Doll-A-Day 2017 #55: Cathy Quick Curl

  The doll today is Cathy Quick Curl.

Cathy was made by Mattel from 1972 to 1974.

She's 15" tall.

Cathy has the same Quick Curl feature as Quick Curl Barbie.

Her hair is full of tiny copper wires that hold the hair in curls, just like Quick Curl Barbie.

Cathy also has one of those sweet little faces the Mattel child and baby dolls had in the 60's and 70's.

  See you tomorrow for Shrunken Saturday.

Doll-A-Day 2017 # 54: La Dee Da Dee as Dots of Style

  Today's doll is Dee,one of the La Dee Da dolls.

Original dress and replaced shoes.

She's Dee as Dots of Style Dee.

Or is it?! From what I can tell, my doll has the dress and eyes of that doll, but not the hair,(There should be some purple hair on top and orange hair around the bottom.), or sparkly paint around her left eye. Any ideas anybody?

She's from the Sweet Party series.

You can see my other La Dee Da doll HERE.

And you can visit the La Dee Da home page HERE.

I like the look of some of the La Dee Da dolls, and I like a lot of the clothes and accessories that fit their theme.

 La Dee Da's have nice faces, with big eyes.

 I have seen some beautiful repaints.Now that I have a spare doll,(a less complete double of the doll I gave the link to above.),I may try repainting her.

My biggest complaint with the La Dee Da dolls is that they are head heavy and weak limbed.

Dee had a hard time supporting herself in a sitting position,even with her arms to prop her up.

There's no way her tiny feet and weak knees joints will allow her to stand up on her own.

Her arms can't move in any interesting way.They are strictly up and down arms,without even an interesting turn of her hands or a bent elbow.

Do the limbs start out this loose, or do they become that way with play?I've never had a La Dee Da straight out of the box, so I don't know.

Check in tomorrow to see what the doll of the day is.

Doll-A-Day 2017 # 53: Small Shots Daredevil Dexter

  Today's doll is one of my childhood dolls.He's Daredevil Dexter.

His price is still there:$1.87!

Dexter is from a series of dolls called Small Shots.

Small Shots were made by Mattel from 1971 to 1973.

Dexter is one of the first dolls,which were available in 1971.

Dexter measures 3" tall without his skates,and 3 1/2" including the skates.The skates are made of die-cast metal.

There were four dolls available separately, and two available with a playset called the Skate 'N Race Set.

The dolls were designed to be able to use the Hot Wheels race tracks.The back of the package also came with a ramp.

The dolls and skates are perfectly balanced and skate heavy,and won't tip,even while flying down the ramp.I've never actually tried Dexter on a Hot Wheels track.

In 1971 I was 8 or 9 (depending on when I bought him),but as I have said before, I was an obsessive compulsive, anal retentive person,even as a kid. I saved Dexter's package,(Well, it did say to on the package itself!),and took pretty good care of it all these years.Luckily I kept him in it,not only for his own good, but if he hadn't been in it I'm sure Mom would have thrown it away! Today a Dexter in his package sells for over $200! It helps that these dolls are collected by Hot Wheels enthusiasts as well as doll collectors.

 The dolls can actually be removed from the skates, and the clothes are removable too.

Small Shots were Mattel's attempt to attract girls to their Hot Wheels toys.You can watch the original Small Shots commercial (featuring Jodie Foster!) HERE. 

 

  In 1972 more dolls were released, with either a soap box scooter or a wagon. In 1973 dolls were released with twist waists. I've never seen any of the last line of dolls anywhere. I can't even find a picture of them online. The first series of dolls, and sometimes the second, seem to be the only ones anybody ever sees. That's not strange, because it would make sense for the last line of dolls to be produced in smaller numbers than the first. (That would be why there was a second and even third line, but not a fourth.)
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2017 #52:Tiny Blessings Tiny Lee Ann

For the next week or so we're going to look at some babies and some kids. Today's doll is Tiny Lee Ann.

  Tiny Lee Ann is from a line of dolls called Tiny Blessings,made by Bandai in 1987.

There were quite a few dolls in the line,including a couple of boys.

The standard dolls, like Lee Ann,didn't come with anything,but there were also some that came with a bunting. 

There was a series that came with accessories like a rocking horse, a bath tub, a wagon,a play pen,a high chair, and a train.

There was also one playset produced,a dollhouse,that looked suspiciously like the 1986 Mapletown Post Office for the Sylvanian Families animals. That was made by Epoch,which is Bandai, I think.

All the dolls had 'real' hair, and molded,painted clothing.

If Lee Ann looks like she's having hair problems, it's because she originally came with a teeny tiny ponytail on each side of her head. I'm not sure I can ever get those back for her!

Lee Ann is about 2 1/4" sitting, and about 3" stretched out.There were some Tiny Blessings smaller than Lee Ann.

She's able to be posed in various cute baby ways.

She can lay down or sit up.

I think they were all such cute little dolls,and I wouldn't mind having more.But Lee Ann is the only one I've ever actually come across (in person).
  See you again tomorrow for another doll.