McDonald's Flashback App'

Facebook have a cool app, or at least they did a while back, it's quite an easy way to age photo's if you don't have access or know how to use Photoshop and are unsure which online photo editor to go for..

While you're hanging out on facebook you could give this app' a go:

Photo's edited - 14 November 2011 via McDonald’s Flashback App

1916/1955

You just have to choose which time period you'd like to age your photo's to, upload or chose a photo from your Albums and press the start button, and you end up with images like these...


Above 2 photo's were aged to resemble photographs (left to right) from 1916 and 1955 respectively and the ones below were aged to look like 1899 and 1900 photographs (again left to right), I have to say I'm a massive fan of this kind of app' but sadly when I discovered this one, I didn't really have time enough to explore it thoroughly, perhaps another time I will go back and try again..

1899/1900

Ah well sorry to say, I've just double checked on Facebook and nope for some reason this app' is now unavailable :(

Pedigree Sindy Friend June - 3rd Edition 1975

I've just bought this little lady, the seller listed her as "Vintage Sindy Doll on her head 055014 on her back 033126x on her bottom 033127x", But she is in fact a June Doll.
Now in case you don't know much about June, she is a Friend of Sindy, Pedigree Sindy that is, she was available in the U.K only and she well, here's the gimmick, she wasn't actually sold!

Nope I didn't make that up... June was a kind of "Reward" for any little girls who had bought or been given a certain number of Sindy Doll products, because each item had a heart shaped "Sindy Token" on the packaging and once the little girl had saved up 24 Sindy Tokens, she could send them off to Pedigree and in return, the Postman would bring her a brown box with a "June" doll inside...How cool is that?!

 June didn't come in any fancy clothing or packaging though, just a plain brown box and wearing only her frilly white undies, but that didn't matter as her body is the same size and proportions to Sindy herself, so June could in true "Best Friend Style" go through Sindy's wardrobe and "borrow" some of her stuff to wear!

I'm sure Sindy was fine with this set up, after all the cheapest way to save up all those tokens, would be to buy items of clothing, and therefore Sindy probably had masses of outfits!

June i.d, can become a bit confusing, due to her having nothing but a number on the back of her head, and in a couple of other places on her body - this is what lead the seller who sold her to me to believe tat even though she didn't have Sindy's extremely recognisable face, she must have been a Sindy, as most people had have ever held a vintage Sindy know the number on the back of her head begins with 033! There is also the little matter that she went through 2 previous incarnations before the final June incarnation was produced starting in 1975.

The two previous June Dolls have little in common, so it is not only easy to confuse them with other Pedigree dolls, and most likely it is considered that they be good quality Clone Dolls, but they all also have different body moulds, and in the case of the first June, are a different height and hair colour with not even a hint that the 3 dolls may in essence be the same doll, or a least I mean same in terms of name and where she fits in the "Evolution of Sindy's Friend's Scale".

The second issue and third issue have much more to place them together, but drastically different faces, and hair styles.

Her hair is a little "roughed up" but I like it more like this!
Also, she came in this outfit - even better as it is "Tartan Touch" from  1979!

My June is the third edition of this doll, and to me, she is the most beautiful out of the three, even if she does have a crazy basin-cut hairdo reminiscent of "Purdy" from The New Avengers!

"Good ol' Purdy"!

The first June to be sent out in exchange for tokens, had a dark auburn almost brown shade of hair, was 9 inches high, she had a very odd face to my mind, her lips are slightly pursed looking, which makes them seem rather large and painted a bright pink, which makes them look even larger, size wise she was closer to "Patch" than to Sindy. Her height meant that even though she also arrived in just her "tiny whiteys", she was able to "clothes share" with your Patch Doll, providing you had a Patch Doll, if not then I guess you had to buy Patch clothing for her to wear. I know I'm most likely being cynical but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the point of the June Dolls being all but naked when they arrive!

The second June to be produced and sent out in exchange for tokens, was the same height as Sindy, 12 inches, She had very light, almost white blonde hair with a fringe, a Sindy Trendy Girl Body, red lipstick and her face is reminiscent of the later 1980s Sindy made by Hasbro, which is often referred to by collector's as being a "Smirky Sindy" because her facial expression is slightly mocking from some angles! 

The third edition of June (mine) was made in 1975, the only markings she has on her body are "Made in Hong Kong" on her back and the number codes:055014 on the back of her head, 033126X on her back and 033127X. Her body is the same as Trendy Girl Sindy Body in some dolls - this may or may not be a sign the Pedigree factory were using up spare parts... Also, My June has a twisting waist. 

Pedigree Sindy's Friend Marie.

Listing Title:  VINTAGE PEDIGREE SINDY,S FRIEND MARIE DOLL NEW IN BOX FROM 1985

Sadly I've just found this listing, only to discover it ended 4 days ago! 
Still it gives me an idea of how much I can expect to pay if I ever find one that is still for sale! 

Also I now have an idea of the demand for her when she does come up at auction now too, oddly it wasn't as crazy as I assumed it would be, especially as she is brand new NBRB ( Seller speak for "Never been removed from box") - 
I found out she sold for £33.55 with 5 bids, which I have to say is quite a good profit for the seller, as I note the original price tag reads £6.99!

Personally, I would never have sold her, she is so beautiful, but each to their own I guess!
Marie was introduced in 1986, as a friend for Sindy... she is easily identifiable, unlike some of Sindy's other friends, as not only does she have that beautiful flame red hair, but also  light purple eyes and her name stamped on the back of her head.

There are other versions of Marie available, the most stunning of which, for me is the "royal Wedding"  Marie, which came boxed alongside her boyfriend "Mark", these dolls were produced to coincide with the wedding of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson in 1986, this version is also the most expensive, especially still boxed, but as I am planning to do a review on that incarnation of Marie soon, I'll say no more about it right now!

✿♥ Littlest Pet Shop "Punky" Bat ♥✿

I've been in love with and on the look out for one of these adorable Littlest Pet Shop Bat toys for a few years now, unfortunately I have only seen them on the internet, still maybe one day!

Whilst I was looking for the above image I found another adorable little creature, that I have to add to my "Wishlist" now too!

Littlest Pet Shop Sugar Glider, how adorable is this little guy?!!

★☆ 2012 San Diego Comic Con Limited Edition Pullip ☆ ★

Aww Man, Just when I think Pullip Dolls cannot get any more beautiful than they already are, someone has the bright idea of  combining two of my favourite things and bringing out Wonder Woman Pullip!!

Made exclusively for this year's San Diego Comic Con by Groove USA Inc; she's 12 inches tall, and sadly no longer available, as she was made in a limit edition of only 400 dolls!

I have just found a few of them still available from people who obviously had cash enough to stock up on these beauties while they could... Now all I need is £80 - 126! *Sigh*

Check out these photos of her, to see just how perfect she is ...

(Please note, all photographs are sales images and copyrighted to Cheonsang Cheonha).

Julian Clary - Position Vacant, Apply Within Tour

Aaron and I went to see Julian Clary Position Vacant Tour in The Swansea Grand Theatre on the 1st November.

As I've finally found my camera I've been proudly taking photos of all the pretty, new and very classy things we came home with!

So here's our spoils from the evening... 

My Classy new Tea Towel reads "Have a squirt and a Wipe" and our new Mugs, also very classy read "Lick my Rim....I dare You"!! 

It probably sounds odd but none of these items will be fulfilling their original function, as they are destined to be "kept for best" so much so that they will never be used for fear of damaging them, we realised that on our return home, still they are all very pretty and the mugs will make a lovely display inside my glass fronted cabinet!

I always buy a Programme from any show I go to, so that's there too (back left), our tickets are in the photo as well, and we picked up a few of Julian's shamelessly blatant advertising flyers from the foyer!

We also managed to get our hands on a couple of pieces of the shiny confetti he threw about on stage!

To cap off an awesome Evening, Mum who was baby-sitting my little Derp-Pup Roxy in her car whilst waiting to take us home, had managed to escape from the vehicle and Roxy's abandonment issues for long enough to buy us a bottle of wine for when we got home... So the evening was rounded off nicely with tipsy feelings and Pringles!

I do regret that I run out of cash at the gift shop as I would have loved to have also bought the other Tea Towel on offer with a photo of Julian's adorable little dog Valerie sitting obediently next to him...

What swung it for me in choosing the one I did was the wonderfully subtle command under the picture "Have a Squirt & a Wipe", although I am afraid I will have to disobey, as I will be buying a OTT frame for it so I can hang it on my Living Room wall ... see I can be classy too!

I also reasoned that as the Tour had a few more dates to go, and I have just discovered will be continuing into The Spring,  I still have plenty of time to track down a "Valerie Tea Towel" from one of the other venues or possibly even Julian's website.

The only irksome thing about the night was that my battery charger did not work, despite my frantic attempts for days leading up to the gig, and so I had to borrow my Mother's camera for the evening, this would have been fine, only when I got home, I suddenly realised that she didn't lend me her usb lead too, and as I couldn't find mine to see if it would fit, I had to return her camera and beg for the photos as soon as possible so I could add them to my "showing off" images from the night.

However, my Mother exists in some strange time zone that none of the rest of us are able break through, and so I am still awaiting my photos of the Evening's entertainment  all these weeks and several "Get on with it" style prompts later!!

So I guess, for now it is a case of "more images to follow", oh I do hope at least one of them isn't blurry now I've said that, still time (a lot of time) will tell!

Oh and before I go I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that if  this tour comes to a venue near you, take the opportunity to go and see it, Julian Clary is and hopefully always will be a wonderful performer, who really seems to care about his audience, even when he's dealing out a piece of well-timed "bitchery".

You Certainly won't regret it!


  *********** UPDATE - 18-01-2013 ***********

Well I finally managed to get those photos from Mum's camera, it took some trickery on my part, but nonetheless, I have them now and yayness, I actually got a couple that were pretty good, so as promised here they are, enjoy, I know I did!

Not the best photo I could of taken of the stage, but all that sparkling glitter on the backdrop didn't half play havoc with the lens,  the fact I wasn't allowed to use a flash and I have crazy camera shake, didn't help either... Anyhoo, it was pretty, I'm sure you would agree?!

The amazing Mable, at least I think that's what her name is, anyhoo, she was great in this show... that egg's made of pure silver you know? No not really but I needed something to go there and it sounded quite flamboyant, and anyway, I can't really see Sir Julian of Clary doing something so base as using a plastic egg painted sliver, that's just not his style darling!

Julian looking very dapper in his rubberised Wedding Garb, embarrassing his "Bride to Be" as only he can. Interestingly Julian's Bride that night had been with his Life Partner for over 11 years; I'm sure that made for an interesting conversation on the way home, still one can only hope his Boyfriend is understanding!

The "Newly Weds" sharing a last minute embrace. It's also remarkable how lovely the "Bride's Maids" looked given that,  they and the "Bishop" were 5 minutes prior to the "Wedding" rejected by Julian as potential "Husbands" themselves, still they were not bitter and performed their duties admirably, they also look great in Pink!

As I said before, if you do have the opportunity to take in this show, it's defiantly worth seeing, Aaron and I laughed so much we were in pain :P

☯ It's Official, I have fallen in Love with Tangkou Dolls! ☯

For the last month or so, I have been eyeing up the new Tangkou Dolls.

Image taken from www.tangkoudoll.com

Just to clarify which doll I'm about to start talking about, I think I should make a list so you know who is who:  

First Row:       1. England, 2. France, 3. Aussie, 4.Italia.
Second Row:  1. Pinnoccio, 2.Red Ridin, 3.Yellow Duck, 4.Pink Bunny.
Third Row:      1. Chinese Girl, 2.Miss. Audrey, 3. Vampire, 4. Loli.

Originally I kept finding myself looking at Miss. Audrey, Chinese Girl and Loli.

Miss Audrey's Box

 But they all seemed to be very high priced especially as I didn't know enough about these dolls and hadn't discovered their website so I couldn't really gain much info about them, except from the sales listings of course, which is all well and good but I tend to use a sales listing as a place to get basic information to help me in my search elsewhere online as a seller is more often than not likely to big up a product while playing down it's faults.

Isn't she gorgeous?! Even so...I wasn't prepared  to spend £48 + on a doll I know nothing about, when my Pullip only cost me £30, my Dal £46 and my Blythe £56!

Miss Audrey.

Ok so the Blythe was slightly more than they were asking for the Tangkou Doll, but my point is, I knew what I would be getting with my Blythe and I'd spend close onto 5 years wanting one and never finding one I liked that I could afford - as she was not going to be a custom job Blythe, I had to like her A LOT before I even thought about parting with my cash!

After I discovered their website and found their were many more versions of the doll out there, and read up about them all, I found the one I was most drawn to was Chinese Girl... with France as a close second, but only because she has a wig and would be easier to customise - I really don't like her "hair" or outfit, so she would be a very good candidate for this. 

I love her box though!

I still have a huge urge to buy a France one as I really want to customise one of these dolls, and I want to start with one who has a wig as re-rooting big heads it a total pain; as I discovered while I was re-rooting one of my Little Big Eyes Dolls.

Of course, if I am unable to get my hands on a France for Customising, I could always look out for an Aussie, as she also has a stock outfit and hair which I really don't like, but on the plus side, like France, her hair is also a wig and therefore easy enough to remove and replace with something much nicer, I would of course be stripping the face completely of it's original "face up" and starting again, the only thing I wouldn't strip off is the "make up" on the eye lids - viewable when the doll's sleep eye function is accessed.

Every one of the dolls have the "sleep eye function". The photo / diagram above is of France doll's eyelid make up,  I found this picture on the Tangkou UK website, which oddly is the only website that has images of any of the doll's eyelids, and even odder, only for the France doll, I can't help but wonder why that is, unless of course they all have the same "Eye make Up"!

I've been looking again at Aussie, and I'm starting to think, she is just as pretty, so yeah, I'd be happy to take one of them for customising too!

See what I mean?!

 Chinese Girl, if I ever managed to get her would be staying just the way she was when purchased, and France would have to be under £30, in order for me to feel good about customising her!

A couple more weeks past with me keep going back for another look, and even saving one or the 
other into my "Watch List" and "Basket" when something weird happened... the prices dropped considerably, and I started to notice more and more France, Aussie and Chinese Girls, with a starting price of £19.00 at auction!!

Most of these were either the Aussie or France girls, but one night, I spotted a France starting at £19.00, and I decided "Why not?" so I bid on her, unfortunately I lost the bid in the last few minutes, to be honest, I did kind of expect that as I'd set myself a "spend limit" because she was going to be a "Custom" and I would be happy with just her head to work on,  so I wasn't going to go over that amount, especially as I found I could buy my favourite "Chinese Girl" for £38.00 on Buy It Now!

Chinese Girl in her box - Auction Photo

And then... on Friday evening, I was doing my weekly "check" on the listings for these dolls, and I found an  Italia, for £19.00 opening bid, with no bidders and only 15 minutes to go, I watched the minutes tick down for a while, but as my pay day wouldn't fit with Ebay's 3 days to pay rule, I had to let her go, I was a bit unhappy about this especially as she remained unsold at the end of the auction, but I had checked on the website and discovered she too is a "rooted" doll, so I decided it wasn't too bad, but it gave me a reason to keep going back each day to check if this might happen again.

On Sunday Evening, it did and with an awesome result for me... I found Chinese Girl, for £19.00+ postage, in an auction, with only 6 minutes to go until the end and no bidders!

Auction Listing Photo.

One thing I have only just noticed about these dolls is all the images I've been looking at on the Tangkou website is the ankles in a lot of the photos seem to be at an odd angle, so much so, they look painful!

Such as the dolls ankles in the picture above, I really hope this is not something every one of the dolls have.

The seller added this information to the listing, some of it as you can see from the image of Chinese Girl  I found on the Tangkou website...

Knowing I most likely had no chance at all, I placed my bid and decided not to bother checking the auction until the next day, after all this girl seemed to be very popular so I definitely wasn't going to win this auction, but the next day, I found I'd been totally wrong... 

I had been the only bidder, and now all I had to do was pay £23.00 and she'd soon be in my hands!!

     Here's some more images of "My Girl" from their website...                           

      Isn't she beautiful?  -  I can't wait to get my hands on her!

If she does have that ankle problem, I may have to either keep her as a "Display Doll" in her box or customise her by giving her a new body (I have a spare Pullip body needing a new head, so that should work), this of course depends on how easy her head is to remove and also, If I manage to get hold of another one as I would very much like to keep one as is, but as I also like to "play" with my dolls, ie. make them dioramas, pose and photograph them I'm not sure at the moment.

I guess I should wait until I actually receive her and open her box before I make that decision!

One  thing I have decided, is that I will be doing a full review of her once Postman Kev' brings her to me, so if you're interested in more information on her, stay tuned!

There are 2 Official Websites for Tangkou Dolls:
 http://www.tangkoudoll.com/   and  http://www.tangkoudollsuk.com/  (UK Site)

The UK Site is offering a 3% Discount on some of these dolls at present, the dolls with this discount offered are: England, France, Aussie, Italia & Chinese Girl, the first four are now £33.99 and Chinese Girl is now £38.99.

Something weird happened on my quest for Kurhn info...

Last night I was looking for Kurhn Dolls, so I could update my Kurhn Clone Doll post, and I had the bright idea that I should Google these words "Kurhn Doll With Real Eye Lashes" in hindsight this wasn't such a bright idea, as my search in Google Images took me to the "Weird Part of the Internet" again!

I'm pleased to say I did actually find the doll I was looking for and managed to update my blog entry, but not before I managed to get freaked out by the bizarre image Google thought matched my search, namely a tiny image of something that definitely had nothing to do with Kurhn Dolls, intrigued I clicked the image for a closer look and found this;

 I thought, "Yes ok I'll view this product... after all what exactly is it?" All I could work out is that it costs £14.99 so, I clicked again, and this happened...

Ok so that was strange, but I couldn't stop there, I had to continue on to find out what exactly it had to do with Kurhn Dolls, and what exactly was the thing in the picture, the loading screen disappeared and was replaced by this page from a website entitled joke.co.uk...

I clicked the enlarge button and "Arrrrrgh"!! this happened ... I was thought "That's a pretty freaky looking thing", but I couldn't help wanting to see it larger, just in case it wasn't as truly hideous as my first impression led me to believe  So like a fool, I clicked the enlarge button, and...

I was wrong, it is totally grotesque and such a weird idea for a "Fancy Dress Costume"... Even weirder, I noticed some images at the bottom of the screen, which weren't quite viewable  so I scrolled down and was informed...

   And now I'm even more perplexed and slightly disturbed to think that there may be a lot of people roaming around towns in Britain wearing these things on Halloween, I only hope I never encounter them on a dark night!

Childhood Memories

In the mid 70's, when I was a toddler I was always playing with my Fisher Price Chatter Telephone and wheeling my Tip Toe Turtle also by Fisher Price around with me.

thisoldtoy.com

My Tip Toe obsession got so bad that I even wheeled him onto the tarmac to board the plane bound for Benidorm; a very popular destination for English holiday makers at the time.

Still I got to meet the American pilot prior to the flight, I remember arguing with him as he said he "liked my turtle" and I defiantly told him it was a "tortoise", he wouldn't have it, neither would I.

thisoldtoy

I learnt that day that "turtle" was American for "tortoise" or at least the pilot gave me that impression, "That's what we call them back home" he told me.

My reply was "In England it's tortoise, so he's a tortoise" .

That sounds pretty bad now I type it - I sound like a right little sod.

But it honestly wasn't as bad as it sounds he was smiling throughout the conversation and even conceded by saying "Well then Little Lady, I like your tortoise"!

Turns out he was right, Tip Toe was a turtle but then what did I know? I was only two at the time!