Doll-A-Day 2023 #358: Spunky

Spunky is a member of the Honeyhill Bunch, a series of small dolls that ran from 1976 to 1978. 

  The dolls came in a couple of sizes, with Spunky being one of the larger dolls, at 6 inches tall.

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether Spunky is a boy or a girl. The Honeyhill Bunch paper dolls seem to think he's a boy, as the girls are shown in one piece outfits that include a top, and the boys, which include Spunky and Solo, are shown in shorts/swim trunks only. Of course, L'il Kid is shown with no top, but wearing Mary Jane shoes, and the outfit include yellow pajamas, one outfit that looks baby boyish, (in fact, similar to Tiny Chatty Brother's clothes), one outfit with pink pants and a pink and white polka dot top, and one indistinct sailor suit. Sooooo...boy? or infant girl?

Spunky has cute freckles and a dimple.

The Honeyhill Bunch was made by Mattel, and they have typical Mattel faces of the era. In spite of the copyright on the tag, the series did start in 1976.

The dolls all have cloth bodies with vinyl heads and rooted hair.

Spunky has a funky fringed vest.

The kids all had an accessory too. Some of the accessories' were pets. Spunky's is a frog.

  The dolls have Velcro on one hand so they can hold their accessory, or hold hands with each other.

  Spunky's slogan, on his box, is "Nobody bothers me, 'cuz I'm tuff! See!" ('Tuff', but very bad with spelling and punctuation. See? Maybe Spunky could get some help with that from I.Q..)

  Check out today's other posts for more Honeyhill Bunch. We're going to hit 365 on time!

Doll-A-Day 2023 #357: I.Q.

I posted two other Honeyhill Bunch dolls today. This is the third and last for the day. She's I.Q..

IQ is one of my favourites in the series, and I didn't even remember that I have her! I found her at the house recently.

She's one of the smaller Honeyhill Bunch dolls, at 4 inches tall.

She has her vest, but is missing her accessory, a book. The book was made of nylon cloth, and actually could be opened and had (unprinted) cloth pages. Her slogan on her box was "I always get straight A's in school."

She also still has her sunglasses, on top of her head.

I think they're the same sunglasses Mattel used for the P.J. dolls, part of the Barbie line.

  I have read at least one thing that suggested I.Q. is a boy. Because she's smart and carries a book? The Honeyhill Bunch paper dolls show the boys wearing bottom clothing only, while the girls, including I.Q. wear one piece clothing with a top. The clothes provided for I.Q. have been described as  being more boyish, but really, denim pantsuits were totally worn by girls in the 70's. The other clothes included a pair of mint green footie pajamas, a sailor suit, with hat, and polka dot shirt, and a green suit, with shorts and knee socks. So you decide.

 

  I.Q. seems to have been part of the first wave of Honeyhill Bunch dolls.

    That's #358! We're getting there! Check out today's other posts for more Honeyhill Bunch dolls.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #356: Li'l Kid

  Today's doll is Li'l Kid.

Li'l Kid is a member of the Honeyhill Bunch.

  The Honeyhill Bunch was a series of dolls made by Mattel from 1976 to 1978. 

  As you can see in the pictures above, Li'l Kid originally came with a green sleeveless top, and a dog, named 'Good'. I do have Good. When I got the doll named Hayseed, she had Good with her. You can see them both in my post HERE. Li'l Kid's slogan, from the box, was "Me 'n Good Dog wanta play too!"

 Is Li'l Kid a boy or a girl? What do you think? The Honeyhill Bunch paper dolls show the girls in one piece outfits that include a top, and the boys, which include Spunky and Solo, are shown in shorts/swim trunks only. Li'l Kid is shown with no top, but wearing Mary Jane shoes, and the outfits for Li'l Kid include yellow pajamas, one outfit that looks baby boyish, (in fact, similar to Tiny Chatty Brother's clothes), one outfit with pink pants and a pink and white polka dot top and pink and white striped beanie cap, and one indistinct sailor suit. Boy or infant girl?

  The Honeyhill kids, which were between 4 and 6 inches tall, all had soft, stuffed bodies, and vinyl heads. 

  They have Velcro on one hand so they can hold their accessory.

  They all have cute little faces that remind me of the Baby Beans dolls.

  Her tag is huge on such a small doll.

  That's one of today's dolls. Check out today's 2 other posts for more Honeyhill Bunch.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #210: Baby Beans and Pets

 I told you we weren't finished with Baby Beans yet! Today's doll is another Beans! She's a Baby Beans and Pets doll.

She's the most common size for a Baby Beans, around ten inches from head to foot.

  Not to be confused with the beans Pets dolls, made a few years earlier, (There was a dog, and a bear.), the Baby Beans and Pets doll were sold in 1976. 

There were three dolls in the series: a girl with a cat, a boy with a dog, and this girl with...a chicken?

Just a girl and her chicken.

  You might think a chicken isn't a pet, but my sister and I had pet chickens when we were kids. 

I have a chicken!

My sister's chicken, Bilda, loved her so much, he had to be held back so he didn't get on the school bus with her. My chicken didn't love me as much. I was very little, and probably much more annoying. I don't think he much liked being put in the cardboard box house I made for him, even if it did have a cool Dutch door.

    They really wanted to make sure this girl didn't lose her chicken.  She has Velcro on her hands so she can hold onto her chicken.

There's also an elastic strap so she can put in on her wrist.

And this chicken is still stitched to her hands! 

They really wanted her to keep her chicken, but that's a little overdoing it, I think.

But I like my chicken.

She has a cute  Baby Beans face.

And a chicken!

 This Baby Beans has something a lot of Baby Beans dolls don't. She has hair all over her head.

She has auburn hair in two ponytails. 

I don't think the lace ties are original, but they're cute.

A lot of Baby Beans dolls have hats, and hair only rooted around the edges.

She has little sideburn pieces on each side.

  All her clothes are made to her body and not removable.

She got wet in the Room of Water. She has dried now, but as you can see above, she has some mildew stains on her apron. (Stain Devils to the rescue!) Also, her bottom started to mold!

Her weighted bottom is kind of hard, even for a Baby Beans.

All new materials. That's good----ground nut shells?!

     There were Baby Beans and Pets paper dolls too, made by Whitman.

  Well, that's all for today. Bye from me and the Beans.

And my chicken!

Doll-A-Day2023 #208: Bottle Time Baby...Twins!

 Today's doll is actually two! It's a couple of Bottle Time Baby dolls.

They were sold separately. They are about ten inches tall and are wearing their original outfits.

Bottle Time Baby is from 1984.

She has hair sculpted on the back of her head. Remember that for later.

They're obviously Mattel dolls, as you can tell from their faces. I'm guessing they were sculpted by Martha Armstrong Hand. There's a resemblance to Baby First Step, and many other Hand creations for Mattel.

As you can see from their name, and their mouths, they were meant to be bottle fed, and they did, indeed, come with a bottle. (The girl has worn paint on her lips, so I'm guessing she was fed a lot.) But there was more to their bottle than just feeding. These dolls had another gimmick: Their box exclaimed, "Twist bottle and he wiggles!" The bottle activated their arms and legs. I wondered why their limbs made ratcheting sounds when I tried to make them sit down, and their arms moved in unison with their legs.

  The boy has straight hair, and the girl has a head of curls. 

It's not as cute from behind. Well, his isn't.

Both have thinly rooted hair, but the boy's straight hair looks thinner. It has trouble laying down. I pulled some of it forward and pulled his visor down to make it stay, so he has some bangs.

I don't think it was meant to do that though.

The girl has curly bangs, and I'm pretty sure they were meant to be that way.

There's a thin spot in the hair between the back and the bangs, for the visor to sit in.

He doesn't have a thin spot like that though. He still has a string where his visor was sewn to his head.

His whole head is a thin spot. Unlike his sister, he has bangs sculpted on his forehead.

So I put the 'bangs' back.

They both have painted eyes .

   That's today doll. And don't think you're done seeing Baby Beans. Martha Armstrong Hand sculpted those too. Anyway, see you tomorrow.