Doll-A-Day 2023 #271: Grandmommer and Grandpopper

   Today we're looking at some dolls I got at one of those dolls shows. That was a few weeks back now! And I'm still going through what I bought. That can't be a good sign! But these guys were such a good price, and these were just about the only characters from the world of the Pillsbury Doughboy I didn't have. They're Grandmommer and Grandpopper.

  These dolls were made in 1974, as part of the Doughboy's family. 

  There were quite a few Pillsbury dolls. There were the much smaller finger puppet figures, which included Poppin' Fresh, (the Doughboy), his  wife, (according to Pillsbury. Official.), Poppie Fresh, their two kids named Popper, (the boy), and Bun Bun, (the girl), a cat named Biscuit, and a dog named Flapjack, Grandmommer and Grandpopper, (Are they Poppin Fresh's grandparents, or his kids'?), and the rare Uncle Rollie and his car. They even had their own Poppin' Fresh Playhouse. Then there were the dolls this size, which included Poppin Fresh, Poppie, and Grandmommer and Grandpopper.

I got all four of these together at the show.

  When I say these were a good price, I mean it. I got all four for $5. They would have cost much more if I had gotten them at a toy show, or on line.

  You know that thing about people shrinking when they get old? It must be true, because they are much smaller than the doughboy. They also wear more clothes than he does, but whatever.   

What does it say that animators always think women have to be completely covered, but it's perfectly all right for males to go around without pants?

  Like any good old timey grandma, Grandmommer wears her hair in a bun. Grandpopper, of course, is bald.

My Grama had a bun, and my Mamaw had a ring of rolled up hair around her head.

  And they're old, so of course they both wear glasses.

  The dolls this size had stands, which were pretty much a base with two holes their feet fit into.

  Now all I need are Popper and Flapjack.

  Those are the dolls for today. Tomorrow we'll see some I got at yesterday's toy show...in spite of the fact that there are at least two more dolls from the doll shows I need to show you! See you then.

Doll-a-Day 2017 #230: Pillsbury Bun Bun and Biscuit

  The day before yesterday we saw Mr. and Mrs. Mouse, which I got yard saling a couple of weeks ago.
 

Today we're looking at another few dolls from that day. They're Bun Bun and Biscuit.

Bun Bun is the baby sister of Poppin Fresh,(The Pillsbury Dough Boy.).

Biscuit,which I got two of, is their family cat.

These dolls are actually finger puppets. These two came in a set that also included the family dog,Flapjack.

Bun Bun,who is 3 1/2" tall, should have blue eyes and  a blue heart on her bib.

Biscuit is 2 1/2" tall. She should have blue eyes and a blue nose.

See you tomorrow for Shrunken Saturday.

Living Dolls Week:Doll-A-Day 182: The Pillsbury Doughboy's Uncle Rollie

  This week we're looking at 'living dolls',characters in movies, TV, and other media, 'portrayed' by 'living dolls' like The Pillsbury Doughboy.(His real name is actually Poppin Fresh.)

These days Doughboy is created using CGI, (computer generated imagery), but back in his early days he was portrayed by  a puppet, using stop motion animation.

Doughboy in his first commercial,back in 1965. He has since appeared in over 600 commercials for 50 different Pillsbury products.

This original Doughboy stop motion figure sold online for $600. Not really that expensive for an American advertising icon. He looks like he must have been the puppet used for getting the belly poke.The original clay Doughboy figure for stop motion commercials cost $16 to make.

 The Pillsbury Doughboy ad campaign was conceived by Rudy Perz, and the original drawing was by Martin Nodell, the creator of the Green Lantern.Pretty weird, huh? The original voice of the Doughboy was by Paul Frees, who was also the voice of many cartoon characters, including Boris Badenov in the Bullwinkle cartoons.He was also the Little Green Sprout in the Green Giant commercials, and the Ghost Host at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction. He also dubbed in a lot of Tony Curtis's 'female' voice in "Some Like it Hot"...
 

You don't say?

...and Humphrey Bogart's voice (which was weak from his esophageal cancer and could barely be heard in many scenes) in Bogart's last movie, "The Harder They Fall". Pretty versatile guy.
   I always wanted a live Doughboy. Alas, the closest I could come was the rubber toy, which I found available in bins at the grocery store when I was a kid. I begged my mom to get me one. She refused. I don't know. Maybe they were only available if you bought Pillsbury biscuits. In our house we only ever had homemade biscuits. (When we went to my Dad's stepmother's house they were so exotic: They ate canned biscuits, which in the 60's were tiny little things that you could peel and eat layer by paper thin layer. I loved them. I loved Mom's too, but the canned ones were something special since we never got them any other time. These days I prefer homemade biscuits, and we bake them in the same pan my Mom always made biscuits in.)
   Doughboy is so well known he's been parodied and even had other characters based on him. (Who didn't realize that the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from "Ghostbusters" was a take off on the Doughboy? "Something from my childhood that could never hurt us.")

Maybe crossed with The Michelin man.

   I still love the Doughboy though, and I have made up for that childhood loss. My first Doughboy was one of the originals that I saw a bin full of when I was a kid. I found him at a porch sale years ago.

Like this guy.

  After that I added the more recent Doughboy. (And remember, I'm old, so when I say 'recent' I mean sometime in the last 20 years...)

You can tell the old from the new by the eyes and Pillsbury symbol on the hat. Old Doughboy has much lighter blue eyes and symbol than New Doughboy.
  Then came a keychain, a fridge magnet,a cookie jar, a giggling Doughboy doll,a beanie, a tiny beanie...Well, you get the idea. I didn't remember him having a family, but apparently in 1974 they made loads of characters, including his... sister? wife?... Poppie Fresh (It's up for debate, but I think she's his sister.)...

Poppie. Got her doll too.

 ...his little brother Popper, his little sister Bun Bun,and his grandparents, (Or are they his parents?), Grand Popper and Grand Mommer. They even had a dog(Flapjack) and a cat,(Biscuit),who were also dough blobs, of course.There was also the extremely rare Uncle Rollie, who is our doll today.

I found him at the bottom of a box at a yard sale. I hadn't ever heard of him, but he was obviously a Doughboy relative. I didn't realize how rare he was since I had never heard of him. I also didn't know Uncle Rollie came with a blue car, so I wasn't even looking for his car.Afterward I went home and looked him up to see who he was, and found out about the car. So  I went back to see if they had the car. No such luck.The car had a rumble seat you could put one of the other finger puppet dolls in.(Doughboy, the little brother and  sister, etc.)

He's not in the best shape, but as rare as he is, who's going to complain?

He's pretty small, at only 3 3/4" tall.

So, with all that, I still haven't gotten a live Doughboy.

"Who-hoo!"

 He's not even real anymore, let alone alive. He's all CGI and it's just not the same.

However, that pig from the Geico commercials...

Wheeee!!!