The last time I moved, a lot of stuff went to my mother’s place to be stored in her already crowded storage room. Well, she went in it recently to find that some of what was in there had been damaged by water, mold, and termites. She’s been slowly going through the boxes, seeing what could and couldn’t be saved. Much of the undamaged stuff was what we had brought with us from almost 30 years ago when we left New York.

I don’t remember bringing a lot of personal stuff in the move, but what did come with me were the dolls I had at the time. I had 12-inch Kenner Luke and Leia figures and a Mego Diana Ross fashion doll. Of course, Luke and Leia were almost totally devoid of their stuff; Luke had his boots and Leia had her gown, and that was it. I actually made clothes for them. Diana was only missing her shoes. My mother called to ask if I wanted to keep them, and I said no. I have two pretty good versions of Luke and Leia now, and I really have no use for fashion dolls beyond a few loose parts. She was going to give them to some little relatives of ours, but, apparently, they didn’t want them. So when I visited my mother recently, there they were. Diana still in her gown, Leia in a dress I had crocheted, and Luke in a handmade blue “suit”.

I looked at Diana and thought, “I could save her.”

When I was over there, I didn’t get a chance to look her over to see if anything drastic needed to be done. The hair has to go for sure; I wasn’t very crazy about it when I first got her. I distinctly remember tearing that gown at one of the seams. The shoes I can get from some vintage toy outfit. I don’t know how 70’s-era plastics have stood up over time, but even if the body hasn’t fared well, I’m reluctant to replace it because female AA bodies are so rare. If I can’t repair the gown or if it’s degraded, I can think of a very nice gown to get her. There has to be someplace that sells 70’s-style doll wigs or something close to it.

I’m not quite sure why I want to save this doll. All I’ll do is put her on a stand and put her on a shelf somewhere. I guess I could say my dolls were one constant at a tumultuous time in my life. Even when I thought I was too old for dolls I still packed them up and took them wherever we moved. And thirty years later I’m back to playing with dolls.

Some things really don’t change.

Yep, the Chief is here! All 12.5 inches of him.

No, really, I like this figure. Nice and sturdy. Heavy, too. I was a bit concerned about how the armor would hinder the articulation. It does hinder it a bit, but not enough to really bug you. When I tried to pose him by pulling at one limb at a time, other joints would sometimes move with it and give you a better pose than the one you were working on. Very cool. I’ll probably do a mini-review next week if I can get some decent pictures.

I can’t begin to say how happy I am with how Rhianwyn came out. Considering I had gotten extremely ill at the end of June/beginning of July until August, I’m amazed she got finished at all. The only things that bugged me were the bracers, and I fixed those recently. I’d like to add a waterskin, but that’s “gravy” stuff and I’m in no hurry to make it. I’d also like to find some grasping hands so she can hold the bow and sword better.

I had thought the next figure would be the wizard I wanted to put with Rhianwyn, but it looks like one of the covert ops/spy type characters I want to do will be next. She doesn’t lack much, only boots, a decent gun, and sunglasses. I bought a lot of stuff from Triad Toys for this bash and others, and the package finally came last Friday after waiting almost a week and a half. Maybe the wizard will be done by New Years’.

The Master Chief figure I ordered from Big Bad Toys Store shipped today, so he might show up at the end of the week. It still bugs me that there won’t be a true sixth-scale figure made by anybody. He’ll look a bit dinky next to my other figures, but put him next to some future Spartans and he should be fine.

More photos in my gallery here.

I said sometime ago that I wasn’t going to get McFarlane’s 12″ Master Chief figure because it’s not to scale–12.5 inches as opposed to 14 inches. With my hand-wringing over not being able to get the Blue Spartan, I’m left with two choices. Suck it up and get the Chief anyway, or wait for next year’s 12-inch wave. To sweeten the deal, McFarlane will also be putting out helmet sets that will fit on any of their 12″ Halo figures. I see myself picking up two or three of these figs. Swap out the helmet and you’ve got a whole new figure.

Having a little Chief won’t be so bad. My Leia can ask him, “aren’t you short for a Spartan?”

Michael Crawford has posted his review of the Wal-Mart exclusive Blue Spartan. He’s pretty pleased with it. And I can’t get my hands on it! No Wal-Mart within a 30-mile radius has it, and I don’t have a car.