1970s Happy Family Grandparents Were Issued - I Never Knew!

Frannie found them. Uh huh. Hal Happy's parents. Check her post here.

I had the original Sunshine Family, the Sunshine Family Grandparents, and the Happy Family. But no Happy Family Grandparents. Where were they hidden, I ask? I mean, I never heard of them. I certainly never saw them. And I used to be into that series when I was young. Even though they have inset eyes that reminded me of birds' eyes.

Aside: Stephanie got lost early on. I do not believe that Stevie disposed of her although he had a torrid affair with Hasbro's Love. Since Stevie was like-able but not particularly gorgeous (remember the birds' eyes) or sexy (please), I never acted out what "torrid love affair" meant. But I liked the description, so it stuck to the Stevie-Love relationship.

Well, after I stopped reeling from the awareness that dolls existed that I missed - plop down and pout, okay enough of that, lol - I remembered a similar doll series Mattel produced using the Stevie and Stephie head sculpts. Anyone remember the Star Spangled dolls?

I found my Star Spangled Dolls brochure. As I mentioned to Frannie in her comments, my Indian Maiden and Pioneer Daughter dolls are too dusty zones to be photo presentable. So they are going to be "no shows" in this post. Still, I wanted to acknowledge those dolls from my past. Just a brief salute.

The text is um ... quaint? If cleaned up American history bothers you, you might want to skip it.  The above Star Spangled Doll link shows the dolls and their bios. A little embarrassing to read now.

 

More Information About the Former Princess of Japan (Mattel)

These photos are for Kim and Ms. Leo as response to their queries about the former Princess of Japan Barbie. In the first photo, POJ Barbie sits between Volks' Kana and Mattel's Lea. POJ Barbie's hair color is darker than the warm dark brown of Kana's hair, but it is lighter than the jet black of Lea's hair.

In the second photo, POJ Barbie hugs her former body - an event only possible in East Philly and similar doll/action figure zones, lol. POJ Barbie is only the tiniest bit taller than she was on the Skipper Barbie body. So anyone interested in re-bodying their Skipper and other young teen dolls, the Liv bodies make excellent and in-scale new bodies.

P.S. Lea's feet are not large enough to wear the Lollipop dolls boots, but her small feet can pull them on for this photo.

Lollipop Girl Fashions on Other Dolls and Action Figures

Dragon Linh, MGA Entertainment America's Next Top Model Sidney, Mattel Alvin Ailey American Dance Barbie, and Volks Who's That Girl Kana wearing Jan McLean's Lollipop Girls' fashions. Front view above and rear view below.

Just a few years ago, I sometimes bought stuff that was on sale just because I thought I might someday find a use for it. Example? These Jan McLean's Lollipop Girls fashions. I doubted that I would ever buy any of the Lollipop dolls because of their big heads, inset eyes, and elongated bodies. But that didn't mean that the cool fashions and kicky boots and dramatic hats could not benefit some of my other dolls and action figures. And that hunch paid off.

The pants will fit Barbie Model Muse bodies best. The other dolls shown can wear the pants, but the legs are overlong so you would need to either cut the excess fabric and sew a new hem or fold the pants' legs up.

(Aside, Hasbro's Banee of the Starlight Girls - JEM - only appeared to fit the Lollipop outfit she borrowed yesterday. The top was a stretch, but the back of the jeans did not meet.)

The tops barely fit though. The hats can be a little too large.

Asian American DAFs: Hey Girls!

Six lovely Asian American dolls. Who are they?

1. Get Real Girl, Skylar Ron, Japanese Canadian

2. Hasbro, Starlight Girl Banee, Vietnamese American

3. Mattel, Friend of Kelly, specific Asian background not provided

4. Mattel, Happy Family's Neighborhood baby, specific Asian background not provided

5. Playmates, everGirl, specific Asian background not provided

6. Kenner, The Babysitters Club Claudia Kishi, Japanese American

I will post other Asian American dolls and action figures, too.

Resistable Blythes ... How Did They Get Here?

Everyone who reads PhillyCollector knows I do NOT collect Blythe dolls.

I  maintain, I do NOT collect Blythe dolls.

So how did these photos find their way into a new Webshots folder for that mini creature? How!

Could they have jumped from Niel's blog? No, that isn't possible. I refuse to believe it.

Or could they have been entered by a certain British doll who finds them adorable because they resemble her? Thinking ... thinking ....

Webshots Folder Updates

I've added a One2Believe folder to my Webshots albums. You may notice some other updates to other photo albums. Enjoy!

Eenie, Meenie, Mackie Mold ... Choosing a Brunette Mackie

This post is partly inspired by another blogger's post about deboxing her Anne Klein Barbie doll. Like many other dolls and action figures and other cool things in my collection, that doll and outfit have languished in the original box - unopened. What am I waiting for? The perfect moment when all is sorted and everything is in its place? I don't know. I just decided that I wanted to have that outfit out and available for one or more of the other dolls to wear. Thanks for that great post, Vanessa!

When I looked at my Anne Klein Barbie doll though, I wondered: do I really want to keep this doll? I mean, I have at least two other fair-complexion, dark haired, Mackie faced dolls. Here they are ... Catwoman Barbie and Kate Spade Barbie. Suppose I had to sell two and could only keep one. Which one will I keep?

Once, I would have thought Catwoman. I mean, Catwoman was my FAVORITE Batman villain, back when I was a child and when I watched the Batman tv series starring Adam West. Catwoman was played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Statuesque and tiny Catwoman ... interesting contrasts. My Catwoman doll was to have been the evilest woman in the EastPhilly-verse. But ... her face is a little cartoony. She could still play a villain, but she'd look a little campy.

What about that Anne Klein Barbie though? Hmmm ... I'm not crazy about her face paint. She looks respectable. Lovely coloring, but just not enough vigor to her face.

Kate Spade Barbie ... now we are talking ATTITUDE. I know little about Ms. Spade except that she designs pocketbooks ... but I like her face screening best. So she's the one that I will keep.

If you had to decide from this group of three, is there any one you would single out? Or would you hold them all? Or not a one?

Photos to help you decide ....