Look, Up in the Sky!

Besides being a doll collector, I also am a Superman collector, so when my two hobbies meet I get very enthusiastic.

Back around 1999-2000, when Ebay was young and images of objects up for auction were not always a sure thing, I saw an auction for 4 plush dolls: Superman, Supergirl, and 2 Clark Kents. The description was interesting and I knew I didn't already have these dolls. So for about $20 I bid on and won them. 

They are cute, in a tacky, ugly kind of way. It turns out that they were amusement prizes in Japan from 1991. I couldn't bear to put them with my good Superman action figures and dolls, so they hid in plain sight with my stuffed animals. 

I did learn my lesson. I don't even glance at listings without photos.

Poko Chan!

So I was killing time in the Japanese gift shop waiting for the base shuttle yesterday when I saw an interesting toy hiding among the stuffed animals. It was a Fujiya Poko Chan. Someone probably got it as an incentive gift and didn't want it, so they decided to sell it at the store. Well, for 500 Yen it became my birthday present to myself.

So without further ado, Sports Poko Chan!

He is 21 centimeters tall and his shorts and shirt are removable. He looks very durable.

Retrospective on 1971

In honor of my birthday today, let's look at dolls that came out or were still popular in 1971.

First, Sweet April, who came out in 1971. I blogged about her before, but she qualifies AND she shares my name.

2: This was the year Malibu Barbie and her friends hit the waves.

Here is my poor beat up Malibu Barbie. The poor thing needs a good spa treatment. I got her for my 4th birthday and she was a constant bathtub and pool companion. (She was in a bathing suit, that meant she was a water toy, right?) My Malibu Ken died in the 70s. I took his head off one too many times to drain out the bath water and his neck broke.

3: Crissy and her family were still going strong, but I didn't have any of them. I did think it was really neat that they had hair that grew.  (Photo taken from the Web.)

4: Baby Tenderlove and all the Tenderlove dolls. Nope, I didn't have one.  (Photo taken from the Web.)

5: Dawn dolls. I've shown my original Jessica (that I pretty much destroyed as a toddler) before and I briefly showed my reproduction Dale, but here they are again.

Six: Baby Sofskin by Horsman. I had one of these. I think every child my age had one of these. (Photo taken from the Web.)

So, you have to admit, it was a good year for dolls, and for me, since I was born.

Fujiya and Peko

I went out to lunch with the ladies from my stitching group. Fujiya is decorated in Peko chan, and has all you can eat cake.

And no, I did not have all you can eat cake, sigh. I had a healthy (one can dream) lunch and one cute cake.

A cute bear - white chocolate mousse on chocolate cake.

The dessert plate.

Can I just say how much I love these dolls. Kawaiiiiiiiiiii!

My Evangeline's Arrived Today

Woo hoo! My two Evangeline Ghastly dolls from the UFDC Convention arrived today. I shipped them to my parents and they shipped them to me, hence why they took so long to get here. 

Wow, Miss Ghastly is huge. I have her standing next to Barbie and Hayden for comparison, and she towers over them. There really is a great difference between 11 1/2" and 17".

By the way, the Barbie is a 1987 Fun to Dress Barbie. She is wearing a neat kimono I purchased at the base Arts & Crafts shop. Yay! for crafters.

Queen of the Mardi Gras looks as if she might be a little larger than Ipswich Fog. I can't tell.
Hmmm.... according to the Wilde Imagination website, she is 18 1/2 inches tall. I thought she looked bigger.

I See Clowns

I've mentioned before that I used to collect clown dolls. This is one of the ones that I kept after the "Great Clown Purge of 2006 (maybe)".

What I like about this guy from Show Stoppers is his simplicity. He reminds me of Marcel Marceau, the legendary mime, in his stripes and beret.

I found this attractive mime in the late 80s at a cart at the mall, Potomac Mills in Northern Virginia.

This was pretty much at the height of porcelain doll mania when all you had to do was turn around and you'd see new, mostly Victorian styled, dolls for sale.

He has a little flexibility in his arms so he can be posed, but he is meant to be a stationary doll.

I decided to talk about this guy today, because I saw a hilarious Ebay auction yesterday of another porcelain clown doll I used to own (also acquired in the 80s). 

Photo and text are blatantly stolen from the Ebay auction.

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL AND DELICATE HAND MADE FRENCH JESTER DOLL, IT WAS BOUGH IN PARIS RIGHT AFTER WORLD WAR II HOWEVER, IT WAS ALREADY AN ANTIQUE, THE STORY GOES THAT THIS IS THE SAME OUTFITJESTERS WORE IN MONTECRISTOS ERA.
HAND PAINTED POCELAIN FACE AND HANDS, SATIN SHIRT AND PANTS, MULTICOLOR VEST.
SEVEN BRASS BELLS ALL IN WORKING CONDITION.
UNIQUE ITEM FOR YOUR COLLECTION.
PERFECT CONDITION.
22 X 13 X 4 INCHES WITH HANDS OPEN.

I had to laugh (not even mentioning what the seller wants price wise). Heck, it might even be my old doll, I donated it to Goodwill with a bunch of other clowns. The downfall of this fella, versus the mime, is that the hat is too heavy to stay upright on the doll's head and the elastic around the hat and the pants degraded quickly. 

Just a little humor for today, after all, clowns are supposed to make you laugh.

Saturday's Awesome Finds

Yesterday (Saturday), was a day of awesome finds. We started the day out right by visiting the monthly "Antique" sale on base. There were a few dolls available, but I decided the one I wanted was a beautifully decked out Musha-Ningyo, or male warrior doll.

Please click on the images to see them larger.

Isn't he beautiful. He is a modern doll and a great display piece.

After depositing him at the apartment, we then drove to the Hard-Off/Hobby-Off/Home-Off by base. Wow! About 1/3 of the store was devoted to toys, dolls, models, and all sorts of geeky wonderfullness. My eyes were big, but since I was really there to look at the furniture, I only bought a small toy. A tiny toy. 

The cutest little Peppermint Patty in a yukata I have ever seen. Full disclosure: the only Peppermint Patty in a Yukata I have ever seen. She was probably a fast food premium, but I don't know for sure. I just love her.

Next up was the furniture side of the store. I wanted something that my larger dolls could sit on, instead of sitting on the floor. Well, I found it. A small Japanese couch that with a lot of finagling fit in the back seat of the car. Dave sat in the back with the couch, since the passenger seat had to lean all the way forward to make room and the driver seat was all the way up. I barely fit, but I drove us safely home. 

The couch received Skitter's seal of approval. It even has handy storage areas.

Not bad for one day.

Let's Play Dolls

Dave and I put up 2 little shelves for my dolls today. Coincidence, the small doll stands I ordered arrived today. This meant that I finally displayed my new little dolls from the convention.

Here is the Just Me doll with her teddy bear, rag doll, and Asian doll.

The dolls, and teddy bear are having a party, complete with Re-Ment Hello Kitty birthday cake.

The other shelf has my new Ice Skating Ginny and Dale (a Dawn doll), both are modern reproductions.

I love that Dale came with her own stand, very useful.

Here Comes the Bride

Back around 96 or 97, I hosted a bridal shower for one of my best friends. My mother bought a Madame Alexander bride and groom for me to use as decorations. 

It was a hilarious day. In order to keep my friend busy and to avoid recognizing certain cars parking at my parent's home, I had to invent something for us to do. Now, I suck at lying. My plan was, we were going to the movies, but first I had to buy a specific brand of gum for my mom and go back to the house to drop it off. Awkward. My mom doesn't even chew gum (me either). But, it worked out and it was a great shower.

Here are the lucky couple.

They are 8" Wendys. The only flaw my bride has (behind the blurry photo) is that my cat like tulle. In fact she likes to EAT tulle. The bride now has a couple of holes in her veil (only seen from the back). I have since learned to keep her in a cabinet, much to the cat's dismay.

Sunday School Best

At last year's Maryland Library Association's annual conference, I bid on and won a silent auction item. It was a beautiful box filled with chocolate and butterfly themed items. The main reason I bid though, was it had a lovely Madame Alexander doll in the box.

She is "Sunday School Best" #48310. She is an 8" Wendy and reminds me of how little girls dressed for Easter Sunday when I was a little girl. She immediately, and happily joined my other small dolls.

It's a Mad, Mad, Re-Ment World

Ok, so I splurged on a little box of Re-Ment Alice in Wonderland themed food. I think I have decided that everytime I go to the grocery store that I have permission (from myself) to buy a Re-Ment kit. This is a good thing.

Included in this pack is a white chocolate Mad Hatter, a chocolate Cheshire Cat, and a chocolate (pink) Caterpiller, a house shaped case, and a picture frame. The back of the included hand out has three pictures that can be cut out and put into the frame.

I think the Teapot set is really cute and I may buy more of these in order to get it.

Fussa Tanabata Festival

The Fussa Tananbata Festival is a 4 day celebration of the meeting of two gods who are separated by the Milky Way and can only be together once a year. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about Tanabata http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata.

Dave and I dressed up in our Yukatas and walked into town, past the Seiyu (where my Re-Ment toys usually come from) and through the train station to the other side.

There were decorations in the train station.

And in the street. This is the "Official" mascot of the festival. I think his name might be Kenki. To me, he looks like an ear of corn.

Many fair goers got dressed up in their Yukatas for the festival. Dave and I received a lot of compliments on our Yukatas from Japanese men and women (and some giggles).

The decorations were wonderful. Stores, individuals, and groups put up their own, unique decorations and they were judged earlier in the week. There were also many food, drink, and game stands.

Look, it's Mickey and friends.

And Anpanman ("Eat my face").

This one was amazing.

Totoro and the Cat Bus were even represented.

As we walked along, we came upon this performance. The band and drummer are playing, while the puppet dances. It took me quite awhile to make up my mind as to if this was a puppet or a human performer. I finally decided on puppet.

The obligatory One-Piece display.

Dave had Yakitori and a beer for lunch. I had toasted mochi on a stick for a snack. Later we shared a spicy chicken kabob sandwich and Mango drink. Fair food is oishii.

Did I mention that the festival had its own mascot? Here it is posing for photographs.

I think this guy is probably the male star/god that the festival is about. The star on his head was my big clue.

Tired, hot, and sweaty, we eventually called it a day. Next year, I'd like to see the parades that were held the first two days of the festival.