Current Mood : Fainting with Happy... (swoooooon)
Spent on Dolls : $16.10 (and I don't regret a penny !)
What an incredible day today was ! I still can't believe everything that happened ! And I'm so happy...
Today stared like most weekdays - swat the alarm clock a dozen times, nudge Dearest Son awake a dozen times in ten minutes, poke at Beloved Hubby, too. Once everyone was on their way, I gathered up all the donations and packed ‘em in the truck. Two 13-gal kitchen bags, a big Target sack, and Charmin' Chatty. Not bad. Six Barbie-size dolls got dressed, brushed, and bagged up, amid a buncha other toys and misc. outgrown clothes and books and the like. I just can't donate or even mail a nude doll. I got it all over there, and noted that, even though it was just ten minutes past opening, there were already several other bags of donations in the bin. I hope she got some good stuff !
She asked me about Charmin', since she knows a little girl customer who'd love her. So that made me happy. I looked around for a bit, and amazingly, there were new dolls and Barbies. Even new bags of large props ! The dolls were mostly Cabbage Patch clones or hollow-body dress-me toddlers, nothing that caught my interest. So I carefully looked at the two largish bags of Barbie props and the bin of dolls.
The first bag held various pieces - the only thing I could readily identify was the chair/fire grate from the Folding Pretty house. I'd love a second one, but the bags were $5.99 each, a bit high for a small chair, especially when I have dozens already. The other... while it held an incomplete office playset - I think the aquarium and a support post is missing, among other pieces - I knew it was coming home with me.
Because I could see that, inside, was a #1 Ken ! True, his flocked hair was visible only in one patch above his right ear, but his face was in excellent shape, as were his hands and feet. The shirt was probably momma-made, but of excellently scaled fabric, and his grey-green corduroys bore the tiny YKK zipper and the hallmarks of expert tailoring. Also, there was another shirt in there, and it was clearly vintage, and in excellent shape, missing only one tiny button. The ‘Ken ® / © Mattel, Inc' tag was a bright, unfrayed beacon. Oh, heck yeah. Mine.
A quick trip through the snack-baggies of clothes revealed nothing new - and believe me, hopes were raised when I saw a vintage Ken ! - but in the bottom of the bin was a pretty navy blue sailor dress. Simple, but well-made recently (Velcro TM closure !) and no tag. The proprietress gave it to me free !
Quickly sorted through mostly familiar bags. But there's a new one. Oh, seriously - it's a Bend-Leg Skipper ! Basically a #2 Skipper doll, with auburn hair ! I was stunned. The dress fit too well to be anything less than vintage, but I couldn't tell, since she was in a $3.99 baggie with two Happy Meal dolls and a Fisher Price ‘Happy Family' Dad doll. I'm normally immune to the charm of Skipper, but this one sort of needed me, so she went into the cart with Ken.
I also scored a computer power strip for Dearest's laptop - $1.49 vs. $6.75 at Mal-Wart ! - and a small-toy grab-bag for the numerous Star Wars kids' meal bobbleheads that Dearest so loves. A bit less than $13. total - for a power strip, some stocking stuffers, and two vintage dolls. Wow.
Now, it would have been a great day if that'd been that. But no, we're not done yet ! Headed over to Mal-Wart for grocery time, and that always includes a quick trip to Toys. Picked up ‘Charlie Checker' from Cars, the Piston Cup official pace car, complete with tiny yellow lights on his roof. Dearest'll love him. Found out that the Dale Earnhart Jr. one I picked up two weeks ago is very rare, and brings about $10. on eBay. We paid $3.50 or so for ‘em.
Rounding the aisle, I saw an endcap-load of the dolls M-W had for $5. special on Black Friday. Hmmm. There were several guys and girls from High School Musical, and various blonde and brunette girls from Hannah Montana. I'd seen dolls from Barbie and the Diamond Castle in the BF ad, and I was interested in them. Unlike the $10. to $15. versions that've been out on shelves for a while, these are the equivalent of swimsuit dolls - very few props, and narrow boxes. It hit me later that, while HSM and Barbie are, of course, Mattel, HM dolls have been from PlayAlong. But the narrow boxes of HSM and HM were so uniform, now I wonder if Mattel made those HMs, too. It's doubtful, but still kinda mysterious as to how closely those boxes matched.
Color coding made it easy to tell the lines apart. HSM - red leather-like box. HM - mottled blues and pinks on top, black on bottom. Diamond Castle girls had deep purple boxes that formed a peak at the top, and the plastic view windows were shaped, like facets of a gemstone. Easily I found the blonde pink and red gowned doll (hah ! When I made pink and red Barbie clothes as a kid, everyone said it clashed !) and the lovely AA purple and pink one, but I wanted the brunette green and blue one ! And after the fourth box, I found her. Very nice ! She went with me to the usual Barbie aisle, where I could barely tell her apart from the $15. doll. Well, the more expensive one had shimmery, gauzier, rufflier fabric in the lower blue skirt and green overskirt, and a huge honkin' blue plastic necklace, but from the hips up, they were identical. Even had the same comb.
Still, the last thing I needed was another doll - I just donated seven ! - even if she did have awesome cool sandals that trailed up her legs, and a gorgeous dress in a favorite color. Plus, there was so little difference between the $15. doll and this one... was I sure she really was just $5. ? They may have raised the price since Black Friday. So I took her to the nearest price scanner.
And nearly fell over. Because the scanner read, ‘Barbie Diamond Castle Muse Dori Doll $5.00' . Dori ? DORI ? They actually named her Dori ? OMG ! I HAD to get her now ! I kept shaking my head. Had to be short for ‘Dorinda' or something, I thought. There's no way Mattel'd name any doll of theirs Dori. But it kept her in the cart and close to me on the ride home. I still don't really remember doing the grocery shopping...
Once the cold stuff was stored, I hit Wikipedia. And there, under the cast/voice actor list for Barbie and the Diamond Castle was the name... Dori. I know it has not a darn thing to do with me. The character's name is not even spelled like mine at all. But I'm still so thrilled that there's an official Barbie named Dori, with a round face and brown hair, that I just don't care.
Here she is - https://dorriebelle.tripod.com/dolls_of_my_life/dori.jpg . Astounding. I haven't deboxed her yet - I wanna get Ken and Skipper cleaned up first. They have a photo shoot in the morning ! But every time I look at my Dori, I get all... giggly and happy.
I identified the dress Skipper's wearing as one of her first, Platter Party. Ken's tagged shirt is from Lounging Around, and the greenish grey corduroy pants seem to be Pak items. Found out there's an identical shirt that's red where mine's white ! Cool ! Also in Ken's bag was a fluffy pink nylon doll skirt, a Happy Meal Yo-Yo Skipper from 1999 and a Hollywood Barbie, from last month's promotion. Yaay, new Christmas ornaments ! And in the bobblehead bag was a cute Disney Little Princess - size cake. Bonus !
Both Ken and Skipper are in superb shape, but they need a cleaning and hair work, and tomorrow's photo shoot day ! Ken appears to have been a brunette back in his day, so I'll have to look up reflocking directions or just plain painting. He's too handsome to be so mottle-headed ! Skipper's bangs are at a 45-degree angle to her head, so she has a boil perm coming up. Glad I saved the rubber bands from the ‘TV Chef' playset !
Ah, I'm still dizzy. I gotta crash, but it's been such a fantastic day ! Beloved Hubby's new power supply came in, so his new video card is finally installed. Ever Quest has never looked so good. Dearest loves his new toys, and the new pajamas I picked up for him. Glad I got a size up - they're almost too tight on him ! If you know any kids who need long-sleeve two-piece PJs in popular character designs, M-W has ‘em for just $5. !
I may put Dori on my nightstand... just for tonight...
