LIV Jake Doll Review

There was apparently only one male LIV doll ever made (much like there was only one Moxie Teenz male doll made).  What is it with that?  These poor dolls have to keep fighting over the limited males. ;)

Anyway, I came across the LIV "Making Waves" Jake doll on clearance earlier this year and decided to purchase him, especially since I'd been so impressed with the articulation on the LIV dolls I'd found.

Jake in his box.

The back of the box.

So I'll start out by saying that I'm not necessarily a fan of his narrow eyes and 70s hairdo.  His outfit isn't all that spectacular either.  These were my very first impressions.

His face looked so much nicer on the box.  This is yet another case where I wish the final product had been closer to the prototype.  Still, his eyes are a nice color and his face could be worse. :}

I'm also really not a fan of thick, shaggy sideburns.

Just sayin'.

Jake's lifeguard tank top.

Jake's plaid swimming trunks.  At least, I assume they're supposed to be swimming trunks.

Now, what this guy lacks in looks, he makes up for in poseability.  I purchased Jake shortly after my Moxie Teenz Gavin, and the differences were like night and day.  While Gavin was stiff and awkward to move, Jake moved every bit as easily as his female LIV counterparts, and he looked very natural in his poses too.

A side view of the same pose.

One other huge thing that Jake has going for him is that he can share current Ken clothing and shoes.  This opens up a whole world of possibilities for wardrobe, unlike poor Gavin, who is stuck in his shiny blue suit.  I think this was great planning on the Spin Master company's part.  At least, I'm assuming it was intentional.

Jake is liking his new striped tank.

Jake and one of my Danielas (in a different wig than her earlier blonde one).  Jake is just slightly taller than the LIV girls, and pairs with them nicely.

I really loved posing and photographing these two.  I wish more dolls had this articulation.

All ready for an afternoon out.

So overall, I'd say Jake gets a 4 out of 5, which seems to be my common rating recently.  His articulation is awesome, and the fact that he can share clothes with Ken is a huge plus.  I just wish they'd done his face mold and hair a little differently.  But maybe that's just me being too picky.  And hey, he looks much better with the LIV dolls than any Ken doll would.  Ken heads look tiny next to the LIV girls' humongous heads. ;)

What do you guys think of Jake?

I have a post coming up that will compare Jake's articulation to Moxie Teenz Gavin's, so check back soon! :)

Liv Doll Review

While looking back through my draft posts, I realized that I never finished my LIV doll review that I promised.  Since I just did my Moxie Teenz reviews and am about to publish a review on a LIV Jake doll, I figured now was the best time to publish this one. :)

WARNING:  There are a few undressed pictures of this doll farther down in the post.  If this is offensive to you, please skip this one. 

All of my LIV dolls are thrift store finds, so I don't know how they compare to brand new from the box.  However, the dolls I've found have been in excellent shape, and I've been pleasantly surprised by them.  The doll pictured above is a LIV Daniela doll.  I found her at Goodwill with no clothes and a different wig.  Thankfully, I found these dolls earlier this summer, right as Target was putting all of their LIV stuff on clearance, so I was able to pick up a couple of outfits and a couple of wigs for great prices. :)

Daniela is wearing the "Movie Night" fashion pack.  I love how the purple coloring brings out the light lavender in her eye shadow. :) 

Here is the top.  It's lovely and flowy with sparkly accents around the collar.  The set also originally came with a little silver shrug, but I like it better this way.

This plastic purse came with it too.

Here are the black skinny jeans/stretch pants.

And I love these little silver ballet flats.  This outfit looks perfect on her, and I got it for around $8. :)

Here is Daniela with another Daniela.  I'm not familiar enough with the different waves of these dolls to know which one is which, but I think both of them are stunning.  The other Daniela was also a Goodwill find (on the same day, in fact).  She had no clothing and no wig.

This blonde one suits her nicely (although she's currently wearing a different one).  And of course, the great thing about the LIV dolls is that they can share clothing with Barbie.  This doll is wearing a Barbie dress from  one of the Barbie movies. (Perhaps Rapunzel?  I don't remember...it's been too long since I got it.) :}

So, here is a view of my LIV without clothing.  She has joints in her elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles.  She also moves at the shoulders and the head.

Daniela showing off the super poseability that I love from this line. :)  

I especially love the fact that they have actual knee caps.  They look a little bit funny, but they make it very easy for the dolls to move their legs in a more natural fashion.

All I can say about this is "ouch"! ;)  And that their waists are obviously quite poseable. ;)

Still lovely, even without her hair (although I must say, I do prefer these dolls with their wigs).

Each head has a hole in the top where the wig attaches.

Here is the wig by itself.

The wigs have a big plastic knob inside that fits into the hole on the dolls' heads.  This keeps the wig in place nicely.

Identifying marks on the back of her head:  "[copyright sign] 2009 Spin Master Ltd"

I was a little disappointed to see that some of their head paint still shows underneath their wigs, which means that hair styles such as high ponytails might be a bit limited if you want her to look right. :(

Here are just a few shots showing some of the poses she can hold:

This is the wig I used for the Daniela in purple.  It was a perfect match for her skin tone and coloring. :)  Even better, it was on sale for $4.18 at Target!

I forgot to take a picture of the other doll's wig when it was still in the package, but here's the packaging itself, in case you'd like to try to find the same one. :)

I can't say enough about these dolls.  I might never have tried them if I hadn't found them at Goodwill.  I'd never cared for them in their packaging, but both of the dolls I found looked so incredibly stunning loose and in person that I bought them.  Now I'm loving how beautiful and photogenic they are.  Their incredible articulation is an added bonus.  

These dolls are being discontinued, so if you're interested in them and see any at discounted prices anywhere, I would definitely snatch them up.  I've seen a few at my local Ross.  You might check places like Big Lots, TJ Maxx, or ToysRUs, too. :)

More fun reviews to come! :)

No More Playlist :(

Hey everyone.  I noticed that my playlist hadn't been working the last couple of days, so I checked Mixpod.com's website.  Sadly, they've closed down their site, so that means I won't have music on my blog for a while. :(

It sounds like they'll eventually have information about transferring my playlists somewhere, so I'll keep you all posted.  In the meantime, I'll have to find another place to make a playlist.  Any suggestions?

I got the living room all decorated this past weekend, but I still have a bit of cleanup to do.  Once that's done, I'll post some pics. :D

Hope you're all having a great week! :)

Moxie Teenz Leigh Doll Review

Since I'm on a roll with the Moxie Teenz, I thought I'd do my final Moxie Teenz review today.  This is the Leigh doll from the 3rd wave of MTs.  

Leigh in her box.

The back of the box, slightly different than Gavin's, which pictured him in the foreground and the four girls in the background.

Leigh's pretty face.

Leigh's heels.

There are two different looks to her dress...I'll explain later.

Here is lovely Leigh, relieved to be free from her box.

A back view of her long hair...

...and her dress, too.

She has great coloring.

This Leigh has some glue underneath one set of eyelashes.

She has much simpler earrings than the long, dangling ones that Bijou and Arizona wore.

Her bright gold necklace.

Her shimmery skirt.

This wave of Moxie Teenz dolls didn't wear rings, but you can see that they used the same mold and just filled in the ring hole. :}

She has the same knee and wrist articulation as the older dolls.

A closer look at her golden heels.

You can see her ankle joint even with the shoes on.

So now to this "two different looks" business.  This is how the dress looks when you take her out of the box.

There are two tiny, clear buttons at the front of her dress, just below the bodice line.

And under her skirt, she has two ribbons with loops on the end.

To get Leigh's "new look", you simply hook the loop of the ribbon onto the clear button...

...then repeat on the other side.  Frankly, I'm not that impressed with this version of the dress.  Also, a helpful hint for those of you who end up with a doll like this:  it's much easier to get the ribbon loop on the button when the dress is off of the doll...or so I've heard. ;)

A few piccys:

I thought I'd share a few comparison pics of Bijou and Leigh (I don't have Arizona anymore or I'd include her too).  I don't know if you can see it, but there is a slight variation in their face molds.  Leigh's face looks wider and flatter with a pointier chin, and her eyes are a little less round than Bijou's.

Speaking of Bijou, here she is.  I love the warmth and depth of her eyes.

As you already know from earlier posts, Bijou has a removable wig.

Leigh, however, has rooted hair, just like all of the other dolls in her wave.

A look at Bijou's large earrings...much bigger than Leigh's golden stud earrings.

Their necklaces appear to be identical in pattern.  I prefer the coloring on Bijou's, though.  It looks more naturally golden.

 

Bijou also has a ring (my favorite of her accessories, so of course I had to share a picture of it again!). ;)

Both girls are gorgeous, and the fact that Leigh was only made once makes her a unique addition to any collection. 

I thought I'd take some pictures of Leigh with Gavin to see how they looked together (sorry, Bijou!). ;) 

I have to say, I love Gavin's hands in this pose.  It's so nice when dolls can pose naturally. :)

The Three Musketeers.  Maybe.  Now girls, no fighting over Gavin! ;)  

So, my overall thoughts?  Leigh is very pretty, and her formal attire obviously fits Gavin's suit much better.  She is a unique doll because of her limited release, and she has stunning coloring (not to mention a dress that reminds me a lot of Belle's). ;)  Her rooted hair is nice because it doesn't fall off like Bijou's.  However, the quality isn't the greatest, and with all those curls it would be prone to frizz with too much play.  

I also prefer the older, softer face molds and clothing versatility of the 1st wave of Moxie Teenz.  Still, I think Leigh deserves a 4 out of 5. :)

I've been working like mad to get through my review posts in draft, and there are more scheduled posts on their way, so I'll talk to all of you again soon! :D