Tea with Lena: Skiing Dolls and Wedding Plans

It was really fun to chat with you about different kinds of head-swapping dolls.  And since my You Create kit arrived just today (!),  I'll be back to re-visit that concept soon.  Based on my experiences with the head-swapping series, and also Barbie Month back in 2023 and the advent calendar focus last December, I'm finding that I enjoy writing groups of themed reviews.  They allow me to immerse myself in one subject matter for a relatively long period of time, and tend to make each individual review shorter than average.  I wonder if this is something that works for you as readers?  If so, I have a few ideas for future series that I think could be interesting.

The problem with these grouped reviews, though, is that they can take a month or more to complete, and so I get pulled away from other things--like Lena.  She's been frustrated with me lately because I haven't had a lot of time to check in with her.  So, in an effort to mend some bridges, I'm going take a little break from serious reviewing and turn today's post almost entirely over to Lena and Ian--with a few mini reviews tucked in for good measure.

Lena with the Pink Passport Made to Move Winter Sports equipment.

When I caught up with the newly-engaged couple, they were sitting around the kitchen table on a chilly mid-morning in March:

It's nice to have a relaxing morning for once!

Yeah, you've seemed less busy with the blog lately.

Well, Emily's been pulling heads off, so I've kept my distance.

Smart.  Have you thought about the wedding at all recently?

I have!  I actually asked Sela if she'd be my maid of honor and she was really, really excited.

I asked Callum to be my best man and he was, eh, Callum.

Sounds about right.  Do you have any other family members that you want to include?

Like, if you have any women who are special to you, I could ask them to be bridesmaids!

I have a cousin, Molly, and we used to be really close.  She still lives in Scotland with her family, though.

I wonder if she'd be willing to make the trip for the wedding?

Do you want to ask her?

You mean right now?  I haven't talked to her in a while, but I guess we could do a video call.

I think that's a good idea.  Does she even know about the wedding?

She does.  I texted her when we got engaged.

It sounds to me like the perfect time to give her a call and catch up.

I'll clear the table while you get things ready.

This is exciting!  I hope she likes me.

She'll love you.  Let me just pull up the app...

I hope we're not interrupting dinner or anything.

Ian!  What a surprise!  It's so good to see you!

Hi Molly!  I'm Lena.

The infamous Lena!  High time we met.  So what's going on with this wedding?  I haven'y heard any news.

Well, actually, Lena has something she wants to ask you.

Molly, I know you're special to Ian.  Would you consider being one of my bridesmaids?

Ach, aye!  I'd love to be a bridesmaid!

Yay!

When is this wedding going to be, cousin?

Well, ah...we haven't actually...

And where is this wedding going to be?  Am I needing tickets to New York, then?

I mean, probably...

Y'know, Ian, it wouldn'y kill you to come back to Scotland for this wedding--or ever, for that matter.

Well, I hadn't thought...

Hey, Mol, where are those kids of yours?  Can we say hi to them?

Avoiding my questions, eh?  Fine.  Kids!  Come say hi to yer numptie cousin Ian.

Cousin Ian!  Cousin Ian!  Cousin Ian's gettin' ma-ried!  I wanne get ma-ried!

Hi cousin Ian!  Are you really gettin' ma-ried?

Hi guys!  Yep, I'm really getting married.  And this is Lena, the person I'm going to marry.

I have a great idea, kids.  How would ALL of you like to play a special role in our wedding?

Yess!  Wooo!  We're all gettin' ma-ried!

Thanks, guys.  You three will make the wedding so much more special.

Hi Lena, I'm Kenna.  I love yer ring!  What's yer weddin' dress like?  Do you have a veil?

Hi Kenna, I'm excited to look at dresses, but haven't gotten around to it yet...

And what'll the bridesmaid's dresses be like?  Can I have a pink one?

And will there be a big cake?  And flowers?  Can I hold some flowers?

Well, of course you can...

And will you kiss Ian at the end? *giggle* I bet you like to kiss Ian A LOT.

Well, Kenna, when two people love each other...

Maybe tone down the questions, Kenna.

No, no, she's fine.  Ask anything.

You're the absolute KING of adventures, cousin Ian.  What marvelous thing are you and Lena doin' today?

Let's see...I thought we'd, ah, we'd try downhill speed skiing today!  Does that sound cool?

Gulp.

Downhill speed skiing, Ian?

Ha ha, you two have a lot to figure out.  And I should go see where the littl'uns went.

But keep in touch, Ian!  And nice to meet you, Lena.

Nice to meet you too, Molly.  And you, Kenna!

Bye!  Have fun skiin'!  Tell me when you have a dress!  And don'y forget I like pink...

Oh, gosh, Ian. They're wonderful.

But skiing?  Really?  When were you going to tell me about that?

I just thought it'd be fun, and, ah...maybe I'll go change into my skiing outfit right about now.

*Sigh* Emily, I guess I need a cute skiing outfit.  STAT.

I hadn't exactly planned on spending my relaxing morning hunting down ski outfits, but it's hard to say no to Lena.

The first outfit that I found is from the Barbie You Can Be Anything series.  This set is from 2022, and I'm not sure was the original retail price was.  I found it on Amazon for just over $20, and now it appears to be sold out:

The set includes not only skiing accessories, but some ice skates, too:

Everything came in a large blister pack, and it was super-easy to pull the plastic away from the cardboard backdrop:

Here's everything that was in the box:

Barbie herself is fairly generic, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and what I assume is the Millie face:

Her saran hair is two shades of blonde and falls down to her waist in a messy-looking, slightly layered wedge cut:

She has a nicely-articulated Gigi body, which is the same one used for all of the Barbie Movie dolls:

The ski ensemble includes a colorful jumpsuit, a purple scarf, goggle glasses, white boots, blue ski poles, and blue skis:

Lena will love this!

And the extra ice skates are bright yellow.  These are molded into a pointed-toe shape, so Barbie can't stand flat on the ground when she's wearing them:

The shape is a little awkward, but it's great for making skating poses!

Too bad Lena and Ian aren't going skating.

I was pretty excited to show this set to Lena, and she eagerly tried on the jumpsuit and a few accessories, but when she got a look at Ian's professional-looking ski clothes, she felt underdressed:

Oh, so we're taking this seriously, I guess?

Emily, do better.  I'm going to need an outfit with numbers on it.

Eager to please, I went back to the drawing board.

Fortunately, I found the Pink Passport Made to Move Winter Sports set, which has a more serious-looking outfit:

Modeled with an unserious pose.

This doll is from 2017, and is quite expensive ($60-$100) on the secondary market.

I hunted around and found a gently used complete set on eBay for $30:

This Barbie looks a lot like the You Can Be version, but with monochromatic blonde hair and a Made to Move body (hooray!):

Lena got impatient with me and jumped in to try on the outfit:

This might work.

The skis are silver, with a molded snowflake pattern:

The ski boots fit snugly into the skis and make a secure-feeling connection:

This feels good.  Maybe skiing won't be too bad.

Give us an action shot, Lena!

I can definitely ski! What could go wrong.

I don't think Lena's ever been skiing before in her life, but at least now she has the right gear.

Looking the part is half the battle.

And, more importantly, her gear is roughly equivalent to Ian's.

Let's do this.

While Ian and Lena head to the slopes (or whatever we have here in New Jersey), I'll take a minute to show you Ian's ski equipment.

As you might recall, Ian is a World Peacekeeper Sport & Adventure guy, marketed in the US under the Click N' Play umbrella.  And, as luck would have it, Click N' Play has a skiing character:

Click N' Play skier, $24.99.

These sets come in cardboard boxes with lots of photo decorations.  On the back of the box, you can see not only the skier, but also the scuba diver (who might look familiar):

There's nothing elegant about the way these toys are packaged, but I have zero complaints.  De-boxing is as simple as dumping the contents out of the cardboard box, and then removing a few plastic bags:

Here's everything that was in the box:

The doll has the same body and articulation as Ian, but with a different face mold:

Definitely not Ian.

I'm not crazy about this face, especially because of the permanent nose thingy.  What is that, anyway?  A nose dilator?  I see a lot of athletes wearing those.

It reminds me of Rainbow High's Jade Hunter (and also Lila Yamamoto), who come with bandages on their noses for some strange reason:

Green is my favorite color, so I want to like Jade, but I don't like the bandage.  Did she get a nose job?  Is she also a skier??

Anyway, the Click N' Play skier's outfit comes in two pieces.  There's a blue jumpsuit:

It hides nothing.

This has a zipper closure in back, which is cool:

And there's also a red and white numbered vest, which fits over the jumpsuit:

This closes in back with velcro.

The ski boots are molded white vinyl with painted red straps:

These match the helmet, which is also red and white, with a black elastic chin strap:

There are also goggles:

And what looks like a fancy stop watch:

Here's a closer look at the face of the timer:

I appreciate that the brand name of this stopwatch is Timin, like the contraction of timing.  I don't think it's a real brand, though.

The skis in this set are great. They're made out of yellow plastic and have black accents:

Unlike Barbie's skis, which have a simple, static grip for the boots, these skis have bindings that look very realistic--and actually move:

The front of the binding slides back and forth to clamp down over the toe of the boot:

The ski poles match the skis and have elastic wrist straps at the top:

I tried to get the action figure fully-dressed, but the helmet and goggles are really hard to put on together:

That's not going to work.

With a lot of adjusting and fiddling, I finally got everything to look okay:

Oh--maybe the nose strip is tape to keep the goggles from fogging over?  I've seen that, too.

The boots work pretty well with the fancy bindings, but the connection doesn't feel as secure as it does with Barbie's skis:

But the overall look is great!

You get a lot for your money with these Click N' Play sets.  I'm always impressed by the detail and realism.  And everything feels high-quality, too.  In the back of my head, there's this angry little voice wondering why action figures get better accessories than fashion dolls, though.  I mean, the Barbie sets I looked at cost an equivalent amount, but the quality and realism are not as good.

I need to give Lena and Ian a bit more time to get to the ski area, so I might as well tell you more about Molly and her family, too.

Molly is a Swappin' Styles Fashionista from the 2011 Sporty gift set.  I learned about her when I was writing the head-swapping series (she's the very first Fashionista with red hair!), and found her on eBay, used, shortly thereafter:

She has beautiful silky red hair and bright green eyes:

My doll's left eye is a bit wonky, and her upper lip is lopsided:

But I like the fun mix of colors in her makeup.  She has bands of teal and purple over her eyes, and hot pink lips:

One of the things I love about the Swappin' Styles Fashionistas is that it can be hard to tell that they're head-swappers; the torso seam is well-concealed.  But Molly has that telltale button on her back:

And she can share clothing with all of the other Swappin' Styles girls:

Molly wearing Swappin' Styles Sweetie's dress.

Molly's eldest child, Kenna, is a Stacie doll with articulated knees:

I found her on eBay for about $5.  She's used and did not come with an outfit.  She stole this dress and shoes from another doll:

Without the outfit, it was hard to track down her origins, but I believe she's from the Sisters Skate! set:

That set is from 2011 and is crazy-expensive ($100 and up) on the secondary market right now.

I love that Kenna has green eyes and freckles:

I've never been much of a Stacie collector, but Kenna is winning me over to the idea.  She's very charming--despite her incessant questions.  I like her expression and size better than Skipper, and it's a nice bonus that this particular doll has bendable knees.  

It's rare, but there are a few Stacie dolls that also have articulated elbows.  I'm on the hunt for this one:

She originally cost about ten bucks, but because articulated Stacies are so rare, she's become both expensive and hard-to-find.

I originally wanted Molly's younger daughter, Maisie, to be Cheeseburger Chelsea:

I've been looking for an excuse to buy Cheeseburger Chelsea for ages.  She's completely bizarre, and also completely delightful:

Why is she dressed like a cheeseburger?  Whatever the reason, I'm there for it.

I found her on sale for $8.99, which is a small price to pay for all of the giggles she's given me.

She comes with a really cute pet dog who's wearing French fries on his head:

Because why not.

Fortunately, the French fries are removable:

The dog looks like a miniature pincer or something, and even has an articulated neck:

The bestest boy.

Chelsea herself has a pale skin tone, blonde hair, and big blue eyes:

It drives me a little crazy that all Chelsea dolls are looking up, but I suppose it makes sense.  They're very short.

Chelsea's cheeseburger outfit is made out of fabric, and even has a green lettuce ruffle at the waist:

I never thought I'd have occasion to say "lettuce ruffle" on this blog.  But here we are.

From the back, you can see the velcro closure:

But no lettuce ruffle.

In the end, I didn't use this Chelsea for Molly's family because her coloring isn't quite right.  But I'm very happy to have her in my collection.

Maisie is actually a Chelsea who I've had in the house ever since I went to the Toys R Us at American Dream:

Her bright red hair and hazel eyes fit a little better with the other kids, and I love her bee dress (although it's really short)!

I feel like Chelsea dolls with fully-removable outfits are getting rare.  Most of the newer dolls have molded tops and fabric bottoms.  I much prefer the look and versatility of fabric clothing.

Maisie's face paint is not as crisp and clear as Cheeseburger Chelsea's, which is too bad.  She has a lot more graininess in her eyes and lips:

Here's Cheeseburger Chelsea again so you can see what I'm talking about:

There's some pixelation in Cheeseburger Chelsea's lower eyelashes, but her lips are a nice, solid pink.

Molly's youngest child, Oliver, is the toddler boy from this Skipper Babysitters Inc. set:

This set is from 2020 and cost around $8.50.

The picture on the back of the box makes the little boy look more redheaded than he actually is:

Here's a closer look:

The promotional photos for this set also make the boy look like a redhead:

Which is pretty much why I bought the set.

In reality, Oliver has medium brown hair (auburn if I'm being generous).  But he's very cute, and there aren't very many Barbie toddler boy options.

As a bonus, Oliver comes with a colorful plastic play kitchen:

The spoon and measuring cup can be removed from their pegs and held by Oliver, and the cupcake sign spins a little, but there are no other moving parts.

And the back of the kitchen is hollow:

I was mostly interested in Oliver himself:

I'm such a sucker for freckles.

He has an all-fabric one-piece outfit with a blue and white striped tee on top and yellow shorts on the bottom.  Everything closes in back with velcro:

I love Oliver's large green eyes:

He has molded hair with realistic swirl patterns in it, and a bright, expectant look on his face.

So that's all of Molly's family except for her husband.  I'm not sure where he was during the call, but maybe we'll meet him at the wedding.

Now we'd better check in on Lena and Ian, who seem to have found a hill (or large rock?) on which to test their skiing skills:

This looks like a good spot.

Ian somehow used his ski poles to maneuver his boots into their bindings, but Lena had to sit down to wrestle her skis in place:

This is harder than I expected.

And now I'm stuck.  How do I stand up without slipping?

Keep your skis crossed and move slowly.

Okay...whoa...I'm not sure this is going to work...

Ack!

Are you okay?  Here, grab my pole.

Really, Ian?

See if you can pull yourself up.

I'll spare Lena some indignity here by not showing you the pictures of her trying to get up.  It took a minute.

Whew.  Thanks.  Now what should I do?

Now go that way, really fast.

And if something gets in your way, turn.

All right!  Here I go!

Eeee!

Whoa...

*Swish*

Woo hoo!!

Oh, my gosh!  Ian!  I did it.  Now it's your turn.

Here goes nothing.

Look out below!

Erm...

Oops...

*Thunk*

Ow...

whoa, whoa, whoa...

Ian!

Urp...

Ooof.

Nice landing.  Do you need a hand?

That was scary!  I'm glad you're okay.

Rather than brave the hill again, Ian and Lena decided to take refuge on a nearby rock:

Thanks for trying that with me, Lena.  I'm impressed--as always.

But let's never do it again.

Fine with me.

And about the wedding, I don't want to pressure you, but we should probably pick a date.

Well, given how cold I am now, I say we pick a summer month.

So maybe July or August?

That sounds amazing.

And, you know, maybe Molly's right about you going home?  It could be fun to get married in Scotland!

It means a lot that you'd even consider that for me, Lena.

I'm just excited to marry you.

I can hardly wait.

Bottom line?  I'm a little disgruntled about all the time and effort I put into finding ski gear for Lena and Ian, only to have them say they're never hitting the slopes again.  But it's actually for the best; I nearly got frostbite on my hands documenting this particular adventure.

And now I have a summer wedding to plan, with an ever-increasing wedding party to accommodate!  And Scotland?  I'm not sure what to think about that crazy idea.  But as long as Lena lets me tag along while she tries on wedding dresses, I'm fine with pretty much anything she decides.

Kenna would be disappointed if we didn't kiss right now.