Chynadoll Creations: December 2012

I finally got my hands on one of the Kenya dolls! These dolls have managed to escape my grasp for some time now! While shopping with one of my youngest nieces in Toys R Us ( I took her there to get an idea of what she wanted for Christmas and to scope out the sales :-0) I happened to eye spy Miss Kenya sitting on the shelf. I had seen several pictures of her online, however seeing it in person is quite different. Needless to say, I did not like the one that I saw so she stayed right there on that shelf! I goofed around with my niece for a bit and we left the store.

Acting silly with my niece Lailah

Eye spied a dolly friend of mine! My my my, ya just never
know who you will run into at Toys R Us LOL

Silly Lailah....

Let me just put this out there! The comments here are my own opinion! I am in no way trying to
discourage anyone from purchasing or collecting this doll.
If this is your type of doll then go for it!

This is my blog, and MY Opinion! So having said that,

Continue on......

The following week, I still had that Kenya doll on my mind ! Toys R Us was having yet another sale so I dragged my hubby with me this time. I walked in and headed right to the spot where they had the Kenya gals.

I spotted the Fireside Chatting Kenya doll. Mmmm, this one had possibilities! She still was not the one I originally wanted, but she was on sale so she would do! Into the cart she went. I also picked up a Monster High doll and two of the new Fashionista Nikki chicks for body swaps.

Here is Miss Kenya courtesy of Google images.

Looking at her facial paint, I was reminded of
why I dislike pink lips on darker dolls. Her facial paint had to go!

Kenya has been repainted using artistic acrylics
sealers and pastels. She has been redressed and
had her hair finger styled.

I had to make her some new jewelry.
I tried to remove the earrings she was wearing
to begin her repaint and they broke in my hands :(

I have heard and seen the reviews for this doll
as well as the doll comparisons. I was not overly impressed with this doll.

She is a very interesting
doll to say the least!

From a repainting point of view, she was a mess
to repaint. I had to change the technique I normally used, because
her plastic is a bit dull and
paint did not easily adhere to it.

You might be asking yourself, "why repaint her at all"?
Because its what I do!

Compared to the S.I.S dolls that I normally work with, ( but am not limited to)

Miss Kenya is cheaply made. She had the feel of a clone type doll. Parts
of her body was chipped (not broken) and looked like it would crack.
I wanted to remove her head and stick a Chandra S.I.S head on her body
but I was reluctant to do that. Her plastic just felt like it would crack in my hands.
I was not ready to break a doll that I had just got!

Miss Kenya's clothing was just ok.
The red jumpsuit under that white fleecy stuff was ok,
however that white fleecy stuff was coming apart out of the box.
I quickly tossed that aside along with her boots. I will give
the clothing to Lailah to play with at a later date (if it survives).

The plus point for this doll is her hair.
She has a head full of the most amazing hair for a doll! There were no
bald spots or missing plugs (as I have often seen in S.I.S dolls)

Although she is articulated, her joints were
very stiff and her head has little movement to it.

While moving her around and changing her clothes,
I felt like she was gonna break in my hands.
She does have one of those big heads. That is not a problem
for me. I love the artsy and my scene heads , so for me that part was ok.
but like I said the head movement was limited and stiff.

I did not like to repaint her at all! I won't purchase another for repainting!

However....that is
not to say that I won't repaint another because saying that would be limiting my creativity!

I managed to get her on sale for like $14.99

Her original price of $20.00 in my opinion is really
not worth it! I was originally looking for another one because
she had the coolest fro and glasses.
There would have to be a crazy sale on her (cheaper then $15 bucks)
for me to even consider buying her:-)