Mood:
happyNow Playing: "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" - another flea find on super-cheap VHS !
It's unbelievable ! We went to the flea market to get ‘Cali', the Midge doll I've yammered about all week...and what did I see in the passenger seat of one of the ‘car sets' ?
Yup ! A bare-chested vintage Allan ! I couldn't believe it. I've nearly bid on him several times on eBay, just didn't want to pay exorbitant shipping on the ones I could afford. He was part of one of the ‘car sets' as I mentioned - the seller wanted $14. for him, a generic Mackie-faced blonde Barbie, and a semi-wrecked Mattel Jeep. I asked if she'd consider selling him separately, but she was reluctant. Oh, well. Dearest Son had found a bus in her booth he wanted, and I picked up ‘my' Cali, and she asked what I'd be willing to pay for Allan. I offered her $10. for him, Cali, and the bus, and she was happy with that. Whee ! No other vintage dolls - not even repros - were in evidence.
One thing that bothered me was how dirty his arms were. I know vintage dolls tend to have ivory torsos with darker limbs - so often, the dolls are as many colors as there are pieces. I contented myself with knowing he'd get a good scrub-down as soon as we got home. But for right that moment, there was a whole flea-market to tour !
Son got ‘Schoolhouse Rock' tapes, and our VHS collection gained A Mighty Wind and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - all for just 50c each ! A few other minor finds, and we were gone.
And Allan got well-bathed. You can only imagine the dirt that came off him with some warm water, a toothbrush, and stale baking soda. Some spots - deep in his ears and in the corner of his left eye - never did come clean, but not from lack of effort. He cleaned up very well, and seems to have the exact same body as the vintage #2 Ken I found at a junk shop. Straight legs and the same...umm, hips. He has some hair rubs, a slight spot missing in his right eyebrow, a spot of white paint at the crown of his head, and his right hand has a bit of chew to it. You can see it a bit in the photo. But it's barely noticeable. Now that he's nice and clean, he looks so cute !
He seems to have only been in production for a year, although he was sold for several. For the best info about Allan - or pretty much any other male doll, made by any toy manufacturer - visit Keeping Ken ! Here's his page on Allan -> http://www.manbehindthedoll.com/ALLAN.htm . Take off the /ALLAN.htm for the home page, there's lots to see.
I figured I could tell if my new Midge was ‘California Dream' or ‘Cool Times' - the only two Midge dolls bearing the ‘Steffie' face I so adore ! - by her earrings. Nope. ‘Cali' here doesn't have ‘em. But going by her green eye color (CT appears blue), I think I got a California Dream girl. Nice as the ‘Diva' head mold is, I'll always love a Steffie-faced Midge !
Her legs were worse than I thought, specked all over with small white circles. But, heck, with the dress I have her in, the other dolls will probably assume it's patterned hosiery. Since there's not much I can do about it outside PaintShopPro, I'm not about to let it bother me. Her poor hair has been in a ponytail so long, it's bent. Still, it's nice and soft, a beautiful color. It'll ease down eventually.
So, now that there's new dolls around, I'd best get back to the challenge of sewing for ‘em, right ? :)
