Saturday, September 1, 2012

Franken-Winx



     This week I took the plunge and bought a Winx doll hoping to find another source of articulated bodies now that Spin Master is phasing out the Liv dolls.  The basic Winx are quite affordable at $12 but don’t waste your money on any of them unless you love the outfit.  They are not articulated.  Fortunately, for $20, the Believix Collection of fairy Winx offers six characters with articulated knees, elbows and wrists.  I’m a sucker for fairy dolls so I chose Bloom, mainly because I thought I would get the most use out of her shoes. 


Les Soeurs Garoul are always on the lookout for new fashions they can appropriate so Clawdeen Wolf immediately snatched them up. 


Monster High dolls’ feet are a little longer than Winx dolls' feet, but Clawdeen was able to make these open-toe pumps work for her.  They will also work for your Star Dolls if anyone is actually still using the rigid bodies those girls came with.


    The face-screen has the wide-eyed anime look that has been the norm for most play line dolls in recent years. 


Bloom has a sweet expression, but her flame red hair is made of a cheap, frizzy fiber so she had no chance of retaining her claim to that articulated body in my doll world. 


    First I tried replacing her head with a Disney fairy.  Vidia was the best match for Bloom’s ivory complexion.  (Note I have two Vidias so I experimented with giving this one brown eyes). 


I love the Disney fairies.  Their figures are very graceful and womanly despite their short stature in 1:6 scale.  Unfortunately their legs don’t bend.  I thought it might be fun to upgrade some of them to articulated bodies that have detachable, hinged wings. 


You can even buy additional wings that coordinate with other outfits.  It wasn’t difficult to ease Bloom’s head off the neck prong but her neck is so thin, Vidia’s head rests loosely on it. 


The weight of her hair pulls her chin up, limiting the number of expressions she can convey by tilting her head. 


Still, the fact that the Winx body is slim enough to fit some of the Disney fairy outfits is a big plus.

    The Winx dolls have longer torsos than the Disney fairies, but their hips are leaner. 


They can wear the Disney fairy dolls’ skirts even though their legs stretch for miles below the hemlines.


While some of the Disney fairy tops are too short for Winx, Vidia was able to adjust the shoulder straps on this dress to make it fit.  She accessorized with a pair of Star Doll shoes.


    As for Bloom’s outfit, the Disney fairies were able to squeeze their curvaceous hips into the skirt, but the top met the skirt at the waistband instead of exposing the midriff. 


The same was true of the fit when Eloisa tried it on her Bratz body. 


All in all the Bratz, Disney fairies, and Winx dolls should be able to trade a fair number of outfits so if you purchase a Winx doll, you can probably find some changes of clothes for her in your existing wardrobe.

    Despite the charm of the Disney fairies, I wasn’t willing to integrate a doll with an over-sized head into my regular 1:6 scale community so next I swapped a Star Doll head onto the Winx body. 


This was the only Star Doll face I really liked.  Unfortunately I hadn’t found a good complexion match for her Goth pallor until I tried her on Bloom’s body.  Once again the head sits loosely on the neck, but I find the Winx doll’s wraithlike figure matches the Star Doll’s character.  

    Although the torso cannot pivot, the articulation of the Winx body allows enough range of motion for the character to make a plausible anorexic ballerina.  She can do the splits. 


She can stretch in second position. 


She has an impressive arabesque


 and very elegant port de bras.  


    Winx bodies will work well as teenagers in your 1:6 scale families.  Their legs are longer than standard Barbie dolls but they are high waisted with short torsos so the top of their over-sized heads is still below the standard male figures you might cast as their fathers or boyfriends. 


    The purchase of a Winx doll includes membership in the Winx club that offers games, quizzes, and videos. 


I didn’t explore any of the content on-line but I definitely got my money’s worth.


À Bientôt

10 comments:

  1. Winx are infecting also the U.S as I can see from yours blog. It's so sad :(

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    1. Hi Sergio,

      I don't know anything about the Winx characters. I'm just glad to see someone giving Mattel a run for the money. The Winx dolls are manufactured by Jaks Pacific. Jaks Pacific also has the license to make the Disney fairies. I think some serious competition would force Mattel to improve the quality of their dolls and fashions.

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  2. Firstly I would like to congratulate YOU for your purchase,those blue pair of shoes are to die for ;):D

    Secondly what an awesome post you made,thanks for all the info,I have just started head swapping nd all....so I really enjoyed going thru all the pics & info you provided in this post!:)

    Keep in touch!!

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    1. Hi Pam,

      I'm glad you found the post helpful. I had a lot of fun trying out the different possibilities.

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  3. Thanks for sharing this comparison. Nice to see that the Winx dolls are poseable.

    I love seeing your dance photos ;-D

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  4. Hello from Spain. I have none in my collection Winx. Thanks for reporting and change the heads. I really like the dancer. That face of Stardoll's very pretty .. Keep in touch

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  5. I don't know how I missed this. Thanks for the info.

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  6. hi i have a question for you, where did you get the male asian doll in one of these photographs listed above? whats his name so i can look for him, my daughter is asian and its so difficult to find dolls that fit into a family that isnt your typical white barbie and ken and it especially hard to find males. please get back to me :) my email is lilygabe2010@yahoo.com thanks so much

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    1. Hi Mandi V, yes, Asian dolls can be hard to come by. The male figure here is a Power Team action figure. I bought him at a Walgreen's in 2006. During the recession Power Team downsized their action figures to 6". In the last year or so there have been some 12" Power Team guys available at Big Lots but I haven't seen any Asian ones. You may be able to find this guy on eBay or you can search eBay for 1:6 scale figures that represent Asian celebrities. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Lieutenant Sulu from Star Trek should all be available on the secondary market. You can also get Captain Li Shang from "Mulan" at the Disney Store. (Order him on-line if there is no Disney Store in your area). Good luck!

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  7. Thanks so much! Yes I have Sulu, though hes way more buff than ken so he doesn't quite fit in male doll clothes :P, Li Shang, The King and I, and a old Vietnamese GI Joe. I will go looking for him, I found out hes a police sniper, all I need to do now is look for someone willing to sell him :)

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