My love for the China Girl [image heavy]

So if you followed my blog from the beginning, you'd know that I love ball-jointed dolls. Porcelain ball-jointed dolls especially, but not limited to.

I fell in love with the little China Girl from Oz the Great and Powerful immediately upon seeing her.

The night after seeing the movie I looked up merchandise for this China Girl. I knew that any figures I'd find of her would not be porcelain, and I liked that idea. A "china" doll made of plastic. Ha.




I found three figures:

-A 19 inch limited edition of 500 Disney Store doll for $179... though because it sold out from the Disney store, I could only find a link to an Amazon page for it, where it's selling for $599.

-A 14 inch doll by the brand Tollytots that is only available through Target (and of course Amazon) for $19.99 (Target) and $37.47 (Amazon).

-And a 4 inch Disney Store doll for $9.50. This doll is now also sold out at the Disney Store and can be found on Amazon for $24.95 plus 5 bucks shipping. (It's actually gone up in price in all of four days. It was $19.99 when I checked on the 22nd)


So the next day I went to Target and the Disney Store. I decided I wanted the 14 inch and the 4 inch - the 14 inch to sit next to me and my computer, and the 4 inch to take with me in my purse wherever I go. I saw her at Target, and there was a lot of her, but I was without cash until that Friday, so I took a couple pics and promised to be back.


This was her without a flash...

And her with a flash....

I may be crazy, but it looks like the flash brought some light in to her. :)

I then went to the Disney Store to look at that one, and thought it was adorable. I didn't take a picture of it, but was very much looking forward to having the little one in my purse.


Thursday night rolled around, and I asked my guy if it would be possible to stop by the Disney Store Friday, since he was planning on heading in that direction. I had errands to run Friday, but it would have been out of the way for me to go that way. He agreed, and I was very happy. However, Friday came along, and he didn't run his errands until late, so I was unable to go. And then St. Patrick's Day Saturday came along, and no one wanted to take a detour to the Disney Store on Michigan Avenue. I wasn't able to go until Sunday afternoon, at which time, one of the workers there informed me that they'd sold the last one just a bit earlier that day. It upset me, but I couldn't think much about it because the next day was when we headed to Detroit.

So the Friday after Detroit, 11 days after I first went looking for the Disney Store doll, I called up every Disney Store in my area, in Chicago, in Indiana, and in between. Ten in all. Every single one of them sold out of the 4 inch doll. And worse, I couldn't find it on the DisneyStore.com either. I was heartbroken. The only place I could find this 4 inch doll was the link above on Amazon. When I had searched on the 22nd, it was $19.99 plus the $5 in shipping. So because I wasn't quick enough to get her at the Disney Store, I'd have to pay $25 instead of $9.50.  My guy saw I was upset, and agreed to let me get the doll. (He was the reason I ended up missing the opportunity the weekend before)

 I felt only slightly better, and headed over to Target to at least pick up the 14 inch doll. I was staring at her for a bit, before I glanced to the left and saw the Oz doll.... who was holding the 4 inch China Girl. It looked just like the one from the Disney Store. But no, couldn't be, right? Because the 4 inch doll from the Disney Store was supposed to be exclusive. I immediately looked him up on Amazon to find some reviews. A few of the reviews did indeed say that this doll was the same doll as the Disney Store doll. And he was $19.99. So - get the Disney Store doll for $19.99 plus $5 shipping online? Or this Oz doll...

 for $19.99 with her included? I got the Oz doll.



So here's some pictures of my new lovelies....

There she is! She does stand on her own, just very precariously. lol. She looks lovely, though not quite like the movie version. Very close though. Actually, I'm considering trying to repaint her some time when the movie reaches DVD. That way I can have some nice closeups of her faceup to work with. And I do intend to add gray to the cracks - since that's how the cracks look on screen. I might even consider spraying her with a matte sealer to remove some of her plastic shine. But that won't be for some months now. For the time being, she sits right next to my monitor, ankles and hands crossed, and looking adorable. She makes me smile when I look at her. I know in the movie her name is China Girl, but my China Girls are going to have names. And this China Girl's name is Elle. I've always liked the name Elle.



And my second lovely....

She has even less detailing than the 14 inch. So same goes for this gal - I might try repainting her in the future.  She's also less poseable. She can't sit without looking really weird, but I still love her. I've named her Sophie. That second picture is really blurry, but it's there to show I only removed Sophie. I left Oz in the box.


Here are my girlies together.

I love them. :)


I actually don't know what I'm going to do with Oz. I don't really want him, only got him for Sophie. I might just store him away in a closet. Or mayhaps I'll give him away or something. I dunno. I haven't thought about what I'll do with him yet. *shrug*