Now Playing: "Hitman" - Redbox rental, Beloved's choice
Current Mood : Overwhelmed with luck - and happy !
I feel *much* better today ! So I decided to take a little ‘me' time and prowl. Hit a few yard sales, the Tuesday Morning I've been meaning to hit since February, and maybe TRU.
Always yard sales first ! There were a few today, and the first one was a gold mine. Spent a big whoppin' $4. there - and scored a teddy bear in a nice robe (Timey/Dottie size), a jewelry box (more later), a Barbie Pegasus horse, a carriage, and ‘Troy' and ‘Gabrielle', dolls from High School Musical 2, complete down to their shoes ! I kinda wanted Gabrielle, but never got her, and now I had one, for just a quarter ! Troy is a serious lookin' fella, but I liked him, too.
It can be argued that the next best thing to great finds second-hand is researching great finds. Discovered that Troy and Gabrielle were sold as a ‘Summer Romance' set, and are still in their original outfits - only her necklace is missing. They retailed for about $20. - $25. new.
My huge-wingspan pink Pegasus is, of course, from 2005's direct-to-DVD Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, and she's also darn near new. Yup - my first Barbie horse (all together now) still had her hair in the factory set. With bonus plastic packing clinging to one fetlock, and a clear rubber band around her neck. Brietta's necklace, saddle and doll seatbelt's missing, but she still had her star hairclips - and I had even more of ‘em, from a baggie of Barbie stuff I got from a thrift store last week. Had her mirror and brush already, too (you know I can't toss out stuff that's star-shaped !). From what I can tell, she's still on her factory batteries - her ‘crown' still glows. She earned much ire from parents rating her at Amazon.com, over the detachable wings. I played with her for a good fifteen minutes and only lost one wing, once. Maybe I'm not doing it right. And it's possible the parents would rather the wings break than snap on and off. I like that this pretty, well-jointed figure can be a horse or a Pegasus. Her legs are amazingly poseable, and I love her long lashes ! She was around $30. on release. Mine was $1.50, with the carriage/coach.
The coach is the Royal Kingdom Carriage, from 2004's Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper. I really need to start watchin' these movies if I'm gonna buy the toys at yard sales ! It's missing quite a bit - two horses and their attachments, and some detail butterflies and a fake front gemstone - but it's in good shape and it'll make a fun photo prop. Right now, two R2D2 action figures are piloting it, sans horses, and it flies. At least, that's what Dearest Son says. It also had few fans at Amazon.com. Apparently, this $30. toy had numerous problems, mostly butterflies falling off and the horses refusing to stay attached. While I doubt Brietta will condescend to pulling it, I come across numerous Barbie horses in my thrift travels, and was thinking of getting one, for kicks. Might still do that, and rig up my own tack.
I actually found myself at Mal-Wart later today, eyeing the Disney Princess horses speculatively...one question arose, though. Why don't some Princesses have their movie horses ? Belle has a yellow grown-up My Little Pony clone, Cinderella has a blue one. Shouldn't Belle have Philippe, and Cinderella her Major ? I guess blah, cartoony horses are easier to paint and sell... still, I'll probably buy used, even though numerous Barbie horses are for sale at Mal-Warts and TRUs around the world. Why pay $15. when used goes for a buck ?
The jewelry box...(sigh) Well, it had a ballet theme, and was pretty. Old, too. I always wanted one as a kid - a cardboard jewelry box with a musical movement and a ballerina figure that twirled. I had a Mickey Mouse box, with a Mickey that spun to ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head', so I really longed for the classical plastic bob-haired one with the scrap of scratchy tulle skirt. Never got one. By the time I had enough jewelry to need more storage, I'd long since outgrown Mickey. Didn't really need this one, either, since my grown-up selection of plastic beads and unique, weird necklaces currently nestles in a lovely armoire, a fantastic Christmas gift from my PILs about ten years ago. But for $1., I couldn't resist finally having that tulle-skirt doll twirl to ‘Dance Ballerina Dance' on my nightstand. So there it is.
Later sales were a washout, as was Tuesday Morning. Toys R Us, on the other hand, had some interesting stuff. With the movie coming out soon, they were unveiling the '08 Speed Racer models in the ‘hot spot', this store's opening display. I smiled reminiscently and moved quickly towards the doll section, beelining as always for the red ‘Clearance' shelf-talkers. Nothing new, and the few remaining My Scene Roller Girls were back up to $10.
Amazingly, I found the Speed Racer Barbie set. A bit early, which is unusual for Mattel ! I was kind of predisposed to not liking it, and I don't. Price was good, at $40., and it really looks like the prototype photos. But a few days ago, I got to see, for the first time, a nude ModelMuse Barbie body. Yikes. I had no idea they'd bent her back so oddly. And it really showed on Trixie. Almost as bad as those American Idol dolls out a few years ago. Her elbows looked as though they'd been given a quick spin in a pencil sharpener, and her mouth was identical to the pursed-lip whistle/p+rn star Birthstone dolls I didn't like. Her hair looked as good as it could, plastered hard to her head, but I hated to buy a whole new doll for her head - when we all know the first thing I'd do is chisel her hair out of the styling block it was in, potentially wrecking her. That $40. set would end up costing $50. or more, at least.
Speed, though, looked pretty good. Fake leather outfit, cool helmet, brown eyes, good rooted hair. Too bad he's otherwise identical to the beach Ken I got for Christmas, and the Bridegroom one I scored at the After-Xmas sales. And in the Speed costume, he resembled my Robotech Rick Hunter doll so much, it nearly made me laugh. So I put it back. Maybe if Speed has bend-elbow arms or something, there's a chance. Otherwise, that's $40. back in the pocket.
Well, actually, only $19. I found a last-gasp My Scene playset, the Bling Bling Delancey Spa. Haven't had time to debox it yet ! And from what I can tell, it wasn't on clearance, either - $21. But it'd be sooo perfect beside Shinobu and Inaba's gazebo and grill ! Unless someone here sez somethin', Delancey will be on her way to a thrift store - evidently they haven't made her in a while, and with the My Scene line rumored to be headed for the Great Toybox of Memories and eBay, well... if anyone here wants her, drop me a note, ‘kay ? I'll be sure to post photos of it, but for now, here's an Amazon.com link -> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000F4LFBE/sr=1-1/qid=1206830486/ref=dp_otherviews_0?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&img=0&qid=1206830486&sr=1-1 .
Also scored a great Lego Star Wars t-shirt for Dearest Son. It's the Lego version of the classic poster - man, I hate to preface ‘classic poster' with ‘Episode 4', but I guess I should. On sale, too, which made it cheaper than the less visually appealing ones over at Mal-Wart. So it's put aside for a Monday morning surprise. If it came in my size, you know I'd wear it !
Hit Barnes & Noble and Hastings, neither has Barbie Collector. I think it's the last issue, which ranks. I've read that Haute Doll snarked about its folding, which just ticks me off more against HD. Folks at HD used to run Barbie Bazaar, and if they get any further away from my interests, they'll be in another galaxy. Or I will be. Their latest issue was in stock, and it was more of the same - ugh. Apologies to any true-blue fans, but there's no way they'd write two pages about yard sale finds, unless they found vintage or brand-new BJDs there, everything was a quarter (or they paid the authors to haul it off, about $2000. or so) and then it'd be slanted to make readers gnash envious teeth. I wish I could quit bothering even picking it up, but I get so starved to see new doll stuff...you'd think I'd realize my appetites are simply not what HD feeds. To me, Pegasus and Gabriella are new !
Believe it or not, there was even more to today, but I've already written a book ! I'll have to catch you tomorrow ! Hope your Friday was fantastic !
