Time For Another Doll Show

   I am getting so far behind with posts! I still have some doll show finds, some toy show finds, and an antique mall trip to show you dolls from! My sister and I have been busy lately too. We went to see the Pee Wee Herman bike, we went to the afore mentioned  toy show, we have a Q& A showing of Napoleon Dynamite this week. But last Saturday we went to a doll show. My sister, who still says she doesn't collect dolls, went home with three more this time! We'll see some stuff I saw at the show, and  I'll show you what I bought in the next post.

  This show is kind of weird. I know it's because they have twice as many dealers as fit in the room, but there is a whole doll show when you walk in, before you ever get to the table where you pay for your tickets. So we started looking as soon as we walked in. One of the first 'things'  we spotted was Mikelman. Some of you may remember his doll line, which included Candi, Charice, and Dominick. We chatted for a while about the aches and pains of getting old, since I was limping around with my bad leg. I'm not sure, but I think Michael is younger than I am. When I first met him, I know I was in my early 30's. We have changed a little bit!

  It's not a huge room, which explains why the dealer tables were puking out into the hall and beyond.

  I spotted this doll. She's a Japanese Skipper. You can tell because she has those black iris'. 

  I think the girl on the left is a convention doll. I may have photographed her before, because I do remember her, and I like her. I'm not sure about the couple on the right.

  Just a couple of Blythe's hanging around, watching Fashion Queen Barbie hawk some bracelets.

These girls have been on here before.

  This lady was interesting, if not attractive.

This is a Mimi doll, made by Remco in 1973. She sang when you used the records that went in a slot in her back. Someday I'll dig out the one we have and do a post on her. By the way, she sang "I Want to Teach the World to Sing", in many languages. The song was originally a Coke commercial, but was so popular, it became a real song, with the references to Coke removed and replaced by other lyrics. 

  I struggled to get a picture of this schnazzy Draculaura doll without interference from glare. You also get a view of her neighbouring doll, a Frankie Stein, I believe.

  Scarlett O'Hara?

  My sister and I both loved these Jar Lu and Ten Ping dolls. They were out of our price range though.

  This is a stern looking bunch. They're Poppy Parker dolls by Integrity Toys. The two on the right are convention dolls. I thought the one on the far right was the most interesting. She's called 'Stay Tuned', and she's in shades of grey. like she's in black and white.

  I was trying to take a picture of the little guy! The Silkstone is nice too though. A reader suggest that he is Riku, friend to Licca's sisters Miki and Maki. Thanks Annett!

  This is a pretty group/. There's a very stern looking Tammy's mom top left, several Shirley Temples, and some Madame Alexanders I think my favourites are the two Betsy McCalls: the girl in red, and the girl in blue and white plaid. 

  One the other end of the shelf there was an interesting old lady, and a Sasha doll.

  I like the bride Grace Kelly. It really looks like her.

   More Silkstone Barbies.

  Anna May Wong! If you haven't heard of Anna May Wong, look her up. She was the first Chinese American star, back in the 1920's and 30's, and she was pretty cool. She was honoured by having her likeness on a quarter in 2022, the first Asian American to do so.

Next to Anna May is Emmy winning producer, actress, and Transgender icon Laverne Cox, and designer Vera Wang.

  I know this Ken is a Day of the Dead doll, but he's creeping me out.

  Another version of Betsy McCall.

  Malibu Barbie shared a table with a lovely Mitzi doll in lace, and another Barbie clone.

Mitzi and friends were on the table below these girls. An African American Velvet doll, and a little girl in green by Berdine Creedy Designs.

These two little stuffed dolls are also by Berdine Creedy Designs. I like the tiny one.

  The little guy on the left is a Kish doll, but the girl in peach is another Berdine Creedy.

  The lady on the left is a Toni. The other two are competitors.

  Any of the dolls from this table can be bought from Lizsdollhouse. The information is below. She's also on Ebay as Lizdolling.

   Liz told us the amazing story of how she was legally blind since birth, but now has 20/20 vision, (other than needing reading glasses), because she was fitted with permanent lenses. I didn't even know they could do that! Apparently it's like having contact lenses surgically placed in your eyes. Wow. It's an expensive process though, and she said insurance doesn't pay for it. Typical. 

   Okay. That was the show. But what did I bring home? We'll see that next time.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #26: Sun Sun Skipper

   Today's doll has a tale behind it. I spotted this doll online somewhere a few years ago. I don't remember where. Facebook maybe. She was for sale for an amazing price, especially considering she is worth quite a bit. She is pretty rare, and is the Holy Grail of Skipper dolls. She's the most valuable Skipper doll out there. I was super lucky to find her. I figured I would enjoy her for a little while, but she was too valuable to keep. But I expected to enjoy her longer than this.

  I bought her from the lady, who lived in England. To save shipping costs, and to ensure she would arrive safely in the U.S., I had her shipped to our niece Jane, and planned to pick her up when we went over for our next visit. Ken was determined we weren't going to wait another 30 years to go to England. So we started saving and planning. We were going to go over, and then Covid hit. So we waited Covid out. We didn't want to risk picking anything up on the way and passing it along to Ken's sisters, who are all older than we are. Finally as you know, we managed to go last October. Jane handed Skipper over in two heavy plastic bags and some bubble wrap. Thank you Jane! I don't know if Jane put her in those bags, or if she arrived that way, because I'd had Jane open her package when it arrived to make sure the doll was right, and still in one piece. But thank goodness she was packed that way. I think it saved her life. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

  Skipper stayed safely in my carry on bag for most of the trip. As we travelled I kept her in sight. On the plane, she was in the carry on stuff. There was no way I was sticking her in a checked bag. Even when we lost our luggage, (Oh. I haven't gotten to that yet.), she came home with us. 

   I had been pretty good on the trip as far as not eating things I shouldn't. I ate some chocolate, and half of a chickpea curry. But overall I was pretty good. I did eat a few tiny cherry tomatoes in Iceland But once we got home, it was Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and I had goodies to eat from the trip. I over did it.  I felt bad, and got a cold...or did I? When I eat too many things I'm not supposed to, it affects my lungs. So I was never sure if what I had was a bad chest cold, or just my LPR, because I had been eating things that cause the aggravation to my lungs. But in any case, between that and the last of my leg pain, which is all gone now, I didn't feel up to cleaning Skipper and doing her photo shoot, even though I was excited to photograph her. So Skipper lay untouched on the landing, upstairs, outside my bedroom door, near the bathroom so I could clean her up when I felt like it. But then, a couple of weeks ago...you know what happened.

  Fuzzy's room caught fire. Our landing became a mess of water, and smoke damage, and melted things. I haven't shown you that stuff yet. Just wait. But what became of Skipper? The night of the fire I was concerned about the Skipper doll. Not why you might think. I was worried that she had burned or melted, when we needed most to sell her. Emma went back to our house a second time, after rescuing things we'd need, (My comb and brush! Emma, bless you!) , and looked for Skipper. 

  Emma found a bundle of melted plastic bag in the floor, near our bedroom, what she described as a 'plastic mummy'. She was scared to open it. She peeled away one melted bag. Then another. Inside was the bubble wrap. And inside that, totally unharmed, was Skipper. She doesn't even smell like smoke! I have wondered if it was the air inside the bubble wrap that helped protect her. But anyway, here she is, none the worse for her ordeal. Sun Sun Skipper.

Sun Sun Skipper was only sold in Japan.

 She's very rare. Her combination of the Malibu skin tone, dark hair, brown eyes, and rooted eyelashes makes her unique amongst Skipper dolls.

Sun Sun Skipper was available in 1971, although her body mold is marked 1967, She's also marked Made in Japan.

There weren't any regular Malibu Skippers with rooted eyelashes.

  Her long brown hair is way more silky than Malibu Skipper's course blonde hair.

 

 She has a twist waist and click bend knees.

  Sun Sun Skipper is already for sale. I have offered her on a Skipper Facebook page I'm on. She's very expensive, so it may take a while to sell her. If she doesn't sell there in a week or two she goes to Ebay. 

  That's the doll for today. See you tomorrow for another one.