Vintage Doll Collector

Magic Light Doll glows in the dark!

2011-12-18T15:40:00.000-05:00

I came across this ad for Plain Jane, the Magic Light doll, in the December 1945 issue of House Beautiful magazine. The ad text reads:

"One of a group of adorable 'sleepy-time' dolls that glow in the dark. Pleasantly help children overcome the fear of darkness. Make charming ornaments, too! Simply place doll before an electric bulb for a few seconds, extinguish all lights, and it will glow in brilliant colors. It never fails to work and will glow thousands of times. Harmless, of course.
'Plain Jane' - illustrated - is a 17 in., soft, sturdy doll, dressed in durable cotton clothing, which can be washed and ironed repeatedly. $3.75 Postpaid. Sorry...no C.O.D.
A visit to our unique shop in Radio City...where hundreds of luminous articles are in display...will delight you!
Catalogue mailed on request.
Magic Light Shop, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, 20, N.Y."

I Googled "Magic Light Doll" and came up with this 11" doll named "Lumia". She sold for $275 in 2007. Of course, if you came across one of these dolls without the tag or box, you probably wouldn't know it glowed in the dark. Anybody ever seen one of these in person?

Remco Beatles Official Mascot Doll

2011-10-16T21:40:00.000-04:00

Here's something interesting I found last week. I don't know much about him, but his guitar-shaped cardboard tag indicates he was made by Remco in 1964. He is missing the little booklet which came with him which featured photos of the Beatles. I think the term "mascot" means that he was sold as a decorative item for older kids, not a plaything for the little ones. He represents a generic Beatle rather than one of the individual members of the group. He looks most like Paul McCartney or George Harrison.

He is about 30" tall and made of fabric and felt, with faux fur hair. Besides the guitar and booklet that he came with, he has no tags or other markings on him. His hands are like paws, with four felt fingers that look more like claws! Elastic straps on his hands enable him to hold the guitar. He seems to be a fairly rare item. The small Beatles dolls with vinyl heads made by Remco are a lot easier to find.

Happy Columbus Day (not doll related)

2011-10-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

Here is one of my favorite Columbus Day songs:

YouTube wouldn't allow me to embed my OTHER favorite Columbus Day song, but you can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW1rRvrUPjY

Minty Monday: Godey's Little Lady Dolls

2011-09-26T16:35:00.000-04:00

Here's something a little different for you mint in box fans. A lot of vintage doll collectors who are familiar with vinyl and hard plastic dolls think these Ruth Gibbs dolls are antiques. Actually they were made in the 1940s in Flemington, New Jersey. They have china (glazed bisque) heads and limbs with a cloth body. They are commonly found in this 7" size, but 10" and 12" dolls were made as well. Sets like Little Women and these Flower Girls can sometimes be found.

Still working on the Vogue page

2011-09-22T21:51:00.000-04:00

I have been slowly adding more pictures and descriptions to the Vogue page on the website. This company has an interesting history and I am enjoying getting more familiar with their dolls. I don't remember ever having a Vogue doll as a child, although the company was located just a few miles from where I grew up in Boston. Here is a picture of Lil Imp, part of the Brikette line, from a Vogue ad. Both dolls were marketed as Ginny's impish cousins. I love those glasses, don't you?

A cool website for '70s and '80s doll lovers

2011-09-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

I found a new website today. Well, not new, but new to me. Karen's Toys sells a variety of toys and dolls from the 1960s to the present, but she specializes in '70s and '80s stuff like Dawn, Rockflowers, World of Love, Dinah-mite, Hugga Bunch, Glamour Gals, Rainbow Brite and more. I haven't purchased anything from the site, so can't give a recommendation, but it is certainly fun to look at.

Ginger's Mystery Closet

2011-09-14T20:44:00.000-04:00

I picked this item up at an auction last night. This cardboard wardrobe measures 18.5" tall, 12" wide and 6" deep. It has double doors on the front, a wooden bar to hang the clothes from, and another wooden bar holding up the shelf above. The colors and the logo on the top indicate that it was made for Cosmopolitan's Ginger doll, a hard plastic toddler introduced in 1954, who was a competitor to Vogue's Ginny doll. I call it Ginger's Mystery Closet because it is a mystery why an 8" doll would have a wardrobe so huge. She has a wardrobe trunk that is in scale for her, about 9" tall. Why would she need this behemoth? If you hung her little dresses on the rod, there would be several inches of empty space underneath. Any thoughts?

Minty Monday: Jackie by Ideal

2011-09-12T22:28:00.000-04:00

I thought today I would share with you some photos that I just haven't gotten around to putting on the website yet, but they deserve to be seen.
This is Jackie by Ideal. She is 15" tall, all vinyl, and is quite rare. She was made in 1961, and according to Judith Izen's book "Collector's Guide to Ideal Dolls," she was taken off the market after First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy objected to her name being used for the doll, although the doll looks nothing like her. The Jackie doll is very similar to Ideal's Liz doll, who was also sold under the name Carol Brent in the Montgomery Ward catalog. The major difference is that Jackie has sleep eyes, while Liz/Carol's eyes were painted.
Jackie is very high quality and is the epitome of a sophisticated fashion doll.

Vogue page updated

2011-09-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

Spent most of today doing fall cleaning on the website (see yesterday's post) and decided to celebrate by adding some new photos to the Vogue page. Some of them are composition dolls that are rarely seen. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Here's a really cool 1959 Brikette ad, probably from Playthings magazine, a toy industry publication.

Website woes

2011-09-06T07:24:00.000-04:00

I got a nasty surprise the other night. Somebody emailed with a question about a Mary Hoyer doll. I Googled "Mary Hoyer doll" to find the URL for the company's website to see if there was a history there. One of the top links that came up was to the Hoyer page on my own VintageDollCollector site. With Google listing it as "unsafe" and "suspicious"! Apparently my site has been hijacked by malware AGAIN. I frantically contacted support at the hosting company. Their response was to refer me to some Wikipedia pages about how sites can be compromised, none of which I understood, not being a professional programmer, or even a very good amateur one. They said they could do a backup of the site. Still waiting for that. They also recommended changing passwords frequently and updating the software on the site. (Is there software on my site?) My thought is, if their servers are compromised, how is this MY fault??? How lax is their security if this keeps happening? Maybe time to switch hosting companies. Anyhow, if you are trying to find some info from the site, just leave a comment here and I'll try to help. Thanks for your patience.

Pawn Queens make a huge mistake with Barbie

2011-05-05T21:32:00.001-04:00

Tonight I happened to catch an episode of the new TLC reality series "Pawn Queens" about a pawn shop outside Chicago that is owned by two women and two men. The show focuses on the female partners in the business and the fact that they buy and sell "girl stuff" in the shop - not just the usual guns, electronics and other "big boy toys" that most other pawn shops specialize in. Among the items they purchased in this episode were a light-up wedding dress, a baby stroller that converts to a bicycle, and a vintage ponytail Barbie doll.

The owner of the Barbie doll said that it was "an original 1959" doll and asked for $4,500. Only a #1 Barbie would be worth that kind of money, because she was only made for a few months. The doll was obviously NOT a #1, #2 or even #3 Barbie, and had a massive case of green ear. Worth a couple hundred bucks, tops. One of the pawn shop ladies agreed that it was an "authentic" doll, and stunned me by countering with an offer of $3,000! I was yelling at the TV by this point.

Now came the drama. One of the male co-owners pulled one of the women aside and informed her that they didn't have $3,000 on hand. She had to swallow her pride and ask the Barbie owner to come back in a few hours after they scraped up some cash. I was hoping for their sakes that they woman had second thoughts about selling her "valuable" doll and didn't come back. Alas, she did return. One of the guys ran down to a gold buyer with some jewelry and got some money. I was still yelling at the TV, but Chicago being halfway across the country, they couldn't hear me.

I can't say this bodes well for either the series or the business. I am a huge fan of "Pawn Stars," the History Channel show about a very successful family-run pawn shop in Las Vegas. While they make the occasional bad purchase on that show too, they routinely call in local experts to advise them on the authenticity and value of items that they don't know enough about. The "Pawn Queens" better take a lesson, or they might end up having to hock their own jewelry to pay the bills.

The photo above shows what #1 or #2 Barbie should look like - notice her eyes are painted only in black and white. (Photo courtesy of Loving Dolls.) The doll in the photo below has blue eyes, like the one the "Pawn Queens" purchased. This doll is a #3 - but the doll on the show had a darker skin color, indicating it was a later model Barbie.

Vintage jewels at Julia auction this week

2011-05-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

James D. Julia's doll auctions are known for high end French and German antique dolls, and his upcoming auction on May 4 and 5 is no exception. But this time around there is a good selection of 20th century items that vintage collectors will want to bid on as well. Day One of the auction includes some wonderful dolls by Lenci, Kathe Kruse and Steiff in addition to the usual Brus, Jumeaux, Steiners and Kestners. There is a nice selection of early Disney items and some Schoenhut circus and safari figures. Bear collectors will find many lots by Steiff and other early makers to choose from. Great early toys and doll houses are abundant here, too.

Day Two will bring several lots of Steiff and other cloth dolls, many more Disney items, bisque and composition character dolls. Lots of tin toys, children's books and vintage holiday decorations include items that would display well with your vintage doll collection. Much of the day will be given over to vintage advertising collectibles which will appeal to anyone who appreciates the graphic style of the early and mid 20th century.

If you can't get to Maine this week for the auction, you can bid online or by phone. Photos courtesy of James D. Julia, Inc., Auctioneers, Fairfield, ME. www.jamesdjulia.com

Minty Monday: Effanbee Patsyette Boxed Set

2011-04-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

Effanbee's composition Patsy was a real trendsetter. Debuting in the 1920's, she was one of the first American made dolls who was truly modern. She reflected the big changes that were occurring in fashion and society - flappers, bobbed hair, short skirts for little girls. Patsy was a smash hit and Effanbee took the opportunity to put out a whole series of similar dolls in different sizes. Among them were Patsy Ann, Patsy Lou, Patsy Mae, Patsy Baby, and this little sweetheart, Patsyette. At 9" tall, Patsyette was the perfect size for a little girl to take everywhere. This darling set in the original cardboard case holds a dressed doll and three extra outfits. Photo courtesy of Debbie's Dolls.

Spring Doll Club Activities

2011-04-17T10:45:00.000-04:00

It took awhile for spring to get to us here in Maine, but it's finally here! In this part of the country, spring and fall are the busy seasons for doll related activities. Doll clubs, doll shows and doll auctions all kick into high gear.

One club that I belong to, the Granite State Doll Club based in Concord, NH, recently held our annual Spring Luncheon. The theme was "Tea Time" and we brought our dolls dressed for the occasion. Our club doll is Denis Bastien's LeeAnn, but all other dolls are welcome too. This year Queen Anne (a UFDC souvenir doll) attended to invite LeeAnn to the upcoming Royal Wedding.

We hold our luncheons in the function room of a local restaurant and enjoy a good meal with good friends, show off our dolls, win raffle prizes and generally have a great time.

The other club I am a member of, the San-D-over Dollers, recently held its annual doll show in Dover, NH. We rent out the Elks Club and have dealers of all types of dolls from antique to modern. We have a good time, everybody goes home with a new treasure, and our club's charitable donations get funded for another year.

Toni is our club doll, and this year we had a display of vintage Tonis by Ideal and American Character, and reproduction Tonis by Effanbee/Tonner.

What's your club been up to? You don't belong to a doll club? Why not?

Minty Monday: Polly Pretend

2011-04-11T21:35:00.000-04:00

I love to come across a doll I have never seen or heard of before. This interesting playset is Polly Pretend by Amsco. This unusual concept is that the doll is playing "dress up" with Mommy's shoes, hat, jewelry, curlers, etc. - just like her little owner would. The shoes are a hoot!

Polly Pretend doll on eBay

Amsco is not a company I know too much about. The name is an acronym for American Metal Specialties Corp. and they mostly made doll furniture like beds and high chairs, as well as housekeeping toys. They trademarked the name Amsco in 1950 and their trademark expired in 1992. Polly Pretend appears to have been made in the late sixties or early seventies.

What interesting doll have you come across lately?

Minty Monday: Talking Julia

2011-03-21T09:17:00.001-04:00

Oh, this is the stuff of my youth. Believe it or not, although I was born in 1962, I did not own a Barbie doll growing up. But I had this doll, Talking Julia. I also had Mattel's Rock Flowers and Timey Tell and Hasbro's World of Love. That was back when girls still played with dolls until they were 11 or 12. Now they play video games. Sigh.

Talking Julia doll on ebay

Withington Auction April 7-8

2011-03-20T20:43:00.001-04:00

The first Withington doll auction of the year is coming up in just a few weeks. It's scheduled for Thursday and Friday, April 7 & 8 at the Holiday Inn in Nashua, NH. There will also be dealers selling out of their hotel rooms on Wednesday afternoon for a little pre-auction shopping fun.

While the auction will be weighted toward antique dolls as usual, there are a number of nice items on both days for the vintage collector, including Vogue Ginnys, Alexander hard plastic dolls, a lovely Effanbee historical replica, some Lencis and more. The boxlots at the end of the day always have some interesting finds. Here are a few of the dolls in the catalog: (Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.)

Doll club program on Toni

2011-03-19T20:26:00.000-04:00

At the San-D-over Doll Club meeting today, we had a program on Toni dolls. We watched the DVD "Which Doll is the Toni?" from UFDC and members brought in a variety of Tonis to share, including the original Ideal hard plastic dolls, the 10" vinyl version from American Character and her larger sisters, and newer reproductions. I normally don't care much for newer dolls, but was very impressed with the repros of the Ideal Toni by Tonner/Effanbee. They look just like the vintage dolls, with beautiful hair and lovely dresses. I wasn't too taken by their repros of the American Character 13" Toni though - she doesn't have the charm of the original, in my opinion.

This type of program, with a DVD and show-and-tell, works well for a small doll club. What has your club been doing lately?

Over 200 new photos added to VDC site

2011-03-18T22:07:00.000-04:00

Finally! I have finished uploading over 200 new photos onto a special four page section about the Competitive Exhibit at last summer's UFDC convention in Chicago. Some absolutely wonderful dolls in pristine condition and lots of rarities - bisque, wood, vinyl, hard plastic, compo, advertising dolls, celebrity dolls, paper dolls.

Here is a sample for you: blue ribbon winners in the Mary Hoyer classification. Aren't they lovely?

UFDC convention / Theriault's auction

2010-08-16T08:36:00.003-04:00

I am still recuperating from the UFDC convention in Chicago. That was one exhausting week! Chicago is a beautiful city, much nicer than I expected.
I took over 600 photos while I was there. Most of them are of the Competitive Exhibits. Unfortunately, per UFDC rules, I cannot use them on the website, except in an article devoted to the convention. I am working on putting together an article now.

But here are a few photos from the Theriault's auction that was held at a nearby hotel. If you have not been to one of their auctions, the antique dolls are just unbelievable. They are displayed in lovely vignettes with flowers and accessories. The highlight of the auction was "The Great Man's Doll," a French doll made by Huret about 1860, which author Victor Hugo purchased and gave to his granddaughter. The doll and her trousseau sold for $160,000. In keeping with the literary theme, there were several artist dolls in the auction from writer Anne Rice's collection. There were some stunning examples of vintage dolls, too, including Barbie and Ken, Ginny, Nancy Ann Storybook dolls, and several wonderful Lencis.

The first picture shows part of the set of Dionne Quintuplets by Madame Alexander. These babies are lucky to have their original furniture, nurse and Doctor Dafoe.

And here are a few of the antiques:

There was an amazing collection of Schoenhut circus figures in the auction. In addition to the set, several figures were sold individually.

Update

2010-06-24T12:55:00.000-04:00

I'm in the process of redoing the Nancy Ann section of the website, adding lots more pics and info. It's not finished yet but you can check it out.
http://www.vintagedollcollector.com/nancyann/nancyann.htm.
Spent a day at Withington's last week but didn't end up with much to show for it. I did finally get one of the Franklin Pierce dolls that I have been trying to get for years. He was a project that Granite State Doll Club did in conjunction with the Pierce Homestead in Hillsborough, NH. He needs clothes, though.
Here is one little interesting thing I came home with. She's a bisque nodder marked Germany, just 2.75" tall.

Right now I'm starting to get excited/anxious about the upcoming UFDC convention in Chicago. It looks like I got into 6 of the 7 seminars I signed up for, which is great!

Wooden dolls

2010-04-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

Got a bunch of interesting wooden dolls at Withington's last week, including these two vintage dolls which were souvenirs from the House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA.

I also got another interesting doll, don't know anything about her history but she had a paper tag on her wrist with her name "Adelaide."

Update to VDC

2010-04-01T21:15:00.002-04:00

I just added a new photo to the VDC site. Click on the link at right to check it out!

1963

2010-04-01T19:43:00.000-04:00

Today I was scanning the doll pages from the 1963 Sears Toy Book so I can list it on ebay. What a great year for dolls that was! Barbie, Tammy, Chatty Cathy, Tiny Tears, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Tressy, and on and on. Here's a little bit of the magic:

Milady in Miniature

2010-03-23T11:03:00.000-04:00

My friend Pat gave me a stack of little doll newsletters called "Milady in Miniature" which were published by Rae Walker of West Virginia (later Maryland) back in the '60s and '70s. In the era before the internet, it's interesting to see how collectors communicated and shared information. These little newsletters contain an article or two, perhaps a pattern, a poetry page, classified ads, and info on newly released dolls, which today are our vintage favorites. The covers are often hand drawn and the mimeographing is sketchy. (Anybody else remember the smell of that mimeograph fluid??) But I can imagine how eagerly anticipated these little booklets were to those who were starved for doll information and somebody to share their hobby. I have come across other of these little homegrown publications from time to time - a little piece of doll history.

Lenci Miniatures

2010-03-19T18:01:00.000-04:00

We had a great program at the doll club meeting on Saturday by our member Susan Voake. She has a great collection of Lenci miniature dolls, sometimes called mascottes, and the program was very informative. These 9" dolls were first made in 1928 or '29, and Susan showed us how the designs of the dolls' outfits changed during the depression, becoming less detailed. She also described features that enable a collector to tell a real Lenci apart from a knockoff. (One tip - many of the knockoffs have cardboard soled shoes, which Lenci never did.) Here's a picture of a Lenci miniature from the upcoming Withington auction.

Kenner page updated

2010-02-25T21:08:00.001-05:00

I just uploaded some new photos and descriptions to the Kenner page on the website, including Blythe, Darci and Dusty. In reading over it again, I see that I have described Blythe as having a hard plastic head. But from some closeup photos I have, it looks like her hair is rooted into her head. Now, it's been awhile since I've actually seen a Blythe doll in person. But if her hair is in fact rooted, she's probably a rigid vinyl rather than hard plastic. As far as I know, the only hard plastic doll with rooted hair is the very rare HP version of the Monica doll. Anybody out there have a Blythe and want to comment?

American Character page updated

2010-02-23T13:24:00.003-05:00

I've just finished uploading a big revision to the American Character section of the website, with lots of new photos and descriptions of dolls including Sweet Sue, Betsy McCall, Tiny Tears, Toodles, Puggy, Sally, Whimsies, Little Miss Echo and Tressy. I added new pictures and descriptions to the 10" Toni page too.

Vintage doll TV commercials on YouTube

2010-02-18T19:23:00.001-05:00

Did you know YouTube has vintage doll ads? They have several different ones from the '60s and '70s. I am starting to add them to the website (check out this hilarious one on the Bonnie Bride page), but here is one to whet your appetite. It's for Mattel's Rockflowers dolls, narrated by legendary disc jockey Casey Kasem.

Madison Avenue comes calling

2010-02-18T15:16:00.000-05:00

This week I received an inquiry from an advertising broker who wanted to place an ad on the VDC website and pay me some money. With visions of early retirement, I asked for more info. Turned out they wanted to pay me $50 to insert some text into the description of the vinyl Mother of the Bride doll to the effect that a smart collector would want to contact such-and-such an insurance company to protect such a valuable and delicate item. (This text was to be placed in the sentence directly after I described the doll as "poor quality.") After I got done rolling on the floor and laughing, I politely declined the offer. Oh well, early retirement will have to wait a while longer.

Kader baby doll

2010-02-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

When I got this baby doll in a boxlot at an auction, I didn't think he was anything special - but he has a few unusual features that make him interesting: a movable tongue and jointed wrists. He was made by Kader, probably in the 1960s. A unique little guy! Go to the website for more information on him.

Researching & Appraising Your Own Dolls

2010-02-14T08:43:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I did a program for the doll club on the topic "Researching and Appraising Your Own Dolls." It went pretty well, the members asked a lot of questions which is a good indication of interest.
In preparing my talk I had boiled it down to a series of questions that need to be asked, and hopefully answered, in appraising a doll. The first five questions deal with identifying the doll:

1. What material is my doll made from?
2. When was my doll made?
3. Where was my doll made (which country)?
4. Who made my doll (which manufacturer or artist)?
5. What is my doll's name?

Not all of the questions can be answered for every doll. If a doll is unmarked and has no unusual characteristics, only the first two or three questions might be answerable. If the doll was artist made, the first question might even be a challenge. One member brought an unmarked artist doll of Whistler's Mother, complete with rocking chair. We could not agree on whether her head was made from a type of composition or wood. Since her outfit was sewn to her cloth body and fitted closely around her neck, we couldn't see the unpainted edges.

I had a handout on Timeline of Doll Production showing which countries made dolls in which materials from 1820 to 1980. I left out cloth and wood and more unusual materials. There was also a handout on the best books for doll research. It was hard to limit it to one page!

The remaining questions deal with the appraisal of the doll:

6. What is my doll's condition?
7. How original or appropriate are my doll's wig and clothing?
8. What is the range of values for my doll?

I stressed that the doll's value depends on who is selling and who is buying. A top dealer or auction house selling to a well heeled collector will get more money for the same doll than you or I selling it on eBay. Value should therefore always be expressed as a range, unless the type of buyer and seller are known. I talked about using price guides and the impact that eBay has had on doll values.