Friday, August 27, 2021

What I Got at the Doll Show, Part 4: London Bob

   Well, the doll show is tomorrow. We'll see if I come home with anything. My sister, who does not collect dolls, and has never been to a doll show, is going with me. I hope she doesn't get too bored.

  Today's doll is another of the 'goofy looking' type that I have loved since I was a kid. I was really excited to find him. His name is Bob...London Bob.


  London Bob is in beautiful condition, considering he is a relic of the 60's. (Sort of like me! A relic of the 60's that is. I don't think I'm in nearly as good condition as Bob!)


He  still has his little tag which reads, "Rock and Roll with the London Bob".


Bob is obviously from the era of the 'British Invasion', when British bands flooded the airwaves and guys with long hair were a new thing. Apparently Bob came in various hair colours, including black and blonde. I got lucky, because the Bob I found at the doll show has bright orange hair!


The Bob's with different hair colours also came in different coloured checked jackets.

He also still has his little cardboard guitar! 

I didn't see it when I first picked him up, but the seller made sure I got it. That made him even better!

It's torn, or at least broken, and his elastic cord strap is all stretched out, but I can fix those things.


    His hands are molded in guitar holding/playing shapes.


   His jacket is kind of glued shut, so it's not removeable. His shoes are molded and painted.


  I forgot to measure Bob, but he is about 6 or 7 inches tall.


  This post leaves two more purchases from the last show for me to show you. Will I add to that tomorrow? 

Thursday, August 26, 2021

What I got at the Doll Show, Part 3: Libby Littlechap

   For part three of 'What I Got at the Doll Show" we're looking at this Libby Littlechap doll. You may remember that I already have a Libby Littlechap.


 (See her HERE.) I was never really crazy about the Littlechaps, but what I do love is Libby's winter coat and boots, and the little school bag that came with them. 


Why? Because when I was in first grade, I had a very similar coat and schoolbag, and when I was younger than that, I wore red rubber snow boots. So I wanted Libby's coat set.


The main difference is that my coat was made of polyester, and had a hood. The hood was so stiff it didn't move with me when I turned my head, so when I tried to look out the window of the school bus, I was left looking at the inside of my hood!

Her belt looks to be dropping a bit.

  


The outfit also came with a little hat, red mittens, and of course, the school bag.


  I've been after the coat set, and Libby's school clothes,(I think it's called her 'blazer set'.(,  or red velvet dress, for her to wear under it, for a while now. 


But the ones I've seen were always  priced higher than I am willing to go. But at the show I found a Libby, wearing the blouse and skirt to the blazer set, the winter coat, and red boots. 


And she was only $15! I don't need the Libby, so she'll get a spa treatment and go, but I'm stealing her clothes. 

The blazer set also originally came with a blue blazer, blue knee socks, black loafers (shoes), and her school books. I actually have the school books. It took me ages to figure out whose books they were, because they are HUGE. I would never have thought they belonged to a doll this size!

I kind of feel guilty about that, but my Libby has better hair. Maybe after her spa treatment this Libby will be just as good, and I'll just keep her clothes and her. and get rid of old Libby. (Sorry kid.)

  So now all I need are the Blue blazer, blue knee socks, the loafers, the red mittens, the red hat, and the school bag. Okay. That sounds like a lot now that I have listed it all! But other than the school bag, I now have the most important parts. (To me anyway.) I need to replace one of the halves of the top snap on her coat, and it could do with a pressing or something, but I'm pretty happy with my purchase.


  Next time we'll see another doll show purchase. Oh boy. And Saturday is another doll show! It's the last doll show of my summer, if not the summer in general. The next doll show is in October, and then nothing else for me until Spring. Between that and how everything may shut down again soon, I am fitting doll shows in while I can. I am masking and sanitizing, so no fear. See you again soon!  

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

What I Got at the Doll Show, Part 2: Hollywood Alice and Animal!

   Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Summer?! It is far too hot here. I've been hanging laundry, pulling weeds, and watering some plants in the hot sun. (I know. You're not supposed to water plants in the hot sun. But it's better than not doing it at all, and with my memory these days, I need to do it while I'm thinking about it, or I may not do it at all.) Here's a tip: Do not buy potting soil at The Dollar Tree. I bought two bags because I needed to do some repotting. When I was pouring it in the pots I thought it looked like the dirt I dig up around my yard, and not like 'potting soil' at all. I think Dollar Tree dug my dirt for their potting soil, because this stuff was dry and gray, and packed down like a rock in the pots in about a week. I'll probably have to go buy some real potting soil and replace this crap. 

  Speaking of crap, since Lori moved to Georgia, I have nowhere to get my horse manure for the plants or garden now. I don't know anybody with horses, although I'm sure Lori could put in a word for me with somebody. Ken and I were talking yesterday about how it would probably be a bad idea for me to haul a couple buckets of poo back from Lori's when I go to see her in October.  

  And that's another thing. Should I even go to Georgia in October? I'm having second, and even third thoughts about it. I wanted to see Lori, and she's really looking forward to it. It's her 60th birthday. She is planning to take her week's vacation, which she hasn't had in years, and she has a bunch of things planned for us to do, but I'm wondering if it's going to be safe to do them. We could just hang around her house, and yes, she is vaccinated. I do have to actually get there though. Ken suggested that if I do go that I take food, so I don't have to stop along the way. I will have to get gas at some points though. I can use the credit card at the pump and not come in contact with people. I hand sanitize like crazy, as I told you. I don't touch any of my things with the one hand I use to touch other things, until I have sanitized. One hand for touching, and the other kept clean to reach in my pocket and get the sanitizer.

  On another subject, Ken is doing the Charlie Brown happy dance because yesterday we bought another FIVE DOZEN, (And 'Baker's Dozen's at that!), ears of yellow corn from the same farmer we got the last two dozen from.


  Don't think Ken can't eat that much corn. Plus, since we got so much I'll eat some too. I usually don't like to eat it if Ken manages to find some, because he enjoys it so much more than I do. It's his favourite vegetable and one of his very favourite foods overall. He wants to share, but I think it's selfish of me, because he loves it so much. It makes him feel good, because I consented to eat some of it!

  Now! On to my doll show purchases!

  I didn't buy a lot of things at this show, but what I got was 'cherce', as Spencer Tracy said of Katherine Hepburn in "Pat and Mike". And I got it for amazing prices. As you may know, if you're a regular reader of the blog, I have pretty eclectic tastes. From huge dolls like the almost 3' tall bobble head rag doll you saw HERE...


...to the tiny thread dolls you saw HERE...


...to the beautiful, hand painted, realistic face of Tonner's Agnes Dreary you saw HERE...


...to this goofy looking kid you saw HERE...

This one is Ivy's. but I have one just like her from my childhood, in a green dress.

...I love all sorts. Today I'm showing you two doll show purchases that perfectly illustrate that point. The first is this little girl.


  She's about 8 inches tall.


She is marked Hollywood Doll.


I'm not sure if these are her original clothes. There's a slight homemade quality to them, beautiful as they are.

She has bloomers and a slip. Her legs have some problems.

But in these clothes she just says "Alice" to me. And you know how I love my Alice stuff. 



She may have been repainted. Her eyebrows definitely don't look original, but her cheeks do.



What do you think?


I'm still trying to decide what she's made of: compo, or bisque?



And speaking of her legs, here's another photo from the front. She appears to have molded ankle socks.


  She has definitely been restrung, because her stringing is so tight that she can't keep her arms in the downward position.




But there's another problem you may have noticed from that sock picture...


Is it just me, or did whoever restrung her, put her legs on the wrong sides?!


That fabric seems old, but is it old enough to be original?

I  haven't taken her bloomers off to check yet. That's  possibly why I was having a hard time getting her to sit down at first. I finally got her seated though.



She seems to have her original wig.





There is a glue problem on the one side. Fortunately it doesn't show very much.


  Overall, I 'm very pleased to have found her. She's cute, and she looks like an Alice, to me anyway.




She was only $5, so I can't complain too much. Her little Alice outfit was worth $5.




  And the second  doll show purchase I'm showing you today is sort of a direct opposite to the Alice girl. He's this guy!


It's Animal, from The Muppets. This is in fact, one of the first Animal toys that were made. (The other was a plastic figure about 4" tall.) He's a puppet. 



He was made by Fisher Price, and came out around 1978. 


  Inside Animal's head there are hand holds so you can move his big mouth...


...and a switch so you can operate his eyebrows!



At 26" he's quite a big guy. He doesn't take up much space though, because he can literally fold up on himself. He's very flappy. 


   I actually gasped and snatched him up when I saw him. I was thrilled to find him. I had one before and sold him, (because he's actually worth quite a bit), and I wanted to find another one to keep. I have told you before about how if you find toys at a doll show, or dolls at a toy show, you're going to get a better deal on them than if you found them at their 'appropriate' shows. This guy cost $10!


   Other than needing his eyes touched up, (which I have done on Muppets before, and it isn't a big deal), he's actually in really good condition too. A lot of them have disintegrating foam that leaves bits all over your arm if you operate him. This one only leaves slight crumbs.

  So those are a couple of my doll show buys. I have more to show you, and I'd better hurry! There's another doll show on Saturday!