Saturday, May 6, 2023

Strange Confluence

It seems like everything has been happening this week. Barbie announced a new Anna May Wong doll that quickly sold out, though Mattel claims they are sending more inventory out to stores. The Writer's Guild started their strike on Tuesday. In Texas, Colin Allred announced his run for Ted Cruz's Senate Seat. Then came the expected Cinco de Cuatro/Star Wars Day and Cinco De Mayo, and now King Charles's coronation in the UK. Also Texas is having municipal elections today (The early voting was last week up until May 2.) All these events packed together is a little overwhelming.

More on the Anna May Wong doll--I like the concept and the gesture for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but when I look at the pictures, I don't see that much resemblance to the real lady. Yes it has Wong's bang haircut, but something about the eyes and the shape of her lips is off. Her eyes should be much bigger, and again I hate the too skinny arms of the Gigi-articulated doll in general. It's creepy and almost skeletal. So I won't buy it, especially not for the high price it's going for on Ebay now. Better to leave the stock to other buyers who want the doll more. Instead I bought a DVD of two Anna May Wong movies, which just arrived last night. I'm excited to watch it.

Edited to add: Actually I love Made to Move Barbies. They have strong joints. Apparently the name for the Barbie articulation I don't like is the Gigi body, which was used on the Gigi Hadid doll. It's the elbows I hate, and the knee joints are also different from Made to Move. Here there is an example on this Barbie post from the Toy Box Philospher. Search for the comparision photo between Lena and Barbie. I don't know why, but the Gigi body is often used for collector Barbies and the arms especially are anemic and spindly.

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