Body swapping is quite popular in the doll community. If there's a Barbie who comes with a body that has limited articulation, you can give her a Made to Move body so that she can be more posable. Sometimes I think it's a bit wasteful, people often buy up loads of MtM dolls for this purpose, and end up discarding the original unarticulated body and the head that came with the MtM body. On the other hand, I do like how it can improve some dolls that have beautiful heads but stiff bodies that cannot be posed. (I sound weird writing about all this...)
So recently, I decided to try some of this for myself. I don't have any photos of the process, just the result. The dolls I wanted to give new life were my Barbie as the Island Princess Luciana and Rosella. In the end, I only did Rosella because I couldn't find a skin tone match for the other.
Here is an old advert to show you what the two looked like brand new. They have the classic Barbie movie singing gimmick, although the batteries in mine have long since run out. I also took Rosella in the bath as a child, ruining any chance of her ever being able to sing again. The outfits I still have, except they are extremely ripped. I forgot that Rosella even came with peacock feathers, because I have long since lost them.
These two dolls are beautiful, especially Luciana. She's my favourite Barbie of all time, and for once she actually looks better than she does in the movie. I love her hair and face in particular. Rosella is pretty too, she usually had to play the little sister role amongst my Barbies. If they're so beautiful, why swap their bodies?
The faces and fashions are alright, but the bodies are the problem. Firstly, they were made during that weird period when Barbie bodies were shorter and just different. They're known as "hobbit bodies" online, despite the fact that only the beach ones have big feet. I am not the biggest fan of the hobbit bodies either, but that is not the reason why I swapped Ro's body. No, the reason is something different.
This is my new, improved Rosella next to her original body, and Luciana. Notice the original Island Princess bodies. Firstly, they have the necklaces built in to the torso area. You can't take them off. The reason for this is because you're supposed to press the necklace jewel to trigger the singing. And look underneath, at these awful speaker holes on the belly. It ruins the look whenever either of them want to go to the beach and wear a bikini. I suppose Mattel never intended for these dolls to be redressed often. Gimmick dolls like these are fun when you're a kid, but they aren't very good for fashion play. A lot of Barbie movie dolls are like this. Luckily, there are usually a cheaper dolls released that just include the main characters in normal outfits and normal bodies, no dress transforming or singing gimmicks.
Another bizarre thing about the Island Princess bodies is that one arm is articulated, the other not. I thought it was to make them pose like they were singing on stage or something, but it's still dumb. Actually, now that I think about it, perhaps they're meant to be able to hold their animal companions? Still, why not just articulate both arms. If Barbie's supposed to be an Island Princess, she should be able to move and pose so that she can climb on trees and stuff, like she does in the movie.
Anyways, the body I chose for Rosella belongs to an older doll that I actually like, but her head was slowly slipping off due to constant wear and tear. The legs also flap around if you move the doll, they won't stay in place anymore. Still, the body is fully articulated, and it matches Rosella's skin tone. I don't have pictures of the original doll, but I used to call her "dog Barbie", because she came with a dog. She's from around 2006, she came with Tanner the Labrador. The gimmick was that you fed Tanner and then he did a poo, you pick up the waste with a magnetic scooper, then you put it in a bin that is connected to the dog food box. Then, once you've picked up all the poo, you can feed the dog food/poo to Tanner and repeat the cycle. It sounds gross, but it was cool back then. There was also a Nikki available with a Siamese cat that did a wee in a litter box which you could also clean up... The Barbie from this line had practical clothes and little makeup. As a kid I thought she looked "old", so she always used to play the mother of the rest of my dolls.
Here is Rosella in her new body. I did mess up the process a bit, but I think it looks alright. The neck doesn't look quite right, however she still looks decent. I'm just used to seeing her in a different body for so long.
She certainly looks like she's grown up a bit, like those old Skipper and My Scene dolls where you can increase their height. I like Rosella a lot more like this, I'm a lot more willing to try different outfits on her than I was before. That necklace used to ruin anything that wasn't a princess dress. Now she can wear literally anything, and bend both her arms! The original heels Ro came with keep slipping off her new feet, either because they don't fit or because the plastic on the body is smoother.
Luciana is a bit jealous of her friend. I really wish I had a body match for her too...
I tried to make the both of them stand up holding their animal companions, but surprisingly Rosella's body couldn't support the weight. Luciana, on the other hand, was able to support her cat (I can't remember it's name!) with ease. This is likely because the plastic used for her body feels heavier. They are both wearing their original costumes. Luciana's looks good on the front, on the back it's very ripped. Rosella's is just ripped all around, and it looks weird without the necklace.
I've now just got to figure out what I'm going to do with Dog Barbie's head. She has such a sweet smile, it would be a shame to not put her on another body. I'm just not going to use Rosella's body, although it's a bit of a waste, there's probably a corroded, water damaged battery stuck inside the back that needs to be binned.