Confessions of a Stacie Hoarder

When I was in grade school, one of my friends owned all three of the Gymnast Stacie and Friends dolls (Stacie, Whitney, and Janet). I had serious Barbie Envy with a different friend of mine (a subject for a different blog) but with this girl, it was like...these were the coolest dolls ever and they weren't really Barbies. They could dance! They could climb on things! They could pose! They had human-like proportions!

I don't actually remember getting my very first Gymnast Stacie, but I'm sure that it was after lots and lots of begging. This is Christina (the name I believed at the time to be the most beautiful name in the universe).

She's got a broken elbow (glued and electrical taped back together) after my little sister was slightly too rough with her once, but besides that, she's in remarkably good shape. I even still have her little well-worn gymnast suit and equipment, though the wrist cuffs to hold her to the bars are long gone.

Somewhere down the line, I found Skateboarding Stacie at a toy store. I was so excited until I got her out of the package. She was more limited in pose-ability by her "skateboard moves" and molded-on tennis shoe feet. I decided that I didn't care, though, and named her Lindsey.

 I got Stacie #3 (Alexis) at a garage sale. What's left of her hair is full of eyeshadow. (I attempted to give her a home hair dye job *cough*). She may fall victim to an attempt to re-root at some point.

Stacie #4 (Lizzie) was given to me by a friend who no longer wanted her, "for your collection".

 Indeed.

It is no secret. I love Stacies. I can't help it. They're so dang cute! It was only a matter of time before Stacie #5 showed up.

 She's going to have a great home here with her fellow clones! Maybe someday, I will get Whitney and Janet as well...

Made To Moves Are Here!

They arrived in a HUGE box (with Divergent Four)

This lady had a really bad box hair day

Unboxed and ready to go!

 I put my other two back into their original clothing and did a small M2M photoshoot just for fun. This will likely be the last time they're all together like this in their "factory settings" as I plan to do some work to some of them.

I collected them all!

If 8 year old me could have known about these dolls...

I may be broke, but I feel rich in dolls!

The Ladies

Along with the GI Joes, I inherited a pile of lady dolls. Most of them were Barbie, but there were a few not name brand tossed in among them (and even a lady GI Joe!). The first order of business was getting them undressed and bathed, and getting their hair done.

There were some dramatic transformations in the hair.

Some not as dramatic.

I bought this lady to do some light restoration as a gift for someone.

After they had all dried off, I started the monumental task of getting them all dressed in street clothes. This effort was only made more difficult by my limited collection of garments. Some outfits turned out much better than others did. In the end, I did manage to get them all clothed! (my two guys hopped in this group photo for the fun of it)

 So many new faces! I love them all!

She was dressed as a helicopter pilot

Brown eyes!

She's not Barbie brand, but she looks adorable in that jumpsuit

She was dressed as Baywatch Barbie

I really don't know her story. Her stethoscope is surgically attached to her like the Dr. Barbie doll. It looks like Nakoma's face (from the Disney Pocahontas doll) but she's somehow a doctor? Head swap?

Looks like Dr. Barbie's face, but she's jointed, and has much lighter skin! MYSTERY AT LIGHTWAVES DOLLS.

Undressing The Men (and a lady)

Oh no! Doll nudity! Today, I went through the GI Joes and other assorted dolls to sort of take inventory and figure out who/what all I had. I spent most of the afternoon undressing soldiers, doctors, surgeons, and firemen! As many as there were, I was pleased to find that they were all unique and in mostly good shape.

Also, they were not quite as creepy as I had initially thought. Although...

Glowing eyes?

I'm not sure why that guy's eyes look like that, but the second I took off his goggles, I had inspiration. Lightwaves LA may take a decidedly darker, more twisted route than I had anticipated!

There are 17 GI Joes in all (and two very cheap hollow dudes).


.

This guy is missing an arm and both his feet. He's the worst off, though.

Each one of them has a different face and a different story to tell, I think.

I've started calling this one "Jarod"

It's embarrassing to admit how confused I was by this guy until I realized he's a lifeguard.

I have plans for this one. Oh yes. Look at those wonky eyes!

This one looks bored. Ho, hum.

There were also several lady dolls (only one was GI Joe though, the rest were Barbie or off-brand). They all want to get their hair done before they are presentable! However, this one I thought was very interesting...

I did a little research on her and found out that she is an American Girl Barbie. I don't know enough about them to be able to tell if she is original or repro, however (there were some made in 2010 apparently?) To me, she does not strike me as a repro, she has the "feel" of having been around much more than 6 years. Also, I'm pretty sure that my uncle stopped buying dolls at least 10 years ago. So...could she actually be a real vintage AG? Here's where I wish I had some doll-savvy  followers to help me out a bit. I'd love to restore her, but I don't want to ruin her if she really is old and needs special handling. 

Additional photos:

No markings on the back of her head aside from this.

Her butt mark says 1958. All indented aside from Made in Japan.

Painted fingernails

Legs click fairly well, joints are a bit loose and swingy though.

She's not in mint condition, and to be honest, I'd be just as happy if she is a really cool repro. Either way, I think she's awesome and I'm glad that she's a part of my collection now! I'd just really love to make her pretty again, without damaging her.

Today's Ladies

Another package arrived! This one contained dolls! I'm so excited! I'm using exclamation marks to end all of my sentences!

Since I forgot to review my first Made To Move in the excitement, this will be my first official "welcome to the Lightwaves Mob" Made To Move post.

In her packaging

Compare/contrast to stock photo:

Pretty similar!

 Right out of the box, she had this weird white goo in her hair (residue from the product they used in her hair? It was also a bit stiff).

Unbind me, I am made to move! (I couldn't resist)

 Other than that, awesome, gorgeous little doll! I love her freckles! It goes without saying that these gals are super-pose-able and I absolutely love that. The clothing is not bad, either. I like how stretchy it is to move with them (and also the pants allow them to sit! yay!). By far, the most pose-able 1/6th fashion doll that I own. And adorable to boot. 10/10.

And now, my very first of the new body Fashionista line...

I admit, at first I was a little disappointed that she didn't look exactly like her stock photo...not because I didn't like her, but because that is not the character I had in mind for her. She looks a bit softer in the stock photo than in reality.

However, as I took photos and posed her, she really grew on me.

If I could be half as fierce as this doll...

 I may even be able to do something about the shoes?

In other news...an article of clothing arrived and my other girls were rather puzzled over it.

Celeste: "What are you wearing?" Barbara: "IT LOOKED PINK ON THE WEBSITE!"

The last bit of news today is that the very awesome, super generous person who so kindly gave me the GI Joes (I verified that they are mine to keep/repair/mutilate as I please) also had a pair of vehicles. I've now got a great medic Jeep and a Humvee! (in my opinion, so much cooler than the pink Barbie Jeep, sorry Barbara!)