OUR COLLECTION: The Big, Beautiful Ones

The big, beautiful ladies - Edna, Raven, Mimi, Rosie, Tracy and a standard-sized doll for comparison.

I’m finally doing a post on the Plus-sized Ladies of Leah’s Barbieland. I’d waited until I had them all (or all I could get my hands on).

To recap:

• I was inspired to collect them and educated completely about these options by Lola, a doll friend.
• A person can always make their own larger-bodied dolls of course.

This post is not about dolls I made larger, this post is about dolls that were born this way.

The ladies used in comparison are (L to R):

Edna Turnblad: Made by Jakks Pacific. Promotional tie-in with the movie Hairspray. 2007

Galleria Garibaldi: Character in a movie about the Cheetah Girls.  Raven-Symoné played the character Galleria Garibaldi.  Mattel also released a Raven doll but used the standard body and a head mold called Mbili that is a beautiful African American head mold, but looks nothing like Raven Simone. Iow, if you want a doll that looks different than Mattel dolls, don’t bother with their Raven doll.  That said, if you are seeking a plus-sized doll, this doll barely makes the grade. The doll shown here is made by Play Along Toys in 2007 and part of the Fashion Collection and not the “Concert” collection (my doll doesn’t sing) – the variations are detailed in this Wikipedia entry.  (may thanks to D7ana)

Mimi Bobeck: Character in the television series The Drew Carey Show. Made by Creation Entertainment in 1998.

Rosie O’Donnell, Friend of Barbie: Made by Mattel. Promotional tie-in with the old Rosie O’Donnell show (here’s a link to the new Rosie Show.) 1999.

Tracy Turnblad: Made by Jakks Pacific. Promotional tie-in with the movie Hairspray. 2007

Mammy from Gone with the Wind: Pictures of her will appear lower in this post. Made by World Doll (?), 1989. The company that made them doesn’t seem to have lasted long.

The point of this post is to let people know what’s out there and provide comparison photos about their sizes relative to standard barbie dolls. That’s a question I often have about non-standard dolls. Since I want to provide the best information possible and so I photograph the dolls naked. I think it’s easier to see the real difference when their clothes are off.

Edna Turnblad, Raven Cheetah Girl, Mimi Bobeck, Rosie O'Donnell, Tracy Turnblad, Old Barbie Body, Current Belly Button/ Fashionista Barbie Body

Sitting is a bit of a problem for the girls with the largest bellies. Not sure if a creative doll designer could overcome this problem.

I always appreciate underpants. Raven, Mimi, Edna, Rosie, Tracy.'

I received my Mammy doll after I took pictures of the other dolls together. Mammy is significantly different so I kept her in her own set of pictures.

Mammy in btw Mimi and Tracy. Tracy is wearing a Hearts 4 Hearts ensemble.

An Aside: I have Tracy in a Hearts 4 Hearts ensemble and I will be covering alternative clothing for plus-size barbies in a future post. Finding alternative clothing for these ladies is no easy task

Mammy naked, Edna wearing Mammy's dress.

Now you can see that Mammy’s body is made of cloth, overstuffed with cotton. She can’t sit or change positions at all. I have removed her head and will remove some of the stuffing. Then I’ll add thick wire to her arms, legs and body so that she can hold a position. At least that’s the plan for now. Stay tuned.

I will work on the body and possibly add hair.

I think the only plus size 1/6 scale doll I don’t have, and can’t show you – is a Big Beautiful doll, as shown here and detailed in my earlier post called “Someone Needs to Create an Anti-Barbie“.

Big Beautiful Doll - Madame CJ Walker Tribute Doll

If any readers know of any additional plus-sized dolls please comment and let me (and other readers) know. Of course I know of the various other Anti-barbies like the Get Real Girls and the G5 – I am speaking strictly of true plus-sized – Rosie or bigger. Thanks.

PLAYER PROFILE/RESOURCE: Lola The Crazy Barbie Lady

Lola's collection of plus sized dolls. She's thrown in a BBBBarbie for comparison. L to R: Rosie body wth substitute head, Tracy Turnblad, BBBBarbie, That's So Raven - Non-Mattel version, Mimi Bobeck and ?. The last one may be Happy Family Mom body with substitue head.

It happened like this.

I was emailing with a doll friend, Lola, and she said, “I personally collect Barbies but since my quest is to own every plus-sized fashion doll, a lot of mine aren’t Barbie brand.”

It was a record-scratch moment.

Every plus-sized fashion doll? There exists such a thing?

Lola laid it out for me: Edna and Tracy Turnblad, Mimi Bobeck, one version of That’s So Raven.

She pretty much gave me the list and I got to work assembling it.

In the meantime, I was inspired by the pictures Lola sent me of her collection. As she tells it, her interest in starting a collection came about like this:

“I never played with barbies as a kid–I loved My Little Ponies,” Lola explained, ” It wasn’t until my 6 year old had her own barbies, and traded some with a neighbor.  I realized she had traded one of MY favorites. [That's when] I knew I needed my own:)  I traded back for the traded barbie (a portugese princess) and so my little collection started.”

Lola’s collection, and her personal interest in the Plus-sized dolls (and other miscreants) reminded me of the true diversity of adult-barbie enthusiasts.

Lola sent me this picture of her Motley Crew and I knew right then that this was a woman I HAD to be doll friends with.

Lola did not, at that time, have a blog. But she does now, and her blog is a great one to follow.

While some blogs by adult-barbie-enthusiasts operate more as marketing vehicles for etsy shops or “look what I bought” or “look what I made even though I don’t care to share with you how,” Lola’s blog is truly one where a person can learn something.

Information is shared. Tips are given. Tutorials are offered.

Lola performed surgery on a Rosie Body and a Fashionista head. She made this wonderful plus-sized beauty.

And given Lola’s interest of dolls that are outside the Glam/Slutty Mainstream, you can bet her tutorials are too. Lola’s interest in Rosie O’Donnell bodies led her to find a way to replace the head.

This brought a discussion and wider enthusiast interest out into the light. As it turns out, the Rosie O’Donnell doll body is highly appreciated by more people than just Lola and me.

We heard talk of people buying a Rosie, then buying a second Rosie – in hopes of giving Rosie 2 a different head.  People either wanted to do this, or attempted to do it and failed. And all the while none of us realized there were others out there that liked Rosie’s body and wanted to do more with it.

Now, thanks to Lola and her blog,  if there are people out there wanting to do it but not feeling certain of how to go about it, Lola has a tutorial for it.

So this post is part Resource Link (go check out Lola’s blog), part Player Profile (Lola is an inspiring player), part Love Letter/Shout Out/Thank You (because Lola woke me up to the world of Plus Sized ladies) and part Preview (next up is an in-depth review of the Plus-Sized players I’ve purchased thanks to Lola sharing info with me).

So, with all that said, I hope you are inspired to go buy two Rosies. Keep one as Rosie herself, and maybe give her a Michelle Doll wife.

With the other, replace her Rosie head and make her just one of the gals.

As always – please comment. Kudos, corrections and additional info is always welcome. I see the comments section as an addendum to my post. Any info you can add for other readers only makes the blog more valuable to readers who might stumble across this post in the future. I am never offended when people say, “Yes, but…what about…and did you know….and you forgot to add” – those are my favorite kinds of comments.