Worry dolls, indigenous Guatemalan Barbie, and the arrival of Midnight Magic Pippa

Kayla, Teresa, and Elena thought it'd be fun to take Guatemalan worry dolls out for a photo shoot.

It's so hard to find a beach that allows off-leash alpacas.

Teresa is a 2012 Fashionista that I picked up for $3 at the Wednesday night session of the Park 'n' Swap because, in the fading sunlight beneath the rows of tents, I thought she might have a darker skin tone than Elena (2011 Fashionista). However, Kayla's bitch-face today is because Teresa is too light to donate her body. Teresa's face-up speaking to me as Elena's did, so she may be slated to move on.

While researching worry dolls, I impulsively Googled Guatemala Barbie and discovered... there's a movement of re-dressing Barbies in authentic, hand-made Guatemalan traditional outfits to exploit a tourist trade that, if it has any sense, will buy these by the bushel. They are gorgeous. Here are links to some photos:

• A crowd of Barbies promenades the market
• Barbie proves remarkable things can be done with pattern-on-pattern
• Another portrait, this time with accessories

It makes me want livelier fabric -- most of what I have are small prints for dollhouse projects -- as traditional attire of any culture is usually pretty simple in shape and construction. Folk-dance costumes for everybody!

Teresa, isn't that outfit maybe a little hoochie for the office?

The more I clean, the more worry dolls I find. Apparently I buy them whenever I see them because I think I don't have any. The one in Elena's lap is a style I've never seen before, though: a contemporary worry doll! (And, seemingly, a major Rainbow Dash fan.) She was the only one of her ilk at Yucatecan Imports in downtown Tempe (a place that's roughly what would happen if Disney bought Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley). So she's going to join the big-head yarn-person civilization.

Low and slow.

I strolled by the lowrider car show outside ALCA as they were setting up. All of the cars then present were from that part of the 1960s/1970s when cars looked as if they wanted to bite, and it seems that is traditional, though not mandatory.

What I learned in looking up "lowrider" is that there is also a hi-riser car culture that's based in the South and centers around hip-hop. If nobody has yet done a exploitative-but-energetic West Side Story remake in which the two gangs are rival car clubs, I say "why not?" and "get on it!"

While I mulling whether or not new-Teresa is a keeper and the overall look of available nominally-Mexican dolls, I did my usual stop at the Family Dollar by the laundromat. The regular toy section was its usual pathetic self, but I thought maybe it would be like the Dollar General and have a larger, separate section as we gear up for Christmas.

It did. The first thing I saw was this, and I didn't really remember to look at anything else.

I see articulated elbows and wrists!

Articulation for $5. ***BRAIN MALFUNCTIONS*** bbbeeeeeeepppp bzzzzzpt dingdingdingdingding ***WALLET LEAPS FROM TOTE BAG***

It seems Family Dollar has been doing these for a couple years now, but since I didn't previously notice, I'm going to wallow anyway.

While Midnight Magic looks like just another Monster High knock-off (especially since Adele bears a suspicious resemblance to Draculaura), let it be noted that the four BFFs not only go to school together and transform into beings with super-powers, but they are also princesses, crime fighters, and zombie-fighters. 

Our back story doesn't say we love fashion, but I mean, who has time?

Looking over the girls, I think blue-skinned Mila may be who the blue-skinned K-Mart baggie doll was trying to knock off, which would mean K-Mart is carrying knock-offs of knock-offs.

Of the three in the store -- Pippa, Mila, and Adele -- I chose Pippa because she had the best face-up and (odd as it may sound of a doll with gray skin) the most realistic look. She's also slated to get a Day of the Dead costume and generally be much more Mexican-American than Elena manages (but Elena's post-spa identity is as a Californio, so her family has few recent ties to Mexico, and half her relatives are Scottish or such).

Although I'm supposed to fight zombies, are we completely sure I'm not one?

Articulation of the legs is not a win. These seem to be click knees, and they don't click very far. On the other hand -- $5 new. Barbie with no meaningful articulation at all is $7.99.

This is all the further I can bend my knees.

Hair rooting is also about what one would expect for $5. Pippa will not be braiding her hair. The texture is silky soft, though, and she doesn't shed.

Serious Rogaine needs.

She looks like she's going to have a Monster High body, but. . . not quite! Pippa is more developed, has less of a swayback, and is generally longer all over.

The shared showers in the gym were never Cleo's favorite thing.

Cleo finds Pippa's dress to be far too loose.

I am NOT going to play the Spirit of Love in the pageant. Nopers.

Miss Hanzo has been wearing a Sparkle Girlz fashion, since Sophie swiped her outfit, so she's here to try a swap with Pippa. The Sparkle Girlz dress is slightly loose on Pippa but suits her so well that I may need another trip to Walmart for more. Pippa's outfit is so tight on Miss Hanzo (Life in the Dreamhouse Raquelle) that it won't close.

This is the LAST time Miss Hanzo even thinks about a closet swap.

Pippa, unlike Elena, is completely at ease with Catrina. Being a zombie princess will do that for you. Her official name will have to be Pilar, possibly because her grandmother was a great fan of Pilar Montenegro.

I wonder how we'd look in matching outfits.

Belatedly, I went collecting other people's Midnight Magic reviews, so here are links:

• Imitation Monsters compares first-wave and second-wave Pippas.
• The Insane Crayon Box compares Pippa's body to larger MH like Nefera, for clothing and shoe fit.
• Herbie's World of Kitsch tries to make sense of the backstory, confirms my suspicion that Pippa is sort of Ghoulia, and notes that the story is that the four BFFs all have an aptitude for science. SCIENCE. Not fashion! STEM FTW.
• Growing Up Is for Quitters discovers Midnight Magic mini-dolls at her Family Dollar.