The Spring Toy Show, and What I Bought There, and What's Up With Ken

    I haven't been around for a while. I think the last time you heard from me our car had died. We were without a car for a while, and then some people we've known for a long time offered us a van for a really great price. They got a lot of things fixed on it, using their own money, because they knew we really needed a car and were low on funds. It was a nice van, and had cool stuff like heated seats, and a CD and cassette player, and even a DVD player and tv for the back seats! I doubted we would ever use that, since we don't often have anybody in our back seat these days. It was still kind of cool to have though. We might have taken a trip at some point, and pulled over to enjoy a little TV while we ate lunch or something. I say 'might have', because three weeks into having the van, on the way to a doll show in fact, it became hard to break on the highway, in the rain no less, and the weird noises the van had been making: clunks, pops, etc., and the weird things it had been doing: juddering when reaching 55, listing to the left, having super tight steering, became worse. Before we reached our destination the van was feeling very scary. We did actually get to the doll show. It was a Saturday afternoon, so we weren't sure how we were going to get home. I actually took Ken into the venue where the show was being held, while my sister checked around for somewhere that might be open and able to take us on such short notice, and so close to closing time. When I came back out to park the van, she had found somewhere. I went back in to get Ken, and reloaded Ken and wheelchair back in the van  We carefully drove to Midas. The manager was going to take the van for a test drive, but ran back in saying, "I was going to take it for a test drive, but noooo! I'm going to run it in here and check it out." So he did, and was back in seconds. The subframe had broken. He said he was surprised we even made it into Midas. He said it would take at least $2000 to even start fixing what was wrong with it. With the miles on the vehicle and all the other things he said would probably come up next, the only thing that made sense was junking the van. Midas Man also said he couldn't see how anybody could have been under there working on the van recently and not seen that this was about to happen. 

  So once again, after three weeks, we were without a vehicle again. And by the time we got everything straightened out and a van rented  to get home before the car rental place closed for the day, it was too late to bother going to the doll show. There was less than an hour of the show left, and it costs $10 to get in now anyway.

  Last week Ken went in for a heart catheterization to have stents put in. He'd been in the week before, when they went in through his wrist. They decided he had more to do than they wanted to do through the wrist, so he had to come back. I was very scared, but he did fine. We were supposed to go home after it was finished, but they ended up keeping him a couple of nights so they could flush his kidneys out with IV fluids. Turns out, the contrast dye they use for the procedure can damage the kidneys, and Ken already has kidney damage from his diabetes. They did one side of his heart, but he was starting to have to move because his back and leg were hurting from laying on his back so long, so they had to stop. Now he has to go back in a couple of weeks to have the other side done. I'll be terrified again. If any of you want to do a few prayers, or send some positive vibes or thoughts Ken's way, it would all be appreciated.

  But before all that happened Ken and I went to the toy show with my sister. It's the Xenia, Ohio toy show, and it supposedly one of the biggest in the county. It may or may not be, but it sure is huge. It's held at a fairground, and it encompasses many buildings. We have always gone to every single building...except this time. It was supposed to be very cold, but turned out to not be too bad. But I have been having a lot of hip and back pain the last few months, and my sister recently had surgery to correct her botched double mastectomy, so she was tired, and not feeling her best. Only Ken was doing fine, although he was getting wheeled around. I could have done better from a wheelchair too. So we called it quits a bit  early. There were lots of dolls, as has become usual with this show. For once I didn't buy anything from the dealer I bought the Saucy Walker and lookalike from at the last show. I did buy a couple of things though, which I'll show you in a minute.

  First I'll show you a few interesting things I spotted. 

  I'm not sure if I have shown this same doll in a previous post. She looks familiar, and I know I photographed some of the same dealer's dolls before. This is a Lisa doll by Takara.    

There was this boxed set of Cousins dolls at another dealer.

  The Cousins were baby sitters to go with the Quints dolls by Tyco. (Why weren't there 5 of them? Somebody got off easy, watching only one kid.) I am familiar with the Quints dolls, but I never heard of the Cousins before. I knew they had to be connected with the Quints though, from the look of the packaging. Apparently they were supposed to be teenagers. There were several sets. Their gimmick was that when they stood close together their outfits formed a picture. How weird.

  I also saw something I've never seen, even in ads.

Can you spot which thing it is? It's Casper, in a box! I always wanted my cousin's Casper doll, and I finally got one as an adult. I've never seen his box though.

  Another thing I saw that I had never seen was this Liddle Kiddles Talking Townhouse.

I've had the Kiddle Klubhouse before, but I don't think I'd even heard of the Talking Townhouse. Apparently it had a pullstring talk feature. If this house was in good shape, $30 was a good price for it.

 

 There was also a dealer with Monster High dolls, including the giant sized 17" ones.

  I also saw this Strawberry Shortcake house.

  I didn't take many pictures this time. It was dark in the buildings, and most of the stuff wasn't displayed in a way that made it easy to get good pictures of. And I was in pain that day and just not feeling it. As I said though, I did buy something. It was near the end of our stay at the show. What did I get? 

  

  I spotted some Barbie and Skipper dolls at one table. Most of the dolls weren't in great shape. One of them was my favourite Skipper, the Mod Era, red haired, eyelash Skipper. I have a few of these Skippers, but  one has a reddish face and is missing most of her lashes, and one is paled out a bit.  One is nearly perfect but for a piece chopped out of her bangs. This girl has thin hair, and her lashes are there, but short. But you know what? I can fix that. Her face colour is pretty good.

She was marked $35. I asked the dealer what the least she would take was. She said $25! There was another Skipper I considered, a sausage curl. She was marked $25.While I was on a roll, I asked the dealer what she would take for both. She said $40, so I said okay. 

Her head is great, including her lashes.

 Unfortunately, her feet and ankles aren't in very good shape. 

 I can always switch her head to another sausage curl body that has a bad head. I probably have one.

  I might try to sell the sausage curl girl, or at least her head. 

I really can't afford to spend that kind of money any more. I hadn't bought a Skipper for myself in a long time. (I did buy a 'Sample', or Test Market Skipper at a show, but she was to sell. I have to pay for going to shows somehow. They are quite a drive, and the doll shows cost $8 to $10 each to get into, and the toy show costs $5.And now Ken has to go with me, because I can't leave him on his own, so it costs twice as much.)

  I also missed the other Spring doll show because Ken had only just come home from the hospital and had to take it easy for a week or so. So the next doll shows are this Fall. We'll see what happens then. 

  

Doll-A-Day 2023 #324: Hong Kong Liddle Kiddles Clone

   Today's doll is another Fuzz rescued from someone's trash with a bunch of vintage things. She's this tiny girl.

She's obviously a clone of Mattel's Liddle Kiddles, and not a bad one at that. She's a couple of inches or so tall, and has a very Kiddles face and eyes, and the same style body.

Like the other doll Fuzz rescued, she needs a bit of a clean up.

She's obviously a clone though, because she's marked Hong Kong. If she were a real Kiddle she'd be Japan.

She has red hair in two ponytails, and a blue polka dot dress that's glued shut. To wash it, I'd have to rip is apart and take it off. Real Kiddles had removable clothing.

  Kiddles were rubber with wires armatures for posing. This girl seems to be the same, but she doesn't bend very well.

She has a strange tall pair of plastic undies.

  

Pardon my nasty fingernails. I've never been very good at having nice nails.

  That's today's doll. Tomorrow you may begin to see some bombardment of posts, in an effort to catch up for the year. Look out.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #322: Sandy Sleepover

  Today's doll is this tiny girl.

She's a Liddle Kiddle,but a modern one. The classic Liddle Kiddles were originally made in the 60's by Mattel. The modern Kiddles were made in the 90's by Tyco. I'm pretty sure this girl is Sandy Sleepover.

This little girl is about 2 inches tall,and is mostly head. She came in this locket.

It opens in the back so she can be taken in and out.

  That's the doll for today. Tomorrow we'll see another doll of Ivy's. That one will be bog enought to see properly!

Doll-A-Day 2019 #240: Baby Teeter Time

  I just wanted to remind everybody to 'like' us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PlanetoftheDolls/
  Today's doll is a very tiny one.

She's a Liddle Kiddle.

To be specific, she's a Liddle Baby Kiddle. Her name is Baby Teeter Time. She was made in 1969.

This is her original outfit and bonnet/

She's much smaller than the regular Liddle Kiddles,which were between 2 and a half, and 3 and a half inches tall. Baby Teeter Time is only about 2 inches tall. 

Her bonnet seems to be glued to her head,and it looks like there's no hair underneath it. The only hair she has is what sticks out from under the bonnet in the front.

She has nothing on under her nightgown or dress. Whatever it is.

Her name is derived from the accessory that came with her, a yellow duck teeter ride on.

I would have called it a rocker,but apparently somebody at Mattel said it was a teeter totter.
  That's the tiny doll for today. See you again tomorrow for another doll.

Exploring: The Kiddle Klub House

  Today we're going to look at the Kiddle Klub House.

The front of the Klub House shows Babe Biddle,Liddle Diddle, and Bunsen Burnie.

The Kiddle Klub House was sold in 1967, to accompany Mattel's Liddle Kiddles.

They really missed their chance here: Liddle Kiddle Kollection would have been a natural! 

The Liddle Kiddles were introduced in 1966. They had to have a place to hang out, right?

The top of the Klb House is a roof.

 The outside of the Klub House features artwork depicting a lot of the Liddle Kiddles available.

This is the back.Howard 'Biff' Boodle paints the Klub House while  Greta Griddle offers him a drink. I think Lola Liddle is trying to sail her boat in the puddle from the garden sprinkler.

It's a complete,(or should I say Komplete'?),Klub House,illustrated on every side except the bottom.

Calamity Jiddle illustrates one side.

Millie Middle,in her sandbox, and Florence Niddle,with her baby and carriage, illustrate the other side.

 The Klub House is made of vinyl,with a vacuform plastic interior.

The furniture is also vacuformed.

The inside of the lid has a vacuform figure 8 brick road.

You can watch the original commercial for some Mattel houses,including the Kiddle Klub House HERE. 

Emma found this Klub House at a yard sale. She makes some really good finds in the town where she lives.
  Tomorrow Lori and I are off to a flea market. It's a smaller one though,so I hope I find something. I'll let you know.

Happy Halloween!

  Happy Halloween!

Ivy is 17 next week, so she helped me hand out candy tonight. it was the first time we have done it, since we either forgot we had to buy candy, or weren't home the last 2 years when Ivy was 'retired' from Trick or Treating.

Last year I ran out of time, but I was going to do a new Halloween picture this year.In the end I spent Saturday with my friend Lori, eating out and painting a stone lighthouse. Sunday it rained all day, so I figured I'd just do it today. Then I got a message from Emma asking me to do something for her. Then it was Trick or Treat time! The day and the day light was gone. I did leave Ivy to hold the fort for a few minutes while I ran inside to make the 'crescent dogs', (crecent rolls with Linkettes vegetarian hot dogs and cheese inside. Ivy just has cheese in hers.), which has been our Halloween tradition since the kids were little and I needed extra last minute time to finish their costumes before Trick or Treating.So, with no time left I am forced to steal Halloween pictures from myself. These are from my 'Worlds at the Pumpkin Patch' story from three years ago. You can see the whole thing HERE. Happy Halloween!Maybe I'll be up on things next year!

Every Day Is Earth Day

It matters every day, not just once a year. Live Earth Day every day of the year if you want to make a difference.

Happy Earth Every Day, from The World Family and me.

Doll-A-Day 103: Flea Market Finds: Brunette Short Flip Francie

  So yesterday my friend Lori and I went to the HUMONGOUS flea market. It got pretty warm and I was sorry I wore a turtle neck. No kidding. It finally felt like warm weather had come. I even ended up with the tops of my hands red from the sun, and my classic: sunburned eyeballs.The part in my hair is a little tender too. Nothing bad though. I don't burn easily.
 I made a few good finds.Here are some of them.

This Lady Lavender Tea Party Kiddle was $1.

She's dirty, and of course I didn't notice until I got home that she's got a hand nub instead of a right hand. I could rebody her, but she has painted on shoes that would be missing with a random body. She has all of her outfit though, and her head is nice enough to consider rebodying, or making a Tutti friend out of.

And this Francie was part of the 2 for $5 dolls the lady had in a box.

As was this Disney Jane doll. She's a different one than I'm familiar with. I figured she was Disney, but until I got her home and saw the "Burroughs and Disney" on the back of her I didn't recognize her as Jane.

Of course, that outfit doesn't help identify her either!

 I really like her though. She's molded with an open mouth, which is unusual. Her hair is red too, which you know I like.

So far we're at $6 with this lady.

They were pretty grungy.Francie's legs click three clicks and hold two.

.

I also bought this Cabbage Patch Koosa figure from her for $1.

I have seen a lot of the Cabbage Patch doll figures, but never a Koosa. It's cute, and the perfect size to be a doll for a 1/6 scale kid. 
The lady I got Francie and friends from threw in these clothes for 50 cents.

I think the pink thing is Dawn and the yellow one is Barbie. I think. I can't find them in my research. If anybody knows what they are, please let me know.
Here's Francie after an initial  clean up. Her hair is still wet.

She has put on a nice clean dress. Ahhh...(The dress came from a yard sale last summer, which you can read about in my post titled Fantastic Finds of the Week, from August 6th, 2013.)

Her face is slightly paled, and she definitely needs her lips redone. Her eyelashes actually look pretty good.They're all there.

She feels much better now.She has no green and her hair seems to be all there. I wish I could actually do hair, but I did my best. She's not bad.In a minute I'll show you how she turned out after her rehabilitation.
 I also got a Lalaoopsy treehouse for $1.And finally, after searching everywhere for another Meygana Broomstix to replace the one I got that had one slightly off eye, I found one at the flea market!When Emma and I went to Toledo Friday night to see Red Green, I found a Core Meygana at the Toledo Walmart too.I think now I have all but 2 of the Meyganas, and Ivy has one of those.(The glow in the dark Midnight Beach Meygana.)
  Now, here is Francie after her makeover. I think she came out really well. I didn't redo her upper lip, because it was all there. I only redid the lower lip and blushed her cheeks.

As you can see, my daffodils are blooming. Is it finally Spring? It's supposed to snow tomorrow.

I also got a tomato plant at the flea market.I love those big, acidic Beefsteak tomatoes!

Not bad for $2.50.
Until tomorrow...