DECIDEDLY DOLLY 5

Hello Everyone


This run-up to Christmas is, I always think, a strange time of year. Routine is disrupted as we dash to the shops at every given opportunity for yet another last-minute gift, spend our days writing cards, wrapping presents, baking cakes and mince pies, and stockpiling with enough food to feed an army, should one happen to be passing on Christmas day. Usual chores and work are put on hold, until things return to normal in the new year.


From the collectables point of view, Christmas can be an exciting time, with many unusual or special festive items on sale. For the doll enthusiast, provided you think a little ‘out of the box’, you can find many interesting pieces to add to your collection. I have discovered that garden centres can be a great source of quirky type dolls, from angels to santas, and from carol singers to skaters. Though some might be a bit ‘tacky’, many are attractive and well made, especially those created by local crafts people. I also keep a look out for ‘props’ – small items which will look good when displayed with a doll. This year, I have discovered a doll-sized brightly decorated tin sleigh, which will make an ideal centre piece when filled with fairy dolls, miniature Christmas trees, a button-jointed plush reindeer very reminiscent of the style of toy made in the 1920s/30s era, and a Santa doll wearing white, rather that the more traditional scarlet – which means he won’t out-dazzle any doll standing next to him!


Christmas dolls are available in many toyshops, though, as usual, the best of the bunch tend to be available in America rather than in the United Kingdom; major manufacturers such as Madame Alexander, Tonner and Adora all produce Christmas specials, but most of them aren’t stocked by our stores. Christmas dolls for British collectors tend to be found in toyshops and gift shops, and very often are of the Barbie/Bratz type of doll. This year’s festive Bratz dolls wear santa-inspired red outfits trimmed with white fur, which they have teamed with red high heeled boots and, for some rather strange reason, sparkly tiaras.


A few of the more exclusive Christmas shops are stocking the Byers Choice range of Christmas Carollers, which are collectable doll figurines in a variety of themes, such as 18th Century London traders, Victorian, Georgian and, my favourite, Salvation Army, all with open mouths, singing lustily. These delightful dolls are handmade in the USA by a family concern who now export some of their creations to Britain.


One of the nicest Christmas dolls available in Britain is the sleeping baby Jesus sold by Ashton-Drake Galleries. This delightful baby, ‘Away in a Manger’, was sculpted by Waltraud Hanl, and is 21" long. He comes complete with a straw-filled wooden manger, so you need quite a bit of space to display him – but what a wonderful centrepiece he would make, as well as a very special heirloom.


Speaking of heirlooms, many families save their Christmas decorations from one year to the next, and often, amongst them is a fairy doll. Sadly, the Christmas fairy seems to have gone out of fashion – in fact, this year Woolworths have decided not to stock any at all. Years ago, it was a Christmas highlight to visit a shop to choose the fairy, and the counters used to be full of them, all arrayed in crisp net gowns, carrying their sparkly wands. Some of these fairies are handed down over the years, and I have several which have been lovingly wrapped away in tissue, maybe fifty years or so ago, to be brought out each year to crown the festivities. No doubt, in a few year’s time, the idea of the fairy doll will be rediscovered and will be the must-have designer feature on top of every Christmas tree once more.


Meanwhile, I will be very unfashionable, because to me, a tree without a fairy, is like Santa without his whiskers – not properly dressed!


Happy Christmas and a Peaceful and Healthy New Year,

Sue X

DECIDELY DOLLY 4

Hello Everyone,

In my last Blog I mentioned the soaring prices of certain dolls, such as Teeny Weeny Tiny Tears, and so this time I thought I’d talk about the Blythe phenomenon.

As many of you will know, Blythe was a small, 12", teen doll with an enormous head, issued in 1972. Way in advance of her time, her scary, big-eyed looks terrified children and had no appeal for adults, so she was soon discontinued by Kenner. In fact, she was only made for one year which explains why she is so difficult to find today. The most scary thing about Blythe’s eyes was the way that they could change colour – from blue to amber to green and to a very hung-over pink! At the time, people were still quite conventional and liked their dolls to look like little girls, not monsters; unlike today when anything goes, and the more outlandish the doll, the quicker it sells. Blythe could be bought in a choice of four hair colours – blonde, brunette, redhead and dark brown – while twelve outfits were available. It was also possible to buy crazy afro-type wigs in pink, blue, lemon or lime to alter her appearance.

Blythe was doomed to rest in peace, to be remembered fondly only by a few die-hard fans – but then something happened. An Italian lady called Gina Garan used Blythe dolls as models in a fashion book, ‘This Is Blythe’ – and suddenly Blythe was hot. Japan especially went crazy for her, and before long were making their own versions of big-headed large eyed dolls, such as the Pullip series and the Takara Blythe dolls.

Of course, prices for original Blythe dolls soared, in some cases reaching four-figure sums on the internet, and collectors in the UK scrabbled for the few Takara and Pullip dolls which reached our shores. Pullip dolls are slightly different to the Blythe dolls, with more delicate faces, and the eyes don’t change colour, but the design concept is similar. Things are settling down a bit now, though original Blythes in good condition are still selling for around £800, while the sky’s the limit for a mint in box doll. So, when you are ambling around a boot fair or flea market, keep a look out – there just could be an original Blythe lurking around. You never know!

Not so long ago, Ashton-Drake produced a series of Blythe dolls, completely faithful to the originals, even down to the costumes, and they are excellent. These dolls are very much for the collector’s market, and are expensive, and quite hard to obtain in the UK. All the Blythe look-alikes seem difficult to buy here; you need to order from the internet or bid on internet auctions. However, there are some enchanting dolls around, though whether they will ever be as sought after as the originals is anybody’s guess.

Takara also make a range of mini Blythes, which are much cheaper than the larger dolls but which make a cute collectable. These ‘Petite Blythes’ stand 4" tall and are dressed in the same hot, often quirky, fashions of the larger dolls. Pullip too has a mini, 4.5" range of dolls. These smaller versions of Blythe are well-worth considering if the look appeals but the cost doesn’t!
Personally, I am very fond of Blythe; her quirky hippy-style looks appeal, and I find it fascinating to root out the different types, from the 1972 original, through Takara, Pullip, Ashton-Drake and to the range of cheap Blythe look-a-likes produced a few years ago by Designer Girl which featured a push button, rather than a ring pull, mechanism.

SueX

DECIDEDLY DOLLY 3

Hello Everyone

I’ve been checking out doll prices recently - have you noticed the extraordinary rises in vinyl dolls of the 60s, 70s & early 80s? It’s only certain dolls, though, while other so-called ‘classics’ are still reasonably priced. Dare I hope that the doll market is finally becoming buoyant again?

There has been an amazing price increase in some of the range of older Tiny Tears dolls over the last six months or so, with good examples passing the £100 mark. The smallest in the series - Palitoy Teeny Weeny Tears, a 9” baby dating from the early 1980s - has soared dramatically. An example in original clothing, complete with bottle and dummy sold for £120 on Ebay; a tremendous profit for anyone who has owned the doll from new, or even from someone who bought one four or five years ago when they could still be picked up for a few pounds. The prices of bigger dolls in the series are rising too, with a boxed 1960s Palitoy Tiny Tears selling for almost £135, and some unboxed dolls reaching the £50 mark.

Even Tonka’s Katie, the big sister of Tiny Tears, is becoming sought after with prices reaching £15 plus, and with a nice example selling last week for £41. A few months ago, Katie dolls changed hands for under £10. This obviously doesn’t mean that any old vinyl doll you happen to pick up at a boot fair will make your fortune, but it is worth keeping an eye out for clean, all-original examples of classic dolls, especially if they have their boxes or accessories.

Sasha dolls are highly collectable, but look out too for My Child fabric dolls - a beautiful redhead example sold for over £350 recently, while a strawberry blonde wasn’t far behind. The big-eyed Blythe dolls from 1972 are another to watch for; regularly selling for £500 plus, they demonstrate just how strange the market is. When they were introduced, they were thought of as ‘scary’ and didn’t sell in vast numbers. A few years ago they became cult figures, especially in Japan, where they now make repro versions. 1950s hard plastic dolls are another to watch, though prices for those seem to be levelling out of late.

Though I would never recommend dolls as an investment - I believe you should buy what you love, as the market is so fickle - I think that for those of us who are attracted to the bisque dolls from the early twentieth century, now is the time to buy. Prices have dropped dramatically, and at present dolls by Armand Marseille, Heubach and the like can be bought, well, not cheaply, but, considering their history, age and beauty, still reasonably - sometimes for not much more than a top quality plastic doll. The advantage of bisque is that it will last. Plastic can deteriorate, and we have no way of knowing whether a vinyl Tiny Tears doll will still be presentable in another fifty years time. Already there have been some issues with the breakdown of plastics in hard plastic dolls.

Whatever kind of dolls you collect, inspect them regularly, move them about, keep them out of direct sun. Check before you buy, or make sure you buy from a reputable dealer.

Enjoy your collection,
SueX

DECIDEDLY DOLLY 2

Hello Everyone

Earlier this month (June) I went to the Discover Dolls Fair in Peterborough. This was a new event, set in a Holiday Inn, which proved an excellent and spacious venue with plenty of car parking. Often, doll fairs are set in small halls with limited parking space, but as all keen collectors know, it's essential to park nearby as dolls are large and bulky. If you're anything like me, you soon get laden with carrier bags and can end up staggering under the weight if you can't easily get to the car.

Anyway, when we arrived - my daughter was my chauffeur for the day! - we were amazed at the queue waiting to get into the fair, as normally doll fairs don’t attract large crowds. In fact, the organiser later told me that before the fair opened, the queue had stretched right along the corridor, through the lobby and out into the car park. I’m hoping this is a good sign - for too long dolls seem to have been the poor relations in the collectables world. This particular fair centred on reborns and newborns - artists’ dolls which resemble new babies, often uncannily so. Many of the dolls are works of art, with hair individually rooted using a fine needle, and ‘skin’ coloured with realistic baby blotches and marks.

Some collectors are unsure of the difference between reborns and newborns - basically, a reborn is a baby doll made from a kit or from a doll which has been taken to bits and reassembled after repainting. The ‘reborner’ paints the pieces of the doll with a purple or blue paint on the inside of the limbs, and this colours the vinyl to give a newborn baby flesh tinge. They also open the nostrils, repaint the lips, replace the eyes with realistic eyes, reroot the hair, treat the nails so they are shiny and white tipped, and often use a special glaze to create a teary look around the eyes. They might add delicate thread veins, birthmarks and, usually, make a soft poseable body for the doll, weighting it to feel like a real baby. There is a lot of work involved, and many reborners are skilled at the technique.

A newborn is the term used for a realistic baby doll which the artist has modelled from scratch, using various substances, but usually a polymer clay or Cernit. These newborns can, like reborns, be startlingly realistic - often they cause people to take a second look to see if they are actual babies. The artists who make these dolls sometimes sell them as one offs, or limited editions, and sometimes their designs are chosen by major manufacturers who issue them in larger quantities.

Large companies who market newborns, include Ashton Drake, whose ‘Truly Real’ range of silicone babies are proving exceedingly popular, and offer a chance for those of us who can’t afford to invest in a artist original the chance to own a realistic baby doll of our own. Though mass produced, many of these dolls are delightful, and though might not perhaps be finished to the same exacting standards as the original artist doll, they are still lovely to collect. The photo at the top of this page is 'A Kiss For Jennifer' from Ashton Drake.

Happy dolling

SueX

DECIDEDLY DOLLY 1

Hello Everyone

My name is Susan Brewer, though most people call me Sue, and I've collected things ever since I was little, when I stuck savings stamps into an album. The stamps bore pictures of Prince Charles and Princess Anne as toddlers, which gives you a clue to my age. I'm a lot younger inside, though, kept that way by my two 'children' in their twenties, plus all the gossip I glean from my colleague and friend Tracy Martin, whose Blog you will no doubt have already read.

Dolls are my main speciality, I don't know why, they just are. I've always loved them, right from childhood and am lucky enough to still have a few of my early dolls (the ones I managed to hide when Mum told me I was too old for dolls and they had to be binned!). However, over the years I've also collected - and gained knowledge of - many different kinds of collectables including ceramics, nursery collectables and babywear, children's toys, modern teddy bears, postcards, children's books and fun collectables. I am a great fan of themed collections, I love the way a doll, bear, book, ornament, cup and postcard can all come together to create a display.

I began my writing career in earnest in the 1970s; since then I have written for many magazines, including Collect It!, Doll Magazine, Collectables, Antiques and Collectables, What's It Worth?, Doll Showcase, Teddy Bear Scene, Collector's Gazette, Teddy Bear Times, The Sun, My Weekly, Woman's Realm and Best. At the moment I am Editor of Doll Magazine and also of Doll Showcase, and a regular contributor to Collect It! and Teddy Bear Scene. I've given talks on various aspects of doll collecting, and have appeared on television in shows such as Car Booty, I Love the 70s, I love the 80s and as guest presenter on QVC. I've been writing for the World Collector's Net for several years, and think it's a brilliant site - I admire the way it brings together collectors with many different interests, and is always up to the minute.

I've also written a book featuring the collectable dolls Tiny Tears and First Love, several booklets on various aspects of doll collecting, as well a child's first reader, Mike's Bike. I'm presently working on two books on doll collecting with a nostalgia theme plus a book on the history of playground games and toys. It's fun remembering all those skipping rhymes and chants, and has brought back many memories.

My Blog will tell you about the dolls I discover on my travels, and the people and collectors I meet. I'll also keep you updated on other areas of collectables which particularly appeal to me. Hopefully, I'll point would-be doll collectors in the right direction, and help established collectors by suggesting new ideas and trends. I'll let you know about special finds and pass on any doll-related gossip too - and as things tend to happen to me, I'm sure I'll have plenty of funny anecdotes to share, so please look in from time to time!

Sue X