Yes, thank you Eseme for posting this!
My story starts with this lovely lady, who was a gift from my husband. (I promise, this post does circle back to the thread topic!)
![Image](https://68.media.tumblr.com/b31faca45219a4b931c5e7f6059815e8/tumblr_p1pdvgSJOH1w09vfoo1_1280.jpg)
Unfortunately she has a manufacturing defect I didn't notice until after deboxing her. Her upper arms were installed on the wrong sides. >_< (And, as Playscale Poser pointed out, her hands are also on the wrong arms.) This limits the range of poseability on what should be a poseable doll. I wrote to Mattel Customer Service, hoping they would do an RMA.
The outcome was that Mattel didn't have a replacement available, so they sent me a voucher for the retail price. That was nice of them. I would have been alright with a replacement body (no head), but they'd already sent the voucher so I didn't ask. I didn't expect to find a The Look Sweet Tea at any retail store, so gave up on getting an exact replacement.
My 1:6 goals for 2018 are:
- keep figure acquisition to a minimum of 15
- focus on clothes and accessories
- more making than shopping (This is more about the time spent sewing/crafting/photographing vs online browsing, than number of items made vs purchased.)
With these goals in mind, and based on a few people's luck with findings (and sales!), I checked Wal-Mart. There isn't one near where I live, but I brought the voucher when I knew I was going by one on the highway. They were sold out of the Hello Kitty clothes, by the empty labelled space on the rack. They did have a few yellow accessory packs but the only one I wanted was the tech pack. I didn't buy anything.
Next I tried another Wal-Mart after work. It's out of my way, but closer to work than to home, and there's both a Wal-Mart and Toys R Us not far from each other. And success! They had 2 columns of small and a column of large Hello Kitty clothes packs! Including some pieces I hadn't seen online. Some of the large ones had Care Bears mixed in. But no turquoise Chococat dress. That and the Little Twin Stars waffle weave top were the items I wanted most. And there was no tech pack among the yellow accessory packs. So I tried TRU down the road.
TRU had no Hello Kitty fashions. (I thought they might be W-M exclusive, but have since read they're also at Target and some other stores.) No little yellow packs either. They had some different clothes, but not enough that I liked to make up the voucher amount. They had a Pink Top MTM, but it was $17. Nope. I put back the mint party dress for Curvy. I'd save the voucher, good until May, and hope one of the dolls from Papusile Mele's list
http://papusilemele.com/en/2018/01/05/l ... bie-dolls/ would be out in stores before then and I'd like it enough to buy. But I went back to Wal-Mart to at least get a few HK tops before they all disappeared.
![Image](https://78.media.tumblr.com/99bb104d26405ce543d9f883e84778d7/tumblr_p3ntgdwoGt1w09vfoo1_1280.jpg)
So I'm picking out clothes, check the yellow packs again... and think, maybe there are more up high. No yellow. But! Above the HK, are three more stacks of those! I asked an employee for assistance. He came back with a ladder, and Success! The Turquoise Chococat Dress! *squee!*
(No, I didn't really squee aloud in front of the employee. Probably.)
He brought all of the front stacks down. After I thanked him and he left, I sorted what would add up to over the voucher amount, then filed the rest in the racks.
So with the voucher from Mattel and $1.49, this is what I got:
![Image](https://78.media.tumblr.com/b4d0e6d3f744eb62906951d3b403a204/tumblr_inline_p3nsja58uA1ubq1ge_500.jpg)
The two skirts had been up top also. Not Sanrio, but someone would wear them. (Mariko already claimed the red one.)
Beside being Chococat, and blue, the reason I wanted that dress pack so badly was the cat ears headband, for Kira, to replace the crude one I made.
![Image](https://78.media.tumblr.com/6d24405d59b336d7464ce60d6869ca41/tumblr_p3nudkgMQL1w09vfoo1_500.png)
My male figure population expanded nicely last year, but some came nude, and my collection was lacking menswear to begin with. Of the available selections, I picked one, mainly for the pants (which I should be making anyway). I didn't think any of my guys would wear the Malibu hoodie, but in retrospect I should have picked one up. If it would fit IT Homme, Abhishek (Anthony Julian) would wear it. Here is the one Ken outfit I got, modeled by Soldier Story Henry Kano.
![Image](https://78.media.tumblr.com/2725ffa9e5bbf7363c7b0b48703fb682/tumblr_p3nu0m72BG1w09vfoo1_500.jpg)
Sweet Tea may be rebodied at some point; maybe to a Made To Move or Fortune Day body.
She may have just accidentally become my mini-me.
![Image](https://78.media.tumblr.com/f9fe86adeca8b64c0c99d1cfdc30e2dd/tumblr_inline_p3nsnbMxsl1ubq1ge_500.jpg)