The 4 Horsemen of the Bearpocalypse

Here's a couple of my horses. Lousy shot - I'll try to get a group shot of them later

 If you aren't familiar with the Build a Bear floppy horse (they came out with 3 different types) they can actually be just a little creepy. I didn't like them at first, but then I found one at the Thrift store in Newburg in excellent condition, wearing a dress and boxed up in what had to have been a Valentines special cub box. I almost didn't get it, but something about that face I just wasn't able to resist. So my very first Floppy brown pony (released circa 2003) came home. I was a little hot and cold with it. Part of me was like "Why did I get this?" and the other part of me was like "but he's so cute in an almost disturbing way." 

I found a second one at one of the local Goodwill's. It wasn't in the best shape - nothing too terrible, just thinning mane and was the earlier release from 1999. I debated about getting him, went back and forth for a few weeks, and then finally brought him home. The employee at the check out counter picked him up, looked at him and said "Now that's creepy." And then shook his head. I sure got a laugh out of that! I believe that was when I had the ingenious (if I do say so myself) idea to have.....

The 4 Horseman of the Bearpocalypse! 

It took me awhile, but I was finally able to find 2 more horses at the Goodwill (at least one of those final 2 if not both, the same employee checked them out for me and once again commented on how creepy they were.) I ended up with 2 of the 1999 release and 2 of the 2003 release. It was perfect.

(Just a quick side note - I'm not intending to make them evil or cursed. They don't actually bring any of these things about. They in fact, bring just the opposite! A bear is not feeling well because he played too long out in the snow and got chilled? Enter Pestilence and pretty soon, poor sick little bear is feeling much better. Is there an unresolving conflict, such as a stubborn mess that won't clean up or boxes keep crashing when the bears try to organize the attic? Enter War, and pretty soon, everything is humming in harmony. A bear is hungry and can't find something to satisfy his craving? Famine will fix you right up! And Death is the best as bringing life into anything that is languishing and not flourishing. He is a whiz in the garden. And now back to my original line of thought...) I went back and forth on what to name them, trying to be a little too creative and coming up with nothing that stuck. In the end I decided to just go literal and have Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. 

I ended up getting 4 of the little dark green Christmas frog from a couple of years ago. 1 I got myself originally. 1 I inherited from a family member who didn't bond with their's and then the final 2 I grabbed on clearance. After my most recent BAB down sizing, I was able to start to group the bears that I was keeping into family or buddy groups, and that's when I had the fantastic idea to move these 4 little frogs to being the 4 horsemen's little buddies. It seemed kind of funny that each horse would have a frog - especially being that frogs are associated both with witchcraft and also pestilence. Fitting right?

Naming my 4 tiny frogs had me stumped for a bit as well. Tonight though, I finally figured out what I would call them. They are as follows:

Famine has a frog called Fames - Latin for Famine

Death's frog is called Mors - Latin for Death

Pestilence has a frog called Pestis - Latin for Pest, which I went with instead of Pestilence as  that would have been Pestilencia, which is too long of a name for a little fella. (I'm thinking the scientific name for the Black Plague is Y. Pestis, which is fitting to go with as Plague is a synonym for Pestilence.)

And War's frog is an obvious one - Bellum. (I thought about going with Proelium - which means battle as my frog is so small, and one battle makes up a small part of an entire war. And that was probably overthinking it. Bellum it is.) 

Of course, I had to go with Latin. Why not use the language you spend so much time studying any way, right? 

For their outfits, I plan to make each horse a tunic that is influenced by medieval style. Pestilence will have white, War red, Famine black and Death is pale. What color is pale exactly? I'm thinking a pale sickly green. And I know for a fact that I cannot find anything that resembles what I am picturing. So whatever I can actually find in fabric that doesn't need an explanation that it's the Pale horse is going to be one hell of a challenge. I'll probably just go with a super pale grey. Over their tunics, each horse will wear a vest - not really a vest, but more of a sleeveless doublet that closes in the back. On the front, I intend to paint the horseman's symbol. Bow and arrow for Pestilence, Sword for War, Scales for Famine and nothing at all for Death. 

(In case you are wondering like I did as to why Pestilence has a bow and an arrow, here's a quick explanation. Pestilence is also known, and probably originally known as the Conquerer who brings about Pestilence via battle. I just read that briefly on google. Interesting stuff.)

The little frogs will have a coordinating tiny romper with matching colors and matching symbols. I also thought it would be cute to make at least the horsemen masks that resemble a plague doctor's mask out of white felt. Just another one of my many, many plans!

I'm not sure how many people will see the humor and enjoy my 4 horsemen of the Bearpocalypse as much as I am, but I really, really love it! And I really, really love them. :)

The twins are here! My AG order arrived

 Wow, that was some fast shipping, Fedex! I didn't expect them today. They got here all the way from Wisconsin in 2 days. I waited until after I ate supper and loaded the dishwasher before I opened them. I also had some Wang dolls come in the mail as well, so it was quite an exciting mail day!

The twins are even better in person than they are in pictures. I will say they are pretty photogenic because they don't look better in person - which I know is a complete contradiction of what I just said. I think what I am basically saying is that they look so good in photos that its not a let down to see them in person and then also they look so amazing in person that they look even better than they do in pictures. That still doesn't make sense, ha ha, so I am moving on.

It's been a long time since I got a brand new AG doll. When did I actually last order one straight from the company? Could it have been the Caroline that I no longer have that I got in 2015 after I heard that they were retiring her? I think so, They have definitely changed the packaging. Instead of rubber bands around the ankles, they have these sort of stretchy bands that you have to cut. And they now have a plastic piece around the neck instead of what I remember being a rubber band or elastic. The hair nets were also on there super tight. I was worried I would pull some hair out, but it worked out okay.

Now, the dolls. Their faces are so very different than each other! Amber (Isabel) has a much rounder face with fuller cheeks. She is utterly adorable. Her hair is definitely not straight across the bottom. She would have been a doll a pickier collector would have sent straight back, as the right side of her hair is about an 1 and 1/2" longer. I am not a picky collector, so I can live with it. I couldn't bear to send her back! Beyond the length issue on her wig, I see no other problems. She has the most gorgeous wig. I adore the 2 toned blonde. Her bright green eyes give her such a unique look. I love it.

Sydney is technically prettier than Amber, but Amber is cuter. (I hate to do that to my dolls, but I can't deny that that's the thoughts that ran through my head.) Her face is more petite. Her hair, OMG. I love the shade of brown with those chunky highlights. Her wig has no issues. Both dolls have thick lovely hair. Sydney's eyes are the most gorgeous shade of blue. 

I am surprised to say that I actually do not mind the "angry" eye brows and I actually like the painted on eye lashes. I wouldn't want them on any other doll. I think the fact that the only 2 I have with them are my latest in date dolls - 1990's - it really sets them apart as my only "modern" dolls. 

The outfits they come in are super cute. I adore Amber's pink platform shoes. I really hope they make another pair of those type of shoes for her in a black. I doubt they will, but I can dream! My favorite thing about Sydney's meet outfit is the shirt that is tied around her waist. It is so very much the era. Her shoes are also adorable. I do plan to get at least her meet accessories as I want her meet hat. I'd just buy the hat if I could as they rest of their accessories I can live without,

I wasn't expecting Amber to come out of her box with an entirely different personality than I had planned out for her. I had written out a quick description of her and Sydney on My AG Dolls page here on the blog. And after I opened her, she did not fit my previous description at all! So gone is the quieter Amber who follows her sister's lead and here is the actually Miss Perfection, compete until conquering Amber. Sydney is also a little different, but not a whole lot. She was always easy going, so I think for her to follow her driven twin's lead is ideal for her.

This was truly some of the best money that I have spent. I adore these 2 and am so happy to have them in my collection. They look great sitting next to my other dolls. I am so exciting to start writing stories with them! Though, now I have to rewrite in my head the first photo story that I planned out with them! I'll go ahead and add my photos, though I will be the first to say that they are not the best. I didn't take the time to set up any better lighting. I need to really figure out how to use my digital camera. At this point, I do a better job with my phone camera.....*grumbles*