SHHHH! SECRET SUE AND OTHER SPY DOLLS

If like me you like vintage spy dolls then this article is for you. From the Doll Boldly site here's Double Trouble:

https://thebolddoll.com/vintage/double-trouble/

What do you think?

On your Christmas list now?

MEDUSA

I've been watching another tutorial on Catmeleon's channel, this one on how to create a Medusa. Completely mesmerising if you have a spare 40 minutes.

https://youtu.be/pNN2Ht9UsE0?feature=shared

HEADSHRINKER

 Before going to meet a mate for a Chinese buffet I'm shrinking a head.

A doll's head to be precise.

I'm doing it for my next custom project.

I'm following this fabulous tutorial on You Tube by Catmeleon.

https://youtu.be/pYbBOiNNVmU?feature=shared

Amazingly, I'm shrinking the same doll's head! Spooky!

Have you ever shrunk a head?

Auf Wiedersehen Pupp

 A few final notes from abroad last month now I'm home.

I saw this toy cable car in a German shop window, which I thought was neat. Whether it moved I don't know. It didn't when I was there. 

I think the maker is Lehmann but I may have seen a Rigi one.

Me and the Missus said goodbye to everything in her late parents' apartment. Everything that we didn't sell at Flöhmarkten or give away. This old plaster grandma held on till the bitter end, finally parting with us in the final days before we closed the door for good. She just didn't want to leave.

This long model ship was in a Trödel Laden or junk shop. It will make someone who collects ships sehr zu frieden (very happy).

I snapped this hot air balloon as it was passing near our car boot stall. I hadn't realized I'd got the chap in too. He looks non-plussed! I've never been in a hot air balloon and with a bad fear of heights I wouldn't ever. I do love to see them though. You?

This beautiful Isetta caught my eye whilst we delivered a deck chair to someone. I remember these from being a kid in the Sixties. We called them bubble cars. 

Has any reader driven one? Have you ever sat in an Isetta?

And a final sad note: despite trying to re-home a lovely and large 1960's home-made Puppenhaus, or dolls house, with various friends, alas, it went back to the charity warehouse we bought it from four years ago to start yet another journey in its long life.

Auf Wiedersehen Puppenhaus.

En Guard! My Home-Made Star Maidens Guard Doll

 Ever since I first saw this figure, Arto's rare Star Maidens Guard doll, I've been smitten.

So, recently seeing a toy mini American football helmet and some red Supergirl boots going cheap on eBay, I thought nows a good time to have a go at making my own Star Maidens doll.

As always, not a perfect replica, more of an impression.

See what you think. 

Here she is, the Moonbase Maiden Guard

H A U S

We had to say auf wiedersehen to this old dolls house in Germany.

We bought it about four years ago at a Diakonie charity warehouse. Alas due to its size we were never able to bring it home. It was bought largely on its great looks.

Clearly home made many years ago, each room was wallpapered, carpeted and tiled. There were doors and even electric lighting.

Priced at just 8 Euro, it came complete with tons of furniture, which we were able to bring home.

Despite asking friends and neighbours we couldn't re-home the house. I think it was the size more than anything.

It went with the house clearers in the end, along with most of this pictured below and much much more; the final remnants of my Wife's late parents' apartment of some 40 years.

Have you ever made a dolls house? Is it a lost art?

BLOGGIVERSARY MYSTERY: WHERE DID THE CANDY AND ANDY DOLLS COME FROM?

 

I saw this big doll in a Hornsea Charity Shop window and had to look twice!

Is that Candy? my brain shrieked!

Candy as in Candy and Andy, Gerry Anderson's photo-story kids comic featuring these two large dolls.

Ignoring the fact that Andy looks like the Good Guy doll from the later Chucky films I got to wondering if Candy and indeed Andy were commercially available dolls at the time, like April Showers and Tiny Tears et al.

I've read a lot about Candy and Andy over the years, including just recently Alan Dein's great short history of the comic and the hardbacks, Village of the Dolls  [Alan is also the discoverer of the lost transparencies and author of a new book].

Alas, there's been no mention of where Century 21 got the dolls.

Where they made by Century 21? Does anyone know?

Spur of the Moment

 Today's modest catch down the boot sale. See anything you like? 

Small celluloid Geisha

Action Force backpack

Unknown metal sailor and Action Jack

An Avon Robot and a modern Smiffys spur because I just liked it! 

Spanish flamenco dancer, Evergreen doll and Thunderbirds Projector slide.

Sunday Sale

 Picked up a few guys n dolls this morning for the various projects I have in mind.

LtoR: Modern Action Man, tall unknown figure, modern Ken or Paul, JLS member, modern Barbie, Barbie cheapo clone, 2 bent knee wrestlers, 2 finger fight wrestlers, unknown soldier

Any good?

BUYS 'N' DOLLS

Slim Pickens down the local boot sale last week but as always highly enjoyable.

Largely an old doll haul - three for a pound, who can resist! -  see what you think, from L to R:

Vietnamese [I think] 18 inch doll, 

Top row: cute tiny Sixties dolly [ID?], cheap Barbie clone, Spanish Flamenco dancer [My Mum loved these!]

Next: Ammonite, Britains Deetail Horse

Next row: plastic bazooka [for a future project]

Bottom: rubbery plastic Action Man pouches [from what?], cast Indian Chief, cast School sign, old 1935 penny, small weight, pendant, metal ball on a rod [glued onto my diver now!] and a VR Trooper.

Re. the tall doll, its a long time since I've found an 18 inch figure. The last time was Farah Fawcett Majors, who was married to Bionic Man Lee Majors, and who I always get mixed up with Jamie Summers, the actual Bionic Woman [played by Lindsey Wagner], the TV wife of the Bionic Man Steve Austin [played by Lee Majors]. See what I mean! My confusion isn't unique. If you read my original post Don't Fawcett about finding the 18 incher you'll see the seller was mixed up too!

Did you get confused between Farah and Lindsey?

M I R I A M : we Can Rebuild Her

 A while back Miriam arrived.

Her right leg was shattered and both feet were missing, as were her small high heels.

A few weeks later and post-Diver I finished repairing this doll using the shards inside the bag. Besides all the leg bits, they included the feet and shoes as well.

She's not Jamie Summers perfect but once back in the bag she does look better I reckon.

See what you think.

Jim und Lilli

It's our final day and we are packing the car with stuff to bring back home.

I've resigned myself to no more Flohmarkte or Diakonie visits until we return sometime.

I've also resigned myself to not finding any Big Jim or Bild Lilli either.

Jim is popular in Germany among collectors, who fondly recall the versatile action dolls range. There were countless knockoffs and accessories available for dressing Jim in the 70's. He was an all-round adventurer. I found some of his cowboy gear last year by Wentoys.

Bild Lilli is older, has a longer heritage than Jim. She's also a superstar and a lot more desirable among collectors. Lilli is Barbie. The West German doll was a saucy offer with the 1950s Bild newspaper sold at Kiosks back then. Mrs.Mattel found Lilli on a visit and bam! The rest is .... Let's go Barbie!

Jim and Lilli are out there, probably together in his camper van by a plastic lake somewhere.

Auf unsere Wiedersehen.

Lorem Ipsum! The Latin Doll's Box Mystery

I thought you might find this case interesting. 

On our way back to north, we stopped at an inaugural Vääksy Antique Fair. A popular event from the start, as you may witness from the photo attached.

At the fair, I came across this British Airways Air Stewardess doll made by Rexard Dolls in the late Seventies - early Eighties.

What caught my eye was a couple of text passages in Latin on the backside of the box, starting with "Lorem ipsum dolor sit nonnomy..." and followed by "ullamcorpor suscipit lab..." on the lower part of the box.

Is British Airways trying to promote Latin as a high-altitude lingua franca? How odd and exciting!

Unfortunately, the answer is quite mundane - and therefore twice as exciting!

Lorem ipsum is a long textual passage of corrupted Latin, a kind of gibberish used by graphic designers as a placeholder for texts to be added later on. In other words, lorem ipsum passages should never end up in final products, as they are only indicating the place where the proper text should be added.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum

Ergo, the box embodies a significant lapse in quality control - a veritable lapsus linguae one could say!

Do you recall a similar case readers?

 Quite unique I would think. I find these kinds of unintentional lapses or errors most interesting - and collectable too!

This last picture is from eBay showing a later, corrected edition of the box back.

Arto

Helsinki Base

Tong in Cheek

 I picked up this 80's TONG Barbie clone yesterday in a German charity shop.

TONG is a new one on me and the make is clearly marked on the doll's neck rear.

Maybe the clothes she's got on is original too. I'm not sure.

The body may well be another brand as I think TONG bodies were articulated.

Anyways, for 50 cents I'll turn the other cheek.

Anyone any TONG experience readers?

LOL's BANGIN' CAR

We picked up this for Miss Junior. It's a large LOL plastic car. Very cool, it's got working lights and a huge boot that turns into a trailer.

Like a massive Hot Wheels redline, little Miss loved it too! 

What do you think? 

ON THE MOONBASE BENCH: WHIPPED AND FLIPPED!

 On the bench at the mo are a few projects.

I'm patching up the chroming on these old plastic Light Sabre handles. The Missus is making little Miss Moonbase a Doll's House Suitcase.

Something I finished last week for Wotan, the redline Hairy Hauler. It got a new DIY window and a new metallic green coat. Next to it is my redline Whip Creamer with new DIY window and mock spinner. These windows were both cut from Super Glue package blisters.

Work continues on the two larger die-casts for Junior for Easter, the Lunar Bug and the 007 Moon Buggy. I'm just waiting for some red paint for the Bug roof and a simple DIY attachment for the Buggy 'arms'.

Wotan told me that the Whip Creamer has been re-issued in modern styling but still retaining a plastic roof and spinner. Its called the Whip Creamer II.

In a lightbulb moment I bought this cheap one on Ebay for a few pounds.

I really don't like the modern style at all.

The original redline is SO much slicker!

So it wasn't too painful for me to remove, with some difficulty I might add, the roof and spinner from the new one. I then sawed off the curved ends of the roof.

eh voila! whipped and flipped!

Not too bad I must say! Worth the investment in the new Whip II for parts, Do you agree?

Right up to date are these cheap Corgi and Matchbox die-cast scrappers, which have just arrived in the docking bay at Moonbase. They include the purple Freeman x 2, which I adored as a kid. You too?

There's quite a lot of paint loss on this ensemble.

I started with the pick-up sans its front grille.

I had a spare from something else, which did the job.

I'll keep you posted on further work in progress on all these projects.

Sunday Whirl

 Despite inclement weather we braved the boot sale and whizzed round the charities in Wetherby this morning.

This bat-like dragon intrigued me. No makers mark. Any ideas?

Always an eye out for Interesting LPs fairy tales must be one of the earliest coloured vinyl I've seen. It was green. Have you any coloured vinyl?

I used to collect horror records, so seeing Mia Farrow is always a thrill. The lead in Rosemary's Baby, she's an all-time fave. Still, sat with Andre and kids was too non-horror for me to worry my wallet.

This baby was vintage. A Palitoy toy from 1970. Anyone know it?

The Missus bought Baby Annabelle stuff for MoonBase Miss and I snaffled these bargain bangers.

At the front are three 1980's Hot Wheels. The back three are Superfast, Lesneys and Husky respectively. I picked up the three plastic bits too but I've no idea what they're off. Die-casts?