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 are a 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 I 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 is 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 have gotten 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.



I got this one at a doll show 

This girl was cheap at a doll show because she had dirt on her nose that the dealer thought was a nose nick!

This girl was cheap at a doll show for two reasons: The dealer knew nothing about dolls, and I had to fix her eye.

  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 head, 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-A-Day 27: Mrs. Beasley,her history, my life long love, and a Yard Sale Tale

  Today's doll is Mrs. Beasley.Beware:this is a long post. If it shows up for you like it does for me, you'll have to click 'read more'.



    Mrs. Beasley has had a very long shelf life, especially considering that she was just a toy on a TV show that only aired for 5 years in the first place, the last of which was 42 years ago. The TV show was "Family Affair". It began in 1966, when I was 4 years old. I looooved Mrs. Beasley and spent my life yearning for one. She was on every Christmas and birthday list until I grew out of her I suppose. (I know you'll catch me saying that about a few things, but it's true. When I want something I REALLY want it!)
  Mrs. Beasley began life as a Rushton "Jill" doll, (as in "Jack and..."). 

Anissa Jones as Buffy with the original Rushton Jill as Mrs. Beasley.

Jack and Jill were part of a line of nursery rhyme dolls, and they all have pretty Beasley influenced faces.

My perfect Beasley. What? Read on.

    Somewhere along the way the doll was changed to the Mrs. Beasley we know and love, made by Mattel. These days Mattel would have to license the look of Rushton's Jill  or get sued.  I guess you could get away with more then!

The original Beasley.

    The full size 21" Mrs. Beasley doll is a pull string talker. She says 11 different phrases, like "Do you want to try on my glasses?" Her voice was by an actress named Georgia Schmidt, who people remember mostly as the first Talosian on Star Trek.

The pull string talking Beasley was produced for several years, beginning in 1967. She actually outlived the show she was from. Mrs. Beasley was so popular that she was sold in several other forms, including paper dolls, a talking rag doll version with yarn hair...
 

As in this 1974 catalog ad.

...and a smaller Beasley that came with a 10" talking Buffy doll.(10" Buffy had the same head as the Mattel Small Talk dolls.)

This is from the 1969 Wards catalog.

   I don't have much interest in the rag doll, but I eventually warmed to the talking Buffy and little Beasley. I also own some loose paper dolls, and the book Buffy and the New Girl.

I didn't know about any of those as a kid except the large talking doll. But I did own the Tutti sized Buffy with the tiny Mrs. Beasley.

This is from a 1968 catalog.

  This is my childhood Buffy and Bease with the 10" talking Buffy and her Bease. My poor Buffy was brought out of storage and her head was turning brown and her socks had  nasty brown stains on them. I removed her head, and found that her neck wires were rusting. I lightened her head by leaving it in the sun for a few weeks, and painted her neck wires with clear nail polish. It took them ages to dry---they stayed sticky for ages---but when they finally dried I put her head back on. She hasn't returned to the advanced brown state she was in when I found her, so, for the moment at least, her disease is contained. ** UPDATE: She started turning brown again. I removed her head, and her wires are rusting again. This time I might try covering them with some Rustoleum that stops rust. **The nail polish keeps the metal wires from coming in contact with her vinyl head, and I guess it stops them from emitting as much of the gases that turn the vinyl dark.

I got tiny Buffy and Beasley one Christmas in place of the talking Mrs. Beasley I had asked for. I was SO disappointed. I'm glad I have them now, and I did enjoy playing with them. They just weren't that Mrs. Beasley I wanted so badly. Buffy is 6" tall and uses the same body as the Mattel Tutti, Todd, and Chris dolls. (Tutti and Todd were Barbie's little twin brother and sister, and Chris was their friend.) I think the face mold may be the same too, but then I'm still trying to decide if the Tutti and Chris molds are the same and just look different because they're painted differently. Buffy's dress and polka dot bloomers are almost identical to Tutti's "Walkin' My Dolly" outfit. The difference is that Tutti's dress is slightly shorter and the skirt is more gathered at the waist so that it flares out more, and the Walking my Dolly dress has a Tutti tag inside.

Non childhood, but better condition Buffy with Walking My Dolly Tutti.

Here are the three together: My childhood Buff, other Buff, and WMD Tutti. Ken shot down my identification information by pointing out that my old Buffy has the short, Tutti style dress. Well, I know it's her original, and that Tutti's has a Tutti tag in it, and besides, it doesn't quite flare out as much as Tutti's, and that's the difference I READ anyway, and...SHUT UP KEN!

  This set was released around the same time as the 3 "Pretty Pairs" sets, and while it could have fit the theme of a doll with her own doll, it wasn't a "Pretty Pairs" set. The pretty pairs also had Tutti's body and included Angie and Tangie, Nan and Fran, and Lori and Rori. The only one I own is Angie, which was our Doll of the Day recently.

Pretty Pairs Angie.

  The Mrs. Beasley that came with Tutti style Buffy is about 3" tall. Her collar and skirt are removeable, as are her glasses. (The same goes for the slightly larger Beasley that came with the talking Buffy doll. In fact, they are the same glasses. They didn't make different sized glasses for the different sized mini Beasleys.) 
 

Tiny Buffy: "Holy cow! What have you been eating?!"

That removable factor is why you almost NEVER see one of these Beasleys with glasses. The larger ones were hard enough to keep track of, as evidenced by the fact that they are few and far between too. The tiny glasses are the same as the ones that came with a vintage Francie (Barbie's 'MODern cousin') outfit and Skipper's Right in Style.

Tiny Beasley and slightly bigger Beasley: "You're wearing my glasses!" Skipper, in Right in Style, feels trapped. 

Doll-A-Day 13: Pretty Pairs Angie

  Today's doll is Pretty Pairs Angie.

  Angie was part of a series of Tutti size dolls called Pretty Pairs, produced in 1970. The idea was to have a doll, with it's own doll. There were three dolls with their dolls in the series.Angie was paired with her doll Tangie.

Angie and Tangie in their package.

Well, I don't own Tangie. If anybody objects to the picture I borrowed from the internet, please tell me and I'll remove it. I wanted to illustrate Tangie and,pathetically enough, I don't know how to do a link! I'm working on it.
  The Tutti sized Buffy and Mrs. Beasley weren't actually Pretty Pairs dolls, but they could have been.

My poor childhood Buffy and Beasley. Not mint condition, but well loved.

The dolls in Pretty Pairs shared the bendy Tutti body, and I'm not so sure that's not the same head mold.

Buffy on the left, Tutti on the right. Same head, only painted differently? Maybe Tutti smiles a little more.

Angie definitely shares a head with Buffy.

They were advertised as being able to share clothes with Tutti. In fact, Angie's tights are the same ones that came with Tutti's Birthday Beauties fashion.

Tutti Birthday Beauties

 She also used the Tutti shoe mold for her shoes,but Tutti never had any hot pink shoes.Angie came in the one piece play dress, white fishnet tights, and hot pink bow flats. My Angie is missing her hot pink hair ribbon, but otherwise she's fully outfitted.
  She has a similar head to Liddle Kiddle Soapy Siddle, with a side ponytail and big blue eyes, (and again, the same head mold.).

Angie with Soapy Siddle and a Soapy head on a Doctor Doolittle body,otherwise known as the instant Tutti friend!

The easiest way to tell the faces apart are Angie's eyelashes, (Soapy doesn't have any.) and curly ponytail, (Soapy's is straight.)

  Pretty Pairs were only produced in 1970, so they are harder to find and more expensive than Tutti dolls. I got lucky with my Angie, as she was in an auction lot that didn't call her by name,(which might have attracted more attention) and she had some body damage and no tights. I rebodied her with an exact same body and replaced her tights. Voila! Nice Angie for less!