Bookcases and Catching Up

There have not been too many doll-related things going on here. Mr. BTEG bought me a couple of IKEA Baggebo bookcases to display some of my collection. They're a nice size for the 1/6 scale, leaving enough room for dolls to stand, but not so high that the bookcase gets too tall. So far, I have a couple of Barbies and most of my Rainbow High dolls moved in. Please excuse the lighting. I have to get better photography lighting into that room. 

Jaye mentioned on Instagram that there were some different styles of those jewelry boxes that also work as doll couches and chairs at a store called Home Goods. My store didn't have any, so Mr. BTEG also got me the couch and chair above from Amazon. I'm sorry you really can't see them very well, but they're certainly fine for doll furniture. The brunette Barbie is new. She's one of the Little Debbie Barbie dolls. She came with a straw hat and a cardboard bag full of cardboard Little Debbie boxes of snacks.

 

 

RM, we've had quite the weather up here. Last week, there were high winds for several days. A few big trees were knocked down, which led to our power being out for 25 hours. I'm so thankful for our generator. It's not one of the whole house ones, but Mr. BTEG was able to run our furnace with it, as well as a few important appliances. Then on Monday morning, we heard a very loud boom that seemed to shake our home to the foundation. Turns out it was a meteor exploding in our area and creating a sonic boom! I've seen some video of it; it looks like a shooting star, only in our atmosphere. It came what looked like rather close to the ground, but probably wasn't, before it self-destructed. I haven't seen for sure whether any of the pieces, or meteorites, made it to earth.

I guess I might as well mention my back issues here, since I'm talking about other things. Turns out I have arthritis degradation in my lower spine, which was causing the pain. I got an epidural block in the region, which has cleared up the pain quite a bit. I may need to get more as time goes on, but it's very easy procedure. MoonGirl, I hope your back problems get resolved as easily!

Pleasant Company Samantha Scenes and Settings

Mr. BTEG has been scrolling Facebook Marketplace for things for himself for several months, as a way to pass the time. He happened to see the long-retired Samantha's Scenes and Settings book for a good price, so we picked it up. This was a very large book made for each doll available at the time, which showed some of the important settings from her books, as well as the picture of her home on the cover, and a map of her local area on the back, as well as a few bits of historical information. It was meant as a way to enhance doll play acting out some scenes from the books. Samantha's book featured the kitchen of her home, her bedroom, her schoolroom, the ice cream parlor in New York City where she has ice cream with her grandmother and Aunt Cornelia, and Piney Point, which also figures in 2026 Girl of the Year Raquel's story. Some of the accessories that you could buy for Samantha, like her school lunchbox, her doll stroller with her teddy bear, and the basket and butterfly net she carries at Piney Point, are included in the images. For those not familiar with American Girl dolls, Samantha measures 18" (45cm) tall so you can see how large this book is.

I had quite a lot to say over at RagingMoon's blog about the new historical girls dressed in modern day clothes that are based on their historical meet outfits. I think the main thing I want to say is that history is important, play can be a good way to learn, and we shouldn't expect Mattel to carry on what Pleasant Rowland started as a passion project. I love reading, so I devoured books like the Little House on the Prairie series as a child, and liked to pretend that I was Laura. The old-fashioned school desk from my last post played a big part in the play. I will also point out that ironically, Rowland had to have had some decent funding behind her to start Pleasant Company. I've dreamed about starting my own line of historical dolls, but 1. Mattel would very likely sue and 2. There's no way I could get the money to get it off of the ground. Would any of you like to create a doll from another time?

Meet Elizabeth Gabrielle

My friend RagingMoon is a big Cabbage Patch doll fan. I don't collect them now, but I do have one from when I was a teenager. I told RM and fellow collector Treesa that I'd put pictures up of my doll when I found her, because she got mixed in with my daughters' toys. I finally came across her when organizing boxes, so here she is. Oh, and her name was given to her by me.

Originally, Elizabeth Gabrielle came in a gray tracksuit with green stripes and a cat on it, but I don't think I have that anymore. Her dress is Cabbage Patch brand, but the elastic in the sleeves is shot, and there were baby bloomers that were supposed to be worn with this, but I don't know where they are either. Her shoes and socks might still be around somewhere. I bought her apron at a craft fair back in the day. My daughter put the glittery pipe cleaners in her hair at some point when playing with her as a child. I also have a couple of photos that I took of her in 1986 when I was a senior in high school too. I like to think I was made to be a doll blogger from way back.

 

RagingMoon and Treesa, I'm sure that you know a lot more about my doll than I do, so I'm interested to hear what you have to say! Anyone else like the Cabbage Patch line?

Christmas Doll Gifts

I didn't have too many dolls on my Christmas wishlist this year. All I had was Licca dolls, because I wanted to check out the Licca and Jenny dolls from Japan, but I didn't get expect to get any. However, Mr. BTEG came through and got me two Licca dolls and one cute outfit.

 

The Licca on the right is dressed in a 60s motif. The fabrics she wears are mostly a sateen weave. The only thing that I dislike about her outfit is her cheap rubber shoes. Her belt is too long, but it does make it easier to get the belt through the buckle. The green ribbon she is wearing around her neck in the second picture is stretchy, and I assume it is meant to be another hair band. I didn't really know how to tie it or what to do with it, so I just put it around her neck so you can see it, and how long it is.

 

Our blue-haired girl is wearing a kimono type garment that seems to feature animals and motifs from a brand called Econeco. The only thing that I could find it in English associated with this name are coloring books, which do match the print on the kimono. She also comes with geta which don't want to stay on her feet, as is common with these shoes when the dolls don't actually have toes, a fan with two of the Econeco characters, and a plastic headband covered with fabric. 

 

 

Blue-haired girl looks adorable in the separate outfit. This has a sort of star theme, with stars on the rubber shoes, and on two rubber bands that I'm guessing go around ponytails or buns like she has. I didn't want to mess up her hair right off the bat by trying to mess around with them right now, so I just put one in her hand.

 

I've known for ages that these dolls existed, but I decided to add some to my collection when I saw how photogenic they are in Instagram pictures. Lots of collectors seem to put them on Obitsu bodies, but the bodies they come with are okay. They are rubber over wire, and they are sturdier than I would have guessed. I may put them on Obitsu bodies eventually.The outfits are a slightly smaller scale than Barbie, but they are nice quality, except for the rubber shoes. I'm looking forward to spending more time with these dolls, and adding a few more to my collection.

Random Dolls for Raging Moon and Some Barbiecore for MonsterCrafts

A few posts ago, Raging Moon put up one of her Random Dolls posts. In the post, there were three dolls that I used to own. I told her I'd put up a post showing pictures of them, and I'm finally posting it. I had a few roadblocks; RM has already put up two new posts! But better late-ish than never. The first doll is the updated Holly Hobbie who made her appearance in the 2000s. I had a mini version of her, but she fell off of my desk and I can't find her currently. :( I'm very down about losing her, but I found a pic of her included in a random pic of my desk from 2007. I also have a picture from 2006 of me with the "real" Holly Hobbie.

Xanadu mentioned that she had seen an older version of Miss Hobbie, and indeed, there was a line of Holly Hobbie dolls that came out in the 1970s, at the height of the first Holly Hobbie craze. I have the four different dolls from this lineup, bought second hand, since I never got them when I was a kid. Some are waiting to get their clothes and shoes washed, since they were out of packaging, but here's one of Holly's friends, to show you what she looked like. I posed her in between old school Stacie, Barbie's little sister, and mini American Girl Caroline. She measures 6" tall, and came with shoes, and also a sunbonnet.

The next doll is actually a group of three dolls, the Wee 3 Friends. One of the girls was Stacie, who was supposed to be the same Stacie as Barbie's little sister, above, but she and her friends, Lila and Janet, measured around 10" tall. This made it easier to give them more detailed fashions, as well as easier to make all of the accessories that they came with. I had the set Snow!Snow!Snow!, which included ice skates, pets, snowballs, and hot cocoa. I did do one photo shoot with them, where they were excited about seeing the new green shoots of spring coming out of the ground. I eventually decided they didn't inspire me very much, so I sold them off to Rachael, since she had said once that she liked them. I was afraid that if I donated the set to a thrift store, all the little pieces would be lost in no time, and I thought that would be a shame.

The last two dolls are also by Mattel. They were part of the Teen Trends doll line. RM read that they were also supposed to be competition to the Bratz dolls, but I don't remember them being marketed like that. Of course, I don't remember them being marketed at all, which is probably a reason why they didn't last very long. They were 17" tall, just an inch shorter than American Girl, but a lot more slender in build. I bought Courtney at Toys R Us, where I first saw these dolls. Sadly, my Courtney has not aged very well. Her hair is super dry, and her legs got sticky, to the point where they stained her khaki pants. Courtney was the "preppy" girl, and I always liked preppy fashion. I also liked her shoes, which were like the Dr. Scholl's which had been the rage when I was younger.

As I was deciding what to do with Courtney about a decade on, I made the perhaps ill-advised decision of buying her a friend. The one I chose was Gabby, the "girly" one. Gabby's silver-toned chain belt became blue-green and stained her white pants. The small round pendant on her silver-toned necklace also turned the same color. Here's a picture of Gabby in her case, which each doll came in. Each case was different to suit each doll's personality. I also have her out of box, and in one of the separate outfits that Mattel made for her.

Since I was talking to MonsterCrafts on her blog about Barbiecore, I wanted to add two more pictures. Here in the US, Barbie: The Movie was a huge event. Women wore whatever pink items they had in their closet, or combed the thrift store to get the right Barbiecore style. They were also greeting perfect strangers at the theater, saying "Hi Barbie! Hi Barbie!" I saw a picture of these pink mules in a thrift store shortly after the movie left theaters, and texted my daughter, asking her if she thought somebody had bought them to wear to the Barbie movie. She replied, "For sure they did."

I also got permission from my daughter to post this picture of her at the movie, taken in a special photo booth. I feel she got the old school Barbie "karate chop" arm down perfectly.

I will admit it was fun to talk about these dolls, which are usually far from my current blogging subjects. My doll collecting has certainly changed too!

Long Shot Wish List

I think that it was Treesa who suggested I make a blog post about dolls that I would like to add to my collection but probably never will, either because they're expensive or hard to find. This seems like a good time to make that post, because for a little over a month now, I've been dealing with a pinched nerve in my lower back. When the pain is at its worst, everything hurts, from getting dressed to doing laundry, even to just sitting. I really haven't felt up to much doll photography or crafting. I had my first physical therapy appointment a few days ago, and it went well, so I'm hopeful about the future. In the meantime, here is my list of dolls that are on what I call my long shot wish list.

1. Sugar Cups

Sugar Cups is a line of small dolls (13cm) made by Azone. They're only available for a limited amount of time after they're announced, they're over $100 a piece, and since Azone is a Japanese company, they're not easily accessible in the US. Azone has released some of their dolls to Japanese toy stores in the past, which does make them easier to buy. I've bought from HobbyLinkJapan previously.

2. Rainbow High Lily Cheng

Lily was released in 2022 to celebrate the Chinese New Year. She came with two outfits. She was a limited edition doll, and the only holiday edition type doll that MGA ever released. Rainbow High also released Lila Yamamoto from Japan as a regular doll, but she can't hold a candle to Lily Cheng. Lily NRFB will put you back at least $280 currently.

3. Madeline's friend Nona, by Eden

I have all of the dolls in this line except for Nona. I hate to say that it is because Nona has long blond hair that makes her so desirable, but there is definitely some reason she will cost you so much more to add to your collection. Madeline herself new in box will cost you around $30. Nona recently sold NRFB for $150. Picture taken from Fandom Wiki.

4. Effanbee Petite Filles Babette

These dolls were made with the same bodies as the Tonner 10" Ann Estelle dolls. I already have one Mimi, who was the other doll from the line. 

 

Mimi and Babette's earlier outfits were meant to resemble 1850s style, but both Mimi and Babette were released several times in different outfits. I'd take any NRFB Babette, but they weren't huge releases, and now they'd cost a pretty penny. I have my eye on another Mimi on eBay, and the buyer is asking $200 for her. This picture of Babette is from tonnerdolloutfits.org, but she acquired it from an eBay auction, which is long since gone.

5. Old Releases of Kurhn Dolls with Fashions

I found the doll pictured below on AliExpress, many years ago. I tried to order her, but got the message that she was not in stock. I'm presuming that she was made at some point? If she was, she was probably only sold in China and maybe surrounding countries. Yes, Kurhn dolls are still available now, but I really liked the outfits. I doubt I'll ever find one like this, if they were ever produced.

I am thankful that I know how to sew. I could make clothes for the Mimi doll that I have, and also a Kurhn doll that I own. I may someday pick up at least one Sugar Cup, and if I found some of Lily's accessories loose, I could make clothes similar to what Lily is wearing. I'm resigned to never adding Nona to my Madeline collection, but Madeline and her other friends can get on without her.

I'm hoping to be doing well enough to work on a Thanksgiving diorama, since October's obviously isn't going to happen. :)