Doll-A-Day 152: American Girl Kirsten and What Else I Bought at the Flea Market

  Today I'm showing you most of the stuff I bought at the flea market on Saturday.The first thing I saw that had promise was the corner where the lady I bought the $1 Betsy McCall from last year was selling her goods.

Last year's Betsy in her original pj's. She's just dancing folks, She has two whole legs.

I was pretty sure it was her, so I headed straight for her stuff. It was her, but she didn't have much good stuff this time. She also wanted $3 for her Barbies, which is way above my buying range, unless it's something super special. I did get this Best Friends Club Ink Kaitlin doll from her.

I already have a Kaitlin and the boots this one is wearing, but I wanted the jeans and dress she's also wearing.
  Elsewhere I also got this great Bratz English telephone box. (It lights up too!)

And the tiny doll next to it I showed you the other day.
  I also got a box full of Sunshine Family stuff, including the house, baby's room, truck, and the farm in it's original box.But the find of the day has to have been this American Girl Kirsten.

She's marked Pleasant Company, and wearing her original Meet outfit, minus her apron. Kirsten Larson was one of the first three original historical American Girl dolls that came out in 1986. She's supposed to be a pioneer girl from 1854, whose family settles in Minnesota after leaving their native Sweden.The character was archived in 2010.

This doll seems to have been played with very little. Her limbs are super tight. She's very clean, and her outfit only has a few spots on the back of her dress, which will probably wash out.

There is only one problem. She has silver eye in one eye.

 I have a Samantha, and I would love to have an Emily, but I'll probably be letting Kirsten go, so her new owner can deal with her eye problem. I checked, and she can be sent to the American Girl hospital for new eyes for a total cost of $36, including shipping.Actually, the silver eye doesn't look bad, it just doesn't match the other one.

  I've read two different theories on silver eye. One said that it was where the eye gets water in it. Someone else shot that one down by explaining that the eyes are acrylic and wouldn't be affected by water like old fashioned eyes made of metal, or with metal sockets. Someone else explained that they had a theory that silver eye was caused by light fading the eye. They had a doll with one silver eye, so they experimented with the other one, leaving a high powered light on it for a period of time, and the other eye did develop silver eye. Some plastics also change over time, so it could just be a flaw in the make up of the plastic the eyes were made from.
  In general I'm not a huge fan of American Girl dolls, but I do like the historical costumes and the huggable feel of the bodies. I also love dolls with teeth! My main complaint about American Girl dolls is that they all look so much alike. (To me anyway. I know a lot of people can tell the difference between all the face molds.) If Kirsten had been an Emily, or even a Felicity, I would be a lot more excited right now!
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

Flea Market score!

  Saturday my friend Lori and I went to the BIG flea market in Lucasville. Lori, who has been having trouble with her heart this year was definately feeling much better than the last flea market we went to.Thank goodness.I've been very worried about her. It was so good to see her pretty much back to her old self.
  I did get a few goodies...

Ho Ho Ho! Is it December yet? The Santa is not the usual 12" guy. He's way smaller. I notice he's keeping an eye on those deer.

A strange frog baby and his friend  in the Barbie Babysits basket. The dresser I actually got last. I only had 75 cents by then, so I had to borrow a dollar from Lori. The guy had $2 on it and I asked him if he would take $1.75. He laughed when I showed him my last 75 cents and how I was getting the dollar from Lori, and said ok! It's a picture frame, but I'm going to replace the glass with a mirror. It'll be the perfect doll dresser! I might replace the drawer knobs too.

...including some really cheap stuff for our turtle, our cats, and our bird,probably the last home grown tomatoes of the season : ( and some great Amish peanut butter cookies.) But as we were trying to work our way toward the exit I came across what I will describe as  'Toy Island': a whole corner of one row filled with dolls and toys. They covered the ground and several tables. If I hadn't spent most of my money by then I could have bought alot more from the lady running the stall. As it was I passed up a large non talking Family Matters Steve Urkel doll, (I have the talking one, but I've never seen this one.),a 12" modern Holly Hobbie doll, an 18" Fancy Nancy with all her original outfit including jelly sandals,and several others. I had started by rummaging through the tub of $3 Barbie sized dolls and the tub full of Bratz Kidz, Strawberry Shortcake,etc. I had already picked out  a Twilight Edward doll.
              

Bella digs scrawny pale guys.

   Too bad his vinyl is the weirdly white colour. (He's pretty pale even for an English guy.)I really like the body sculpt.It's very realistic.I also had the Steve Urkel ,and the Holly Hobbie.But then I spotted two bags of  old dolls. The dolls were $1 each. "They're old." the lady said.I started going through the bags and spotted some vintage trolls...

...this Uneeda Little Miss Revlon Wanna Be.She has strange hair: two types and two shades of red, but all original.

After that trip to the spa and the laundry I feel so much better.

...this Uneeda Ginny Wanna Be  Girl Scout walker doll.

Anybody ever tell this girl about sock garters?

...this purse doll...doll purse?

...and this girl.

But the find of the day was something that made me gasp a bit when I saw her in the bag under the other dolls.

AHHH!!!

This beautiful little 8" Betsy McCall!She has blushy cheeks, both her barrettes,and she's wearing actual Betsy PJ's from 'Pajama Party'.

Ok Betsy. You can open your eyes now.You're in your new home.

Hmm?

Well Betsy, what do you think?

I guess she likes it here. Betsy does the happy dance over her new home.

Is this my dresser? Uh...we'll see....

She's perfect.All her joints are tight,her colouring is bright. her hair is full. No cracks or splits. And she was only a dollar!I was so excited! Lori is not a doll person at all and could not appreciate what a great find Betsy was. All she could say was, "Who would pay more than that anyway?" Happily, my doll friend Connie was duly impressed when I told her yesterday!
  One thing though. I can't seem to get her to sit down? Any advice?
  In the end I had to put Holly Hobbie and Steve Urkel back.(Oh well. I prefer the cool plastic saddle shoes on talking Steve anyway.) But I got a great Betsy with blushy cheeks, which I really wanted.You win some you lose some.I think I came out on top!