The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Mystery of the Silent Friends

  First of all, here's an update on the leg situation. I pulled an Elephant Man last night, and decided to 'sleep like a normal person'. I laid on my right side. Big mistake. A few hours later my leg was hurting bad enough to distract me from sleep, so I had to switch. It's afternoon now, and I have been stretching my leg, pressing the spot on my leg that feels like a tensed muscle to try to relax it, and laying on my left side, but today that's just not working. I am still having leg pain even when I'm laying still, and now my lower back is hurting too from laying on my back trying to stretch out my leg. This leg is definitely a work in progress! 

  This month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry is one I am pretty sure I read as a kid. It is called "Mystery of the Silent Friends" and is by Robin Gottlieb. 

  As a kid I read A LOT, and I would read almost anything that had a title that began with  "Mystery of the". This book was originally published in 1964, and the copy I would have read, and the one we have now, is a Scholastic paper back. I found our copy at the library book sale when the kids were little, and I read it to them. I don't remember any of their reactions to it, but Ivy says she thinks she remembers it, and she liked it. And I like it!

  The story begins in Mr. Martin's antique shop, where his daughter Nina is playing with a pair of 200 year old automatons. (Automatons are mechanical figures that perform a specific action, or series of actions. Kind of like Horsman's 1970 doll Peggy Pen Pal, 1989's Susie Scribbles doll by Wonderama, or Mattel's 1970 drawing doll Sketchy.)  In this case, the figures are a boy, that writes, and a girl that draws pictures. Oddly, the girl draws four pictures of Swiss scenes, and one picture of a 'See no evil' monkey.) Nina's father has owned the automatons for years, and no one has ever been interested in them. That suits Nina, as she loves the automatons. 

She asks her father to never sell them, and he says that isn't very likely anyway, since nobody seems to want them. So of course the next thing that happens is that a man walks into the shop, asking about the automatons. (You know how these old books go!) He claims to be the son of the previous owner, and that he has the third doll in the series, and he wants to reunite them.

  The only thing is, the next day another man comes in, giving the same name: George Ballentine III!  (I had to laugh when one of the girls puts forth the idea that maybe the men are brothers, and the other says, "But who would have two sons and name them both George?" Uh, George Forman? Maybe he read this book.) But George the third the second offers to have them come to his house and see his doll. The father and daughter go, and are amazed by the guy's collection of automatons, which includes birds in cages, acrobats, jugglers, and the supposed 'third doll', who plays a spinet.

  Nina and her friend Muffin, a devotee of practical jokes, decide that the only thing to do is to ask the first man to show them his 'third doll'. This guy is kind of suspect anyway, since when he came in he was wearing a hat over his red hair, and seemed very upset when he bumped into some antlers in the shop and his hat was tipped. 

Nina tips one of the George's hat with a spear, to check his hair colour.

He also claims to be well off, but Nina, who was apparently born to be a detective, notices that he has a broken shoe lace that's been knotted back together. And it only gets more confusing. When the red haired man comes back to hear Mr. Martin's final word on selling the automatons, he now has brown hair, like the second man. And even more weird, he takes them to the exact same 5th Avenue Brownstone, and shows them the exact same doll playing a spinet. But he doesn't give them the full tour as the other man did, and whisks them out hurriedly after the doll plays her tune.

  Now what?! Mr. Martin has told both men he's not selling, as he wants to distance himself from the whole strange situation. But, of course, this is a 1960's kid's book, so Nina and Muffin, who have to know what the deal is with the two George's, do some detective work on their own, strolling unchaperoned around New York City and Central Park. 

  I won't tell you how the book ends and spoil the fun. And it is a fun book. Do kids these days like this kind of book? I don't know. If you're considering reading it to you own child, or grandchild, (or some random kid on the street. I don't know what you do...), you know them and what they'll like or put up with. As I said, Ivy liked it, but then Ivy was raised on the Scholastic kid's books of my childhood, and also has most of the tastes of an old person, so there you go.

  It's a short 154 pages, and an easy read. The illustrations are by Al Brule, and are fun pictures typical of the period. If anybody wants a copy of this book, I managed to get an extra copy recently, so let me know. I will ask you to pay shipping though. If you aren't into physical books, and you have an account with the Internet Archive, you can read the book HERE. 

  There is a sequel to this book, called "Secret of the Unicorn", which features Nina, but unfortunately not her more colourful friend Muffin. Muffin has been replaced by a girl named Polly. No word on Muffin's whereabouts... 

Why Don't You Post Something?! Well...

   I know I haven't posted much lately, in spite of promising posts on flea market finds and things. There is a a reason for that. Lately I have been suffering a lot of pain in my right leg. It's been pretty bad. I'm used to my back hurting, or hip pain, so this is just one more thing I figure is related in some way. I think it's probably a nerve or something because of the ways I can relieve the pain, (when I can), and how it has progressed from my leg hurting when I drive for the past year or so, and things that make the pain go away.. My leg doesn't hurt from driving where you might think, but where the part of my leg just above the knee joint presses on the edge of the seat. That would get quite sore. That's the base that this pain starts from. Then, when it gets aggravated enough from walking, or even sitting on the couch with that part of my leg pressed on the edge of the seat, it spreads to my knee, and even down my leg. Driving, or even riding in the car, has become really painful. I went to the flea market with my sister a few weeks ago, and those few hours of walking around put me out of commission for a couple of days, with  pain so bad I had trouble sleeping. If I drive or ride in the car for our Fun Day, and then mow the grass the next day, as I did yesterday, (Plus hanging laundry and taking it down, and repotting my Peace Lily and watering the plants.), things become very difficult to bear. I've been limping most of the time. I have taken to laying flat on my back with my legs over the arm of the couch to try to relieve the pain, (Hey, it worked a couple of times.) That means I can't type very well, and I have to watch TV sort of upside down.

   As for posting, I haven't been able to get down on the ground to take doll photos, and I certainly can't get on my knees. For the Ruby Red review I had to turn my display screen out and hold the camera down and frame the shot as best I could. The problem with that is, my display screen only shows you what you're taking after you've taken it. That means I have to try to line up the shot based on the last one: do I need to move the camera up, down, left, or right? There have been a lot of deleted photos!

  I also can't go up or down stairs without a lot of pain, and outside is down stairs. We have a set of steps going in and out of the house, front and back. There are two flights of stairs between the first and second stories of our house. Yesterday I spent the day in my bedroom, so as to avoid the stairs. Ken brought me food. Luckily the bathroom is across the landing, but still painful to get to.

   If I laid on my left side long enough, the pain stopped. I can't lay on my right side at all because the pain gets much worse if I do. I also can't lay on my back or stomach, because that always causes my back to hurt terribly, even at the best of times. So I am stuck on my left side. You have no idea how much I want to turn over in the night, but I don't dare! So I spent most of the day laying on my left side, or trying to sit with my leg at the impossible angle. You know. The one that doesn't hurt.

  The good news is, it worked! My leg hurts less than it has in weeks. It's still easy to start it hurting again If I stub my toe or bump into anything, it's enough to push my knee sideways just enough to cause A LOT of pain. I did manage to come downstairs today without screaming though, which is nice. (My neighbours must have been wondering who was being murdered in here the last few weeks.) I'm going to have an early night tonight and stay off my feet as much as possible and give my leg even more chance to relax and heal. 

  So that's what's happening. There will be a Doll Book of the Month Club post tomorrow. I even wrote that one early!

Review Time! Ruby Red Fashion Friends Siblies Victor

   I have been wanting a Ruby Red Fashion Friends doll for a while. I'm predictable I guess, but they are almost all sculpted by Dianna Effner. They are so cute though. Who wouldn't want one? Well, I wanted one, but the cost put me off. The Fashion Friends are pretty expensive, and then there's shipping on top of that. So when the new limited edition 'Siblies', (the slightly smaller siblings of the Fashion Friends), came out, with free shipping if you bought both, and they were supposedly Steampunky, which I like, ... I still didn't jump on it. Being someone who stopped working a long time ago, I don't earn much money. I sell something here and there, but my personal income is very limited. (Stopped working and raised children. I started out with a bad back and shoulder, and a nervous/anxiety problem, and developed a slow thyroid and fibromyalgia. I don't think I could even hold a job these days.) Also, we're still saving to go back to England. If I spend some money, there had better be a plan for getting at least some of it back. So, I struggled with my wants. I want at least the Victor doll, but he's expensive. ($99.) If I only buy him, there's shipping too. That's WAY out of the price range. If I spend the money, I am just out that much money. I considered buying both Victor and Nellie, which was still, (and even more), out of the price range, but provided free shipping, and I could always sell Nellie and make some money back. Hopefully, more than she cost, which would bring Victor's price down. They are both limited editions. Victor is an edition of only 150 dolls world wide, and Nellie is an edition of only 200. As I write this, Victor, the one I wanted to keep, has been sold out for a while. Nellie however, as luck would have it, is still available. At least I think she is. I went to the Ruby Red Fashion Friends website and neither of them showed up. I had to actually Google Nellie to get their web page where she was still listed for sale as a 'preorder'. Now they aren't preorders any more, because they started shipping in early May. So I don't know what's going on, except that Victor is sold out. ** I finally used a link on Facebook, and Nellie is now sold out. **

  Before I start I also want to apologize for some blurry pictures. The autofocus seemed to prefer focusing on the bits I wasn't trying to focus on, on the day I took most of the pictures.

  So here is Victor. He and Nellie arrived wrapped together in brown paper.

They did have separate boxes inside the paper though.

There was a brown outer box, which held the actual box the doll was in. I see that the paper was to hold the two shipping boxes together, but why not just do one shipping box and save the paper? I suppose that would mean having boxes that would fit each number of boxes someone might order. But I'm guessing most people don't order more than two dolls at a time.

The Ruby Red box is shades of purple.

Inside the box there is a half box with a cut out covering Victor's head. 

Victor comes with his head in a box, (but connected to his body!), his neck protected from the box by foam and his arms and legs in plastic. His hat is stuffed with paper, and enclosed in a plastic bag. His shirt, and pants, boots, and wig, are also in bags. So, no plastic to the box packaging, but plenty of plastic bags.

The half box, (There's no back on it.), has the front cut out, but the face of the doll is covered by a thin foam sheet.

And heeeeeere's Victor!

Look at that cute little face! He's very fair skinned and has blushy, freckle sprinkled cheeks.

He has simply sculpted ears. You might also notice that he's wearing a rubber wig cap. It's to keep his wig from slipping off, and is removeable.

Out of curiosity I removed his wig cap to see how well his wig stayed on without it. Quick tip: Use the wig cap!

 

His wig was stuffed with paper to help it maintain it's shape. It was also covered with a hair net, to keep it tidy.  

Neither the wig, nor Victor's head, has Velcro, so the wig cap is really necessary to hold it on.                                    

His wig is a beautiful natural mix of red and brown shades.

Let's look at the clothes before we get into the doll itself. First of all, he arrived wearing some white undies.

As far as his body, note that he has a belly button.

His shirt is a cream coloured cotton blend with a raised design, and an attached tie.

The shirt cuffs have Velcro, BUT those little buttons down the front really button and unbutton! I love that!

His collar closes with a hook and eye, because there's no room for a button due to the attached tie.

    His pants are great. They are short pants, what in America would have been called 'knickers' in the old days.(Not to be confused with the British 'knickers', which are underwear. Come to think of it, so are 'pants' in Britain. Oh heck. His trousers.) 

Thanks to Ken for this picture.

They have a fly, with a snap, but no zipper.

The pockets are real. He can actually put his hands, or whatever he needs to carry with him, in them.

The trousers have suspenders, (Here we go again. 'Braces', British people!), with buckles.

They are actually sewn to the waist band. so they can't be adjusted.

The pockets of his...bottom half clothing items... have inset fabric that matches his tie, hat, and boots.

Thanks to Ken for this photo too. And no. He didn't take them all.

Okay. So that hat! Steampunk involves a combination of oldy timey stuff and industrial things. So his old fashioned newsboy cap is decorated with some cogs.

That's really about the extent of the Steampunk influence.

His boots have laces that tie and untie, but those can be just for looks, because the boots zip down the back.

That makes them really easy to get on and off, especially since he's not wearing socks. I like that the shoes really tie, but on the other hand, those tiny strings are hard to tie, so the zippers have their merits.

Now we get to look at Victor, and his articulation.  The first thing you notice is that face. How cute is this guy?

  I like the natural colour of his lips. His cheeks are blushy and he has that sprinkle of freckles across his nose. And yes, he is very pale. And for those of you who say no real human is that pale, may I refer you to my daughter Ivy? 

He also has an adorable face, sculpted by the late Dianna Effner.

  Dianna Effner sculpted almost all of the Ruby Red Fashion Friends dolls to date. We'll see what happens with their dolls in the future.

  His eyes look realistic, with a mix of colours. I'm not sure if his eyes are glass or plastic, because the website doesn't say. His eyelashes are painted on. It's a shame there aren't any 'real' lashes. His eyebrows are a solid rust colour, with individual strokes painted over that.

  He has some detailing to his fingers and toes, but not much.

Typical kid. Look at that dirty hand.

He can't do 'Live long and prosper'...

...but he can wear flip flops.

Victor is strung, and articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.

  That makes him quite posable.

He can sit down, with his knees bent.

His jointed knees allow him to sit down, or pose with bent knees.

My version of Ken's picture you saw above.

Or even ride a horse.

Because his legs can move out to the sides it allows him to balance well on his booted feet, so he can stand unaided.

Another of Ken's.

His arms and legs can move out to the sides, as well as up and down and back and forth.

And he can cross his feet when standing like this.

Victor's arms swivel at the elbow too, so he can do this...

Gimme.

And this.

And as I said, with his bendable elbows, he is even able to put his hands in his pockets

Or even his suspenders. He looks all jaunty this way.

  His head can tilt to the sides, or look up or down.

There are those crossed feet again.

Like most strung dolls, there is a limit to the posability, since the stringing is tight enough to pull the limbs back from drastic poses. Still, I think Victor did a pretty good job with his poses.

 

  I was hoping that Victor would be able to share clothes or wigs with the Maru and Friends Mini Pals dolls, since they are only 1 inch apart in height. That one inch makes a major difference though. 

Victor's a very different scale, with a much smaller head and body. Nothing from the Mini Pals fits him. I didn't think they'd look so far apart in size, but in handling them both and posing them together, Victor seems tiny.

 

  Final thoughts: Victor is undeniably cute. I love his little face, his freckles, wig, his clothes, and his posability. Definitely a win. Everything about him is quality, from his vinyl to his clothing. I just wish these dolls weren't so expensive.

 For those of you wondering about the setting of  Victor's photos, most of them were taken at the Arts Castle, otherwise known as the George W. Campbell Home, in Delaware, Ohio.

The Arts Castle hosts art activities, for one thing. (Not that I have ever attended any.) The yard is home to three horses that some of you may find a bit creepy. 

These two photos are mine.

They remind me of the thestrels in Harry Potter.

More of Ken's photos.

I thought they fit in with the steampunk theme, even though they were a bit big to fit in the photos with comparatively tiny Victor, without losing him completely. It was a challenge. That's why Ken was helping with the photos,(and also to show me he could get them both in focus at the same time.)

Good job Ken.

Another good one. Show off.

Fail!

Of course, his efforts were more successful than mine.

I am really starting to hate the autofocus, but as my eyesight isn't what it used to be, it's more necessary now.

  Unfortunately I don't know the artist who made the horses. I didn't see anything telling who it was.

  Ken and I also both took sneaky behind the scenes pictures of each other.

Ken's picture of me. Yuck.

And mine of Ken. He was not as embarrassed as I was by passers by.

   And that's that. Here are some of Victor's outtakes, because I didn't need them, but he's still cute.

  See you soon for those flea market finds.