World Doll Day and Christmas in June...51 Years Late: My New That Kid!

 Whoo hoo! Happy World Doll Day! For those of you who don't know what World Doll Day is, here's the deal,according to the World Doll Day website:
  " The First World Doll Day was established on June 14th, 1986 with a letter by Mildred Seeley. It was created to spread the universal message of happiness and love."
Here's part of the original letter written by Mildred:
  "I have always felt that the common doll could be an instrument of world understanding. From the first time I started writing books on doll making, I had the hope that dolls would help make friends all over the world and develop a little love among all...Think of it this way and ship a doll to another country... Give a doll to a grownup, child in the family or just a friend.  If you don't have a child to give a doll to - find one. There are many children with no dolls."

In celebration of World Doll Day, we're going to look at one of my favourite and most yearned for dolls. but first, what have I been up to lately? Well,I had a busy day Monday. I mowed the yard. (Good thing, because it was getting tall and it rained the next day. My little non motorized mower was going to have a hard time if it got any taller.)
  I helped Ken put up his gazebo.

Which he started using even before the ladder was put away.

  We rescued this little guy,who was trapped in our chimney.

Ken had to come in from putting the gazebo together, to help when the bird finally flew out of the opened fireplace. It was trying to fly out the living room window,and was too high for me to reach.

I think he's a Chimney Swift. I wasn't sure so I had to do some research. Apparently they like to nest in chimneys. The eggs are laid in mid May. When the babies are old enough they climb out of the nest and hang on the vertical surface of the inside of the chimney. So this one could have been a young one who wasn't good at hanging there yet,and fell into the bottom of the chimney,(basically,our fireplace.). We've had birds in there before. When they fall down there they can't fly back up, since birds can't fly straight up like helicopters. So we have to get them out through the fireplace. Some I have been able to reach in and pick up, but a couple we have had to just let come out on their own and then catch once they are in the house. It's easier than you think. They automatically go to the windows and are so obsessed with getting through the glass,and so scared, that they let themselves be caught. I also found this:
  "Due to recent changes in chimney construction including covering openings and narrowing flues available nest sites have decreased and may be a factor in declining numbers. To help the population of chimney swifts, masonry or clay flue-tile chimney can be open at the top and closed at the damper from March through October to provide nest sites. In addition many landowners and local organizations build chimney swift towers made specifically for nesting swifts. Consider supporting their efforts or constructing a tower in your community. For more information about chimney swift towers go to the North American Chimney Swift Nest Site Research Project."
  The other thing that took a lot of my day was filming my first YouTube video. What? I'll explain. It has to do with that favourite doll,and it starts like this:
  It took a long time coming, but Christmas 1967 finally arrived Monday, delivered by the postman in the form of a package containing this box.

  That Kid is a doll I wanted really badly as a kid. (You may have seen my post on my other That Kid dolls.) I was five years old when Hasbro came out with That Kid in 1967. I saw his picture in the catalogue my sister and I picked our Christmas presents from,(probably Spiegel.),and fell in love.

This is the picture I saw.

  I cut his picture out and saved it. I still have it. But I didn't get the doll. I did get the Little Miss No Name though. She was another doll I really wanted and had on my list that year. I can see why I got her instead of That Kid. She was only $5.99,and he was around $12! (One ad lists him at $11.88, and another at $12.99.)

  I didn't know he was only sold for one year,so I put him on every Christmas and birthday list for years. He became one of the two dolls I longed for most, even as an adult who hadn't succumbed to my urge for dolls yet.(The other was Mrs. Beasley.You can read my post on her HERE.)

 I didn't know what he was called,so for years I just referred to him as 'my boy'. Then came the internet. I was finally able to do some research, and discovered who he was. (It still wasn't easy because not only is he not well known, but I assumed he was made by Mattel. He's not. He's Hasbro.) After that it was a lot easier to locate one. Ken bought me my first That Kid for Christmas one year. We have a series of tear filled pictures of me opening the package,my childhood dream fulfilled...almost.

This is my first that Kid. I'm not showing you the crying pictures. I was never an attractive crier.

  There was a small problem. I was pretty satisfied with my That Kid, even though he was supposed to be a talking doll,and he didn't. (He's considered to be the first interactive doll, due to the fact that he has five separate switches that each produce a different phrase when activated by five different actions.) It was a problem I could live with. I hoped someday to upgrade to an actual working That Kid,but if I didn't,at least I had one that had most of his original clothes and was otherwise in pretty good looking condition. My little guy could never talk again though, because he was completely devoid of innards. His entire contents were missing.
  So I was still looking to upgrade at some point. Eventually I managed to acquire another That Kid.

And then there were two.

This new guy had his insides,but he still didn't work. He also had a problem with his legs falling off because his sides were split. Apparently someone had tried to fix him and gave up. (I was at a doll show once and I met a man who repaired talking dolls. I asked him if he could fix That Kid. He actually had at one point, but had quit because,with five separate switches,it was too difficult.) At least between these two I had managed to get one full set of original clothing. And both were so lovable I didn't mind having two.
  But still,neither of them talked. So I still dreamed of one day hearing That Kid talk. But the price of a working That Kid was crazy. $200 plus was a good deal! And of course I couldn't find anybody who fixed them, even if I could have afforded it,or had a doll that was repairable. (Who knows if Legless is even fixable?) Every now and then I still checked on auction sites for a working That Kid. A box would have been nice too. But I thought I'd never find one I could afford unless I found him at a yard sale,(which, considering his rarity,wasn't very likely.) I did find one other That Kid,at an auction. I bought him, feeling the need to rescue him,(Nobody else at the auction even knew who he was,and they were all making disparaging remarks about him. Chucky jokes abounded. He was totally unappreciated.),but he didn't work. He didn't even have any of his original clothing. Not needing another nonworking Kid I reluctantly sold him, letting someone else fulfill their desire for a That Kid.
  So I had still never heard That Kid talk. I still occasionally looked for an affordable working doll. That was fruitless though...until a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't checked for a while,but a couple of weeks ago I did. Prices seemed to have gone down on That Kid dolls recently. Maybe it's that thing where the price goes down on collectibles because the people who collected them are dying off or getting so old they have stopped collecting. In any case,there was a That Kid up for auction,with his box,instructions,and all his original clothes in brilliant condition. The only thing missing was his slingshot. What was more, he talked! He had two non working phrases, but three that worked. And he was relatively cheap, considering.  I decided to bid on him and hope that anybody else was discouraged from bidding higher. I waited all week for the auction to end. It finally did,and no one bid against me! I was both elated and sick to my stomach,(because I hate spending money.)
  He was due to arrive on Tuesday, but when I started out to take something to the recycling tub on Monday, there was a big box on my steps. He had arrived!

EEEEEE!!!!

I was supposed to be eating something so I could take my blood pressure pill. But I got all side tracked by my new toy!

His box isn't in the greatest condition,but it's his original box! It's structurally sound,but a little worn and browned.

'Your very own little brother',his box says. The box sides have the same picture,but one side is just 2 colours...

...and the other side is in full colour and printed on the slick paper that wraps around from the front of the box.

This is the box back. 'That freckle faced...that..that kid!' This implies he is frustrating and people want to swear at him, but he's a kid,so,you know.

This is the inside of the box lid. Here you can see all of his phrases and how you make them work. Remember that red stripe across the top,for something I'm going to tell you in a minute.

The top and bottom are pretty much the same.

    His instructions were in the box too.

Instructions included. He's complete except for his slingshot.

  That Kid himself is in very nice condition.

He's beautiful! And by the way,Chucky from Child's Play was NOT based on That Kid! The creator of Chucky said he was based on the Cabbage Patch craze, and his look seems to have been based on the My Buddy doll.

This That Kid does have red spots on his lips,cheeks and nose from the red print on the inside of the box lid.(Remember that?) I'm not sure they'll be removable,and I'd be afraid to try.

He has big green sleep eyes and black lashes...and of course those crazy teeth. I love them!

  

 He's also got some damage to one of his eye lashes.

 

His profile is a bit strange.

He has thickly rooted bright red hair,so he fits in really well around here.

 

He's 21" tall, but seems bigger.

He has all his original clothes:a striped shirt,jeans,red socks,a baseball hat, and denim tennis shoes.

He also came with a plastic slingshot that works with one of his talking switches. Mine is missing his. In fact, all of mine are missing their slingshots. It's the hardest thing to find.

His shirt and hat both have Made in Hong Kong tags in them. The jeans have a snap and a zipper on the fly,just like real pants.His clothes are very clean and don't look played with at all.
 

His shirt is bright and clean. The shirt is the most common original item to find on a That Kid,mostly because his head is so big you can't get the thing off without destroying it.

His shoes look nearly new. That's unusual, because the rubber on most That Kid shoes tends to be dried out and crumbling away.

The orange strings are original. The soles are heavy textured rubber. The shoes are actually the quality of real kids shoes.

  But the important thing is,he still talks! Ok, so all his phrases don't work, but some of them do! I had been waiting 51 years to hear what this guy sounded like. So the first thing I did was get that battery door off. Ken rounded up a D  battery for me because the first one I tried didn't work. I was freaking at that point too, because I had spent all this money on this doll because it supposedly worked,and it wasn't working. But with the other battery he talked to me! After all these years,THIS is what this guy sounds like! Really? He sounded sweet. I expected him to sound gravely and grouchy,kind of like the voice I made my son's Hap doll talk with.

You can see Hap's post HERE.

 The five different switches that activate his speech are located in his back,his right leg, his right arm,his neck,and his...uh...butt. His missing slingshot would have fitted into his back pocket,and through a hole in his pocket into a hole in his 'cheek'.The three phrases he has that work are the ones in his back, his right arm and his right leg.

His phrases are:
Right arm: Hey! That's my pitching arm!
Right leg: Gee whiz,can't I come along?
Back (called the 'hug button'): Put me down. You're funny looking.
Neck,(activated when you tug his ear,thus tilting his head left or right):Let go of my ear!
Pocket (When the slingshot is removed):Put that back or the monster will get you.

  Because this guy is so rare, and it's even harder to find one that actually works,I checked on YouTube to see if someone had posted a video of him talking. The only videos of That Kid are all to compare him to Chucky or showing supposedly 'haunted' That Kid dolls, or a combination of both! So,that's where my attempt to make a video for YouTube comes in. I thought there must be other people who had never heard a That Kid speak. Maybe there are even people who had the doll as kids and would like to hear him again.

Of course, as soon as I would finish a video,I would think of something else I should have said. I decided it was too dark in the shade and moved to the sun. There were technical problems.Noisy traffic ruined some takes. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I finally got what I thought was an exceptable version. Hours later I realized that I had been saying the wrong year in every single take! I was saying That Kid was made in 1965,instead of 1967. I think I was thinking of the fact that I was five the year he was sold,so I was saying  1965. In any case,it meant that I had to redo the whole thing. Of course, it rained the next day and was very dark. So I had to wait another day to redo it.

So,finally, here is a somewhat acceptable video of my new That Kid... speaking! I'm hoping it works. It took forever to load. (And even longer to record!)

So there he is. I know some of you will be creeped out by him, but he's one of the dolls that hold a special place in my heart.