Tonner City Girls

Another discontinued unsuccessful doll line, wow I really know how to pick them, don't I?

These came out in 2012, and "Astor" and "Basic Houston" shown above are the only dolls I have ever bought direct from Tonner (split shipping with a friend who was also buying some doll stuff). I also have the blonde one, "Brook-Lynn" (groan) and I don't have "Billy" the dark haired one because she was seemingly the most popular and thus the hardest to track down.

They're not quite 16" tall and have some nice if basic articulation. There is only one facial sculpt so yes they look a bit samey. The key thing is that they were meant to be sort of "starter collector" dolls, priced lower than the usual Tonner doll and aimed at The Youth Of Today. This did not work. Personally I suspect the price was just a bit high for what they were, because (as the Makies also discovered) parents base their doll-buying choices on the price of a playline Barbie.

But for me yes they were a gateway drug to Tonner proper. As you can see I sewed for them a bit, and I'd quite like to return to that some day because they do wear clothes nicely, but they're in a box somewhere unloved and naked and that is just sad. I think the idiosyncratic size of them put people off a bit, which is the same thing that puts me off sewing for them. They don't *quite* fit clothes made for other dolls, they need their own stuff and then only they can wear it. See also their shoes.

Also is it me or do they seem to have influenced the later Deja Vu line from Tonner? The slightly vacant expression, etc?

I like these dolls for the most part, I just don't seem to do much with them. Alas.

Doctor Who Dolls Mainly

DollyDaily has moved, which is about the only doll forum I frequent. Pictures of cool dolls! Omg!

Anyway, one of my recent doll purchases was a Thirteenth Doctor Who doll from B&M.

She is currently on sale for £5, down from the £20 I paid so you'd be getting a bargain there. B&M seem to have almost all the Dr Who toys these days, they're doing action figure sets as well. Anyway the doll is about 1/6th scale and comes with her sonic screwdriver. I am not generally a fan of plastic hair on a doll but I am not sure how well proper hair would have worked given how short and specific Whittaker's haircut is on the show.

My other Doctor Who doll is this one:

She is *not* the official Mattel Dr Who Barbie, she is a custom homemade version because the Mattel one was too expensive for me. She's a blonde Made-to-Move with a haircut (OBVIOUSLY the Doctor needs full movement in her limbs so she can defeat monsters) and some clothes I sewed for her. I used an Etsy-bought pattern for the t-shirt and used fabric paint for the iconic rainbow, but I had to make the trousers pattern myself and let me tell you that was a journey. I think it took three attempts to get to the final ones in the picture. The boots are from Cool Cat Collection and the colour is slightly off but I think they convey the general idea. The slightly shoddy braces are made from grosgrain ribbon and some hooks and eyes.

I finished her last year but she still doesn't have a coat because the idea of making a lined hooded coat is quite intimidating. I might just nick the B&M one's coat for her.

And here's the River and Missy Funko Pops. They are  the only Funko Pops I have. One was a present from a friend and the Missy one I got out of fangirl.