Doll-A-Day 2023 #306: Fancy Queens

   Ha! Bet you thought I was going to miss another day! Well, fooled you! I wrote this last night. I was just late getting back tonight.

  Today we're looking at another $1 bin store find that's headed for donation. It's Fancy Queens, by Educiro.

It was okay to open the box, because nothing was opened inside, and the box is recloseable.

  When I bought this, I thought it was 4 little dolls. I just grabbed it. A closer look would have told me it was only 2 dolls, but I still would have had no idea what sort they were.

 I assumed they were little figures. 

The bottom of the box shows a selection of dolls.

This is the side of the box.

I was pretty surprised when I opened the box.

They're like Legos!

There's a booklet.

The first few pages show you the dolls you got.

Here's the back of the booklet.

Inside the booklet there are pictures of other sets you can buy.

The one on the left is obviously a "Frozen" rip off.

And then there are pages showing the pieces in the set, and how to put various things together.

The set includes two wigs, a red one...

...and a purple one.

There are more choices of clothes though. There are several upper torsos, for example.

This one has a cute animal on it.

This one, in the bottom right corner, looks a little military-ish. You'll notice there are several hands, but they look to be all the same.

The faces are both the same though.

There are only two. I showed one twice.

And then of course, there are the Lego type pieces for building the accessories.

There are two sets of accessories like hair brushes and 'mirrors'

White boots a plenty, and whatever those orange pieces are. Legs? Or arms?

There's a purse.

  I don't know how well these go together, or hold together, as opposed to real Legos. They may be monsters to get apart. But it's nice to see toys like this being marketed to girls. So many times people think girls don't want toys like Legos. My girls loved Legos. And building toys are good for kids. They improve all sorts of skills, including hand eye coordination, spatial skills, fine motor skills, and problem solving. Of course, girls can use any Legos or building toys. They don't have to be special 'girls' ones. Still, any helps.

 Those are today's dolls, See you tomorrow,

Doll-A_Day 2019 #130: Ello Creation Systems

Today's dolls are some that you build yourself. They're Ello.

This is the Shopopolis set.

Ello termed themselves a 'creation system'. It was Mattel's attempt at a construction toy for girls.

I still don't think girls need special building sets. Why can't they build with the same sets as guys?

'ElectroCling vinyl stickers'. You know,like Colorforms,only cheaper. As I recall,they didn't stay on very well.

It was a short lived toy though. Ello was only made from 2002 to 2004. 

They lingered in the stores much longer though. Ivy was born in 1999,and she got Ello sets when she was old enough to play with them. In fact, I came across this set the other night,and the reason it's still sealed is because it was bought at the tail end of Ivy's Ello interest and she ended up never being given it.

The Ello pieces were unique amongst building sets in that they could be used to make people,settings,furniture,and even kid sized jewelry.

One of the creators of Ello was Richard Manville,who had previously been the creative director of Barbie packaging.

The pieces have a very stylized look.

When built the people are about 4 or 5 inches tall.

Not counting giant hats.

All my kids, including Ivy.loved their Legos. Ivy really enjoyed the Ello too.She especially loved the people.

You can watch a commercial for this set HERE.
  That's today's doll. Now: I would like your opinions on something. In researching my recent post on my Baitz doll,(which you can see HERE.),I gathered information from various places. My main concern was finding out which doll I had,and providing a little information about the dolls in general. I found a picture of a doll like mine on a Flickr page, which hadn't been active for about 6 years From that I found out which region  my doll's costume is based on. I relayed that information, in my own words,in my post.  My doll "represents the traditional attire and hairstyle from the Baden-Wurttemberg region of Germany,home to The Black Forest". Here's what the Flickr page said. Today I got a comment left by the lady whose Flickr account it is. She asked me to "credit my Flickr site...when using my description of Baitz dolls",saying she has collected them for many years and worked very hard to research them. I don't feel I used her 'description',only repeated basic information in my own words. I do feel her page would be helpful to others researching Baitz dolls, and I'm only too happy to put a link to her Flickr in my post. But 'credit' her page? Is that appropriate?  If someone obtained information from my blog,and used the information to add to what they were saying about something,in their own words,I wouldn't feel I was entitled to a 'credit'. (Using my photos is another matter.) But should I feel bad? Do you think I 'used (her) description'? Information isn't someone's property,is it? If I had used her exact words that would have been different, but I didn't. Follow the link and read her actual words. Do you think I did something wrong? Here's what I said to her in response:

"I have added a link to your Flickr account in the blog post on my Baitz doll. I think the information and identification on your page will help people interested in Baitz dolls.
  I obtain my information for my posts from many sources. I don't consider that I used your 'description' by stating the region my doll was based on. That information came from seeing the doll you have that looks like mine,but that's like saying if I had a Chatty Cathy doll and didn't know what it was, and found a picture of one where someone said it was Chatty Cathy,then identified my doll as a Chatty Cathy, that I was stealing their description. That''s just repeating information,which hopefully we can all share for everyone's benefit.
  I would probably have directed people to your account on Flickr, but, as you haven't been active for about 6 years, I thought it was dormant.
                     Tammy"
  Please let me know what you think. Honestly,I've been yelled at and I feel bad!

Doll-A-Day 2017 #37: Goldie Blox Girl Inventor

  Today's doll is this quizzical looking girl. She's Goldie Blox,Girl inventor.

Goldie is part of a line of building toys designed to interest little girls in building and engineering.

She has bright yellow hair with white streaks.

Her hair is soft and silky and easy to comb.

Here's what the Goldie Blox website has to say about themselves:
"GoldieBlox is the award-winning children’s multimedia company disrupting the pink aisle in toy stores globally and challenging gender stereotypes with the world’s first girl engineer character. Through the integration of storytelling and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) principles, GoldieBlox creates toys, books, apps, videos, animation and merchandise; the tools that empower girls to build their confidence, dreams and ultimately, their futures."

It's kind of hard for me to understand that people buy special building toys for their girls. What's wrong with girls building with generic Legos? I also don't understand parents not buying building sets for their girls at all.It's been proven that building toys like Legos and Knex help kids develop spacial skills, hand eye coordination,motor skills,creative thinking,language skills,and with subjects like math. I never thought my kids couldn't have a certain toy because it wasn't meant for their sex.(In fact,it always really ticked me off when I was in a store  and a  kid would want to look in  a particular toy aisle and their parents would say,"No! This is the girls/boys aisle! Let's go look at toys for you!" Let the kid look at what they want. Whatever toy they like is the toy for them. My kids all loved Duplos,and then Legos and Knex.But they also loved dolls and action figures and cars, and you name it. And I'm talking about them all as a group, my two girls and my boy. They all played happily together whether it was building with Legos or playing with dolls.

 Building toys were right up their collective alley.I would definitely have bought the Goldie Blox sets for them!

I only saw Goldie in the stores after she was clearanced.Of course,my kids are older now, so I don't get to frequent the toy aisles as much as I used to.

She came in a set that included the parts and plans for building a zip line to sail her on.

There was another doll in the line,Ruby Rails, who came with a parachute, in her Sky Dive set.

This stuff sounds like fun!

I found Goldie second hand, so unfortunately she didn't have her zip line with her.

 I love her face though.

And her goofy sideways grin.

Goldie is 6" tall.

She is jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows,hips, and knees.

Goldie runs through the start of my myrtle and my daffodils.

And hands made to hold her zip line.

She has a tool belt with  'G' for 'Goldie' on it.

She originally came with a wrench, which fit in the spot provided on her tool belt.

You can visit the Goldie Blox website HERE.

  You my have seen my post on Cosima recently. One of our readers messaged to tell me that she had spotted a Cosimo(Cosmia's brother) for sale, and we have been working on a trade. I haven't been successful at getting photos in an email, so for her benefit,Bogi,here they are:

  See you tomorrow for another doll.