1976 McDonaldLand Ronald McDonald and friends by Remco Toys.

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My first experience of McDonalds was going to a birthday party one of my class mates was having at the newly opened McDonalds in Walthamstow back when I was about 8 or 9.

I can't say I was massively impressed, even at that age... it was colourful and fun, and I was excited 'cos I was at a Birthday Party, and it was somewhere brand new where only a couple of us (20 or so children, who'd been invited) had been before, but I also found it a bit weird... 

Like it was trying too hard to appeal to children and the burgers were tiny and rubbery, nothing like my mum made at home... 

One thing I did discover was my love for root beer and anything flavoured with it, it's pretty elusive nowadays, especially in Wales, but if I can get my hands on it, I savour the rare treat!

Anyway, back in those days, a birthday at McDonalds meant accompanying McDonald things such as a plastic glove puppet of Ronald. 

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A Frisbee with the clown spread-eagle in the centre... and even an appearance by the freaky bugger himself!

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In those days (early 1980s) Ronald McDonald looked just like the one above, on adverts etc, but it wasn't always that way...

The first McDonald's restaurant opened their doors in 1948, becoming a franchise in 1955, although at this time there was no Ronald McDonald - he wouldn't come into being until the early 1960's.

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In 1963, Willard Scott, who had been working on WRC-TV under the moniker Bozo The Clown was approached to record three television adverts for the food chain.

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In doing so he invented a disgustingly scary looking thing that was named "Ronald McDonald the Hamburger Happy Clown" who's outfit he cobbled together from the restaurant's food packaging, as you can see from the image above, the result was terrifying.

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Clearly, McDonald's realised that the packaging covered Ronald was a terrifying freak of a mascot, and so the design was altered and became more like the Ronald my generation came to know.

Over time, Ronald gained a huge group of friends who all lived in McDonaldLand with him, several of which were even freakier looking than the clown himself, but I digress.

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This eventually led to a line of toys, featuring the clown and his friends from McDonaldLand that were made by Remco Toys in the early to mid 1970's.

By 1976, Ronald McDonald, Big Mac, Mayor McCheese, Hamburglar, Captain Crook, The Professor and even Grimace had been made into 6 inch high figures which could be played with on their own or as part of the MacDonaldland Train Set.

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The train set was pretty cool, it was approximately two by three feet in diameter and included not only a wind up train and track but also a passenger car and Hamburglar's Paddy Wagon; for taking him away in, once he'd been caught up to no good.

The train track had a decorated mat to rest on, with a folded side which when folded up forms a backdrop (11 inches high) both of which were decorated in the same style as the McDonaldLand Murals which used to adorn the walls of  McDonald's Restaurants.

In some restaurants you may even see a huge fibreglass Apple Pie Tree which occasionally doubled up as a swing along side other playground equipment they often had at the time.

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As well as a bridge, mini McDonald's Restaurant, complete with seating area and Apple Pie Tree swing, the set also came with a bridge which makes sense as there is a pond in the centre of the play mat and a pair of stilts which your McDonaldLand figures can wear, these are free standing due to the base, but honestly, I can't figure out why they are included in the set at all, I can't remember a time when I ever saw Ronald or his Friends / Bad guys wearing stilts, so I'm clueless as to their inclusion.

Another thing the box states is included is a stationary set, which is very kitsch and very cute but again, what has it got to do with anything else in the box...

If you'd like to see a picture of the stationary; click on the Mentalfloss link below the above picture and you'll be taken to a very interesting article about the train set as well as some legal bother McDonald's got into when they were sued by the creators of  H.R PufnStuf who felt some of the McDonaldLand characters were a bit to close to their own creation, it's a fascinating read.

So far, I've only managed to get my hands on 2 of the action figures; Ronald and Hamburglar...

Hamburglar is in storage so I unfortunately can't show you him right now, he's missing his cape anyway, but my Ronald did come out with me on my birthday a couple of years back when Creeping Stink Flesh got her name and The Hujoo's and Pendle Makie went sunbathing in Langland Bay in Swansea, so here's a picture of him from that day...

The only other pictures I have of him right now are from his Ebay listing, I bought him from an American Seller, which is as it should be, anyway, these are the images that made me want to give him a home...

As you can see he is in great condition, his outfit is in perfect condition and so his hair... you've probably also noticed that little round toggle thing in the middle of his back, it allows you to move his head up and down, side to side, do the scene from The Exorcist, etc

 Here he is sans clothes, in a photo  I lifted from another Ebay listing (for a nakie Ronald) while I was waiting for him to arrive.. as you can see his arms and legs are moulded in red plastic, his shoes are not removable as they are moulded onto his feet, his gloves are painted on and in terms of articulation, apart from the rotating head button, he is only able to move his limbs at the hips and shoulders, making him best suited for posing standing up.

The plastic he is made from is good quality so not likely to bend, warp or snap providing you don't go crazy, his hair is also good quality, rooted firmly to his head with no loose hairs that I've noticed, not bad for a doll which is now 43 years old!

Anyway, I've run out of things to say for now, so I'll bid you farewell,
Hugs,

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.•:*¨¨*:•. Club Chic Pippa .and Crystal Anthropomorphic Dolls •:*¨¨*:•.

Amazon.co.uk

Back in 2014, MGA Entertainment released a series of anthropomorphic dolls, called Club Chic. The gimmick was they all attended a school called Bear Valley Hills, and each one dressed in her own style which was designed to appeal to the fashion trends of the time, there was a "Chic" one, A "Geek" one, a "Goth" one, a "Pop" one and a "Hip Hop" one...

 Sounds horribly similar to those gawd awful Spice Girls, doesn't it?

Unlike the Spice Girls, these dolls were actually pleasant to look at and had thier own individual "talents"!

Pippa, who you can see on the far right was the Blogger of the group, with beautiful long magenta hair and oversized "geekish" glasses... she came with a cute little owl faced bag, which is too big for her and so doubles up as a mini bag or purse for her human owner.

Next to her is Candy, dressed in a "Pop" inspired outfit with streaked pink and yellow hair, she is an International Supermodel apparently.

Then comes, Lil' B the Hip Hop dancer, wearing street clothes, headphones and comes with a little bag in the shape of a retro Boombox.

Violet is a Gothy artist who has a blue streak in her otherwise black hair and comes with a cute little spider's web bag.

And finally, Crystal the Film Starlet, who comes dressed in a silver gown ready for her red carpet debut.

In terms of posability there isn't really much as they only turn at the head, shoulders and hips, plus they have their left arms moulded into a "hand on hip" type pose while their right hands are formed into what I like to refer to as a grabby hand.

I did however, really like thier faces and thought I might be able to turn one or more of them into a cute little anthropomorphic custom, so when I saw one come up on Ebay a few years after their release, I snapped her up, and so purchased my first  Club Chic Pippa!

Once I received her, I changed my mind about customising her, she is just too cute and has little pads on her hands and the bottom of her feet, she also has a cute little pot bellied shape to her body and her face transfers and little freckles are adorable too, so of course, I couldn't bring myself to do it to her!

Her head is made of really hard plastic and as it turned out not easy to remove... I unfortunately marked her head hole trying so I decided the best thing to do would be to buy another so I can keep one as is and customise the other, so that's what I did.

Only, things changed again, because the more I kept looking at Crystal, I kept wondering if it would be possible to alter her face somewhat to make her look more like one of my dream dolls - Peteena Fashion Poodle by Hasbro.

Peteena  - worthpoint.com

 I decided to keep an eye out for another Pippa as well as a Crystal, I wanted to get them second hand as I don't need the accessories or clothing, just the heads, for that reason, condition wasn't so much of an issue either.

So I was really happy to find both for sale in one lot at a really good price, so I snapped them up.

Here's a photo' of Crystal, from her Ebay listing prior to me getting my hands on her, decapitating her and striping her face...

One thing I noticed was that her right arm was bent, not her left so I reasoned I could possibly swap her left one with Pippa's bent left arm, which means I'll be able to keep her body but not have to deal with the pre-posed arms that these dolls come with, and as both have the same size bodies, I'll have two outfits for my new doll while I get around to making her something more fitting to her new look.

Of course having a much bigger head than Peteena, she is not going to be a perfect replica, but you know me, I love big headed dolls...

Now I've just got to find some time to make my vision a reality, wish me luck!

Azone Kikipop Kinoko Juice Clone Doll.

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I fell in love with Kiki Kinoko Juice dolls when I spotted them a few years back, however they were Azone exclusives and not available outside Japan.

The following year Azone released more of these dolls in different styles, all of them were made of resin, standing at 12 inches tall

A few months ago a saw one for sale for cheaps, not a real one but from the photographs she looked very close and as she was a fraction of the cost, I snapped her up...

I expected her to come in a box but when she arrived she was in a cellophane bag, like some of those cheap outfits you can buy for dolls, it didn't have anything written on the top of the packet, not even a Country of origin.

 So I checked her body for maker's marks, but sadly she didn't have any of those either so I have no idea who made her.

She stands at 12 inches tall and is made of hard plastic, not resin like the real dolls are, but she is jointed in the same way as a Kikipop.

She can stand by herself due to her large feet and is very posable. 

She holds the poses really well and her joints are not too tight or too loose so she is very easy to manipulate into poses.

Her torso and head are held together with screws so I decided to see how easy it was to open her head and change her eyes for glass ones.

I really didn't expect what I found inside her head... Her eyes had a flesh coloured piece of plastic over them which was hiding a small strip of paper in which her eye details are printed.

This sits against a half dome clear cabochon type piece of plastic which fits perfectly inside her eye sockets.

I could have removed all of it and replaced the eyes, but I would have had to use putty to hold them in place as the cover wouldn't be able to fit back inside afterwards.

I decided I'd leave them for now and maybe change them another time if I decide she'd look better with something else.

 Due to her being 1/6 scale she is able to wear many of the cute outfits available for this size doll, as long as they had loose legs and sleeves as these dolls have very big hands and feet in comparison to the rest of their bodies.

I made her a wig from some Argyle Sheep fleece which I think really suits her it makes a nice contrast to her eye colour and put together a little outfit for her which I think she looks great in!

I did tweak her factory paint a little I removed the red from inside her mouth and changed it to a more relistic shade, I also gave her lips a more flesh like tone and gave them some moisture as well as painting the eyeliner she had to extend on each side rather than the half black paint she originally had.

I'm really happy with her, I think she's a cute, quirky little lady but she's really whetted my appetite for a resin Kikipop, so I'll most likely be getting one as soon as I can to go with her!

Hugs,

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Bleeding Edge Princess Ai "Borrowed Threads" Doll by Tokyopop

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Princess Ai is a bit of a weird one, the idea of Courtney Love being into Manga is strange enough to wrap my head around but when I discovered not only did she like Manga she was actually instrumental in the creation of a Manga herself!

To be honest, I don't like Courtney Love, I'm not a fan of her music or acting and I don't follow her career at all, but the discovery that she made a Manga intrigued me no end.

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I found out about the Manga after I purchased the doll, up until then I knew she had something to do with the dolls (it was mentioned in several listings) but I had no idea what.

 I was originally interested in the Princess Ai dolls because at the time they were released, 2005, I was collecting Bleeding Edge dolls and the Princess Ai dolls were so unlike them it really got my noggin jogging.

For a while the dolls were pretty easy to find and at the time there were so many other things I wanted more so I didn't bother seriously looking into them, as time went by they started to disappear from the market and to be honest I forgot about them, until last year when I saw one for sale on Ebay and decided the time was right to check them out.

Listing Photo

After she arrived and I read the little Manga preview she came with I decided to purchase a copy of the Manga itself so I could get more insight into the design of this doll and Courtney Love's involvement in their creation.

I'll tell you about that in a minute but first I want to talk about the doll herself...

She stands at approximately 12 inches tall.

Her face is very unlike any of the other Bleeding Edge dolls, her head is smaller and her face is thinner and has a "Western look" that is often seen in female Manga and Anime characters.

She has blonde hair, presumably because she is Courtney Love's Manga Mary-Sue. The style is very Asian in it's design.

The doll's body is quite rigid and only articulated by a ball joint at the shoulders and hips just like the other Bleeding Edge dolls I have.

Her legs have the 2 clicks hold posability like Pedigree Sindy, so Azone type posability is not something she possesses, neither is a stand which would have been really useful.

 She does have cute little painted nails though, not that that really makes up for it, but it's a nice touch!

And of course she did come with a little Manga preview, to tempt you to buy it, which I did so I guess that worked.

Her outfit is made up of a pink and red rah-rah skirt, long sleeved top (full of holes) a black bodice over that, tied up with pink cotton.

Black fishnet stockings and a red garter that she wears on left leg above her stocking.

On her feet she is wearing a pair of pink fabric ballet shoes also tied up with pink cotton.

It's an odd mix.

 As for the character's background and the Manga, there isn't a huge amount of info' I can give you on that score, I really don't know much and can't find much out about it either,

Apparently Courtney Love spent some time in Japan and while she was there, fell in love with the people and their culture.

The upside of this was the idea and subsequent creation of Princess Ai - Ai meaning Love in Japanese.

Princess Ai is the story of an alien creature (?) definitely alien to Japan anyway, who finds herself in Japan, not knowing anything about her past or where she is.

The only clue she has to her past is a heart shaped box which is very important to her.

She begins working as a singer in a club and meets a musician who is very similar to Kurt Cobain whom she falls in love with all the while she is trying to discover her past and where she came from.

The Manga was created by Courtney Love, writer D.J. Milky and illustrated by Misaho Kujiradou.

The characters for the Manga were designed by Ai Yazama, who is also a Manga author and artist.

The first volume of the Manga came out in 2004, the second in 2005, the third and final, in 2006, but if you are interested in getting them, I suggest you buy them in one volume as I did.

Look for the Princess Ai Ultimate Edition on Amazon, it contains all three books and also a few little extras that you don't get if you buy them in single volumes.

A few versions of the doll are also available on Amazon at the moment and come up on Ebay from time to time too, one thing to remember if you want the doll is, there are also 8 inch vinyl moulded figures available so make sure you read the description carefully.

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💀 Macumba - Living Dead Dolls Series 4 💀

When I was little, I used to love visiting my "Jamaican Grandma" TC, or when she visited us, she used to teach me how to cook Jamaican food and told me stories of Vodun Rituals she attended, how they were preformed, taught me the dances and drumming, hexes, about honouring The Ancestors and told me some of the things she saw conjured...

I was fascinated by the stories of the Loa and how they could help those who asked, for a price. My favourite was always Baron Samedi. 

She said he stands at the crossroads and watches over the dead but is also a kind of gatekeeper and can connect you to the spirits of  loved ones past.

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The way she described him he sounded really jovial, although he could be grumpy and was often drunk. I think my image of him was further influenced when I watched Live and Let Die in which he appears quite tricksy, the parts with him in are the best bits of the film for me.

When I first saw the Macumba Living Dead Doll my mind instantly went back to those images and stories of Baron Samedi.

 It was around 2007 when I first came across the doll for sale as a Mini version from series 5 on Ebay.

 I placed my bid and was really happy to discover that I won him and couldn't wait for him to arrive.

When he hadn't arrived after almost 2 weeks I contacted the seller and discovered he had gotten himself lost in the post. 

I got my money back but I was left with a Mini Macumba shaped hole until a few years later when I saw an auction listing for a full sized one from series 4 for sale on Ebay.

I tried my luck at auction and yay, I won him for the same price I had originally paid for the Mini version!!

The reason he was listed so cheap was because he had somehow managed to loose his trousers, this was also more than likely the reason why I was the only bidder.

I really didn't see this as a problem, I knew it world be easy enough to make a pattern and I had recently scrapped a pair of thin trousers in a similar colour and placed the pieces in my fabric stash.

When he arrived he came with all his accessories - A top hat with skull motif,  bone necklace, tatty coat, shirt, death certificate and his little Voodoo doll. 

The poem on his inner box reads:

"With a doll,
He casts his spell.
No one is safe
From this zombie hell."

His death certificate reads:

"Date of death: 6/15/1881

Cause of death: Voodoo Curse

Placed under a voodoo curse,
It was an evil spell he could not reverse.
A soul trapped behind lifeless eyes,
All things alive are now despised."

I really loved this little touch, Living Dead Doll Minis I have don't come with Death Certificates instead they have a little string noose on a key chain so you can hang them by their necks and carry them around with you.

I was surprised to find out his dreadlocks are made of wool, until I purchased him I had only ever bought mini Living Dead Dolls and all those came with nylon hair, in fact I'm sure he's the only Living Dead Doll I've seen with hair made of this material.

I had to made him a new pair of trousers and tied then to his waist using a little piece of twine.

I found out that the dolls Series 4 dolls were released in 2002, and have long since been retired so they are no longer in production and getting harder to find for sale.

When I started writing this post in 2018, I checked on the availability and prices he's going for online and found 4 for sale on Amazon.uk, of course because my little guy is wearing replacement trousers he won't be worth quite as much, but it's still interesting to see how much he's going for these days.

I have no plans to part with him any time soon, he's one of my favourite dolls... I just love this little guy!

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Pocket Full Of Posiez - Panzy The Pirate - Limited Edition Art Doll by Queenie.

In March 2015, I posted about my stupidly cute Pocketful of Posiez Delilah Doll that I was lucky to win on Ebay.

If you want to read about her, you can find a link to my post here... Delilah.

Since then I've been looking out for the others in the series; it turns out the doll maker: Queenie only made three, the other being the very awesome looking Lylliona who looks like this...

https://www.deviantart.com/posiez/art/lyllionia-doll-44622896

Just now I was looking for a picture of her to add to this post and I discovered one for sale on Ebay, after 3 years of searching, I've finally found one come up for sale but of course there is a catch... 

A bloody big catch, apart from the fact the listing is from 2015 -  The seller had her listed at a starting bid of $340.00 (£258.40)! 

I've saved a few pictures from that post and I've noticed the differences on each box which I'd like to go into but I don't think here is really the post to do it on, so stay tuned for a Pocketful of Posiez collective box design post real soon, right now it's back to Panzy...

I spotted Panzy for sale on Amazon and had to snap her up, I love her crooked little mouth, her big eyes and the fat that she is a Pirate.... And who doesn't love a Pirate?!

Like my Delilah Doll, she comes in a beautifully decorated box that is tailored to suit her particular quirks...

The back of her box is interesting as it mentions other members of her "crew", Delilah, Prunella and Hortencia. it makes me wonder if they are the names of dolls which were planned to be included in this series... After all, at the time of her release in 2007, Delilah hadn't yet been produced, and wouldn't for another 5 years!

There is more evidence on the box that Delilah was in the works, as one of the side panels shows a picture of Delilah with the words "Coming Soon" ...

I guess it's pretty telling that on the side panels of Delilah's box there is no "Coming Soon" teaser.

Panzy is the second doll released in this series, but unlike the first - Lyllionia and third doll - Delilah her box does not state she is a Limited Edition Doll or show her number out of 1000.

She is however, a limited doll, but how large the run was I have no idea. Out of the three dolls she is the easiest to find as she is still available to buy on Amazon for not very much money.

I haven't yet taken her fully out of her box, just removed the outer shell so I could get a better look at her. She comes wearing a really cool pair of boots, which I think may be removable. The rest of her outfit is very cute too and she comes with a key around her neck and a little "Treasure Chest" style handbag which opens so she can stash her treasures inside.

She has a very Burtonesque look to her and with that red hair puts me in mind of The Queen of Hearts from his sadly abysmal take on Alice in Wonderland or should that be Underland?

Anyhoo, I have a plan to buy a second one of her and customise her to look more like The Queen of Hearts.

Watch this space, I guess...

Hugs,

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