Now Playing: Beloved and Dearest on a Wii game - I think it's 'Blazing Angels'...
Current Mood : My amazing luck is starting to unsettle me a bit...
Sometimes, I'm amazed Beloved Hubby lets me out of the house. Ran a few more errands, including ditching the soda cans at the recyclers' for a quick $4.75. And, about six blocks away, there was a yard sale...
You guessed it. I spent $5. Got a copy of Gene Marshall : Girl Star (more later about this one), a Disney Princess baby doll ‘diaper bag' in cheap nylon, with a crawler made of identical fabric (gonna take that sucker apart !), and a friend-of-Barbie Tracy bride doll ! You know me, I'm a sucker for a Steffie face, and brown hair and green eyes make her darn near irresistible. I knew about her, but she was always on the ‘nice if I can find one cheap' list, not the ‘hunt ‘til you find and devour' one. Tracy was released in 1979, along with bridegroom Todd, but she has butt markings instead of lower-back ones. She's in pretty good shape, but I have to fix her faded eyebrows. And maybe her lips. While she was out-of-box, she still had her wedding gown - it only needs minor repairs and a good soak.
The seller had lots of dolls, but I guess the 50c sale Friday spoiled me. I felt a bit titchy about paying $3. for Tracy. If she'd had a non-Steffie face, I'd have probably left her there.
Like last Friday's seller, she had lots of 80s and 90s dolls, with one TNT from the early 70s. She wanted $10. for her, and I hated to keep asking ‘how much' about the other stuff I was interested in. Besides, I didn't have much more cash on me. I may go back Friday or Saturday, but she clearly knows what she has and what it's worth - a rare and good thing, and her prices are reasonable - but I just wish she'd have been a bit more honest. She'd give me all these details about the doll, then shrug and say she really didn't know much about them. Uh huh. It's nice to meet someone who's so knowledgeable, but I doubt I'll find a fantastic bargain there.
Found another ‘Little Princess' - Ariel this time. That makes the fourth of her, and I think it's now six Cinderellas and three Belles. I'm still hoping to someday find a Snow White or Mulan, but I doubt that'll happen any time soon.
OK, about the Gene book. I'm not really into Gene. What I know about her is mostly from ads in doll magazines and photos on doll boards. She's an adult fashion doll who premiered just when adult collector Barbie was just beginning to take off - and in those early days, you'd spend weeks drooling over a prototype photo of an $80. doll that, under the big dress, was of lower quality than the $5. swimsuit ones. Much as I love and adore Shinobu, seeing how badly her hair was done and cheaply her body was made under that fabulous kimono turned me away from Barbie Collectables for life. Mattel's sharpened their game somewhat since then, but I refuse to ever get caught in that trap again. That's where the ‘I refuse to buy a doll until I can see her myself in the harsh light of retail' vow came from, BTW.
So you can imagine how I reacted to Gene. I hated her. Too expensive, with brow-to-lash blue eyeshadow and drag-queen eyelashes, she looked haughty and dismissive to me, and even at 15 ½ inches tall, seemed to always be looking down at me. While I loved her clothes and the 40s era of her story, I really didn't like her. And I've had this book before - bought it as a remainder from Dollar Tree, of all places. And the book made me hate her even worse. Y'see, her creator, Mel Odom, is in love with her. Seriously. She's his dream fantasy girl, absolutely perfect in every way, and no one should really be surprised. But...
The backstory of personal tragedy and humble beginnings that should have charmed me instead made me want to buy the doll and peel out on her face with my car. Or a very large truck - like a Peterbilt. Just by breathing, Gene charms the universe and every creature in it, and anyone who dares breathe contrarily to her is evil incarnate. She basically stands there and looks sweetly confused, and the studio falls at her feet in worship. Yet she's a consummate actress, blending seamlessly into any role asked of her, with never a contrary opinion or ideas of her own. She just stands there, and is a star.
Another actress doll is part of the storyline. She had to earn her way into the studio shuffle through hard work, crap roles, and earning every last bit of fame she got. Stunningly, she isn't immediately enraptured with the beloved newcomer - you guessed it, instant Ugly Stepsisterhood for her. The sole male in the storyline is, of course, yearning for Gene and avoiding Madra (they even gave her an ugly stage name - and her ‘real' name is even worse !) who likes him. I felt sorry for Madra - at least she was a human being who had some emotion and blood in her ! Gene just stood there, angelically smiled, and was adored.
Gene's just too darn perfect. I'm amazed she has to trod the earth with the rest of us mortals. Maybe that's why most of her shoes tie on - otherwise, she'd float out of them all the time. I gave my Dollar Tree book away a long time ago, and mistakenly thought it had lots of wardrobe photos in it. Now that I sew, I could probably use those. Well, I've since had time to look at the book...I forgot that Gene mostly wears gowns, costumes, and rhumba/tango dresses. I'm better off with eBay and the old magazine ads.
Still, there's a vintage Barbie-like charm to Mr. Odom's line drawings. I'll probably scan ‘em and post ‘em here before the book passes from me once more. Mental Note to Self : Don't buy this thing again ! Seriously. Ashton-Drake may no longer be making Gene - Jason Wu is now - but this book is always gonna tick you off !
PS - Kittens all say 'Mew !' to you !
