Doll-A-Day 2017 #31:Japanese Pose Doll

 Today's doll is this Japanese Pose doll.

Here she sits amidst my amaryllis',that are wintering inside, and my peace lily,which our cat, Mow, keeps eating.Don''t worry. Amaryllis are toxic to cats, but they were cut down to the bulbs before we brought them inside for the winter,so Mow ignores them.

I never knew what these dolls were called until about a year ago,even though I've seen them all my life.

I was born in 1962, and these dolls were everywhere in the 60's and early 70's.

They were characterized by their big eyes and sweet stockingette faces,and their wired stockingette bodies.

I own a couple of Pose Dolls from my childhood. One,which this girl reminds me of, came snapped,(with actual snaps.), to the top of a jewelry box.This particular girl was found at a thrift store.

She's about 6" tall, in her sitting position.

From the back of her head you might start to think that she has been reclothed at some point...

...except for the little paper tag on her skirt.

These dolls sort of have a cult following these days.

There were so many of them sold that they can still be found fairly frequently at yard sales and thrift stores, and at pretty good prices.They'll cost you more on auction sites though.

  Tomorrow is another doll.See you then!

Doll-A-Day #30:Pop-Up Playhouse Kelly 6" Doll (Amazon Kelly)

  Everybody is familiar with Barbie's little sister Kelly. She debuted in 1991, and was discontinued in 2011 when she suddenly became Chelsie. But hardly anybody remembers the line of 6" Kelly dolls that was debuted in 2006.

The line didn't last long and as such there were only 5 sets of these larger Kelly dolls produced:Art Surprise Friends,Soggy Doggy Friends,Playground Sisters,(Which included a 6" Kelly and a Wee Three Friends size Stacie,which coordinated with this larger Kelly.),Snoozin' Sisters,(Another set with a Wee Three Friends Stacie.),and the Pop-Up Playhouse set, which is the set that today's doll came in.

Her 'Pop-Up Playhouse',(Not to be confused with the Kelly Pop-Up Playhouse that was made for the regular sized Kelly dolls.), opened up to reveal a treehouse on one side and a bedroom on the other side.

Like most Kelly dolls, even of the standard size, she has abnormally long hair that reaches nearly to her feet.

This version of Kelly has arms that can move up and down,back and forth,and swivel.

She can also tilt her head back,to look up, and tilt it to the sides.

  Her legs move pretty much in the standard way though.

This is her dress, but not her shoes. These shoes came on another Kelly this size.

She came in these pink sandals, but I only have one.

And she didn't want to look silly.

These seem to be the only 2 shoe styles this version of Kelly came in.

The Art Surprise Friends included a brunette Kelly friend named Gia, and the Soggy Doggy Friends had a brunette friend named Kayla. 

Art Surprise Kelly came in these clothes. Clothes for these girls are hard to find, since there weren't any fashions produced for them, and they of course can't wear standard Kelly clothes. I have read that some Bratz clothes fit them.

But what to do about shoes? Here are Kelly's splay toed feet. It almost seems she was going to be wearing flip flops at some point.

The dolls don't seem to show up very much these days.

 I'm familiar with them because Ivy had at least 2 of the sets,Art Surprise and Snoozin' Sisters.

Ivy was obsessed with Kelly dolls when she was little,but I don't think she warmed to the bigger Kelly as much. Besides, the 6" Kelly was too big to be friends with her favourite doll, Blue.(Blue is actually a boy named Colonel Candy, from the Barbie Nutcracker series.)
  These big Kelly dolls have been nicknamed 'Amazon Kelly' by Kelly collectors,due to their giant size.('Amazon' alludes to the race of large women in mythology, and not the online business.)

 

Before the 6" Kelly there was an even bigger Kelly.The giant 16" Kelly baby doll, and her friends Jenny and Keeya were a short lived series that ran from  1998 to the very early 2000's.(And yes, Ivy had one of these too,the Holiday Kelly.I have Jenny.She was the red head!)

Come back tomorrow to see what the new doll of the day is.

Frau S. aus B Where Are You?

  Just a quick post to ask a reader where she has gone. I used to get wonderful long comments from a reader who posted as Frau S. aus B. She had such stories to tell of childhood memories and had a lovely way with words. I suggested she start her own blog. I haven't heard from her since. Did she start her own blog and run out of time to comment here, or did she mistakenly think I was saying 'go tell your stories elsewhere'? I really hope she is just so busy writing her interesting stories that she doesn't have time for us any more,and not that she has given up writing entirely. Frau S. aus B, I hope you're reading this. We'd love to hear from you again.

Doll-A-Day 2017 #29: Soul Train Asha

  Today's doll is Asha, from the Shani line of dolls.

This is Asha's original outfit.

Hey, it was cool at the time...

The Shani dolls were produced by Mattel between 1991 and 1994.

There were four dolls in the Shani line: Shani, Asha, Nichelle, and the lone guy, Jamal.

I always wanted a Jamal, but I never got around to getting one.

I think there were only three Shani and friends lines: Beach Streak, the Soul Train line, and what I call the Big Dress line. I have the Asha dolls from the first 2,but I passed on the Big Dress one.

I think. You never know what's lurking in my attic.I seem to remember a big Shani box in the box with my Beach Streak Asha.

Originally they were separate from the Barbie universe, but after the discontinuation of the Shani line, Shani was briefly a Barbie friend.

Asha was always my favourite of the Shani dolls.

Shani had her own car, and fashions were produced for the girls and Jamal too. The fashions are very of their era. I remember Big Lots had the Shani fashions for what seemed like ages. I bought this one.

This necklace is a pain.It's on a stiff thread that has really long ends after the knot on the back.It keeps turning around,getting caught in her hair, having the ends sticking out in the front,and other similarly annoying things.

Come back tomorrow to see another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2017 # 28: Shrunken Saturday: Pebbles World Pebbles Doll by Mattel

  Today's doll is Pebbles,from Pebbles World by Mattel.

There were several of these Pebbles sets,which came out to coincide with the release of the Flintstones movie in 1994.

We have them all around here somewhere, because the sets were so cute I bought them all for Emma, over time.

The only problem was, you got another pebbles with each set,(Although they did all have different clothes!),but Bamm Bamm was only available in one larger Pebbles World playset.

The little brown thing above Dino's head is Bamm Bamm's hat.

So we ended up with 5 Pebbles, and only one Bamm Bamm. That's actually why I have a Pebbles,because Emma had so many that when she got older she unloaded one on me!

She has a cute little lopsided grin.

Pebbles is 4" tall,including her tall hair, but much skinnier than the similarly sized Kelly doll.

All of her outfits consisted of a sleeveless top that velcroed in the back, and a tiny elastic waisted skirt. The clothes were various shades of pink or purple, and one red and brown one.

Our poor Pebbles today is wearing a Happy Family Nikki dress.

And of course Pebbles is always barefoot, so she has no shoes.

  See you tomorrow for another doll.