Fourth, the unveiling of the Polar Bear Club!

Elspeth takes a break from pondering her future takeover of Pottery Barn to greet the Polar Bear Club.

And here I thought traveling in a tote bag with five other dolls was uncomfortable...

After the jump, there will be considerable amounts of doll nudity, as the Polar Bear Club packs lightly.

Bringing order to the ravening horde is more difficult than I expected when I accumulated them. It's one or two per thrift store at most, and then after about three stores, we'd go back to the house and do some boil-washing, and so it wasn't obvious how many people would require absorption into the larger society once I got home. Let's just say that I will be busy sewing for months.

First up are two that date from a thrift shop trip I wasn't even on. These two Barbies came in a three-pack with a doll my mother had wanted, and various plans to find other homes for them had come to naught, so she handed them off to me. The Mackie-faced gal with Lady Godiva hair turns out to be 2004 Birthday Wishes Barbie, and Mackie is my favorite of the playline Barbie-herself face-ups, since it's completely non-ditzy. Her friend seems like she ought to have been a holiday angel, but I can't find one with the right face-up.

Maybe we should be vampire slayers. 

The Liv contingent debarks next. From left to right, we have: Hallie (rebodied Twist and Dance Hayden), my first Daniela (who needs some Oxy-10, stat), and what I think might be an Alexis darker than either of my existing Alexi.

It's okay, Daniela. Just imagine the customs agents aren't wearing any clothing either.

Let's compare new!Alexis with original!Alexis (who dealt with the pants shortage by adopting a sort of retro mod disco look). New!Alexis looks a shade darker to me. Congratulations, Alexis! You have a cousin. 

I don't suppose you'd like to be a good influence on my younger sister, Krys?

No party is complete without a Bratz. My best guess is that this was Holiday Katia. She was rebodied on a spare Liv body before making the trip.

I'll walk across Sky Harbor naked without batting an eyelash.

Katia was in a baggie with somebody else who was the "find," as was this gal, who turns out to be a Disney "Dancing Esmeralda" from 1996. As seems to be the norm with "dancing" dolls, her body is incredibly awkward for posing. She does, however, have a strong jawline. The shopping theme generally seems to have been "women whose faces suggest you don't want to mess with them."

Where do we apply for a new body?

My fascination with clones and fakes found an outlet. The second thrift purchase (after the baggie containing Daniela and the body donated to Hallie) was the Chic Boutique clone on the far left. Then it turned out that she had a partly articulated version! That's the middle gal, who was originally Snow White (and then she drifted) -- and went for 50 cents at a shop that doesn't bag its "Barbies." The one on the right is a baggie extra, who may be the most orange-ish Glamour Girl Flower Power in D7ana's post on Chic Boutique. This is her hair after several hours of combing.

We are the clone army!

The younger set is also represented. Behold! An articulated Stacie from the 1990s, before Stacie got to be as tall as Skipper used to be. This was a major, major "get" -- and one I completely overlooked in baggie land. Dad found her. The other Stacie is a duplicate of the one I have, but there was no reason not to bring her home when she turned up in a baggie with other dolls being obtained on purpose. The Skipper head did not fit on a Bratz body, and I don't really know what I intend to do with her, but there must be something (she's the Skipper head found on a Barbie body, so obviously that wasn't going to work).

Left unsupervised, the children have gone feral.

Gals who are somewhat standard sizes and who don't need a lot of work got dressed immediately, with varying degrees of success.

First, we hit a mall. Hard.

Katia, on a Liv body, squeezed into Life in the Dreamhouse Raquelle's extra dress but admits it's not appropriate for day-wear. Hallie grabbed a pair of Liv pants, a handmade tube top, and LitD Raquelle's jacket for a monochrome clubbing look. Zora took the second of the new Barbie fashion-pack outfits.

The two Chic dolls with less dangerous hair proved more difficult to fit, as they're very slender. Victoria is wearing a Lovely Patsy dress, but it's a tad big on her; while her friend conducts a search for a name while wearing LitD Raquelle's "meet" dress (also a tad large).

But it's boil-washing time! Careful observers will note that Esmeralda (second from right) has already been swapped to a Fashionista body. She now can actually dance if she likes.

There's nothing for female bonding like a good boil-wash.

Orange Gal's hair is so dire that she's getting a long soak in water with hair conditioner.

It's soothing... like a sensory deprivation tank.

Meanwhile, the cat is ready to be shipped to where he can visit other cats.

This box is too large for adequate napping!