The Liv Thread! [pic heavy]

[LuvlyMelody]

They aren't annoying questions. XP getting any question and people interested is better than having the thread get old.

I actually like the material that's used for the clothes. I wouldn't consider it cheap (Feels standard to me) and the clothes are nicely made and they actually look like clothes I'd usually wear, compared to everything on pink overdose.

As Tux said, only the last few lines that came out before they got discontinued have crap articulations, so if you find any of the old ones, get them!

[Taxel]

-questions cut for space-

Some people have answered, but I'll give some opinions/answers as well.

For me, Amazon has been the cheapest. If you can still get the free shipping trial thing, get that! With that I got a Liv for $7 and free shipping, and another for $13ish and free shipping. I also saw tons and tons, with and without free shipping, for very cheap. I've heard some TRUs have Making Waves dolls (the ones in swimsuits) for sale for $7, but my TRU didn't have that sale last I checked. TRU (online, last I checked, and stores) also have accessory packs for $1.

Like others said Sleepover Party, Twist and Dance, Brites, and Liv for Color all have different articulation. I have a Sleepover Party girl and many normal girls. Like Aellos said the "pillow throwing" arm is a bit wonky. However I can still pose mine pretty well and in my opinion the "BBE" eyes make up for the different joints. The closing eyes add a LOT of personality and emotion that the normal girls just don't have. The normal girls are fine with emotions and such, don't get me wrong, but the closing eyes and real eyelashes just add a whole lot and its easier to get certain emotions with them in photos.

You can actually put your Papin on a Liv body, if you want to keep her. Her body would be a lot sturdier. I've never had a problem carrying my Pullips or Livs around town for photos, but Livs are better at posing compared to my Pullips. As for Pullip clothing, it really depends. I tried some on my Sleepover Party girl before and I remember some of it fit okay, some she couldn't be moved in, and some would never fit.

I don't know what you consider cheap material, but every Liv outfit I have/have had (around 16) was great quality. The only bad pieces I've ever encountered are the robes that come with the Spa Makeover dolls, and those robes are TERRIBLE! Even the apron that I got in the $1 (usually $5) accessory pack is great quality.

Barbie clothes most definitely fit! I've got a few girls that wear Barbie clothes 24/7, and a bunch of outfits my girls have tried on and such. Barbie accessories also look like they're the perfect size. I have two Barbie babies (one is a fakie), and they're absolutely perfect. However I only have older clothing/accessories, from the mid to late 90's and early 00's. I also know that Bratz boy tops are perfect.

[justkitter]

I THOUGHT I was done with LIVs after finding my completer doll (LIV for Color Alexis) but the Twist and Dance dolls are calling me.  I think it's them.  I saw a line of dolls with "interesting" make-up in store awhile ago.  Are the Twist and Dance dolls the only line like that?  Should have paid closer attention......

[Taxel]

Yeah, only the Twist and Dance girls have fancy makeup. I want T&D Daniela (with Katie's eyes!) and Sophie plus all of the clothes, but I'd need body donors for them. XP

[TuxAndTails]

Yeah, I'm still cross about the Twist and Dance bodies. T&D Sophie is one of my favorite Liv girls ever, and I really like Daniela too c: The only one I don't really like is Alexis, her eyeshadow and wig are nice but the lips are WAY too bright for her skin tone o.O

[Taxel]

T&D are definitely my favorite line after Wonderland. I LOVE how they finally started to experiment with crazy makeup.

Yesterday I got more Liv things! An original Katie, a wig, and some various clothing/accessories. I popped off Katie's head and now my floating MW Hayden finally has a body! The jacket doesn't match her skirt at ALL (but looks awesome with her hair), however its the best I've got for now. Eventually I'll commission someone to do a faceup on the Katie head, something wild and fantasy, but who knows when I'll be able to afford that or a body.
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[Princess_Luvlee]

@TuxAndTails Thank you for all that info. That's an enormous help, cuz most of the ones I've seen on the shelves are well clothed & covered, but *now* I know most of em aren't what I'm looking for. I had no idea they'd been discontinued: the Liv in Wonderland are so fabulous...whyyy??? I better get an Alice before they vanish from Target: def not clearance priced, but SO what I want. Oh, poo, I was hoping Halloween themed Livs would be around the corner: I like how they're not overtly sexy.

@aellos Good to know. Maybe if they had continued to make them fully articulated they wouldn't be discontinued now. The sleepover ones have BBE tho, right? Maybe I'm wrong, but if they do, do they function pretty well: is it cool?

@LuvlyMelody Aw, thank you. I felt like I couldn't even be part of the MH community once people knew about it, cuz I could not keep up with the thread within like 3 months. Actually FIM blew up the arena & I get buried.

I prolly don't hav enuf experice to be making judgments. I got a raincoat, outfit, and even an adorable bubble umbrella for $2 at target. I had to get clothes for my Bratzillaz girl, cuz I hate her stock. I love the print on the coat & it's a bit stiff, but still completely fab. The grey plaid skirt & pink tank top has an unfinished hem and it just got ragged really quick. Sleeping with ur doll may not be normal use either & for all I know if I'd just posed her & displayed her the shirt & skirt would be fine. I think I'll be able to trim the stringies & use fray check to clean it up again.

Pah-ha, well I do like pink, but you're right that it's hard to get away from. That's what is so cool about the Liv line. They always have fashionable outfits that look like they were bought in a real store. And they don't seem to be so charatcter specific or even that coordinated, so a lot of things look like they can be easily mixed and matched. I mean, geez I luv Frakie Stein, but everything after DOTD & GB was too insanely patterned with stitches & bolts: screaming Frankie Stein at the top of it's lungs. I have to go look at TRU again now, cuz I think there were some swinwear girls for really cheap.

Barbie doesn't seem to have as big an issue with quality control as Monster High does (esp concerning face-ups) and Braztzillaz are no better than MH at all. DO you guys think I should buy LIV in real life so I can do quality control? A wonky eye or missing makeup wuld bother me lots. The only dolls I've got sight unseen are the first wave of MH & Venus..even tho she's ten deep on shelves everywhere [face-palm]

@Taxel Hi Please do tell=] I may have to resort to amazon at those prices! It's those newer color and dance ones whose stock I want, of course. LOL, my far TRU had tons of packs with a scarf and a dog outfit..maybe sum sunnies. My close TRU had no $ packs. The far one is a dump of everything getting cleared out from my region's warehouse, so ya never know.

They DO have BBE! I thought they did. I'm not a photographer really, but I love hearing that gives her more depth. My dolls are my friends & quite frankly I'm getting sick of the 'tude my MH girls have. Now, my bf has the sweetest faced ghouls, but original DL & GB Frankie are my only friendly dolls. Which is why I got the Bratzillaz.

I'm not esp skilled at any modifications. I teflo-bitsued Papin, but it was no easy task. I'm not careful enough to have Pullip =[ She makes me nervous unless she's put away u phigh. Papin's stock is pretty loose & relaxed in fit, so I bet it would fit liv.

Has anyone put a sleepover liv head on an orig body? Are head swaps pretty simple?

Considering what I got in that rainy day fashion pack I have little complaint. The neck and armholes are folded over and stitched, so it's just odd to me that the bottom & skirt were left like that. I'm glad to hear that clothing quality is for the majority high. Cuz, man, I luv me sum liv clothes.

Yay, Barbie clothes flow from the universe like water in a rainforest & I'm thirsty for fashion. Most of mine are that era too. I imagine newer clothes would fit tho, cuz liv hav modest busts and normal waistlines & those seem to be the way barbie evolved. I have a set that's pretty new, a 3 pack of similar themed outfits...I wanna saw fashion avenue?  I'll be sure to try those on my liv(when I get one), so we all know. 

@grzankitter & @Taxel & TuxAndTails  OMG, dance Daniela~!~ I love her clothes & face: those leggings~!~i die*!* She was priced at 24.99 at TRU, but I looked online & it says 10, so maybe it's only online that she's that cheap...or they're slackin on their PCs. I almost got her, but that price was too high to gamble on articulation.

@Taxel Oh, that skirt! Isn't the shirt to it as crazay as the skirt, too? Those are vinyl pockets everywhere, right? I never had that Barbie, but I wanted her. I, by the by, am addicted to all things see thru.

that jacket is perfect. With the pink hair & blunt bangs she has it totes belongs on her. That sencond to last pic is great!

So it's pretty easy to pop a head off?

@back to everrbody
Oh hey, are all their skin tones the same? Try to figure out how to say...is the palest one always palest or do certain iteration vary, like to have a tan?

Do body swaps (this is me falling apart, plez bear with me) go only on character that matching? Like only Alexis head can be on Alexis body?

Pictures online always look so different even with doll same. I mostly want palest girl, look like me with blue eyes-what ego this! Not sure there even is one like that. You guys have clearly done eye custom...with mismatch (luv it-was that Taxel?) If she wore the green with striped shirt n park pictures she quite caught my eye. You all have a lot of dolls to keep straight. I tho I wuld never like Liv either, but now I do. And I techinically owna bratz doll, so never say never I guess.

I hope I remember to tell my boyfriend these dolls are not out new now & for Xmas shopping, do that now before cost goes up just cuz they get scarce. I'll have to now very specific what I want. that's much easier with all the help I've gotten here.

~*hugs*~

[Taxel]

"DO you guys think I should buy LIV in real life so I can do quality control? A wonky eye or missing makeup wuld bother me lots."
I have seen a total of one makeup issue in a store, and my online dolls have been perfect. Do NOT be afraid of wonky eyes! They are an insanely easy fix unless you have one of the original dolls, in which case its harder but still easy and very doable.

"Has anyone put a sleepover liv head on an orig body? Are head swaps pretty simple?"
None of us have tried, and we're not sure if it would work because of the BBE mechanism. Normal head swaps are very easy, except with original girls because they have much harder heads (but its still easy to do, just requires more patience and strength).

"Oh, that skirt! Isn't the shirt to it as crazay as the skirt, too? Those are vinyl pockets everywhere, right? I never had that Barbie, but I wanted her. I, by the by, am addicted to all things see thru."
If it remember right the shirt was just as crazy! I wish I still had it. The pockets are so fun.

"Oh hey, are all their skin tones the same? Try to figure out how to say...is the palest one always palest or do certain iteration vary, like to have a tan?"
No, they're not. The white girls all look VERY similar but if you have nude dolls or even just a bunch of nude legs next to each other you can see slight differences. Daniela is more obviously tan, but still pretty light. "Light" Alexis and "Dark" Alexis are completely different. I've even seen proof that Making Waves Alexis has crazy skintone variations!

"Do body swaps (this is me falling apart, plez bear with me) go only on character that matching? Like only Alexis head can be on Alexis body?"
Alexis would not look right on another body, you'd have a dark tan or chocolate brown head on a white or light tan body. Wouldn't work. I imagine Daniela would need to be on a Daniela body, but the others should be interchangeable (like now I have a Hayden on an original Katie body, and you can't tell). Their bodies are what show the skintone differences the most, and even that isn't much.

"Pictures online always look so different even with doll same. I mostly want palest girl, look like me with blue eyes-what ego this! Not sure there even is one like that."
Unfortunately, there isn't a pale girl at all. They're all generic white, if that makes sense? None of the white girls are at all pale or tan really, just different undertones I think. But if you want bright blue eyes I suggest original Sophie, her eyes are the brightest blue. All other Sophies have lighter blue eyes, and they look like broken glass/ice. Not very realistic imo. I can post a comparison photo if you want!

"You guys have clearly done eye custom...with mismatch (luv it-was that Taxel?) If she wore the green with striped shirt n park pictures she quite caught my eye."
I've got two mismatch eye girls (twins), and Luvly has just one I believe. I'm not sure about anyone else. And the green with the striped shirt is one of mine. Mismatch eyes are really fun! But for the eyes I used it can be a challenge to get them to look just right in photographs, especially if they're wildly different. I want a few more mismatch eye girls, but with subtler eyes. I actually considered selling the mismatch girl with the striped top because her eyes can be so difficult, especially with her makeup and lack of a wig for now.

"You all have a lot of dolls to keep straight. I tho I wuld never like Liv either, but now I do."
You can say that again! I have, what, 20 now? xD I didn't think I'd like Liv either and passed them over SO MANY times at the store. I didn't even give them a second glance! But after Luvly linked to a blog with an amazing review of them and their epic articulation I was hooked.

[Gingerbread]

I've decided I'm not going to customise my Liv girl, I've kind of sat with her and dressed her etc and....she just doesn't do it for me She's in my trade list (see siggy) if anyone is interested in her.

[Taxel]

All that talk about eye swaps last night got me eager to do some more! And man my fingers hurt, haha. Last night I decided to give Hayden my spare Katie's eyes. First we have how she looked before, then after! And then we have the weird purple paint inside her eye skin. o.O
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And here we have a Liv Eye Swap Tutorial.

Spoiler

First you'll need three things: a wigless Liv doll (can be naked or clothed), some sort of long tool that fits in the neck hole, and a hair dryer. Some have had success using extremely hot or boiled water, but water has never worked for me.
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Turn the hair dryer on. I use high because ours is dying and only turns on for 15ish seconds at a time. Focus the heat on the back of the head right above the neck, but I've found it helpful to get some heat around the entire neck and over the eye area.
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Once the head is headed, secure the body and squeeze the head at the back above the neck. Bend the head forwards. You may need to push up on the bottom of the head (using your fingers or tool) or even apply more heat to the area. Some heads pop off easier than others, and original girls will give you more trouble than the others.
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Immediately after the head is off, move to (or already be in) an area with no or minimal areas you can loose the eyes. Insert your tool and push on the back of the eyes until the eyeballs pop out. If you are worried, know that this is how the inside of the heads look. Those weird protruding circles of "skin" are what keeps the eyes in place, and they are VERY STRONG in my experience. I use a sharpish screwdriver and have never had it harm them. I used the screwdriver to remove one eye back once, and it took a LOT of force and was insanely difficult.
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After you get the eyes out, look at the back of them. If the pegs inside the eyes stick out past the edge of the eye whites, look at the next tutorial down in this post on how to fix it. Those pegs can make it impossible to put the eyes back in through the front. If your eyes don't have long pegs, take a break and then move on!
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Once your eyes are all ready, turn back on your hair dryer and focus on the eyes only this time.
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Squeeze the head to make the eye holes bigger, and shove in the eyes. I find that sideways tends to work out the best. One at a time also usually works out better for me.
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Use your tool to carefully maneuver the eyes into place. Once the eyes are almost perfect you can squish the head to move them around a bit (this trick can also help with wonky eyes if you don't want to pop off her head). Sometimes they'll fall into place almost perfectly on their own, but other times you'll spend quite a while on one single eye. This can get very exhausting, so don't be afraid to take breaks if you need it!
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You may or may not need to neat the neck hole to put the head back on. Squish the head and push it onto the neck thingymabob.
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Enjoy your doll's beautiful new eyes!
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As well as a mini Liv Pegged Eye Sanding Tutorial.

Spoiler

You will need: eyes with long pegs, toilet paper/paper towel/etc (optional), and a nail file OR sandpaper. I do not have the money to buy sandpaper, so I use a nail file thingy.
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There are two ways you can file down the pegs using a nail file. Holding the eyes directly or holding them with toilet paper. I prefer to hold the eyes directly, especially since you may not notice if the eye moves a bit under the toilet paper and it could end up ruined.
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File the pegs down as small as you can get. You may need to come back and file them more if they don't fit. The filed one in the photo below had to be filed down more twice.
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[Princess_Luvlee]

I didn't feel well enough to go into TRU, wal mart, or kmart to look for Liv dolls today while I was out. Was a bit bummed about it, but not so much so I wasn't putting good vibes into getting a Liv doll.

So I decided to place an ebay bid. I was outbid...but then I got a message offering a second chance for my initial offer!!! I didn't know that ever happened. It certainly has never happened to me before.

I can't wait to meet her~!~and show you all my Liv ^-* Thank you everyone for being so super helpful & sweet. {hugs}

[Taxel]

Congrats! Which one did you get?

[Taxel]

Yay! Got my roller skating and breakfast accessory sets!

First, the roller skating set. It is BEYOND amazing. All of the pads fit great (a little hard to get on at first, but they stayed on well) and Hayden could bend really well while wearing them. The wheels on the skates actually move! I was amazing. I would pay $5 for the accessory set for that alone. I didn't try the helmet on a girl with hair, but it should fit fine (its too big without a wig). The water bottle and energy bars are super cute too.
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Second, the breakfast set! The shoes are super adorable, although I'm still not sure who'll end up with them as I currently don't have any matching outfits. The actual breakfast stuff is really great. Everything about it is awesome. I wouldn't pay the full $5 for the set, but I'd happily pay $3 or so.
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[Princess_Luvlee]

Here she is!! Is she a Daniela? =D

First we tried on a recent/new body type Barbie outfit to find out how well it'd fit.

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The shirt is a tight fit and the seams looked stressed with the velcro lined up right, but it holds just fine when you do the velcro half way.
The sleeves of this top are elasticized and it's never been worn by anyone before. Liv arms fit, but snugly. I had to nuge the sleevs upward to get them to puff, but it wasn't hard to do.

Th.e skirt fits fine with velcro lined up proper. It's stiff and gets turned around way too easy, but it does that on barbie & obitsu just as much. I need to glue a rubber band in it.

She's been admiring Monster High fashion poses i guess & arched her back for this shot which reveals a bit of tummy.

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and the back of the shirt & skirt

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With Dulcette. I absoluv the natural shape and ease of posing Liv body.

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I think this pink number I bought a 5 pack of knockoff barbies to get is totally hers. I really need to try to get the brown off the boob now =p Those are Liv rain boots.

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Watching Supernatural. Dulcette does not do poses well atall except for floppin down. Getting her to sit up was a stuggle, so excuse her for having her crotch to the cam; she's really quite modest.

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That thing they're sittin on is full of shoes and none fit Liv. HALP~!~what shoes do??

my liv girl has only met Dulcette so far. and she hasn't told me her name. the bond hasnt happened yet, but I luv her & luv liv. My boyfriend was in the dolls lookin for a specific Flora(winx club); the only one he wants, but no luck, so we got some lovely consolation prizes & he got a mini Flora whose outfit seems to have missed a round of paint makin her purf fur custom. He dug a Spa Sophie out of the clearance section of target; there was a Wonderland Rabbit Liv, but she cost more and her box was so messed up he had no idea if she was even complete.  I haven't opened her yet, but am so excited to pit her makeup on! It's crazy to think, but I haven't had a color change makeup doll since Lil Miss Makeup! My bf also got a really cool Stardoll fashion set. We don't know what it'll fit, but it looks like etwas Lady Gaga would wear so he could not pass that up on clearance. The Stardolls were the same price as the fasion sets @ $7 but we never liked them much so pass.

Haven't had a chance to open those target goodies yet. I'll prolly post when I do, if that's ok.

[LuvlyMelody]

Those are great pictures. XP From what I see, she's Making Waves Daniela! Barbie dresses seem to fit fine from what I experienced. I have 3 of the $2-3 dresses they have with no shoes or anything extra. Not too sure about the shoes though. >,<;

Spa Makeover Sophie is one of my favorites. She's the one I used to turn into Capri! and the color changing is so fun to mess around with especially when it's really cold and you take her out she's already got pink lips.

I haven't been in picture a taking mood lately. Swamped with school and such.