Digging Up an Oft-Turned Grave: Living Dead Dolls Sadie, Evolved

Living Dead Dolls faded out in terms of the original cast of characters, and felt like it had been a dying brand supported by licensing for years...but of course you can't really die forever in LDD-land. Suddenly, I was alerted to the fact that they came back in much grander high-end style with an "upgraded" release of classic character Sadie that probably got me hyped faster than anything else I've discussed here. I've never dropped money on a collector release so immediately, and this was a pretty premium product--that alone should convey how swiftly this wicked little doll slipped her rusty hooks into my moldering flesh.

My first LDD post came with heavy warnings about the content of the brand and imagery. Those broadly apply to this post as well, but as with my second post, it comes to a lesser degree because the character at hand is ominous and spooky rather than distressing, decayed, or gory. If the first post wasn't for you, this one might work. Just know I went to lean heavily into creepy doll imagery with my photoshoots.

LDD-original characters haven't been seen from the line in a while. The last we saw was some Resurrection editions, and a standard series of dolls hasn't been done in years. Jury's still out on what exactly the scope of LDD going forward will consist of, but they've delivered a pretty exciting present and offered an exciting potential future with Return of the Living Dead Dolls, a high-end collector line promising to release older characters in a whole new deluxe doll format. This format takes heavy inspiration from display/engineering features seen in BJDS and other Asian collector dolls. The new dolls are comparably sized to classic LDD, but have inset eyes on some kind of moving mechanism to adjust the gaze, two swapping faceplates to change the expression, swappable hand options, high-quality clothing and accessories, and new fully-jointed bodies including proper mid-limb articulation! I've never experienced a collector doll with swappable faces or mechanical eyes, and while I always coveted the chance to play with those on a Pullip or Blythe, I don't love extreme big-head proportions, and settled for the playline fashion doll version of these mechanics in the Inner Monster dolls. Sadie, though, is right up my alley in terms of subject and I wanted to see if this format felt like a viable future (or at least a staple new release format akin to Resurrection) for LDD to keep going with. Is this a reboot, a revival? LDD G2, if you will, or just a new collector line? And what should it become?

So far, the only listed Return LDD characters are Sadie (released) and Eggzorcist (upcoming, able to enter a waitlist for preorder now). They're both from Series 1, and Damien is apparently next, so LDD might roll out the rest with Return dolls of Sin and Posey if they don't do anything else. It probably depends on how well these pricier deluxe dolls sell to see how far it goes beyond what's announced. It's also very possible that only the Series 1 characters will be branded as "Return of the Living Dead Dolls" if this is to be the new release model. The originals are the first revived with all the fanfare, but anybody after them could just take up the older "Living Dead Dolls" name if this settles into a comfortable long-running format, even if the line is only remakes and not new characters.

I know for a fact that I'm probably going to be very weak to this doll line if it continues because these look very impressive and a horror take on this kind of doll engineering works so well for me. I can imagine coveting or folding on a lot of potential future new-style LDDs because I'd probably love them. Heck, I'm even tempted by the revealed Eggzorcist, a character I've never cared anything for before! I also wonder if these dolls, if they become a long-lasting format, will start with dolls that have already been Resurrected and/or already had multiple editions, or if we'll see new-style dolls of characters who were previously one-offs sooner than later. The Return dolls don't seem intended to change much of the bones of the design so far. LDD has a massive back catalogue, too, so I could see them going for a while without debuting any new characters in this doll format.

Sadie herself is the genesis and the face of the LDD brand, so she was always going to be the first returning doll. She's also among the least defined, as mascots sometimes are. 

Offical LDD photo of Series 1 Sadie.

All we know about Sadie is that she died in the late sixties of unknown causes and is a spooky, evil little girl. LDD is one of those rare cases where I do like the main mascot character. Sadie's design is very simple and classically goth, but that makes her appealing. I always liked her mismatched black-and-white eyes and her prim style. Maybe my favorite edition of her would be her surprisingly-not-immediate Resurrection doll, in Resurrection Series II. I loved her fancier look and stark white skin.

Res dolls go for crazy expensive, though, so this is just a pipe dream.

Sadie is clearly named for goth cred to invoke the word "sadist". The name is so English that Sadie herself could easily be headcanoned as being from the UK, but she could be from the US too. American designers like those behind LDD would associate the name more with the edgy pun because the name isn't as ordinary here. 

This Sadie is very new, and I deliberately chose not to watch Joshua Lee's review once realizing this doll was such an exciting deal, so this is by far the LDD I know the least about. This review is thus going to offer more surprises to me than reviews of any LDD preceding her would.

The Mezco Toyz box arrived.

The doll was inside wrapped in black bubble wrap--very appropriate! I already knew the box was coffin-shaped, but didn't know if size would be different. 

The first thing you notice about the box in-person is that it is heavy. 

On the front, there's a cutout window shaped like the sulfur symbol LDD uses so often, and Sadie's face is peeking through it. Her name is written on the lower edge. 

The back has a photo of Sadie that's hard to take pictures of with the shrink-wrap.

The phrase "Return of the Living Dead Dolls" does not appear on the box, supporting the idea that this is going to be an exclusive title on the shop page for the inaugural Series 1 cast and won't be appended to further releases.

While the coffin is quite weighty, its dimensions are completely in line with the classic LDD coffin boxes. The construction is different-- the Sadie box has only the one cardboard lid, and it's built to close with a flat side edge so the lid and box side aren't on different planes.

The Return box lid can fit seamlessly over the older coffin. When the original opaque lid is on the back of the old coffin, it meets seamlessly with the Return lid on the front. It's like the Return box was designed so the back half shape was exactly matched to that of the removable opaque lid on the back of an older coffin. 

Here's the window of the box unwrapped to show off the frosted effect of the window. The "holes" of the sulfur symbol are achieved with pieces of black cardboard cut and glued onto the plastic window so the figure is complete.

And here's the back without glare.

Lifting off the lid reveals a plastic doll tray holding Sadie, which is more like the licensed dolls and adaptation dolls, or the Series 35 coffins, but the tray design is unique here, with a quilted texture and red color to lool like a lined coffin. She's also held in by a clear plastic tray over her, with a cutout over her face so that isn't obscured. Sadie's bouquet of flowers is stuck to the underside of the plastic tray over the doll so they look laid across her for burial.

While the plastic trays do feel tackier than the classic LDD packaging, I understand their necessity. The space around Sadie is generous, making her easy to grab, and the doll wonderfully lifted out with nothing tying her down whatsoever! 

Sadie's only remaining packaging was a plastic strip pushed over her head to keep her hair and bangs tidy. That's literally all I had to take off of her. I wonder if Eggzorcist will have this, since her hair will be short and contained by her fluffy hood.

This is the kind of efficiency and ease I want from an adult collector doll. 

It was evident from taking Sadie out that most of the weight of the package was from her. She's made from a very dense vinyl (her head might just be a hard plastic that blends perfectly next to the rest), and the finish is matte and pristine. It's very nice material and it looks fantastic. To my untrained eye, this feels comparable to a resin doll or bisque porcelain one. 

But this is absolutely not a doll you want to take a fall. Old LDDs can topple with no fear, but Sadie's a heavy girl with a lot that can come apart.

Sadie's hair is black like always, and styled loose and long with bangs across her forehead in the biggest contradiction from her original look. While it could be stylistic, I imagine this time, they're more functional and meant to disguise the seams of her removable faceplates--and both Return dolls revealed have bangs. That could limit the selection of characters adapted into this doll style, though I'm sure a few could play the seam as a scar without using bangs, like the Bride of Valentine. Alternatively, everybody just gets redesigned to wear bangs in this line if it expands. I wasn't sure if this doll's hair was rooted or a wig yet, but looking at the hair showed it rooted into the plastic scalp. The hair feels like nice saran, but a lot on top was flying away, so I'll need to take it down to boil later.

Sadie's face is based on the original doll, but is sculpted and rendered in a slightly more detailed and grown style than classic LDDs. This doll looks less like a younger child, and might be more animated or caricatured. Her eyebrows are cartoony LDD swoops and her lips are black in a good evil smirk. Sadie's most distinctive feature is her mismatched eyes--black with white pupil on her left, white with black pupil on her right. They're very goth and extremely arresting in this new inset style with dimensional irises and a glossy finish that catch the light perfectly.

The face combines airburshing and cartoon boldness in such a captivating way. She feels so real, but so caricatured at the same time. I also really love her coloring--it's a pale flesh tone but with a definite greyness to it that makes her look pretty dead. There's definitely some combination of the paint, the sculpt, the eyes, and the high-quality plastic that all make her look startlingly realistic. Her face catches light and shadow in a really arresting lifelike way and her plastic combines matte texture and vague translucency in such a way that you could mistake her for (dead) flesh and (no) blood. I've never encountered a doll with this kind of look. It's really eerie and absolutely perfect for a goth doll, and she's extremely photogenic and atmospheric even with messy hair and no background setup. The upcoming Eggzorcist seems to be imitating a porcelain doll with gloss and sculpted cracks, so the new LDDs promise to have a variation in art styles and aesthetics like the old ones did. 

While I knew that Sadie had moveable eyes, there is no external access to this feature on the back of her head. It'll have to open up. But first, the rest of how she came.

Sadie's dress is a re-creation of her originating Series 1 outfit, and isn't the first of them--Sadie's had many dolls and several variations on this costume. This time, it's not adding any frills to the shaping, but the material is much fancier. The dress is a flexible black velvet, and the vintage pointed collar and cuffs are white satin. The neck has a new addition of a small skull-cameo brooch sewn on.

The classic Sadie dress certainly owes a lot to the famous costume cut of Wednesday Addams, who, at the time of Sadie's creation, would have cemented herself as a goth icon more recently with Christina Ricci's character-defining portrayal in the early 1990s. The velvet material and her hairstyle feel like references to Resurrection Sadie, as if this version is combining multiple Sadie dolls as a celebration and reimagining.

The dress has a couple of other fancy features--for one, it closes in back with a working zipper! I don't think any LDD has had that before! The cuffs also have tiny decorative buttons on the undersides.

The dress is also completely lined inside with a white layer that gives the dress a bit more structure and also protects Sadie from any staining the black material could possibly give her!

This is wonderful quality. LDD are putting their product where their price is with this.

Sadie and Sin have always been dressed alike when they released in the same format, so I'd expect a Sin in this new doll line to have a virtually identical dress, just done in red velvet and possibly with a different brooch design.

Sadie's shoes replicate the classic LDD Mary Jane shoe style in black, and are put over white socks with turned-down lace ankle frills. The shoes are soft vinyl and it's tricky getting the heels over the feet properly. This doll could use a shoehorn.

Alright, let's see what else Sadie offers. Underneath the doll tray, there's a tray with lots of accessories and extra parts. 

And under that tray is a tray loosely resting her extra clothing, and the instruction sheet is on the very bottom of the box. I grabbed that to check out Sadie's head. The instructions say you can pull her face right out, and then take off the scalp piece the hair is attached to. 

I later found, fortunately, this order of operations did not seem to be required and I was able to take the hair off alone, though the scalp might not have been properly snapped in that way. It's not too bad to take the face out first, and that's the most reliable tidy way to do it.

Here's the head taken apart. The faceplates include the ears, which is a great choice to make for a good grip to pull them out, and the "wig" portion of the scalp is its own piece snapped onto a piece of plastic that matches Sadie's body so the roots aren't exposed. The hair being rooted only as much as a wig will be the most limiting factor for character design with this new system, since most tied and structured hairstyles will not be achievable.  Bald characters might not be viable, either.

The scalp snaps on with slots that lock onto tabs on the face and head. Pulling the face out takes one of the tabs out and makes the scalp easy to detach.

Inside the face, you can see the eyes are connected with a linkage that makes them move in tandem and this is nestled in a black bracket that pushes into the face. The eyes can swing out of the bracket when it's removed, but they're easily replaced and the joystick-style handle on the middle goes up to tell you which direction the assembly faces. The bracket fits into the head with the indented semicircle on the bottom edge facing down and to the inside of the head. Moving the handle piece connecting the eyes lets you shift them side to side and up and down in unison. It's very tidy and allows for great variation in display.

After several times wiggling the bracket out by using the upper tab on the black bracket, I then realized the simplest way to take it out of the head was to pull gently back on the eye lever to take the whole thing out in a second.

And with the eyes and bracket taken out, you can see the cups inside the face which the eyes roll around inside. There's quite a difference between the eye cups and the expressive eyeholes that the eyes are seen looking through from the front, and LDD could get a huge amount of variety in the eyehole shapes they sculpt, including totally circular ones for very starey characters or textured eyeholes for characters who have had jagged socket paint designs.

Here's the eyes moving around.

Dolls moving their eyes unnoticed is a staple visual of haunted-doll horror media, so this feature is a perfect fit for a scary doll. And it's so absolutely cool to have any doll that can do this. It can be frustrating to get most dolls to engage with the camera or props when their gazes are fixed, but this lets you make Sadie look exactly where you want her to without needing to turn her head or move your camera! 

I'm sure there are established premium dolls that have eyes that can be repositioned in a similar simple way, but I couldn't name a brand for you; I'm very obliquely familiar with this particular class of doll. I know some dolls attach their eyes with putty, and others have mechanical eyes that switch through fixed states, but someone else has to have done a "joystick" system like this. It feels like I've seen something like it before. Regardless of who did it first, this is absolutely the most rewarding eye-display feature that could have been chosen.

The eye bracket can easily be pushed into the other faceplate to swap Sadie's faces. Her second face has a more dour or angry expression with downturned lips and uneven highly-arched brows that make me feel like I hear her breathing sharply from her nose. It's an intense look.

Here's the eyes in the second face. You can press the bracket so far in the eyeballs don't want to move, but if it's too loose, they might not hold their position.

2024 Eggzorcist's second faceplate is not a close variation on her first face--it's a scary realistic desiccated/mummified zombie face that even covers one of her eyes to create a fake empty socket on her left! While I wouldn't want to use that face if/(more likely, when) I get her, I'm encouraged by its existence because it tells me the new LDD faces are going to have a wide aesthetic range, and could even make for more custom sculpting on characters whose detail was only painted before. There's a level of anticipation added to each doll reveal now that multiple faces are on the table! I think it's appropriate, though, that Sadie's alternate face isn't drastically different. For the mascot character, that works, and a different expression in the same format is just as valuable as an alternate face with lots of crazy stuff going on.

The faceplate system demonstrating a willingness to widely vary face sculpts in the new dolls also speaks well to the potential for increased racial/ethnic diversity in LDD going forward. I really hope Mezco seizes it. Everybody can play a role in horror.

Putting Sadie's scalp back on is a bit fiddly. You're supposed to connect it to the face side first before snapping it onto the back, but you have to wiggle and press until you hear the front actually click to know the hair is on. You can also put the hair onto the back sans face and then maneuver the face back in if you want the strongest fit, though for the purposes of photoshoots, you might want to have the scalp easier to take off so you can fiddle with the eyes back and forth quicker. I wish they were more convenient to move. The scalp feels fiddly and potentially fragile enough that it's my least favorite part of the doll. I'd prefer a less delicate and more quick and reliable scalp attachment if opening up the head so frequently is encouraged. Maybe magnets? 

I noticed that the language in the instructions all points toward Mezco treating this as a brand reboot to supplant the older style entirely. Like the box, the "Return of the Living Dead Dolls" title on the online store is not used at all on the sheet. The instructions' particular phrasing of "Living Dead Dolls are designed [this way]" might further the message that these are intended as the new standard for the brand, since the phrasing doesn't recognize any previous types of Living Dead Doll who the description does not apply to. These instructions also bump up the target age to 18, though I'd guess that's moreso due to the increased complexity and more delicate nature of the new doll build rather than a reassessment regarding the tonal content of the dolls. The way it says all Living Dead Dolls products are intended for 18 and up might be the most definitive sign that the output and release model is shifting wholesale, with this doll style as the new standard. So I guess this really is G2? It's technically still too early to call, but the picture feels clear.

I noticed also that you can put Sadie's head together without the eyes, and her empty closed head is dark enough to create spooky black sockets with no color needed inside! I could see LDD making eyeless characters in this style just by omitting the eye assembly! 

Here's Sadie put together with the second face while I investigate her body. Sadie's arms and torso have been wrapped in plastic, seemingly for stain protection...though I don't know why she'd need it with her white-lined dress. Still, I suppose it's appreciated all the same.

Sadie is also wearing fabric underwear! Funny she's the first LDD I've gotten to depict any. While this is more deluxe and realistic than a painted design, I might call it a waste of effort. The fabric is very thin and unfinished at the edges and I can't see it holding up too well. This might be the biggest swing and miss of this doll because everything else is done really well or isn't bad.

Here's the body unwrapped.

Like her face, Sadie's body is distanced from a toddlerish appearance, and I was surprised to find her to be a little larger than the old dolls! This body is unisex like the older ones, but is taller and has a flat belly to make her look a bit older, and the cut of the hips doesn't force the legs apart so much. I can definitely get behind the LDDs looking less young. Return Sadie's head does feel proportionally larger, though.

The Return body also has a less pinched waist. The default hand shapes are almost identical, though--Return just doesn't have sculpted knuckle lines.

And of course, the Return body is the most articulated LDD has ever been. That even starts with the head--I noticed Sadie can look pretty far down compared to the second-gen sculpt!

Her head tilts nicely all the other ways, too.

Sadie's head can pop off its ball joint without much effort, but not to the extent that it feels loose or unstable. It won't be damaged or broken by doing this, and is easily replaced. Taking her head off actually makes her look like a doll Wednesday Addams would own!

The rest of her body is really nice. Her hips and elbows and knees have a good range of motion, but her hands and feet are on ball joints, not rotating hinges. Still, this kind of posing would be inconceivable for LDDs before.

Sadie sits much more delicately than classic LDD. She's a perfect doll to sit in a doll chair in a dark, dusty corner.

The instructions featured an interesting note warning owners not to stress the clothing by pushing Sadie's joints past the flexible range of her outfit. I don't imagine that being a risk I'd have to face, but it was considerate and appreciated. Perhaps it has something to do with her dress being zippered--velcro would just open harmlessly if stressed.

Also, none of Sadie's joints are elastic-strung, which was a worry of mine. Everything seems to be plastic, which should hold up over time.

Sadie's first accessory is the aforementioned bouquet, and this edition has them made more like decorative dollhouse flowers you'd buy at the craft store. The first Sadie's bouquet was a lumpy sculpt of plastic.

The new bouquet has wire stems all held together with another wire. You could probably undo this and create a fancy flower arrangement by posing the flowers, but I'll keep it as it is to save my sanity.

Next is her classic coffin purse. 

The handle is a separate vinyl piece attached to metal links so it swings back and forth and the body is vinyl with a hinged lid. It's similar to Sadie's Series 1 purse, but hers had red accents and the lid design did not have the LDD text logo. The purse had a little plastic thing inside but this is just for some packaging purpose.  It almost looks like a jewelry tray with the way it's been molded with a finger-grip to remove it.

The lid closes by squeezing snug over the edge of the body. 

Next is her sunglasses. They have translucent lenses and the arms fold and unfold. They have a distinct scowl in the frames, and they feel very sixties chic on her, or otherwise more modern-goth. 

The glasses are very dainty and delicate and likely the most fragile part of the doll. While part of me would have liked the more bold visual edge 

or pop/camp factor of more opaque lenses, the choice to leave the eyes visible is a smart one to get the most out of the adjustable eye feature, and the lenses feel really finely-executed, like they're showing off a level of craft in the particular translucency they were given. They look better than MGA sunglass lenses!

Here she is accessorized with those three pieces. It really changes her vibe!

And Sadie can wear MGA glasses--these are from Shadow High. 

Sadie's next accessory is a cleaver. The paint work is very good and one side of the blade has a heart drawn on with her name. I'm astounded that there's not a spot of blood on this. With the cleaver and purse design changes, there's not any red on this doll's pieces. New Eggzorcist does prove that LDD is still here for really scary imagery, but I'm surprised to see Sadie so clean.

The choice to give Sadie a cleaver instead of a knife like the original is influenced by her Series 2 doll and second release, Schooltime Sadie. That doll debuted an LDD cleaver sculpt.

Official LDD photo of Series 2 Schooltime Sadie.

That cleaver sculpt was much simpler and perhaps more archaic, as the wooden handle went all the way up the back of the blade. LDD's two butcher characters (Gluttony and Butcher Boop) really wanted for a cleaver (the first got a knife and tenderizer and the second got nothing), and I'm surprised the cleaver went to the LDD Red Riding Hood dolls and not the butchers. 2024 Sadie's cleaver looks way better.

Sadie also has a small hair bow with a skull charm in the middle. The bow has a piece of hook velcro on the back which does a pretty good job sticking on her hair. 

I don't think I'll be often using it with her, though. I think it's coolest making her fit the original Sadie look.

As is typical for collector figurines and high-end Asian dolls, Sadie has alternate hand sculpts to swap out. 

The hands pop off their ball pegs very easily. 

Sadie has a gripping hand option for both her left and right, and since her hands rotate, she can hold things vertically, like her cleaver, or horizontally, like her purse handle, without the grip being dependent on the angle of her arms. Sadie also has an odd sculpt out--a right hand with a pointing index finger that has no left-hand counterpart. This leaves Sadie with five hands total. The pointing hand is a completely new hand shape for LDD. Knuckles are sculpted on the bent fingers of these hands.

The hair bow is the only accessory Sadie has which can fit into her purse...but I prefer to use it to store two of her hands so my favored display items are all packed on the doll. I leave one of her neutral hands in storage, and I think my favorite setup is having her with both gripping hands to hold the cleaver and purse.

And after years of experience with fashion dolls who can only be displayed with purses on their wrists or elbows, it's really satisfying to have a doll who can actually hold the purse by the handle if she wants!

Then, Sadie has a darling little spooky teddy bear of stuffed brown velour, with tiny button eyes that match her eye colors! It's very simple and sweet, and Sadie can hug it under her arm or grip the end of an arm with the gripping hands. I really love the eyes; they're such a small touch that say a lot and keep the bear from looking generic or like it wasn't made just for Sadie.

Here's Sadie with the teddy and the pointing hand.

This doll is so animated!

Sadie's extra costuming is a very fancy sleeveless coat (described, perhaps inaccurately, as a "shawl" on the shop page) all in black. It has a lacy black collar, functional pockets at the hips, and fastens all the way up with tiny snaps. 

When you put the coat together with the sunglasses, she reminds me of M3GAN in her chic retro coats! It's a very nice look. Take out the cleaver, and I actually think this creates a far more wholesome and innocent look for Sadie, color palette and funerary tones aside. Set up like this, I could buy that Sadie is legitimately friendly and sweet.

The outfit switches back to certain evil when Sadie's smile is taken away.

Seriously, every way you display her looks good.

I don't think she'd be flattered to hear me say it, but this doll, in all aspects except the horror, also reminds me a lot of my mom. She was a child of the sixties who grew up for a time in England, and Sadie with her dark hair and sunglasses and black-colored fashion sense reminds me a lot of looks I've seen my mom wear in old photo albums and during my childhood.

Sadie's last piece is probably her grandest--she's got a whole tombstone! 

This is the second-heaviest part of the assortment (possibly resin?) and it looks fantastic. It feels reasonably proportional to the doll and has texture all over as well as good paint to bring it out, and the front has a photo portrait of the Series 1 original above her name. The old Sadie's face is a nice reference to the roots--but could also very well be LDD declaring the old dolls to be done for. 

The photo portrait illustrates the way the Return doll's eye colors have mirrored the original, much like her main 13th Anniversary release--the anniversary dolls were reconstructions of Series 1 with subtle differences making them unique designs, while the variant set of the anniversary dolls was more direct reproductions, just built on the ball-joint body. As such, 13th Anniversary Sadie has the reverse eye setup of the original, but the variant annniversary doll matches the original. This makes me wonder if Return Sadie's eyes are deliberately referencing the anniversary doll, adding another Sadie to her visual identity.

Sadie's death date is printed on the lower edge, and her epitaph "Deader is better" is taken from a long-running slogan for LDD. Sadie doesn't have a death certificate in this doll, so the engraving here is a nice way to reincorporate the deathdates. While it's got to be uncomfortable, I also got Sadie seated on top of her tombstone pretty easily! While I think tombstones would have been an awesome new feature across the board for the new LDDs, it looks like Eggy won't be coming with one because her shop page doesn't show one in the assortment spread. If anybody gets a tombstone, of course it's gonna be Sadie, but more of these would have been awesome.

This tombstone is also the catalyst for why I ended up getting this doll--it features a very well-hidden secret that caused Joshua Lee to make a brief video update to mention it, which made me actually curious about this doll, made me realize how significant she was, and spiraled me into this whole era of collecting LDD now! The tombstone has a very clever hidden compartment accessed by twisting forward the rightmost decorative scroll on the side.

This lets you slide out a sleeve holding a piece of paper! So sneaky! Kudos to whoever discovered this! I got spoiled on it, but I almost certainly would have missed the feature completely if left to my own devices, so I don't mind.

This little slip seems to functionally replace the chipboards of older LDDs, as it features character art and a poem that feel like the display and content of a chipboard. Sadie is drawn as an older child in accordance with the doll. Her poem discusses the history of LDD with a fantasy spin. 

The back of the slip features a cipher in strange symbols. 

Purchasers of this doll from Mezco were emailed a key to figure out what the symbols mean. Sadie's secret message says "FIND ME @ LDD.SADIE". "ldd.sadie" is not a valid web address, and typing it in the top bar only brought up a Google search with the Mezco store page for this doll as the first result. I'm reminded of Ralphie Parker decoding an Ovaltine ad that he had to drink gallons of Ovaltine to even receive in the first place. 

A crummy commercial? Son of a-

I wish there had been a secret webpage offered by this message. Maybe there is one and this message doesn't adequately tell you how to reach it? I wonder if Eggzorcist will come with a paper slip, and if they'll hide it somewhere for her? She has Easter eggs--would one of them secretly open? 

And if Eggy has a slip, I wonder if she has a code and a cyclical advertising message.

Looking at that Google page gave me a bit of whiplash with the note that Sadie takes partial inspiration from a Manson cultist and real murderer. Ugh...sigh. Really wish that wasn't the case.

I'm very impressed with the way this doll box was packed and how the coffin was kept in proportion with the older boxes so it fits right in on a shelf of classic coffins. For so much stuff in the package, I would have expected a new box size.

Here's Sadie posing like a classic Living Dead Doll.

And here she is posed like a new doll!

And with her accessories and coffin. Bench not included.

And more photos because I couldn't stop.

I love how her hair and dress let her sink into darkness for really dramatic photos. And with her moving eyes, new joints, and stunning face, she's a spooky photo artist's dream.

Sadie's hair boiled pretty well. I took off her face and eyes to do the job just to make sure nothing sensitive was getting damaged, but the scalp stayed on the head. Saran hair like this falls out of place easily, so a comb is recommended to have on hand. You saw her boiled hair first with the photo of her sitting on the tombstone and several other photos show the result.

I also got inspired to make a graphic art piece out of a silhouette of her. 

The pose I had given her to create the photo felt very Child's Play to me, and I had to keep using the pose while she was in it so as not to waste it!

This is definitely a murder face.

And she had to get the eighties horror poster directly based on Child's Play, too.

I have mixed feelings about Return of the Living Dead Dolls. 

On the one hand, I'm extremely positive toward them because this doll design is excellent. For being my most expensive collector doll bought new, Sadie walks the walk and displays a value for money that makes Mattel look like criminals with their collector dolls. Sadie's construction is gorgeous and high-quality and substantial, and she feels the most real and (in a good way) uncanny of the dolls I've handled. The only part of her that feels a little cheap to me is her unfinished undies. Is Sadie fiddly? Hell yes. Her hair and scalp are tricky to finagle and her eyes make for a lot of adjusting. I would love a change to how the scalp piece attaches to the head so it felt more responsive and simple. But the payoff of all of the fuss is that Sadie literally always looks astounding. This doll is animated, striking, and so beautifully made that she doesn't need her huge variety of display options...and yet she has them and rocks them. It's a delight to take photos with her, and her adjustable eyes are so well worth the hassle because it's such a huge thing she can do for display and photo art that none of my other dolls can. It's an absolute revelation to take photos of a doll that can look wherever I want her to! Sadie is absolutely charming and arresting and she's been so fun to play and display with. This is a massive height for LDD to have achieved, and for a brand started by two guys making home customs, it's hard not to be proud of them for taking their little idea into something this artistic and premiere. These dolls being such higher-priced items will make them very painful to acquire on the aftermarket, so the pressure to get them at release is much higher...but I might just keep watching and readjust my plans to do that, at least for a while. Eggy makes nuanced changes and creates a compellingly grimy old antique out of a basic doll I never loved previously, and apparently Damien is next and he'll probably be great in this style. Logistics are one thing, but the price doesn't stand in my way for me at this moment. These are awesome pieces and I'm happy to carve out the space for them.

Sadie feels like a thoughtful tribute to the character as an icon of Living Dead Dolls, too. Her basic look derives from the original doll, but the bangs and velvet dress are reminiscent of Resurrection Sadie, while her cleaver references Schooltime Sadie and her eye color arrangement seems to reflect 13th Anniversary Sadie. The doll seems to consciously mix distinctive aspects of older incarnations of the most prolific LDD character, and creates something new and cohesive.

I also have a lot of hope for the future of this concept. Aging up the sculpts is a smart move to reduce discomfort across the board, and given the range of faceplate sculpts that are apparently on the table, I can see several dolls who would be more effective with dimensional face details that don't have to be carried just by paint. Off the top of my head, I can already think of two new-style LDDs who could completely replace the originals in execution--Thump, with its hidden monster maw surprise, could be done with at least some dimensional detail, and Frozen Charlotte could convey her cracked icy porcelain gimmick well. Heck, new Eggy's already giving us a faux-porcelain showcase! I imagine new-style dolls of some of the characters could completely eliminate the need or desire for the originals. Alternate faces also suggest that screaming dolls could be released with calmer extra expressions in some occasions to create a less extreme display option, and that's entirely up my alley.

And that's not even getting into how exciting all-new characters would be.

[I don't want to infect my brain with the completionist demon at all. That's a horrible idea and I will remain selective. It's just not realistic or healthy to hope to obtain every doll like this, nor should I talk myself into liking every entry made in this new line. But I genuinely like both return dolls we've seen and it's possible if we get a whole Series 1 set that I'll end up with them all. LDD are really cooking something here.]

And lastly on the positives, of the Return dolls that have been shown, Sadie is a very easy recommend because her design is more cleanly spooky and free from gore, making her an accessible choice in terms of dark content. I expect Damien might also be fairly accessible design-wise, but Eggzorcist has been made more gruesome than precedent.

Also, sidenote: this new line would be a good mode of increasing skintone diversity in the dolls by changing a few characters in adaptation. Mezco could even start with Damien because it'd distance him from the character he's transparently based on, or else some other characters could be shifted to vary the backgrounds of the LDDs in this new generation.

So now for the other hand. And my first rebuttal to this new doll line is the simple reaction that Return Sadie has by no means ruined me for classic Living Dead Dolls. I still like the old style and still hold out hope more new characters could be produced in it. More seriously, I have reservations about the prospect that LDD are throwing all of their eggs into this one basket, Eggzorcist's or otherwise. Return LDDs are not cheap at manufacturer price, and while I'm awed and ready to keep carving a space out in my plans to put them in for right now, it's very hard to imagine the brand successfully growing or sustaining itself for long by changing to a slower release format with pricier dolls. There is a wall you have to hit eventually as a collector, though maybe the slow release is intended to allow time to get them all? I don't know. It would be one thing if this was the first the world had ever seen of LDD. But changing your existing product to something less accessible and frequent in release could cost some of the fanbase. And there's a definite charm to the original LDDs that makes me feel sad if they're really over. The new BJD-esque style loses the element of parody targeted at real classic children's dolls, and loses the cute sweetness and I'll miss that. Sadie is realistic and wicked and personable...but she doesn't feel so darling to me. I'm definitely going to keep checking the backlog out to get the most out of the Living Dead Dolls I was first fascinated by because they still grab me.

I want these new dolls to remain running as a killer new way to revive older characters, but I just don't know how long this could really go on as the new and only LDD. Perhaps one way to make this a stable release model could be to extend release cycles or (unrealistic) not discontinue the dolls to reduce the feeling of pressure or FOMO behind less easy acquisitions, but Mezco seem to be using a made-to-order model to keep production even with demand, with a generous window to request through putting down a payment--Eggzorcist won't be shipping any until May, and I was able to get Sadie very quickly after learning about her even though she'd already been released and up for order for a bit. So maybe these are being made as accessible as they can be.

It's also possible the Series 1 remakes will be the most extravagant and that future LDDs like this will have fewer parts and a lower price while keeping the new body style and faceplates and eyes...or they could even get away with an alternate single-piece head assembly with inset eyes (more like a Resurrection doll) to lower the price even more and make a new standard for basic LDD that's just better articulation and sculpting/plastic/paint but none of the most heightened BJD-esque features we're seeing with these first dolls. LDDs with this body style and art direction but none of the other frills so they're more affordable could be really great, and dolls with one-piece heads could have complete rooting and more diverse hairstyles that don't have to bend to the construction of the doll. Dolls like Purdy with empty heads and removable brains, or bald dolls, would also be viable with a different head construction, but this fancy one would disqualify them. A "budget" new-style LDD form would actually make many more looks and characters possible than this fancy modular style we're seeing for the Series 1 gang, and I hope LDD doesn't end up painting themselves into a corner with this new doll head build creating so many visual restrictions. This lavish doll style with moving eyes and swapping faces could remain as the new equivalent to Resurrection collector dolls, but the "G2 mainline" of LDD could be a bit simpler.  We'll have to wait and see.

Overall, I have to say I'm enchanted by 2024 Sadie. She's an incredible doll for horror fans and LDD fans alike. New LDD just doesn't replace old LDD in my heart.

And on that note, we're still not finished. Because why would we be?

I took Sadie down to her burial plot. It was starting to snow.

She took the opportunity to clown on the grave. I was trying to imitate the viral image from the Arrow TV series.

And then she decided to have it all dug up.

She beheld the buried with awe. 

Then she dropped her bouquet. 

Return Sadie was about done by then, but I brought the coffin out to be fully exhumed. 

Yes. I got a 2001 mint-sealed Series 1 Sadie. Her first doll ever made.

I hemmed and hawed about the idea once I had it, and gave myself plenty of time to think before acting, because I knew it was a dangerous little thought to have, but ultimately, I decided to go all-in for the art of the blog and the ultimate discussion. I knew full-well that her production value as a toy pales in comparison to even most classic LDDs following her, but her semantic value as the doll that started it all was significant, and to have the oldest and newest doll of her to examine the scope of LDD was just too important to me. She was an "essential text" to collect in the brand, and I wanted the best possible comparison/contrast to her Return doll. An unopened Series 1 Sadie also offered the chance to really compare with the Series 8 coffin from Faith, since they were so similar.

Really, I'm blogging because I want to have and share experiences, so most of the time, the "go for it" mentality wins out! This was admittedly reckless and I had to check myself after doing so, but we'll talk more about that lesson later. 

Also, that wait worked out better just in terms of my spending, since I was able to find an offer listed as unopened for significantly less than the other listing I had been eyeing. I wasn't totally certain this was a legit unopened complete listing because the listing had only a front-view photo and wasn't written with detail, but I'll accept that risk if it's $80 cheaper. If it's not mint, who cares. If it's not complete? That sucks, oh well. But I know those accessories and shrink-wrap ain't worth $80. On a bad day, you could maybe scalp me the two trays of supplemental stuff Return Sadie includes for $80, but absolutely not the three accessories and death certificate of the S1 doll. 

Fortunately, everything was as I hoped and this was just a much better deal on the same thing. Mint. Untouched. Original. It made the gravesite photos very easy to stage because the box was shrink-wrapped and protected. I hadn't always been sure which Sadie would go first in this post once I decided I wanted both, but realizing my photos needed the new one unboxed first settled it and gave me the time to find the cheaper listing for the original. 

Modern Sadie was cautious. She felt she'd buried herself for a very good reason.

To be in the presence of the original Sadie was something I necessarily regarded as an even bigger honor than just getting my first LDD with Faith. I wasn't entirely sure how to best respect this moment. Does one bow? Sacrifice a goat? Saw one's own head off? To the Sadies' certain disappointment, I chose not to spill any blood for her, but I did attempt to be solemn and morose. (I don't have a black suit.)

This Sadie usurped Faith as my oldest doll acquistion. She's just a year younger than I am, and shares a "birthday" month of release with my birth month!

Sadie's shrink-wrap stayed on for a second. Her box doesn't have the coffin handle printing seen on Series 8 Faith.

The wrap was more stiff and rattly, the kind of sheet plastic that sounds a little like shaking tinfoil sheets when taken off. Here's the unwrapped coffin.

It is shocking just how little the LDD packaging changed through its original run. This box looks so much like Faith's (Series 8 deliberately returned to an earlier look) and also very much like any other series, disregarding the color-coded tissue and unique chipboards. The clear lid is almost indistinguishable from later dolls'...except Sadie's target age is listed as "for spooky kids ages 8 and up". That's much younger than the "15 and up" that most series ran with, and it's a ten-year-younger demographic than Return Sadie. I guess Series 1 gets away with that recommendation okay because the dolls are so simple and are comparatively tame, but they're still horror toys and are edgier in concept and execution than you'd see for that age bracket at any time.

Sadie's chipboard is black with blood splatters and sketchy artwork of the doll--this is the same line art as the Series 1 characters seen inside the opaque coffin lid with both Faith and this Sadie.

Faith's coffin lid interior. The design is identical for Sadie; her lid has just aged a little worse physically.

Here's an edit of the new Sadie inserted into this chipboard art style.

The hairline of the Series 1 Sadie character art does not match the doll. I'm surprised there hasn't ever been a physical Sadie with a widow's peak.

Sadie's chipboard poem is fairly vague. It reads:

Watch this little one,

She's pining away. 

With her Butcher's Knife, 

Coffin Purse

And Black Bouquet

The poem has the same weird issue of improperly capitalizing nouns as the back of Faith's coffin.

Here's my rewrite of the poem. I did change a verb because Sadie doesn't strike me as at all melancholy or romantic.

This grim little girl

Is plotting away

With her knife, coffin purse

And mournful bouquet.

In interior and exterior, Sadie's coffin lid is identical in design to Faith's and, I'm guessing, many series' after.

The back of the coffins shows the greatest differences in design between Series 1 and Series 8. 

The Series 1 box looks more cluttered on the back, and has a different slogan at the top. I kind of prefer the older slogan! While the chipboard poem featured it, the box does not feature improper caps on the words "creepy doll" like on the Series 8 box. Ed and Damien's names have also been transposed in the creator credits between these two series. The box also sees Ed and Damien credited a second time under "developed by Mezco Toyz", which was probably cut for being redundant, and a credits list not on the Series 8 box features under that. The website is stated without anything else on the Series 8 box, while it's in a sentence on the Series 1. 

Lastly, the line art inside the opaque lids is also featured on the back of the Series 1 box, but not the Series 8. I think that makes sense. It's redundant on the back and creates too much visual noise.

Now, taking Sadie out of her box was not easy. I discovered her chipboard was taped inside the box at both ends, and the tissue was stuck to the walls in a few spots, meaning the tissue got a bit mangled in the extraction of the backdrop. Oh, well.

The back of the card has the access to the twist-ties. I inverted the direction after undoing them so I can re-tie Sadie from the front when I choose to repack her. The back also had the accessory sleeve with the death certificate.

Here's the Series 1 and Series 8 boxes empty together. The Series 1 tissue is a little glossier. 

Here you can see the nuances between the chipboards--Series 8 uses off-white drawings and the blood is a diluted-in-water effect rather than a graphic splatter. The doll name is also less bold.

The death certificate came wrapped in ribbon just like Faith's. 

Here's the inside. Sadie's death date is consistent with her tombstone released decades later.

Her poem says:

No one cared how she turned up dead.

So Sadie chose to rise instead. 

Being easily forgotten wouldn't be fair

Death was something this child had to share.

Here's my rewrite for flow.

Nobody cared how she ended up dead

So Sadie decided to rise up instead

To be fast forgotten just wouldn't be fun

When you can bring death down to everyone

Her certificate has the same design as Faith's. I know there was some variety as the series progressed, and there were different designs between Series 1 and 8 as well. 

At last, here's Sadie. She died in the sixties, but she also passes for a doll from the sixties, goth theme aside. I've seen my mom's childhood toys, and this doll could squeeze into that crowd. 

Sadie was reportedly the very first LDD created, and that means she was in the small batch of handmade custom dolls that formed the entire concept of Living Dead Dolls. 

The most significant change between handmade Sadie and market Sadie is that market Sadie made her eyes mismatched between black and white irises, which is probably the most iconic and striking thing about her, so very good move there. The white-only eyes are haunting, but the mixed eyes are goth. Series 2 and Series 7 would use Sadie designs with two white eyes, likely in reference to her handmade doll, and Series 28 has one white eye and one very pale blue eye (white iris with blue outline) which mixes the two eye approaches. Handmade Sadie has a hunting knife rather than a kitchen knife, and she seems able to hold it. Handmade also has blood on her body and clothing, and black nail polish, which are absent from the market doll. 

Market Sadie's hair is long, black, and center-parted. It's not very thickly rooted and it falls out of her face. It's gotten waved a bit, but more by packaging than design. It feels fairly tidy, but also perhaps a bit greasy. I intend to wash it and the doll overall. 

Sadie really doesn't have all that much going on as a toy, so her face has to do a lot of work...and it really does. 

Sadie's got those quintessential LDD facial style markers--oval cartoon eyes and steep-ass brows, and she brings her iconic signature mismatched goth black-and-white eyes which are so so striking. This original version has the black on her right and white on her left, while we know the newest doll is opposite. 

She has lots of lashes, and her eyes have pink shading around them. Her black lips are also very cute. I think this face marries really well with the classic childlike sculpt to create something a little off-kilter and menacing while still being really endearing. She looks like a classic doll...and sorry to my mother, but yes, this Sadie also reminds me of her!

Sadie's dress is the same basic idea as the 2024 remake, but it's made of a felt material and is as absolutely simple as it could be.

That might be a deliberate match to the home-crafted clothes of the handmade dolls, but it doesn't feel substantial or appropriate for modern dolls in production. It's not realistic or high-quality, and while retrospectively, it has a humble charm, and it does feel retro, I probably wouldn't be impressed if I was a buyer when these were new. The sleeves are also wider on this dress and have no cuffs, and it's one layer with no brooch and a velcro closure at the back. Series 1 Sin's dress is a red copy, establishing the pattern of the two dolls' lookalike styling every time they released in the same line. The connection has never been clarified. They're not stated to be sisters, though apparently Series 35's Eve has been stated by creator Ed Long to be Sadie's sister? I don't know.

The Series 1 dress is also sewn proportionally to be a lot larger around Sadie, making her look even younger or more doll-like in a rather sweet way. Return Sadie's costume is more tailored and suits an older girl.

I also discovered a strip of tape used to tack down the collar. This was old and a little gross, so I pulled it off. She doesn't need it.

The dress is not long enough for sitting with polite company. Because the classic LDD legs splay so much while sitting, she's not covered well.

Sadie's shoes and socks are similar to what we saw, but less fancy on the fabric. This reminded me that the classic LDD Mary Jane shoe has two cutout holes (or one hole divided by a bar)--the 2024 shoe has one wider hole. The original Mary Jane also has more texture than I expected, and a thinner ankle strap.

The most poorly-aged feature I discovered on Sadie was entirely decayed elastics around the ankles of her socks. I wasn't sure if these were at one point attached to structure the socks more, or if they were separate bands put on for packaging, but they were entirely deteriorated and I scraped them away. 

The fabric lacks finished seams all around in this costume--maybe why felt was used for the dress.

Now, the accessories. 

First is Sadie's knife. It's not impressive and the doll has no means of holding it properly--no palm holes, and no peg on this piece. Series 1 dolls manufactured in Japan had pierced palms, but the accessories still didn't have pegs. I was able to balance the knife in Sadie's hand for photos later, but it's not ideal and not suitable for reliable display. This is the edgiest piece of the doll, though, since it features blood. Return Sadie is bloodless, though her cleaver is honestly more brutal. 

Then, her purse. It's coffin-shaped and fairly flat, and marks the first use of the sulfur/brimstone symbol, with it appearing in red on the lid. I think the red here on the purse was a misstep and I prefer the Return purse's white paint. It just clashes with the green bouquet stems and doesn't suit her costume and eye colors. 

The original and newest purse are decorated and hinged in opposite directions. Series 1 Sadie's bag looks best held on her right, while Return Sadie's bag is best held on her left. 

The purse's lid opens on a folded plastic hinge--it's a lot like a typical Mattel purse.

I do appreciate that in the absence of Sadie being able to hold her knife, her purse can--it fits easily inside and closes up nice. This is actually the one aspect Series 1 Sadie wins over the Return doll production-wise--her purse has a meaningful diegetic function and something it's clearly meant to carry in the doll's universe.

I'm also slightly reminded of a gangster's violin case hiding a gun!

The purse interacts a bit awkwardly with Sadie's hand due to the angle of the sculpts, but it slides pretty securely over her four fingers.

Return Sadie carries the Series 1 purse easily, but the knife handle is too thin and short for her hands, so it doesn't fit securely and looks ridiculous.

S1 Sadie's last accessory is the original bouquet, and if you thought the knife looked off...

Yeah, this looks like a lumpy ball on a pole. Granted, that pole does allow the bouquet to balance between Sadie's thumb and fingers when her arm is raised, but it's not elegant.

This bouquet saw use across the line despite its clumsy sculpt. It worked better when dolls started getting gripping hands that could hold it securely, but I think it might have been only The Girl In Black from Series 29 who had both the bouquet and the gripping hand.

Sadie's body is predictably pretty stained by her black dress, but she's the first LDD I've been able to show you with painted underwear. Hers are white, and the line might be a bit too high since it's forming a tangent with her belly button.

Of course, this is the more rudimentary first-gen swivel body. Like several LDDs, depending on the manufacturing, Sadie's legs are molded such that she has to thrust forward a bit to be flat on her feet. It's janky but also oddly charming with the stance it gives her. I think the 13th anniversary reproductions of the Series 1 dolls had to have had the upgraded ball-joint body, and it's possible Sadie's accessories were made more usable on that edition, so that would objectively be the better copy. I'm still happy with the oldie.

I took Sadie down for a body wash to get rid of any leftover grime, and boiled her hair to get that tidier and straighter. 

This was a major transformation, and I became entirely, thoroughly charmed by the doll. The hair is wonderfully silky (it's actually my favorite head of hair out of my LDDs so far) and Sadie is so. stinkin'. ADORABLE.

I had ragged on this doll for being simple, and sure, she's definitely not the highest production quality, but that might honestly be her secret weapon. This doll just looks so sweet and classic and cute to me all fixed up. She reminds me of my mom's old toys and my mom's old looks, while being so perfectly, succinctly spooky. She's bringing out the best of the childlike sculpts of classic LDD with a very basic and yet perfect visual design that has the best charms of vintage toys. Her clothing also seems to help make her feel more petite to me even though the doll is no smaller than normal. I was relieved to find LDD wasn't tiny in person, but I really like Sadie for how little she feels! I was shocked, after all of the wonders and advancements I've shown you in the brand's progression, to find that this Sadie might have become my very favorite LDD. (So far.)

Like, I know Sadie wants to murder me horribly...but who could say no to that little cutie?

You can tell just how enchanted I was by the doll because I don't think I've ever gotten so many art photos out of such a simple low-articulated toy!

I'm honestly thrilled I found S1 Sadie to be so delightful, because I really was buying her on principle and for investigative purposes. I'm very glad I ended up adoring her for her and treasuring her on her own merits devoid of context. 

The differences between the oldest and newest Sadie couldn't be greater. 

The new Sadie looks photo-real in many ways and is luxuriously constructed with more joints and fancy. She's also designed to look older and has a more dead color that's a bit darker than the Series 1 doll. The original Sadie does not feel like an art doll. She feels like a toy. And I kinda buy the "8 years and up" target for her because she's that simple. I wouldn't call her "a wonderful toy for children", but I if I was chill with dolls during those years and she was available, she could have been a childhood favorite for me. And old Sadie has one major major asset--she is friggin' precious. I worry the new LDDs won't hit quite the same level of cute charm. In sidestepping the disturbing too-real notes caused by horror dolls that look like tots, they're also stepping away from those places where the little-kid dolly cuteness of the toys feels well-aligned and charming.

The remarkable power of both of these Sadies is that they classically invoke a relatable horror theme with tons of imaginative value (the evil doll) but they also look perfect doing it, each in her own way. That meant I thought I was done staging pictures with them several times before I thought of a few new things they could do...and they could! They make a great duo, too.

New Sadie's body articulation is not exceptional in the field, but with her high amount of joints and eyes, I was able to get her in every pose and spooky scenario I wanted for her. Her construction let me pursue my inspiration completely. That's something I really appreciate. Old Sadie gave me a shocking amount of great pictures just by looking dead-on (pun absolutely intended) for her concept. I truly cherish her.

And already you can sense the evolution by the point of Series 8, the last of the first-gen series with the swivel bodies. 

Faith is bringing a nicer outfit with more realistic fabric and she has a much more advanced paint job, as well as unique texture to sell her morbid concept. She has fewer pieces than Sadie, but she looks more polished. The only thing Sadie is crafted better for is her hair.

Here's a rough sample scale of dolls over time. There's a wide time gap between Faith and the Wizard, but you can see a broad highlight-reel of progression in this group.

If I was a teen or adult collector at the time S1 Sadie was released, I don't honestly know how I would have reacted. Knowing what LDD became, she's nothing to write home about, but the novelty of a collector line of intentionally creepy goth dolls could have been extremely compelling to me if I was older in a space where that hadn't happened yet. Of Series 1, I do also think Sadie would have been my pick of the five because she's cartoony and black-and-white-themed, and I think I could have loved her just as fiercely as I do today. Charm will get you everywhere. Series 1 Sadie is not objectively the best toy LDD ever released, but she's still an iconic, adorable visual design, the progenitor of them all, and a wonderful showcase of how much LDD changed and also how much it nailed right from the start. She's priceless to me. Right now, Series 1 Sadie would be the Living Dead Doll you couldn't rob from my grave. My hands would be locked firm in rigor mortis over her foul little heart.

 I can't even imagine what it must have been like for early adopters of LDD, watching the line grow so much in creativity and flair. I'm still awed as a longtime spectator seeing where it's went!

Conclusion: LDD and Me

Obviously, I'm hooked. And I think it's obvious I'm in my element when working with these dolls.

I think I ended up with a great group for this overview. It includes the first and most recent Sadie for the ultimate chronicle of the brand as it stands today, two dolls from the first-gen body era, three from the second-gen, a doll with a delightfully gory play feature, a doll with manufacturing texture to sell her morbid concept, and a variety of LDD horror aesthetics. I saw a good sample of packaging, too, and even broke the sacred rule and customized a collector doll. I really strive not to again! For the pickings I was able to find, I think I wove a pretty broad and illuminating picture of the brand in just six dolls. I know these will not be the only six I ever obtain and discuss.

If I had to do a ranking, I'd probably put it (in descending order) at S1 Sadie, Return Sadie, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Wizard, and Faith. Note: none of these are bad dolls! I feel bad putting my first LDD at the bottom, because I do still treasure her, but her hair really disappointed me and her eye paint looks wonky--and for such a simple doll with nothing extra to redeem her, what she has should be done perfectly. She's still very haunting and cool. I was actually unsure whether the Tin Man or Return Sadie was my number-two doll, but Return Sadie just offers so much as a display item and photo model that it'd be a crime to put her any lower than #2. 

Here's two last things. First, a drawing I did of Scarecrow Purdy. I did the mask as a separate piece to spare me a second drawing.

And then, something for Faith. I decided giving her a towel accessory would really improve her display options and build her out more, so I found a blue striped cloth in the rag basket downstairs and cut it to size. I think this really gives her some dynamism.

This is how I'll display her.

I like how this arrangement makes it look like clothing, as if her death has become a fashion statement!

And Faith can lie down with the towel...

...two very different ways!

I came up with this joke and shot this photo within minutes.

I think that helped her a lot. I'll still need to see what I can do about getting her hair less aerated and staticky after a boil job messed things up (metal combing didn't help) but the towel is a simple addition with no alteration on the doll itself that makes her a lot better.

LDD collecting is going to have to be a slower hobby. I went overboard here, and while I do still want to get a few more things sooner than later, I'll probably shift to a slower model of collecting later on. I want to waitlist myself for Return Eggzorcist and check out a few burning dolls, which will be easier with my upcoming birthday. I do also have a concrete concept for another round of LDD posts I want to work on. I want to collect a certain complete series, which would be spaced over a good amount of time off and on this year, and I could otherwise see myself doing roundup batch posts for other LDDs I manage to acquire in the meantime. I'm not replacing any existing blogging/collecting focuses with LDD...I've just found a new one. Other dolls and toys are still on the table, but LDD is a part of me and will be a part of this blog going forth--for real this time. I know I said that with Shadow High too, before deciding to mutilate those dolls into goth monsters...and then MGA quickly pulled the plug on the brand!

Because there's a pretty select number of LDDs I can see myself going for and because each requires more commitment than most things I collect, I don't anticipate my collection becoming massive or infinite or exploding like my fashion-doll hobby has. To accommodate for this new collection, I've decided to re-allocate the shelves inside my closet to displaying them since I don't want to freak people out and they just kind of belong shut away in the dark, don't they? 

They yearn for it. It's also like a little private gallery. The shelves are deep enough to stand a doll in front of their coffin, like Joshua Lee displays in his videos, and I personally prefer the window display with the tissue and chipboard behind the doll because it's more distinct. The dolls will be out of the light, too, so it's all fine. Dolls without boxes can stand there (the three Oz dolls do well in front of the one box), but as I collect, I will endeavor to get every coffined doll with that damned coffin, no matter how that slows things.

I have two more identical shelves on the opposite wall of the closet, so there's room to expand, and I can also turn coffins to their side to stack them closer and squeeze more dolls into a row later down the line.

And the last thing my interest in LDD has done has been to cause a positive shift in my collection maintenance...in that I've taught myself to sell online and trim things down to allow my toys to help pay for my toys. I finally received an oncoming wake-up call that I needed to clean out a bit of my preceding pile of dolls and ask for something back for it for a change. Particularly after opening a new sphere of my collection where every item is a more demanding acquisition. As such, I've begun to turn my eye toward things I can let go of. I don't want my collection to be entirely transient and without treasures because that's not who I am, but there are several unaltered dolls who I enjoyed for the experience/exploration and won't feel bad about not holding onto. As with custom projects that tragically decayed over time, I can accept the good time I had, keep the photos, and not hold on any further. Cycling out and reselling is a good and helpful habit to have acquired, especially as life's other projects demand resources. And dolls aren't the only things I can resell and clear out, so there's a whole world open to me in times of clearout. The question of when and how to manage collection size has been looming for a while, and this was the right moment to solve it for me. I can also see that expanding my options in some ways. If I plan for an acquisition to be transient, then I won't feel as bad about bringing it on board for a post, because then I can sell it afterward. I get to explore something cool and share that experience without creating clutter or taking a total loss.

I don't want my melting over S1 Sadie to imply Return Sadie was a waste in any way, because she's a treasure and I do want to get the new Eggzorcist. But looking back through eras of LDD, including the very start, has showed me how much charm and appeal the brand already had. I'm happy to celebrate the grand new era of the dolls...but I'm going to keep snacking at the leftovers, too. They're just as deliciously rancid.