Casual Fridays: Big Hair Don't Care--#Hairdorables, Sk8r Noah and the Hairdorables Crew, and Crafting Creatively To Break Down the Box

Big Hair, Don't Care. Especially on a Friday.

Why yes, I haven't done a Casual Friday here since we were in the Year of the Horse. Now we're in the Year of the Dog. Well, that and the continued Year of Blind Boxing All the Toys. I've been sitting on several non-AG items for some time, wanting to Casual Friday them, but have had enough trouble just keeping up with AG releases and my own brain.

Let's make a step in the blog direction. Let's bring back Casual Fridays in a big way. A big hair way.

Since it's also Flashback Friday, let's take it way back first. Remember being a kid in the 80s and begging your parents for quarters to put into the vending machines at the front of stores, outside banks, and inside the now-dead Toys R Us? You got lured in by the shiny stuff on the front or the fact that machine said it had Spider-man, popped in your change--anywhere from a single quarter to four of them lined up back to back--turned the crank, and got a little plastic capsule with some kind of Cracker-Jack level toy.¹ You got just a sticker or a temporary tattoo, if you had bad luck. You may have lucked into a bouncy ball, or got the one you wanted if the machine specialized in those. Sometimes you got a plastic ring or necklace for kiddie swag, or a little plastic figurine. Some had the same amount of quarters you'd spent back, which was like a second chance to spend your funds. You probably never got what they showed on the front of the machine that lured you in the first place, but you still had something tiny and plastic to amuse you for a few minutes and your parents could finish paying for the groceries. It was baby's first slot machine, only you actually got something at the end. I'm sure I put way too much loose change in those as a kid and every little bitty thing I got is either trashed or hiding in a bin somewhere in my mom's stuff. My fave were the little plastic charms that were all the hype in the 80s. I had so many tiny plastic mirrors with jingle bells on them, fam. If you've ever played anything with a Japanese influence or are just a bloody nerd like me, then you've also had the same feel if you've gone after gachapon, which are capsule toys but of nicer quality.

So this blind box shit's not new in the slightest. It's just taking off at higher price points than the loose change in your mom's purse.

Nowadays, blind box, mystery open, or blind bag toys are everywhere. Some have codes that'll hint at what's inside. Most times they come in boxes that are sealed, and you have no idea what was in the box till you open it. No refunds if you get doubles, kids. Hope you've got someone to trade with. I've been known to chase down things like this. In the 80s it was C.U.T.I.E.s, the distaff counterpart to M.U.S.C.L.Es. Recently it's been Funko Mystery Mini Disney Princesses, Mini Barbies, Steven Universe figures, Tokidoki brands, and blind bag/blind box My Little Ponies back when ponies didn't piss me off. My local comic book store² has a few variations once in a while, often has a trade box if you get one and want to trade brand for brand, and I'll grab one when picking up my nerd books with the caveat that I have to like over 75% of what I'll get before I pick one out and drop funds, and I generally don't gotta try to catch em all. I also try to stop once I've reached the point where there's only a few I want to find and the chance of finds are low, then decide to hunt down those I want on eBay. eBay, where people will try to make you pay through the nose for the one that only comes one in every thirty-six boxes.

The two major lines that have been in the toy aisles at Fred Meyer and Target³ in the past couple of years taking up good space are Shopkins and L.O.L Surprise. I haven't gone for either. Shopkins don't thrill me as Things, But With Eyes, plus Bae hates anthropomorphized food. The dolls have weird expressions as well--plus by the time they came along, I had already written off the line. LOLs have been popular among my feed buddies, but the dolls have plastic clothes and hair and for me, that's a big nooooooope. LOL has expanded greatly with little sisters, pets, and other such bits. Still a noooope.

So when I heard about the Hairdorables, my interest was piqued. Hairdorables, if you either don't know or enjoy being a bridge troll and living under a rock, are chibi-style mystery package dolls released by Just Play that are made for today's go-go YouTube vlogging and camera unboxing toy kidfluencer. Basically, all those unboxing videos on the 'Tube? Just Play's trying to tap into people who do that and people who enjoy watching people open boxes on camera for your amusement. The price point of Hairdorables is noticeably higher than other brands at thirteen bucks, but the hair isn't plastic--in fact, their hair is their big selling point--and they're focused on specific characters instead of like, forty different ones on a spread sheet. Except there's a spreadsheet.

Okay, let me back up again and give you a summary of their whole shtick. The backstory goes that the Hairdorables started when main character Noah, while doing a vlog about her putting in a side braid, accidentally smushed the words "hair" and "adorable" into the word Hairdorable. The hashtag and the video went viral, she launched her own channel with her buddies, and now they get on the internet and share all their quirky traits. The Youtube channel just launched today--perfect timing--and the official Instagram is adorable. They also have a Twitter and a Facebook but really, this is an IG kind of line. 

The line launched at the start of August and the first wave, or Series One, is introducing us to the twelve characters. Right now Hairdorables are only at Target, WalDeMart, and Amazon. I saw them on the shelf during one of my 35th Anniversary MLP Runs⁴ and decided hey, if I hate them after the first one I open then I'll sell it off and consider it not my thing. This is literally how I got into Harry Potter. I should have known.

Guys. Gals. Enby pals. Hairdorables are my thing. Well, it's a thing that I like and that makes it mine.

Also on Monday, when I was not asleep but should have been, my brain went "hey, I wonder if there's a Hairdorables wiki?" One Google search later and. Um. There were two, in the sense two had parked on Wikia/Fandom, the same place that's been hosting the AG Wiki for the past ten years. But they were not up to even minimal snuff. One hadn't done anything but URL park--they literally only had the main page. And the other? There were fourteen pages, and one was a fan character. A fan character. Noooooooooooooope. Do not allow or do this when you are trying to inform, especially if you haven't even gotten good data pages up. 

So, having run a successful wiki for ten years, I decided that if you want the thing done right you gotta be the one to do it yourself. One creation, four hours of sleep, and several hours later, the Absolute Hairdorables Wiki was born. Just like the AG wiki, I run a neat ship and will not buck nonsense. I've already turned off the "add a pic to the gallery" button site wide, all the comments under articles because no one needs that, and anon editing. And when I wasn't putting my braids back in the past two days, I coded. All the characters and each of their doll pages made nearly fifty pages. And that's before I started defining things and noting anatomy and all that. You want a good wiki, you make a good wiki and you treat it right.

The first half of this post is me opening my first one, way back when on that far flung day of August 12th. At the time I hadn't figured out my aspects on my phone, so the pics are long and wide at a 16:9 Ratio. Live with it, I wasn't cropping. Then there's some blog shots of my collection so far. Finally, I'll have a craft for all those people who want to keep the backgrounds but don't want or can't deal with huge boxes in their living space.

Jump under the cut and start living your best Hairdorable Life. 

There's going to be so many box pics.

So. The box. The whole thing with these mystery boxes is that you're supposed to be willing to or wanting to open the box in front of a camera, even a still one. Just Play is also trying to sell the whole "unboxing is an experience"⁵ so the box has levels of opening.

First, the box. It's mostly purple, with a silhouetted figure of Noah on the front holding a heart, with the hair visible. The dimension ratio of the doll can be sussed from this; big head, small body, lots of hair.

To the side are three of her buddies. We'll get to know them as the box opens. At the top is the logo and the slogan: Big Hair, Don't Care! Just Wave Your Hair in the Air and Curl it Like You Just Don't Care. The logo has a comb in the I and a bobby pin around it. Oh my gods that's precious. Someone has the graphic design down. Also it's rainbow. Rainbows are cool and #InstaGay.

The opening part is closed over with a plastic cover, so people in theory won't be able to open stuff to peek inside. Jerks have already started taking the plastic off, opening them, putting the plastic back to make it look unopened, and then returning them. Don't be that jerk. Take the L if you get a double.

Eleven surprises. There'll actually be a tick less.

The front of the box boasts eleven surprises. We'll get to those.

Series One.

Near the bottom we also have a cute little simulation of a video with a heart, playback icons, a verified checkmark--Noah got her channel certified--and a note that this box should not be given to children under three or the sad onion will cry.

I have friends, do you have friends?

On the right side of the box is an image with Noah and three of her friends. We'll get into who they are soon.

More box.

The left side of the box sells you on the backstory and the brand.

Bio blurb.

Hello, influencers! It's your time to SHINE! 

Introducing Noah and the #Hairdorables! Noah is a super sweet girl with a talent for styling hair. When she posted her front braid tutorial for fun, she never imagined it would go viral! Since then, Noah has loads of inspiring friends who love to share their passions, so when she asked them to contribute to her channel, they all yelled out a resounding YAAAAAS! 

Check out the HAIRDORABLES  Channel on YouTube!

I know it's an ad blurb, but I like the message in there. Don't be afraid to just share yourself and your passions. Add to the information positivism or make something good in the world. It's why I AG blog. That and copious bitching. Which is a form of positiveness.

Noah~!

Noah's pic on the side is super cute. She's holding her tablet in front of her face. If I'd thought about it I'd have scanned this in, but I will the next box I get.

It's like Instagram, if you're a doll collector.

The back simulates an Instagram feed--well, semi. It's twice as wide at six images across. There's photographs of the whole crew and various hashtag images.

Thirty-six dolls.

 The top informs you there's thirty-six dolls to collect, and also has another image of Noah with the camera in front of her face. #Instalove.

Selfie stick for all your videos.

There's another pic of Noah with a selfie stick. Fun fact: Selfie sticks are banned in all Disney parks, in part because someone got Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed using one mid-ride. Dude, why did someone do that. Idiots.

The eleven surprises.

The eleven surprises are listed on the back. And already I'm like "correction needed!" Four stickers are one surprise collectively. Eleven surprises with duplicates of four of them are not separate surprises anymore than the AG ballet set Bae got me at Costco can boast fifteen items when the pair of shoes are counted separately. It's like art kits where they say you have over a hundred items, but you have sixty sheets of paper. No, what I have is a failure to communicate.

That being said, your surprises are a collector list, comb, the aforementioned four stickers, shoes, two different accessories, the signature card, and the doll in her outfit.

Box butt.

The bottom of the box has all that lovely legal data you want. the Just Play logo, URLs to the Social Media, disclaimers that contents may not match pics, the contact data if you have issues, and hashtags and IG and YouTube logos.

The top.

The top--showing the plastic--shows where to removed the clear cover, then pull to open. This is a first edition box, with a clear round opening. Newer boxes have a rectangular plastic pull over the yellow, and then an additional clear plastic around it. Still all series One.

....open open open.

First surprise!

And we're one surprise in with the plastic cover off, the checklist! This is same across the series so this shouldn't count as a surprise either. Just Play, I'm calling you out. (*stage whisper* No I'm not.)

The whole gang's hair!6

The back shows off the whole gang, with Noah at the center. Already I'm loving the diversity. There's twelve characters and half of them visually don't code Caucasian. That's more diversity than AG did in years of the GotY line. They even got a black girl! Two of em, in different tones! Down for this kind of thing.

Your package options.

The other side shows the thirty-six dolls. Well, shows thirty-five of them. I'm getting to it.

Let's meet our doll crew.

Noah, Kat, and Kali.

Noah, as stated, is our blogger and media guru. You gotta have blue hair. Bring the anime.

Kat is our resident animal lover and comes with dogs. I really wasn't geeked for her to start with until later. You'll see.

Kali is our black STEM girl who's basically like "there's an app for that." More PoC STEM girls. All the PoC STEM Girls.

Bella, Skylar, and Willow.

Bella is our pretty blond and fluffy, cheese eating ballerina. Headcanon: someone's from Wisconsin. She offers the first non-common doll: Royal Bella is a Rare, and only shows up some of the time. Give her time. I'll be able to snap her up on the 'Bay for a sensible cost.

Skylar is our world traveling Native Hawaiian; her bio states that she's descended from Hawaiians. She's got a purple streak but otherwise brown hair.

Willow is our brown skinned fashionista into unicorns. So like Rarity. Unicorns and mermaids are the fantasy creatures of the hour right now, so she's all pastels and unicorns. Fun fact: Willow is the only one in this series who doesn't get a hair clip accessory. All her headstuff is unicorn headbands.

Dee Dee, Harmony, and Brit.

DeeDee is our other certified black girl and into food, candy, and cooking. With those curls, she's black. And her hair's bicolored. I'm so down for split hair colors.

Harmony is our music loving performer with neon green hair. Headcanon: British and even if she's younger than their heyday, she is so into the Spice Girls.

Brit is our dark haired sports girl. I'm not a fan of the sports kid. I'll probably stumble over at least one just because I don't want her. It's inevitable.

Sallee, Neila, and Rayne.

Sallee--two ls, two es--is another brown girl whose whole thing is art. One set of her has GLASSES. Fine Just Play, why don't you just make me hunt down every version of her, DeeDee, Kali, and Willow there is. Damn you.

Neila is our space loving brown lady and, in this year of our Luciana Twenty-Gay-Teen, I'm making her Latina. She also has our second rare, Super Neila. Like Royal Bella, she's harder to find.

Rayne is our lesbian⁷ rainbow and lavender menace roller skater, and you can't see her last doll because that one's the single ultra rare in the line. She's the hardest to find and people are already paying upwards of new AG doll prices for her on the bay. Babies, don't. Wait for prices to drop.

Open me!

...open open open.

Pull tab.

The pull tab rips down the front of the box with a satisfying ripping sound. Mmm, ASMR.

Background.

The box splits open to show off a background. These are randomized, so the background is no indicator of who you'll get with one exception.⁸ Now that's a surprise, Just Play. Count that in the list. This one's a hanging chair and, when you fold the bottom down, a floor.

One, Two Three, Four, get your curlers, on the floor.

The left side has four sections behind cardboard punch outs. That's my left, not the box's. We're not proper lefting and righting here. I do enough of that confirmation documenting doll things and I can't tell my left from my right without holding my hands out and making the L.

The Manga warning!

The right side has the doll but stop! Collaborate and listen. Open me last! If this is your first box, then do it in order. If you've opened three or five or twenty-seven of these, feel free to open this side first and "spoil" yourself. That's what I do now.

You can also see the box seals with velcro. No, 3M, I will not call it loop and hook tape. I know you need to reinforce your copyright name so it doesn't go the way of zipper and escalator, but I call it all coke tool so I'm just your problem, it's like I'm not even a person am I? (/Marceline the Vampire Queen)⁹

First one.

Since this is for the blog, I'll post in order. Number one! The challenge, demand satisfaction, if you get the doll you want, no need for further action.

Bin.

The bins are purple plastic with little tabs to yoink them out.

Indeed, hair we go.

The bins are sealed with plastic to peel off. We've also got Bella saying Hair we go! Like I said. Hair puns.

Comb and sticker.

And we've got our next surprise: a comb and a set of stickers.

Sticky and pointy are our new friends.

The stickers are purple diamonds, blue stars, and pink hearts. No lucky hats or orange mushrooms.  They're likely intended to stick on the checklist. Spoiler: These come in every box. So, not a surprise once you're on your second box.

The comb is yellow plastic, with six tines and a winged heart on the top. On the Wiki we're calling this the Heart Wings Comb.

Second One.

Number Two! If you don't that's okay grab a second: your lieutenant, when there's package to be reckoned.

This one has one of my fave characters on it, Willow. #BlackGirlMagic

Indeed, you go curl.

More puns: "You Go Curl!" Run this shit into the ground. I'm down for it.

Mmm, peeling.

Peel it open and....

Feetgloves!

Shoes! And another sticker.

Sk8r Noah?

At this point, I preeeeetty much knew who I had. And considered it a good sign! Because when you buy your first mystery doll box and get the main character, that's super cool. The heart next to her means it's her signature look too. This bodes well for me and this is when I decided this was a cool line and I was going to be down for it.

Plastic foot gloves.

Let's look at the shoes a bit. They're molded plastic with pink tongues and toes, red base, and blue molded laces. Sort of high topped. Those are back in fashion, says the person who rotates between slip on and strap up Black Girl Gay Timbs. Like and subscribe for more soft pastel butch toy collecting queerness. These are pretty good for plastic shoes, to be honest. They've got more color and detail than most small plastic doll shoes.

Backslit.

The back is slit to make shoes going on and coming off easier. You can also see the little circle where the plastic gate was attached in the plastic injection mold. That's what those little circles are. You learned a thing! Look for them on all your plastic bobbles.

Stickers.

At this point, I tossed all the stickers in the same bin together so they'd be out of the way while I opened surprises. The second sticker can kinda be seen under the first; it's a little sticker phone with a handle. Also not a surprise after the first box. Gimme sticker variety or gimme nothing.

Third one.

Number three! Have your dollies meet face to face. Negotiate a trade or negotiate a time and place. (This is commonplace, 'specially 'tween recruits--most disputes die, and no one shoots!)¹⁰ 

Not a pun, but slightly confusing.

This time we have Skylar, and she's saying--what is she saying? Like me, it can go several ways. It's either love "ur" style, heart "ur" style, or our style but the o is a heart. I'm going with heart. I heart you too baby.

Inside is...

We open it up and...

Tablet!

We have a tablet! Dolls in the tech age. AG took until like, a few years ago to give dolls cell phones. These dolls floss dance.

The front has molded buttons and an indent for the screen sticker. The sticker is a drawing of the video of Noah being totes hairdorable. It's got lots of detail for a small bit that's less than an inch long.

Take a pic.

The back has a camera lens and the logo, as well as I'm assuming a speaker. There's a handle on the left--item's left--so the doll can hold it for posings. Details are so nice.

They do though. Especially when you have fifty plus on your head.11

Another sticker: #BraidsRule. This has another version of Noah and the one Brit I don't want. Okay, the all Brits I don't want. The photo stickers are randomized, but I've gotten this one....lets say it's a lot. Just Play, step yo game up.¹²

Fourth one.

Number four! If you don’t get a new doll, that’s alright. Time to get some contacts and a trader on site. You pay off in advance, you treat them with civility, you turn the doll around so you can have deniability.

The fourth bin is the largest to accommodate the larger accessories like dogs on leashes, unicorn headbands, and hoverboards. 

Snippty!

This one boasts "sheer genius." You see, because clipping sheers cut hair and--okay, yes, I know you got it the moment I typed it out. Warning, don't cut doll hair unless you're skilled. It doesn't grow back.

Open and--you can already see.

Inside is--well you can see--

Skate is life. #Believe it!

The skateboard and the last sticker. This one has Willow with #Believe. She's got cotton candy hair and I love it.

Stripes for speed.

The skateboard is plastic molded. The top of the skateboard has three blue stripes, with the center one wider than the other two.

Pink trucks.

Underneath, the front wheels and the truck--the part of the board the wheels attach to--are pink. And yep, I just learned that's called a truck. The back wheels are unpainted and purple.

All the bits for the doll.

So we've got four surprises done--eight with the stickers, nine with the collectors guide. You know who I have, I know who I have, let's open her up!

Who is she~ [/Michael Jackson]

Let's indeed, see what's in hair. We know, but anyways. Enjoy my last package pun.

Free of the box.

 We slide the largest box out all the way, to get that hot peel action.

Curls for days.

Or have it shown to me the moment I slide the package out. Hair sticking out the back! This is how you can see who your new tiny 'Dorbs is without opening the whole set and sell your doubles as mostly sealed.

Peek a boo--

Teasing you with the slow open and...

I See you!

It's Noah! Specifically, Sk8r Noah. With the 8 and everything. Coding that and messing it up all the time was not the fun part of wiki-ing, no sirree mem solly bob. I so added "Skater Noah" as a redirect.

The empty shell postbirth.

After you've pulled the doll--and her bio card--out of the box, you have a empty plastic shell; there's a spot in the back where all that hair spilled out.

The last little surprise.

The bio card sits behind the doll and is the same per character. So it's like--3/4th a surprise, because by the time you get to this you know who you have. Or maybe not, if you don't have the checklist right by you to compare.

Noah's favorite color is Teal Blue, as her hair shows. You could assume it's dyed but her eyebrows are blue and other versions have solid blue hair so I'm assuming she's a natural bluenette.
Her claim to fame is vlogging.
Activities include "Playing with my cute pooch Lemon, skating, crafting, crushing it on the ukulele… and VLOGGING, of course!" Hmm. Ukulele. Is she Native Hawaiian too? I'm calling it, she is. The more frontline characters of color, the better.
Motto: "If you can dream it, you can make it!" Go girl. Reach for the stars.

Back of the bio card.

The back of the bio cards have images that form a puzzle. If I can get my hands on all twelve characters at least once, these will make a picture.

The full dressed Noah.

Now that she's out of the box and her shoes are on, let's give her the old upsy downsy, droogs. Noah--and all the Hairdorables--are about five inches tall with super big heads that take up 2/5ths of their bodies. Some people have been rebodying them on Monster High, Ever After High, KuuKuu HaraJuku¹³ and other larger jointed doll bodies. I'm not a fan of doing that. Not only is it too much work to then have a doll that I have to go get or make new clothes for, it takes away the super cute style. Gimme that SD Chibi look, I've been watching anime since the late 80s.¹⁴ I'm not trying to change clothes all the damn time, I have AGs for that.

Hey, Girl.

Noah has large teardrop eyes with teal irises, slightly darker pupils, lighter blue highlights, and a single winged eyeliner lash. She's glancing over to her left and my right. The eyebrows are a single thick line. Her nose is tiny small and she has a wide, closed lipped smile with pink lips. The ears are well formed under her hair.

Gods, her face is so cute. I love the big eyes small mouth aesthetic, and I don't just mean the old tabletop game I played in college. 

Noah has blue hair, don't care, and sports her famous side braid. The rest of her hair is loosely curled and hanging loose. I later formed it into spiral curls like her official picture. He hair is soft and bouncy, and given that their selling point is their hair, that's the Switzerland Flag in my book.

...a huge plus, is what I'm saying.


Noah is the only girl to come with a hair dec on her head as well: a felt flower with six petals. The center is red, the outer layer is pink, and there's five little dots in the center. More reasons to peg her as Hawaiian in part. She's my tiny Kanorbles!

Not the best attachment.

The flower does not have the best attachment to her head, though: it attaches with velcro, which means it can stick in and mess up her hair. I'm going to seam rip the velcro off and sew this to a tiny bobby pin or glue it to the smallest hair clip later.

Dress for Vlog Success.

Noah is sporting a striped A line swing dress of polyester satin fabric in blue, light blue, red, and pink horizontal stripes with white stripes in between. There's no hem, but I know it's possible to make things not fray without hemming. At the neckline, armholes, and bottom hem is glittery white stripes.

We already talked about the shoes. Scroll up.

Dress off!

The dress opens fully down the back and closes with velcro. The back patterns don't fully match the front but eh.

bodysuit.

Underneath, Noah has a painted on pink bodysuit that goes up to her chest and a torso with what TV Tropes calls the Hartman Hips:¹⁵ instead of adding breasts to indicate "girl," we have a narrow waist and emphasized hips. Info on the official Youtube indicate she's twelve, which is when kids start transitioning into adult bodies. Ah, puberty. Glad that's behind me. Technically twelve is too young to have a Youtube Account unsupervised, so her parents know about this vlogging. It's not wholly illegal for kids under thirteen to create social media profiles on sites that collect user data, but the parent or guardian legally has to be aware of the account, knows the user data is being collected, and has approved the kid's account or are in charge of it. I'm older than social media taking off, so if you are too and a toy collector, you can be like me and just tell every twelve year old to go elsewhere, grown folk are talking. I try not to follow anyone under sixteen, and even sixteen is iffy if we don't know each other elsewhere.

Her arms are different: the one on her left is bent to pose on her hips or touch her face, and the right is straight. This means she can be posed a little like her bio card pic. Her hands have little formed fingers and are slightly cupped. Her legs are straight with shaped knees, calves, and ankles and defined toes. No nails. Too small.

Also, I'm holding her in my hand because my Noah has looser hips and she sometimes wobbles and falls over. This was easier. Enjoy my palm. 

Pose! Or dangle.

The head pivots side to side, but not up and down. The arms and legs are on rotating peg-style joints with lots of posing ability. They have five points of articulation altogether. Not the posing multijoints of the early Monster High before those started tapering into death, but about on the level of an AG. Down for it.

From the back.

The back shows a curve for the spine, the buttock cleft slightly, and the stamp on the back of the head showing the copyright. Toys are generally molded and go into production a year or two before they launch, hence the 2017 date.

Pose for the camera!

I did my best to pose Noah with all her accessories. She holds the tablet well.

Firm grip.

However, her loose hips combined with her big head and massive curls made her tumble backwards off the skateboard every time. I gripped her for the above shot. I later determined that her hips are possibly defective.

The Bluest Hair and the Lack of Care.

I did get her to stand unaided using the box for this shot. I also later gave her the Nethie Hair makeover, so her curls aren't so free and wild.

Overall I'm really, really pleased with Hairdorables as a concept and a brand. The concept is made for people who unbox and reveal on camera with "kidfluencers" and that's not me. I blog for adult collectors--in fact, have I said fuck on this post twice? Nope. I just did, though so Rated R for Really Big Bitch. I'm never going to be a vlogger--no one needs to hear me stumble over my words, get frustrated in the middle, and cuss a lot out loud, and I don't have the camera set up to vlog. I leave vlogging to Mommy's World and My Froggy Stuff as my adult collector vlog fix---I watch stuff like them when spinning yarn--and I've always been a better writer than a camera kid, because I type real fast. So I won't be taking copious unboxing shots or vids for anyone else unless I snap a pic of who I've got in the car or something. Not my forte.

The dolls are super precious. The chibi style thrills me, the faces are super cute and fit the SD style. There's a lot of posablity in their small bodies. The clothes being actually fabric instead of formed split plastic is great--it means dolls can look good from the back too. The shoes are split to fit, but I'll live with it, it's what you have to do some days. The accessories are super well formed on a small scale and very realistic. All the parts that make up the main surprise--shoes, doll, and accessories--are great together and really make for a good character.  I'm not going to use the comb personally--I have a pintail comb and several doll brushes for dolly hair--but I'm going to keep it. With a doll line that aims to focus on the hair, having a comb in the box is a great thing.

There's parts that I'm not a fan of as with any line of anything. I'm not pleased with "stickers" as my surprise--especially knowing now that half of them are the same in each box--and I maintain that the backdrop is more of a surprise than the collector sheet will ever be. The bio card is also not a huge surprise, but they are unique per character if not per look. So really, you've got five doll-focused surprises including doll, a three-quarter surprise in the bio card, the checklist, random backdrops, and four stickers. Close to eleven but not exact. Nine. Maybe eight. Still more overall than a LOL Surprise and without plastic hair.

So am I going to get more? Well...

Gang of Seven!

Yeah. Yeah I did. This is why you should IG me often, peeps, you'd know how deep I'm in. I try to get to Target on a regular basis--since I no longer have TRU to get my toy fix--and WalDeMarts whenever I'm near one which isn't really often in my part of the PNW. After Noah I got one, then one again, then spoiled myself with a two-risk, then took a gamble and grabbed three at once. The three risk was the time I fumbled and hit my first double, a second Sk8r Noah. And in the process of fiddling with her, learned my Noah had better hair but the other had nicer hips. So I'm keeping her, is what I'm saying, and will give her little freckles later. I also have two more in the mail I bought from someone with doubles. If I get doubles of my own I'll trade or exchange with friends and among my fora, give them away, or donate them if possible to Giftmas celebrations.

Vloggy bloggy.

You just read all about Noah. This is my first one with the looser hips. Also I really like Noah because one of my late uncles and one of my kindest ones was named Noah, so I already had a soft spot for her. Getting her first set a nice theme for me.

Travel and Unicorns.

The next two were Hair We Go Skylar and Whimsical Willow. Two brown girls in a row!

Two pack, two attack.

A twofer indulgence got me Stylin' Sallee and Cutie Kali. Five packs in and I had three of my four favorite characters. Kali's got the closest to my skin tone and I've been known to sport purple hair, don't care. And Sallee is me, if she also wrote books.

Pets and snackables.

The three pack--where I hit my first double--netted me Kat Walk, Dee Dee-Licious, and the second Noah not seen in this picture. Dee Dee rounds out my top four, and while I was all ready to pass on Kat, the little bugger had the fucking nerve to be hairdorable. So I'm keeping her. Damn honey blonde curls. Brit if I get you and then like you, I'm going to plotz.

So here's my new toybsession to add to the ponies, Pokemon, and AGs. If I get doubles I can't trade or sell, I'll start painting faces and experimenting with new looks--as long as they don't get too out of style from the original. I'm not going to rebody anyone, I really don't like overly detailed glossy faces--I think the whole point of a custom is to evoke the feel of the original lines in some way, but make your own twist. I might even give some away, who knows.

Big hair, don't care! Okay, care a little. Make the world a better place. And rock your own Hairdoable style! And help me pick a name for Second Noah.

Next time on Casual Friday: Neth washes a stuffie for the blog.

--Neth 

Kat demands attention!

Hey! Hey you, fellow Hairdorable collector! ! Keep reading, don't jump to the comments yet! I said keep reading damn it get back here I am trying to help you.

There. Sit down. Have some tea. It's matcha.

So here you are, five or seven or twenty-two into the line, and you really like the backdrops they come with. They're really good for photography and to frame that perfect Hairdorable short for the Instragrams. But.

The boxes take up a lot of space, and you can't just stack boxes on top of each other to sleep. We're not AG collectors here, fellow Hairdorbs. And while you're tempted to throw out all the boxes and say screw it, how do you save space for the backgrounds you want?

Nethie is here to grant your wish and help you help yourself. I also don't want or need a lot of boxes clogging up my living space either. So I decided to cut the boxes up and make a craft: Hairdorables Flat Backdrops! Between this and the Wiki I am doing so much for all y'all. As my AC Pocket Camp animals are fond of saying, everyone should have a friend like me.

Breaking the box down like this also helps pack down the recycling bin. Saving space and getting to keep the backdrop!

The box and the tools.

What you need is an empty Hairdorables box, two kinds of tape, and a pair of scissors.

Two kinds of tape and sharp things.

You want a clear tape like Scotch, a darker solid tape like masking, and craft scissors. These scissors and I are blood siblings. In that I once stabbed myself in the foot with them and said fuck real loud at 4 a.m. They're sharp, is what I'm saying. Don't use your good sewing scissors. That's a terrible idea. Get craft scissors. Make sure they're good enough to cut through cardboard. You're going to be cutting a lot of cardboard.

You may also want to have a trash box or be real close to the recycling bin to throw things out as you need to. 

Empty the box.

Empty out the plastic bins and bits if you haven't already, so that every chamber is clear. Toss all of it into the bin. Make sure all the flaps on the left side are completely removed.

This side first.

Start with the side that held the four surprises, it's the easier side first. Hold the box upside down so that you're looking at the bottom flaps. See where it's taped closed? Clip all the tape open, so you can lift the flap.

First surprise!

Your first new surprise is that the bins on the left come in a plastic sectional together.

Bin.

Very clear, very plastic. Toss into the bin.

Shoes.

Behind the plastic sectional is a image of the Dorbs' shoes on shelves. Throw it out, or keep it if you want to do some crafty with it.

Open other end.

Go to the top, find all the tape flap, and cut them open again.

Tunnel.

You now have a tunnel.

Flap glue.

You see where the box is flapped together? Carefully cut down that side and only that side.

This line.

You want to cut where the back attaches to the right side when facing you. Don't worry about the side remaining attached. You actually don't want to leave it attached. We have tape. We will rebuild it.

Flat side.

Open up the side you just cut off so it's mostly flat. Cut carefully between the backdrop and the bin flap side.

Side A.

You now have Backdrop Left. Set aside.

Bin stuff.

Throw the rest in the bin. We won't need it.

Box, minus left/right side.

Return to your box, now missing an entire side.

Top.

This time we're starting at the top. Find the tape flaps and cut again.

More flapping.

Do the same at the bottom. Don't open just yet. You can't.

Wardrobe side.

Look inside. See the wardrobe? It's on a flap. We're going to untuck that.

flap out.

Pull the flap out and unfold it, so you can get to the flaps around it.

The unfolding.

The flap out. If you want to keep the wardrobe, cut it off. Otherwise leave it.

Tab and flap.

You can now see a tab and two flaps to untuck.

Free tab.

Start with the tab and carefully slide it out and way from the empty section, separating the right side from the center.

Loose.

Unfold all the way until all the flaps are out.

Flat and cut.

 Fold up from the bottom and cut between the backdrop and bottom of the box along the seam.

Tabbed side.

Unfold the whole side of the box, and cut the backdrop part loose from its side flaps.

Backdrop C.

 You now have backdrop C. Set aside.

Back to the box.

Go back to the box. That seam between the side and the backdrop? Cut the backdrop loose. You can also cut the tab off at this time, cause we won't need it at the end, but I use it for orientation.

Keep the backdrop, now Backdrop B. Bin the rest.

The kept parts.

You now have Backdrop A with the flaps on the side, Backdrop B with the center image, and Backdrop C with no flaps.

Tape!

Tape Backdrop A to the left side of Backdrop B along the back, making sure the images are lined up properly and there's a slight gap for flexing. Turn over and seal with clear tape.

Tape!

Cut off tab on Backdrop B. Tape Backdrop C to Backdrop B along right side along back, making sure image is matching and upright and there's a slight flex gap.Reinforce with clear tape.

Cut off any spare flaps, but not the bottom floor of Backdrop B.

Flex sides to make sure they move well. 

The finished product.

Admire your craftwork.

Pose!

Stand up by using flaps for balance, and put doll in front. Post on the social media for clout.

Three!16

Do this for every backdrop you want to keep.

Storage.

Store flat by tucking up bottom then folding flaps in. I store mine in a large ziplock bag.

Enjoy!

Pose your 'Dorbs in front of you compact backdrops and enjoy that you don't have to keep all the big boxes!

Okay, now I'm done. You can go to the footnotes. Thanks for reading! If this craft helped you, tell me--and if you have spare money shoot me a Ko-fi or send me some Paypal change on the side.

I have a new doll hobby, I like extra funds.

--Neth Again

¹ We're talking the goodish ones from the 80s and back and a little of the 90s. Not this garbage now of a QR code to play some on line game or the paper prizes. Screw you, Frito-Lay. I'll just buy my candied nuts 'n sugar coated popped corn elsewhere.
² Yep, I'm that kinda nerd too, for those that are keeping track. I don't do the Big Two: my regular pickups include the MLP comics,  Steven Universe, and Ducktales. I'm just trying to have a good time and read fluff before bed, not have to learn and read several decades of backstory when the movies exist. Also relaunch Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew.
³ And before June, Toys R Us. Sob.
⁴ I have all the rainbow ponies and Parasol smells like strawberries.
⁵ Like Stevonnie. 
⁶ If you're already groaning at the hair puns then just back up now and go read about dragons or wife pillows or something. The line makes hair puns too. 
⁷Harold, they're lesbians.
⁸ Rayne Showers has a unique metallic background, and if you think I'm digging through boxes to see if I spot it then you got me twisted. Maybe at Target. Not at Walmart. I'm a classy bitch.
⁹ Finn, they're lesbians. [/Adventure Time finale]
¹⁰ I didn't tweak that last part because this is one of the biggest Hamilton lies. Three people get shot in this musical and two die. Both of them are Hamiltons.
¹¹ I recently redid my braids after a two week rest with them out giving my hair a deep condition all over. Thanks to I Kick Shins I am a pastel unicorn orc princess and if you don't like my look go find a bottomless pit to fall in because I have enough people who do.#HairConfidence #BlackGirlMagic
¹² Break it down bitch, lemme see ya back it up! Drop dat ass down low, then pick that muthafuckka up-- (/Lil Jon)
¹³ The line is dead, but I did not bother with these. Anything that is named after or inspired Gwen Stefani is not for Nethie. Especially not the Love Music Baby Angel hot mess.
¹⁴ Whatchu know bout that Noozles Life? Take me to Koalawolla Land with Pinky, Blinky, and Sandy, bitch.
¹⁵ American Girl Outsider is not responsible for any hours lost from you clicking on a TV Tropes Link.
¹⁶ I misstaped one backdrop the first time. It's fixed now.