Heidi Ott 18" Faithful Friend Beth Doll

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I am sure I've mentioned before but I have always loved dolls! I collected them, a bit, before my kids were born, I had maybe ten and I displayed them in my craft room on a table. Then my own babies came and, silly me, I thought I needed to "grow up" and get rid of my "toys" and I *gasp* sold or gave away all but the ones I had as a girl. Here is a photo of some of my dolls back then. Please excuse the bad quality of the photo, it's from my scrapbook. Just wanted to show you that I've loved dolls quite a while. 

As you can see in the photo, at that time I owned two Heidi Ott Faithful Friend dolls. I loved them and am so sad I got rid of them then! Fate meant that I should have at least one of them in my collection again though! Because recently I went to Goodwill and found this beauty for $9.99 new in the box!

Ok, I'll admit, the box itself isn't a beauty anymore... But it's not to bad considering its 20 years old! 

So much fun that I get to be the to unbox her after all these years. 

 

As I was pulling out the box inside the box the register receipt from the original purchase fell out! Fun! So it looks like someone bought her in 1998 on sale for $32.99! 

I already knew she was going to be top notch before I unboxed her but I took photos of all of it so I could show you how she was in the box in case you're considering purchasing one on eBay. They are plentiful there and you can buy one for a pretty good deal.

I love the way they boxed her! She was held in by little fabric strips, not zip ties or fishing line type string. Classy!

 See? Untie one cloth strip and her feet are free to get out of the box.

I though this was a great feature! Her hands were both covered but cloth tubes to keep her clean and nice! I am kind of surprised they did this because it doesn't display too well in the box but it is awesome that after nearly 20years her hands were in great shape because they were so well protected! 

I also loved this little detail of the box. That hole in the top is such a neat little extra, making it easier to pull the inner box out of the outer box. 

One rubber band held her head in place, held by those two little hooks.

 Again they had a fabric scrap protecting her neck from the rubber band. So neat!

Here is a closer look the "tube" of white fabric on her hands.

And one of the one by her neck.

One thing it seems to be agreed on in all reviews of these dolls is that their clothing is top notch. I hadn't thought too much about this back when I owned my two before because I left them in their original outfits and never changed them enough to notice how well made the clothes were I guess. Well, it's true, they are fabulous clothes! I love the coat, hat and muff she came in and it's probably worth the $9.99 I paid for the whole doll!

Here she is in her full outfit from the box.

This is her dress. Plain but pretty.

She has a mark on her neck that says Heidi Ott.

Here she is with one of my other 18" dolls, a "My Life As" doll (Walmart) named Leanne.

And with my Our Generation doll named Florence.

All changed into more modern clothes. I upcycled that skirt from baby clothes. 

All in all I love her. I plan to re-wig her at some point because as much as it is commonly agreed that the clothing and doll itself is top notch, they had to make it affordable somehow and so used "not so great" wigs. I will leave hers in pigtails until I do, to make it stay as nice as possible. I think I'll go with a bit darker blonde perhaps or maybe another colour entirely. Just a matter of time and finding wig money in my doll budget! 

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by! See you again soon I hope!

XOXO

Gotz 18" Boy Doll Find and a Madame Alexander 18" Doll Too!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

It's been far too long since I posted but June was just one of those busy months! I've got about ten drafts posted here, in photos, but just have not found the time to come and finish them off with writing the stories behind the photos. So... I have a bit of time this afternoon and am hoping to get a few stories told! So, to that end, here is the first! 

I found these two beauties at a Garage Sale, lying on a table with other various toys. They weren't marked, price wise, but I snatched them up and asked the proprietor of the sale how much and was delighted when she answered "How about $3 for both?" Um. Yes.

 

David is my second Gotz 18" doll but my first modern one. He has an all vinyl body and can stand pretty well and easily on his own.  He is very well made of course, as all Gotz dolls. The new variety cost about the same as an American Girl Doll and can be purchased through Pottery Barn but I don't like the face molds available there as much as I like David's. I named him David from David in the bible, one of my favorites. The Madame Alexander 18" doll is lovely too. My daughters first 18" doll was a Madame Alexander produced the same year so it was fun to find one for myself that is like her two. I have one other Madame Alexander myself, she has dark hair and is one of my favorites. Her name is Mary and here is a photo of her. 

Isn't she pretty?

This is exactly how they came. The pants he is wearing are newborn baby pants and I thought they fit him rather well considering. He has a slimmer line body than American Girl dolls and so the hair tie in back helped hold up his pants.

Here is what he looks like. I think he has an interesting torso shape and like how well he can stand on his own.

So I brought them home and cleaned them up and I think they'll fit I right into the Doll House. I still haven't figured out a name for the blonde Madame Alexander. I usually leave them unnamed until something comes to me that feels right... So she'll be named eventually. 

Here they are, reading in the library. They love books nearly as much I do and were so glad to have such a selection. 

That's it for this post! Thanks for stopping by! 

Vintage Kelly Little Sister to Barbie 16inch Doll Joins the Doll House

Hello Doll Friends!

Guess what? I got another doll!! Are you surprised? I thought not. What can I say? I am like the Duggar Mom for dolls... I just can't keep from wanting more! At least I don't have to feed them! This little beauty is a Vintage 1994 Mattel Kelly, Little Sister to Barbie, 16inch doll. I have a lovely friend who works at one of my favorite thrift stores and I just happen to meander in on the day she got her 'showcase' items in. This lovely doll is in 'new' condition other than a little case of 'toy box hair'. I am not sure how she stayed in such great shape for a 20+ year old doll but all I could do was to snatch her up for her $15 asking price. Her little accessories and outfits alone were worth that much really... What did I have to lose? 

Here are the items she came with minus the little cat carrying sling that was also included. I wasn't even sure it went with her originally but after I brought her home I did some research on her and sure enough, it was original to her as well. 

Here is a photo I found of her online, in her original box. As best as I can tell, she is only missing the little pink rabbit and one slipper from her original items. She is very clean... I imagine she must've been gifted to an older child who didn't play with her or a collector because she is literally as clean as she probably was the day she came out of the box. Note that the online one I found lists her as from 2000, but the back of her neck says 1994 so that is the number I decided to land on, age wise. 

Kelly has a soft, nonarticulated body, like a baby doll, and plastic legs and arms. She has fully rooted, thick hair of pretty decent quality. Here she is in the Doll House. Summer (a Positively Perfect Divah Doll) is modeling her PJ's, they fit just right and you can see that her little cookies and juice box are next to her on the shelf by the bed. She and her accessories fit right in!

That's all for now Doll Friends! See you next time!

Vintage 1987 Victoria Ashlea Originals by Bette Bell 16inch Doll Little Sister for American Girl Dolls

Hello Doll Friends!

Well, I am going to just come clean with this post and admit that I, Penniless, am hopelessly addicted to dolls. When I find them for next to nothing, I can't help but bring them home. The trouble is, I have a talent for finding things for next to nothing! Case in point right this moment we have a this adorable Vintage 1987 Victoria Ashlea Originals by Bette Bell 16" Doll. When I first noticed her at Goodwill, it was for her cute dress. I wasn't sure how I felt about her really otherwise but I grabbed her up for the $1.99 they had on her and brought her home. 

Here is the mark on the back of her neck. She was a limited edition doll of 1000 made in 1987 but the ink on her personal number has blurred over time. So, she's one in a 1000 but we're just not sure which one. Not that it matters to me, I don't really buy dolls for their monetary value, I just collect them because I love them. 

Here is the tag inside her dress, which is made very well! As for how she is made, she has a soft, non-articulated body with arms that are cloth up to her forearms, and down to her mid thigh. She can't stand by herself and doesn't sit as well as she would if she had an armature. Maybe I'll put one in her sometime... We will see. She has nice, full, good quality wigged hair and sleepy eyes. She is 16inches  tall and can wear many clothes that are designed for American Girl Dolls, although they are naturally too long in the legs, so mostly skirts and dresses are able to be shared. 

The first thing I did when I brought her home was to change her clothes. No girl wants to wear the same outfit for over two decades! Here she is with some of my other dollies. Often people ask me what sort of doll is in photos so from left to right we have a My Life As (Walmart) Doll, a Vintage Mattel, my new dolly and a Just Pretend doll.

I still need to show you her 'details'... But I'll have to update blog when I get that part done....

I was so excited to show her off that I just snapped a photo in the 'real' world and didn't take the time to set up a room of the Doll House to photograph her in. Yet... 'Real life' has been keeping me far too busy of late, it's a Summer problem for all Mom's I expect. I haven't had a chance to blog nearly as much a I'd like but never fear... I'll be back more often as soon as life slows down. It always ebb's and flows like that. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and I hope this finds you and your's having a wonderful beginning of summer!

Till next time!

TollyTot 20" Doll Ariel Joins the Doll Posse!

Hi Doll Friends!

Just a quick post here to show you my latest 'haul' from a thrift store. 

I got all this for $4. The dolls were 99c each and the doll bed was also.

I didn't know what to make of the Ariel doll. I'd never seen anything like her before. I am not going to lie, there are only two reasons I bought her. 1) I have a flat out weakness for Ariel. She is my favorite Disney princess and has been since my best friend in High School memorized The Little Mermaid when we'd basically live at each other's houses when we were teens. Then 2) I was going to steal her dress for my other dolls at the very least. 99cents for a sparkly doll dress is pretty good. 

Except for when I got it home, I realized it was attached?!?

It had 'lights' in the dress and when Ariel spoke when you push the button in her chest, they light up. Kind of creepy I thought! I thought I'd probably get rid of her because who wants a doll with a dress you can't take off. Pretty sure the prior owners had the same thought... Till...

I opened up her back panel and realized you could remove the dress by taking out the cable. We also took out the batteries because I am not a fan of talking dolls. As I looked her over, low and behold what do I find but that she is a TollyTot doll! TollyTot's are some of my favorite of all the 18" dolls ever made! I am loving her more and more as I look her over. 

Words

PS

Stay tuned! Belle is a recent find too!

PSS Did you notice the first photo had a one eye'd doll with a green dress? Well, look how amazing it looks on Lilly, my HeartforHeart doll! I have learned to always look at the dresses on dolls even if the doll itself is in bad repair. So pretty!

Vintage Mattel Emotions Cameo Sabrina 20" Doll

Hello Doll Friends!

Just found this draft buried in my blogger app. I can't believe I didn't post it! I got this beautiful doll from eBay for a song. 

She is 20" tall and has vinyl head and hands and lower arms. She is otherwise cloth. She came named Sabrina but I re-named her Diane. I love her!

Here she is with Florence my OG doll.

And with Salome, my Sekiguchi doll.

Both Sabrina/Diane and Salome were made by Mattel in the 1980s. I wrote about the Sekiguchi dolls in a prior post. They are some of my favorite 18" dolls! That is saying something!

Here is her tag.

Don't you love her little story?

She was made in 1986. She had never been removed from her clothes. Sadly she is currently packed in storage because we are in middle of moving! (This is being written Sept 11th, not when it shows as posted) So I can't show you the rest of her details till after we get settled again. In the meantime, she is getting at least a partial write up! I wish I had more time to devote to my little hobby here but I guess that means it's a good hobby, huh?

Till next time!

XXOO