That Ever Present Wish List

    Let's start with the obvious: It's been HOT lately!. Ken and I have been surviving in our house without air conditioning, but we have had to retreat to my sister's house a couple of times to cool off.

Tammy World came along for the ride, and because she gets hot too. She posed with my sister's rock collection, and a very colourful plant I've forgotten the name of.

 It's nice to get out of the heat, and it's nice to hang out with my sister, but it's an hour and a half drive each way, and by the time we spend any amount of time there, we have to drive back in the dark. The time before last we came close to hitting several animals, including a group of three deer, a mother racoon and her two babies, two more deer, and two more large lumps that I think were large raccoons. I hate driving at night these days. I'm tense the whole 90 minutes of the way home.

  I've been working on this post for ages. I don't get on my computer much any more because to charge mine we have to unplug Ken's. Then his dies, and he has nothing to do. My computer doesn't stay charged very long any more, so I can't get much done on a charge. We have minimal electric outlets we can use because of our wiring, so we're limited on outlets. We area bit paranoid about another fire, so we don't want to leave anything charging in a room we aren't in either. Anyway, I'm sorry I don't post much any more, and sorry some of the posts have been a bit boring.

  As for Ken, he is doing well. He has been taken off medication after medication, and his recent blood work came back with great numbers. He has been released from occupational therapy, (but told to keep up his exercises and work on his muscles.), and will start physical therapy again in November. (Thanks to Medicaid  refusing to pay for more therapy right  now.) He passed his stroke-aversary July 14th. We forgot all about it until happened to think of it much later.  

  I have taken loads of pictures of dolls I wanted to talk about with you, but I have never gotten around to posting them. I will try to do some of that soon. I'm still scooping up free toys via the Mini Brands displays, or at least I was. Yesterday, for the first time, I was told I couldn't have an empty box from our local Walmart. At least before that happened I managed to FINALLY snag the Lord of the Rings one, Two different Harry Potter boxes, and two different My Mini Baby ones. Walmart, it's not like I like you anyway. You're not doing yourself any favours. If it wasn't for the fact that I like your wet wipes, and you are the store most often selling yellow corn, I wouldn't even darken your door.    

  Reader Treesa sent me some wonderful Christmas gifts that I have yet to show you. I'll get to that when I have more time, but in the meantime, she asked me recently if I had any grail dolls left that were unattainable, for whatever reason. Well, of course I do. Those things are never ending, especially those expensive ones that are never going to be accessible.  So I thought it might make for an interesting post, to see what dolls I have wanted for ages, but will probably never get. 

  I have gotten pretty much all the dolls I wanted as a child, but never got as a child. Those include That Kid, which you're probably sick of hearing me talk about...

This particular boy was ruined in the water damage from the fire. He was amazingly quickly, (and cheaply!) replaced!

If not, I have several posts on That Kid. You can access them in the side bar, under That Kid.

...Mrs. Beasley.

Poor perfect Beasley, with glasses, got smoked in the fire  I have yet to get around to cleaning her.

The same goes for The Bease. I have a few posts on her, but the LONG one about her history is my most viewed post ever, and continues to get record views every day. You can check out the Mrs. Beasley posts by clicking that name in the side bar.

  My dream Beasley, which I got at a yard sale got all smoked up in the fire. I haven't tried to wash her yet. If I had had her at Emma's, with access to a washing machine I could trust, (as opposed to one at the laundry mat.), I would probably have given her a wash. She is sitting upstairs, all sooty. I will probably try to clean her up this summer and see how she does. I have a back up Beasley that was supposed to get sold, and she even has her glasses, so I might end up keeping her. Dream Beasley's glasses were on the vanity in my bedroom during the fire, and they melted a bit. They're still glasses, but they are a bit misshapen, and might not stay, (or even fit), on her head any more. I would never get rid of her though. I run into her original owner every now and then, and I can still tell her that her girl has a good home with me. Not so good that she didn't get smoked like a piece of meat, but still...

  I also got multiple versions of the Drowsy I always wanted, including the original kitty cat PJ version I didn't even know existed when I was a kid.

  You can see those by clicking Drowsy in the sidebar.

  I would still like some other dolls that use the Drowsy head sculpt, like  Baby Charlotte, and maybe Teachy Keen.

The red head in the nightgown, top left corner, is Baby Charlotte. Teachy Keen os the girl in the pink coat.

  I also had a desire for a talking Baby Beans. 

  I think the reason I never got one as a kid was that I was a little too old for a baby doll. I still wanted one though. I had a really nice Talking Baby Beans as an adult. That was years ago. But she still talked and was super clean and perfect, and she got sold. Now I have a not so clean one that doesn't talk. She'll have to do.

      Over the years I had several dolls on my list that I thought I would never get, dolls like Betsy McCall. I now have multiple Betsys, in varying sizes. You can click on Betsy McCall in the side bar to see them.

  Another was the Maru and Friends Savannah. She was more than I generally spend on a doll, and I thought I'd never get one. You can see Savannah's post HERE.

   Then I bought a big one and a little one from Emily at The Toybox Philosopher. And you can see little Savannah's post HERE.

 I wanted a Zwergnase doll, but they are so expensive. But Emily also gave me a really good price on one of those, so I ended up with one of those too. 

You can see her post HERE.

  I wanted an Agnes Dreary, and I did manage to get one for only $50 when they were clearanced on the Tonner website years ago.

You can see Agnes' post HERE.

  I love Dianna Effner dolls, and wanted a :Little Darling. Well that was never going to happen, until amazing reader Dorothy SENT ME ONE!

You can see her post HERE.

  I still can't believe she was so generous and thoughtful. Thanks again Dorothy!

I always wanted a Garden Patience, with her red hair and pretty dress, but I have given up and settled for the naked, dark haired Prom Patience I got cheap on Ebay years back. She's rooted, not wigged, so I can't make her into a red haead, but the wigs are expensive anyway.

  Now for the dolls I didn't get. Of the dolls I wanted, but never have gotten that are not quite as expensive, there is the Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse Midge that I never got.

  She was the first Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse Midge, I think. She went up quite a bit after her original release, but she seems to have dropped in price lately.

  

  Of the dolls I still want, but will almost certainly never get, I still yearn for the Mezco Dr. Zaius Planet of the Apes doll.

  (I'm sure there are people who will insist that this is an action figure, not a doll, but let's be honest:  we all know they're the same thing.) He was affordable, (barely), and then his price rose on the secondary market. It looks like he's occasionally more affordable now, but he's still out of my price range these days.

  I still want a red haired Brikette by Vogue, but I'd even settle for a Jinx, by Kaysam or Jolly Toys,  which looks almost exactly like Brikette.

This is a beautiful Brikette I saw at a doll show.

  I still want that red haired Klumpe girl with glasses, and a suitcase. I can't find a stock photo of her, so you'll have to use your imagination...and your Google search. The closest thing I can show you is my red haired Roldan gardener girl, which is neither Klumpe, nor holding a suitcase. But Roldan's are kind of like Klumpes, so...

My Roldan gardener girl, the closest I'll get to the Klumpe suitcase girl.

   Something I always wanted came out when I was 13. Maybe I didn't get him because I thought I was too old for such toys. I don't remember. I did go through that stage, believe it or not. I still want one though. His name is Hugo, Man of a Thousand Faces.

He was made by Kenner. He's a puppet that came with loads of disguise pieces, like scars and wigs and false chins and noses. He even had sunglasses and an eye patch. If you've ever seen the pre-Playhouse 'Pee Wee Herman Show' HBO special, you'll have seen Hugo. He's so expensive these days, that unless I run across one in a thrift store or yard sale, neither of which I frequent very often these days, I'll probably never get one.

  I also still want the Mattel Squishies  witch I saw when I was nine years old. I saw her one time in a J.C. Penney while shopping with my mom, and I still want her. 

  You can see my post on her HERE.

  But the newer dolls that I want that I will undoubtedly NEVER get include Tonner's Wilde Imagination Hamish doll...

He has become REALLY expensive.

...and Sad Sally. I most want the red haired one, but I can't find a stock photo of the red haired Sad Sally dolls. I think there were two, the very first one, and a later one called Sad Little Witch. They both had crazy bushes of red hair. If you aren't familiar with Tonner/Wilde Imagination's Sad Sally line, I can direct you to my post on Sally's friend Bashful Burt.

  Keeping to the red haired dolls, there's also Helen Kish's Creamsicle Lark or Lark of the High Seas...

Lark of the High Seas.

Creamsicle Lark.

...and then there's Kish's Raggedy Riley. 

  These are all from years ago now. Of newer dolls, I wanted a red haired Ruby Red Fashion Friends doll. I have a Siblie,but I wanted the full size version. They do a lot of special edition dolls, and there was one I really loved, but I was willing to settle for Rock Star Stella, even though I don't care for her clothes.

  I'm sure I've forgotten something that I really want, but this has been hanging around in draft form long enough.  So, here it is. At least you know I'm still alive. Also, I do show up in the comments on other people's blogs sometimes. I will try and not leave it so long between posts in the future. See you soon...I hope.

...

Doll Show!! A Nice Day Off

   I missed the big toy show at the beginning of the year. I take care of Ken and couldn't get away. But with all my heart flutterings over the past 6 months or so, and the way my blood pressure has been a little high sometimes, and my fatigue, I decided that I absolutely needed more rest, and a day off to relax. If something happens to me, I can't take care of Ken at all, so my health needed to be looked after too. So, a few weeks ago, I pulled Ken's frozen lentil soup I made a while back out of the freezer. filled his pill bottle for the next day, set Fuzz up with a menu for Ken's other meals, and went to stay all night with my sister, so we could go to the doll show the next day. We were a little late getting there. I like to be there as close to opening as possible, so all the good, affordable things aren't gone. My sister, however, never gets in a hurry. We were about an hour and a half after opening, if I recall correctly. There were still good things to be had though. I had some birthday money Fuzz had given me, but I was still trying to be good, in case I needed to spend that money on something else. For example, we are getting the car repaired at the moment. The insurance company wanted to total it, but there was no way we could afford another car right now. As Ken said, at least our car is 'the devil we know'. We know what has gone on with it, and what else might be wrong or right with it. So we are having it fixed. Let's hope it lasts long enough to be worth it. 

  But I digress. I was trying to be good. The first thing I saw when we walked into the sales room, (a much smaller one that previous shows, because they've changed locations.), was a box of little dollhouse size dolls. I have a weakness for those, especially Caco dolls, (Like Kay and Jeffrey and friends.), 1930's German dolls, (Like Dollhouse Boy and Girl and Tillie.),and Erna Meyer dolls, (Like Dollhouse Lady and Dollhouse Grama). )To check all those dolls out you can go to This Post.)  This box had several Erna Meyer dolls, and a Tiny Town boy with a lollipop.

She also had the lollipop boy in box too.

  I loved a little Erna Meyer girl in  a plaid dress, but she was missing the middle of her hair. Or maybe she had been wearing a hat or scarf, like the other Erna Meyer doll I liked, a little girl in a coat and scarf. I asked how much they were, and was told the dolls in the box were $15 dollars each. I asked if that went for the bald girl too. And I hated to spend money the very moment I walked in. At a doll show, you never know when you're going to need your money, so you don't want to spend it right away. On the other hand, you never know if something you love will be there by the time you've doubled back. So when the dealer offered me both dolls for $15, I caved. I hate it when I do that. I'll show them to you after I show you the rest of the show.

  The same dealer also had these cute dolls. I loved them, but I managed to be good. They were about 9 inches tall, with pressed felt faces.

  See the other dolls in the background? There was a really cute pair of Old Cottage dolls too. Here you can see one of the pair, and another single Old Cottage doll.

Here's the pair. They're so cute. I managed to be good and pass them by though.

But I have a few Old Cottage dolls. You can click Old Cottage dolls in the side bar to see posts on them, and some others I have seen at doll shows.

So I moved on. There was plenty of interesting stuff to see.

  There was this Shoe Baby Beans, in it's original packaging. 

Sorry about the sideways thing. The pictures were taken on my phone, and I don't have a way to turn them around on my phone, or the time to put them in the computer and edit them right now.

   

These dolls were pretty cool.

  This dealer had some handmade pipe cleaner animals and tiny stuffed animals that her daughter makes. I've attempted to make pipe cleaner dogs and bears, but mine aren't nearly as nice.

  The little blue elephant reminded me of Fuzzy's  favourite childhood stuffed toy that was lost in the fire. I did a post on the miniature version of Elephant that I made, and Elephant himself was featured in the post.

  This lady by Integrity Toys was beautiful.

 

  This doll is supposed to be rare. I've certainly never heard of her. She's a promotional doll from Carolina Freight.

  This Susie doll has the Tressy head sculpt. She's probably the doll I have. Had? Did I sell that doll?

  Look at this pretty girl. She's a Madam Alexander.

  This interesting lady is Selma DuPar James. She was the third and final doll in the Barbie Gold Label Harlem Theatre Collection.

  There were loads of lovely Genes.

  The metallic dolls are Spectra dolls, made by Mattel in the 80's.

This Hi Glamm doll, by MGA, reminds me of the Winx dolls, with the long, skinny legs and those eyes. 

  These dolls were at Paul David's table. He said they are supposed to be Sunshine Family clone dolls. 

  I like the tiny antique doll. Look at that face.

  This doll is 'Kathy'. She's very pretty. Does anybody know, 'Kathy who?'

  Mumpy Terri Lees, as usual, for Raging Moon.

  This girl is familiar. She's pretty, but I can't think who she is. 

  I think this is a convention doll, but maybe just a one of a kind. Her face is hand painted.

  These Brady Bunch dolls are frighteningly accurate.

  My! What big eyes you have!

  Is this a Takara doll?

  This is Heidi's friend Spunky, made by Remco in the 60's. Spunky was supposed to be a Tomboy, but this one has stolen Heidi's dress. I like Spunky. I'd add her to me collection if she were cheap enough. I love dolls with glasses.

]

  Does anybody remember the in between size Kelly dolls? The ones in between the regular size Kellys and the big, baby doll type Kellys? They are known by collectors as 'Amazon Kellys'. They are about 6 inches tall. There were only a few sets produced, and some of them had a brunette Kelly friend. This appears to be the friend from the Soggy Doggy Friends set. Her name is Kayla.

  It took me a minute to recognize the guy on the right. I didn't see the other one at first, and I thought he was Jackie Gleason from The Honeymooners. They turned out to be the later Blues Brothers, with John Goodman instead of  John Belushi. I bought Dan Ackroyd for our friends Birgit and Heinz, who we stayed with in Germany on our big trip. (See the Grand Tour posts. Germany is coming up...someday.) They met because of their shared love for the Blues Brothers.

  Speaking of Kelly dolls, this one is a one of a kind genie doll by Gilly Girls.

  I used to see the artist,  Angie Gill at doll shows when we were dealers. She specialized in Kelly repaints in those days. I'm still seeing some of those Kellys at shows every now and then.

  Now here's something I've never seen before.

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  Sears had a few store exclusive Barbie items in the 70's.

  Hey! I used to have this doll! She's a Boys and Girls Forever You doll. I needed money at one point, and I was talked out of her by a friend on Flickr. Oh well. Ivy said she had big clunky feet, and her new owner loves her.

  This Barbie Looks doll is nice.

  There were some nice older dolls, btu the show was mostly fashion dolls.

  Look at these beautiful dolls...except for mumpy Terri Lee. Actually, that's quite a pretty one.

  I don't really see the attraction of Sasha dolls. There is something a little creepy about them.

  This was a pretty nice doll. She's cute, and quite articulated. She had changeable eyes and a wig.

I liked this BJD too.

  Look at the Alices! And a few pretty Madam Alexanders, some Nancy Ann Storybook dolls, an old, and a new Betsy McCall.

  This Alice isn't my standard favourite Alice look, but I love her!

Here's another shot where you can see those other nice dolls at that table. 

 These guys were cheap knock offs of Barbie Basics Ken dolls, right down to the man bun.

  The kids out front, right are Leanne dolls by Denis Bastien. I kind of like them, and kind of not. Can't fully make up my mind.

  I never saw this one from the Barbie movie before. By the way, did I ever mention what I thought of the Barbie movie? I finally saw it, way after the initial fuss. I thought it was good, and the inside Barbie jokes were fun, but I didn't think it was as fantastic as all the fuss made out. 

  My sister really liked this Rainbow High doll, but it was more than she wanted to spend. She's the Madison doll from the Rainbow/Shadow High Twins set.

  Ivy had practically every Kelly doll set of her era, and Fuzz had practically every Tommy set, but neither of them had this one. Fuzz was a bit old for it by then, but Ivy was still Kellying. ANd she loved the 60's Batman show. She even went as Catwoman, (Julie Newmar version.), for Halloween one year.  How did we miss this one?

  I've never heard of Toffee dolls before.

 In a way, I like her, but in another way, she reminds me of Devo's Booji Boy.

See what I mean?

  Ah! That J-Doll top left! I love her! I always wanted that one, but I never found her for $20 at Tuesday Morning, like I did my others.

  Ever seen Flotti dressmaking kits? Me either. They look to be from the 60's. 

  This was a pretty doll.

  This looks like a Hollywood doll. In fact, it has a very similar look to the Hollywood doll I have, that I choose to think is an Alice doll. 

Look at these cute little dolls.

Even if the one does seem to have Elephantitis.

    This old couple are pretty cool. I don't know what their faces are made of, but they're very well done.

  I mentioned this doll in one of my posts on Honeyhill Bunch dolls. It's a Honeyhill Bunch Baskin Robbins Ice Cream doll. I've never actually seen one in person though. The set came with two dolls and a Baskin Robbins ice cream store.

  I love the Inspiring Women dolls. 

  I also love dolls of real people, but only when they look like them. The only one of these that's really a good likeness is the Linda Evans Dynasty doll...and she just has a regular Barbie head sculpt! I guess that means Linda Evans looks like a Barbie doll. She's 82 now, and still looks like a Barbie doll.

  This is the latest anniversary Skipper reproduction. I never got this one.

  Now this doll is pretty interesting. I was a bit fascinated. She's Barbie Bee by Mark Ryden.

  This is a Lisa doll by Takara. You can always tell a Takara doll.

  Not sure who these mysterious ladies are, but I liked them.

  Two Franks and a random jointed soldier.

  I don't think I've ever come across a Tiffany Taylor in box before. This one has unusually fluffy hair.

  I'm not sure I've ever seen this doll from the live action Cinderella movie either. I've seen others, but not this one. Maybe because she is a Disney Store exclusive.

  They sure put some athletic thighs on this Kristi Yamaguchi Inspiring Women doll. Too bad her calves are so thin.

  I held this one so you could see how tiny this Kish doll is.

  This doll was cute, and she had a cute, cozy sweater set on. Nice Shirley Temple with her too.

  I love this sweet girl. Is she a Madam Alexander Maggie?

Next to her feet is a Robert Raikes Hitty type male doll.

  Don't ask me what the story is on this guy. He looks like an OOAKed Ken doll, but who knows.

  And what did I end up buying? Well, the Erna Meyer dolls, of course.

The girl on the left has very nobbly knees, not just because the stockingette is worn through. She must have played on her knees alot. Unfortunately, the coat doesn't come off the other girl, unless I pull it open and unglue it.I'm tempted, because her dress looks complete, and cute.

Her hair needs some work, but there is hair for each side. If I wanted to, I could put a cute hat on her, or a scarf like her friend is wearing.

  After that I tried to turn everything down. I was being so good. I had all that birthday money in my pocket, but I was holding firm. I did buy Dan Ackroyd, after consulting with Ken. but that was a gift. They always send me a big box of gifts and sweets at Christmas, and they had let us stay with them, gave their bed up for us, loaded up on foods for us to try, and took us to some great places. After Ken's stroke they sent  a huge box with gifts for him, including sugar free cookies and sweets, replacements for the German flag he bought there that got melted in our house fire, and pins like he collects from places they took us, as well as Christmas gifts and sweets for me too. We owe them! I spotted a doll I really liked, but I was not breaking. My sister nagged me to get her, because it was my birthday gift from Fuzz. Ken told me to get her because he wanted me to have some fun. Finally I broke down and got her.  She's A Barbie Basics doll, on the Petite side, with the Made to Move body.

  Barb, at My Little Doll Corner just did a review of this doll. So I guess I won't detail her here. One of these days I might do some outside pictures of her though. She'll be fun to pose.

  Well, once the dam was broken, the flood came. I broke down and bought this Penny Brite clone, because I love her pajamas/playsuit, and she was only $2.

  I'm not sure who she is. Maybe Miss Cindy, by Cragstan.

  I also spent $1.50 and bought three pieces of doll clothing, two of which happened to be Ideal Tammy's Sleepytime pajamas. I mean, I knew that when I bought them, but the clothes were 50 cents per piece, so I thought that was really good for Tammy's pjs. They seem to sell for $15 or $20, even without the accessories.

  The elastic isn't in great condition, but otherwise the pjs are fairly mint.

  My third piece of clothing was this sunsuit/lingerie thingy. It's pretty, and familiar, but I don't know what doll it goes to. Anybody?

  And that's all I bought. I was a very good girl.