face too much different to other AG girls, and while this isn't a bash on them (I can understand that in keeping with the AG style, all of their dolls are pretty similar), Ling is a sort of one of a kind doll. Her nose and eyes remind me strongly of one of my Chinese friends in particular. Her eyes are amazing. Her lips are soft and she looks pleased. She's a hoot to photograph.

Oops, sideways photo. Anyways, her clothes are top-notch, and her shoes are adorable.

Welp, you can see how tall Ling is. Oops, I forgot to mention, but I think Ling is quite a bit taller than an AG.

Yukoooo you are heavvvyyy!

You probably are too. Now run like the wind, Bullseye!

BFC Yuko. If you buy her from somebody's grandma on eBay who just wants to get rid of the doll, you can buy her for close to her original price. If you don't... You don't want to know what the prices are. Yuko's story is silly, so I've elected to ignore it. All I took from it is that Yuko wants to be a fashion designer. Either I read her book wrong, or like half of the BFC are all the fashion designers of the group? Either way, Yuko is cute. And poseable! So many joints. c: When she came out of the box, her hair was icky. Lots of weird white stuff which I guess was hair gel. 

I guess she enjoys planking, because she faceplants whenever I attempt to stand her in the grass.

My solution to her hair is simple. I keep it in a ponytail. (Which, to my mother's dismay, is also my solution to *my* hair. Hmm...)

I have to admit that though others find many faults with this doll, she is particularly fun to play with for me. She makes a good older sister to other dolls, and like Olaf, likes to reach out for warm hugs. Speaking of warm, there is some freshly brewed decaf waiting on me.

Yui says it wouldn't be a blog post without her.

Laters.

-R

Ps. I just realized my first two initials spell Emergency Room.........

Pps. www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/53cf028/ Check it. A giveaway of mini Chinese food! What is better?