❀ 1982 Quick Change Sindy by Pedigree ❀

On 4th November 2012, I wrote and published a post about Sindy Styling heads which I have since reverted back to draft form, the information in this post was part of that one but looking back through  my "Drafts Folder" I realise it really should be two separate posts, so I have decided to split and rewrite them both...

It began when I discovered a Sindy Doll bust online and wanted to find out more about them...

Around the same time I managed to get my hands on a bundle of Sindy dolls, which I was either going to restore or customise depending on how damage they were when they arrived.

  At the time I bought them I was curious about the one that appeared to have purple hair and when she arrived I was even more curious about her, so I uploaded a photo of her to my Flickr Photostream and asked my Flickr friends for any information on her.

One of my friends suggested that she is probably a Quick Change Sindy which came with pens so you could add streaks of colour to their hair or if you prefer completely change the colour of her hair.

As I'd never heard of her before I did a little research and discovered that she was released in 1982 and came with "Magic Colour Change Sticks" which were used to draw the colour or colours of your choice directly onto the doll's hair, whether or not these washed out I cannot say, although I suspect they would have done so you can try another colour or colour pattern etc.

(So really not much more than my friend told me, in fact it was virtually impossible to find anything else on this doll at all at that time...)

Which makes me think it's even more surprising that this doll of mine still has the colour on her hair - without which it would have been impossible to identify her as a Quick change Sindy!

Ebay Listing

One of the tools I like to use when trying to identify dolls and other toys is Google Images. While originally looking for info' on various Sindy's in order to identify this girl, I spotted a thumbnail of the above image which lead me on what I initially thought was a separate quest to buy a Sindy Styling head.

Ebay Listing

I couldn't resist bidding on it and while waiting for the auction to end, I began researching these instead!

I discovered there are two versions of this toy, a standard (for this type of toy) "Flesh tone" part bust (shoulders really) version and one that has the bust area (partial breast lumps included!) made from red textured plastic... possibly to resemble a jumper, as shown in the photo' below.

Ebay Listing

I have no idea why this version has a red  textured body, I suspect it is made to simulate a red sweater as opposed to the flesh versions above.

 I guess it is possible that as she is showing part of her breasts it was deemed more appropriate to have her "wearing" something.

One image I found appeared to be a brunette version of this "sweater" style styling head, which seems to be identical in every except for the hair.

I think this may infact be a case of someone not placing the original blonde head back on the bust as after discovering the origin of these "busts" / "mini styling heads" I can't really sree the point of making a dark haired version, that statement will become clear to you once you've read a bit further down...

As you can see from this picture of the "Brunette version", these "Sweater" styling heads came with heated hair curlers so you could heat-set and style Sindy's hair, I am unsure whether the "Flesh" type 

also had this gimmick.

Or so I thought but while double checking my facts and editing this post from the original (written in 2012) today, I did a bit more research I found this image in Google:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lauralovelylocks/8213184369/

As it doesn't enjoy being enlarged much, I guess I should explain it's relevance... At the bottom of the box there is an "Also available" type image which toy manufacturers just so love placing on their products, the product it's advertising is ( I don't actually know the marketed name ) an additional playset which contains a hair brush, mirror, comb, portable hair dryer, hair curlers, holders etc

I recently bought part of this set which you can see in the listing photograph below... Sadly it wasn't complete and the yellow items don't belong to it, but it did contain the long coveted Sindy Curlers I've been after for years and the adorable portable hair dryer too!

The "Brunette with curlers" image above is looking more and more to me like a bundle of similar Sindy items that the seller has either knowingly or not, grouped together for the purpose of the sale.

And talking of auctions and more specifically the one for the "Flesh tone bust" / "Styling head" I mentioned earlier...

Well I didn't win that auction but after more searching I found a "red bust" blonde haired version for auction, I placed a bid and this time I won!

It wasn't until I received it that I discovered it's actually pretty small, the head itself is the same size as a regular Pedigree Sindy doll and in fact whole thing was the exact same size as a Sindy doll's shoulders as I discovered when I placed one on top of the other.

I still had no idea what I had got until several months later when I decided to once again search for information on Quick Change Sindy dolls by taking another look on Google Images - this time I got lucky and discovered several images of  boxed "Quick Change Sindy" dolls...

One look at the boxed dolls and the mystery of the "Sweater" and flesh type heads was solved!!

Google Images

As you can see from these two images, these dolls came with a spare head mounted on a mini bust, some boxes had the bust that with a flesh tone bust and some had the bust in a textured red plastic, there is probably some reason for this, but so far I have been unable to work out what it is.

Google Images

My only guess is that they somehow correspond to the two variants of this doll available at the time; one wearing a purple sparkly outfit, as shown in the photos below and one wearing a silver outfit, they both had a metallic padded jacket as part of their outfit.

Photo found on Google - If it belongs to you, please let me know so I can credit you.

As you can see from the above photo and one below these busts seem to have been designed so that they can be displayed alongside Sindy's furniture in her Dream House or wherever else your doll may live.

Image found on Google, please contact for credit if it belongs to you.

My spare head is packed safely away in one of my many doll filled boxes and so apart from the photographs which were part of the Ebay listing and we're already uploaded as part of this post when I initially wrote and published it a few years back, so I haven't taken any new pictures of it for this post.

I have however found this photograph, also taken several years back, which shows how my Quick Change Sindy looks now...

I was worried that if I wetted her hair to restyle it she may lose the purple streaks, which really is all that's left of her original "played with" look and something she has been displaying for the last 33 years!

It really didn't seem right to remove it - I'm  not a "Purest Doll Collector" well not totally - I can and often am swayed, afterall it's not really a good trait to have when customising dolls that are Vintage or Limited Edition etc

But I digress ...

It seemed a great opportunity for me to experiment with 1/6 clothes and one set in particular which I'd had my eye on for a while - so I brushed out her tangles, redressed her in said outfit and...

Punky Sindy was born!

Follow

Sindy Flock Haired Tester Doll - aka - "The Old Bouffant Headbutt"!!

As this doll is a "Ghost Sindy" I thought she should be a bit Goth looking, but beyond that I really had no ideas of what to do with her, so she ended up becoming little miss experimental instead!

I had already started on her fringe but as the rest of her head was pretty wrecked and Andy aka Bouffant Headbut; a Flickr friend of mine had recently told me his secret - how he flocks his doll customs...

The two things began to gel together in my head and so poor "Ghost Sindy" became my flocking guinea pig, after all I reasoned if it goes wrong, it doesn't really matter as she was pretty knackered as she was so why not see if I could do the Bouffant Headbutt Style flocking on her, or as I like to call it "Give her the old Bouffant Headbut"!

And this is the result:

The corset top is from some stock pieces for Pullip that I bought a few years ago and had no idea what to do with ... I've coupled it with some leather look Little Big Eyes trousers that were left over after my "Alice" custom was finished,  which look fab on her and yay actually fitted perfectly!!

The first thing I tried before I'd even removed the hair was to "tidy up" her make up as the paint from her lips had bled somewhat and is quite distracting ... but after I repainted them, she looked like one of those old ladies who think they still have full lips and end up getting it on their teeth and halfway up their face!!

So I just removed it and left her without ...  now she looks  like she's gotten drunk and smeared it all over the place instead!

Hopefully one day I'll work out a "cure" for this, but to be honest I've gotten so used to her having smeared lipstick that I think it kind of suits her and goes with "her look" quite well!

After a while, I uploaded her picture to Flickr and was so surprised to get so many compliments on her as I was still thinking I should do something else to "finish her off", but after receiving invites to add her to doll groups and the amount of attention she was getting, I decided maybe I should leave her be, after all I could end up ruining her completely.

Now that she's been like this for several years I feel she really is "finished", I love the way she looks right down to her drunken lipstick smears!

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. 

Ice Cream Sindy - A collaboration between HASBRO and CEPPIRRATTI, the Italian toy Company

"Ice cream Sindy" doll, made by Hasbro in late 80's - early 90's, when Hasbro had cooperated with Italian Toy Factory Ceppirratti, who are famous for the Italian exclusive variation of Sindy, called Tanya.

The Ebay Seller that had this doll listed states on the listing: "I've heard that this doll was never exported out of Europe!!

This one is called "Vanilla" apparently... I would have said Choc n nut from her outfit, but meh what do I know?  I can't read Greek.

Her head is marked: "CEPPIRRATTI".

Her back is marked: Hong Kong"

I suspect she was made for the Greek market, due to the packaging being  I suspect she was made for the Greek market, due to the packaging being written in Greek, which is odd when you think about it, an American company collaborates with an Italian one to make Dolls for Greece. written in Greek, which is odd when you think about it, an American company collaborates with an Italian one to make Dolls for Greece.

What I find very interesting about her is, she looks identical to my CEPPIRRATTI doll...only mine has green hair, this is her original colour... I had been unable to find out nothing about her, but I think today I might just have found the answer, which may also explain why her hair is green, if  she is an "Ice Cream flavour" or something similar to that!

Turns out I was right too... she's on this advert for Sindy Ice Cream Dolls:

 

Or watch on Youtube if you prefer, here's the link:  ICE CREAM SINDY (posted by adabd on youtube)

Another odd thing is, the video is of a French advert, so I'm guessing this range of Sindys was sold throughout Europe, not just in Greece as this one's packaging would imply, had I not seen the video!

Anyway, I feel like showing off now so.. Here's my girl...

I found her in a Charity Shop for 20p on 3rd September 2009,  I had no idea who she was, but I was so intrigued by her bright green hair that I couldn't resist her. 

I took the above photos of her and uploaded them to Flickr to ask my "dolly friends" for an I.D, I was sure they'd know who she was. It turned out that they didn't, out of the 15 people who commented on her only one came close, when he said she looked similar to "Tanya" (Italy's version of Sindy)!!

I started to suspect she was an Ice Cream Sindy when I found a listing on Ebay with the "Vanilla" girl's photos, and I knew for definite when I Googled the Ice Cream Sindy Dolls and found the above video on Youtube.

My original search for info was for CEPPIRRATTI  Dolls, and that really didn't bring up very much at all, so she remained a mystery...a lovely edition but a mystery nonetheless, until today that is - 3 years later, still better late than never!


13/03/2014         **** UPDATE ****

I guess these little ladies must be quite rare as a month or two ago I found another, well technically two more, but one is the green haired version, on Ebay, they don't seem to come up for auction very often and when they do I guess they get overlooked as being oddly coloured clone dolls and not actual Sindy Family Members, which to be honest is what I thought my green haired little lady was when I first found her, anyhoo, here's the latest two:

I was very pleased with these new additions as my green haired girl had certainly had her hair cut, whereas the new one definitely has not, in fact it's still in it's original style, her top also looks to be her original outfit; I'm unsure about the skirt though.

As for the orange haired one, well her hair remains uncut - yay! and it's such an awesome colour, this photo really doesn't do it justice, while the outfit is more than likely not her original one, it suits her very well so I'm happy with that too, not sure if I'll be collecting any more of these girls, still never say never, if one comes up that I don't have and really like knowing me I will!!

Anyhoo, that's it for now...

Take care

My Sindy Dolls

As a child I loved the Blonde haired Sindy doll I had and used to play with her most days...I much preferred her to my Twirl and Curl Barbie...Ironically, I lost my Sindy at some time over the years, but still have that Barbie!!

I have been looking for a replacement ever since... and I've been buying too!

My Girls:

American Sindy:

1979 Marx Sindy in original packaging.

I bought this Sindy from a lady in the U.S who had her from childhood, she's in a bit of a bad way as she's been badly stored for a couple of decades and has suffered some glue bleed to her legs due to the attic she was kept in so I'm told...

Unfortunately, she never came with her original clothes or stand.

1979 Marx Sindy

1979 Sweet Dreams Sindy, she has a "basic body" with 'sleepy' eye's ..When she is standing up, her eyes are open, but when you lay her down in her bed, her eyes close.

She'd been stored in an attic and as a consequence she has a lot of marks and issues :( I've done some work on her and she looks much better now, another girl I'll have to take some more photos of!

1979 Marx Sindy


It took some time but I have managed to remove most of the marks and dirt from her body, called by storage in a humid place and also sorted out the glue "bleed" she had on her legs.

She fell over drunk, just as I was snapping the photo!

I have recently got her replacement outfit (dress and shoes) it's the exact one she would  have been wearing when bought... which reminds me I should take some more pics of her soon (any excuse!) 

I have recently bought her a replacement stand, the same as she would have originally had in clear plastic, so now she is once again complete!

The Sindy De Milo!

1984 Cut and Style Sindy

I was gutted when I got her from evil ebay ... the seller lied on the listing ... she had arms then tho' but they were chewed to hell ... the fingies had been eaten???

That  "Make up" some kid penciled onto her, the body is an awesome shape too lol but she has no back piece... just a big gaping hole where it should be ... :( 

                   Listing photo

I thought about transferring her pretty head onto another body, but her grow hair is secured inside her body and thread through into a hole in the middle of her head... when I removed it,  she was left with a gaping hole in her head which I could fill I guess with hair but it's gonna need quite a lot!
Unless I take it out and then glue it back inside again but I really like her body shape... and her belly button!

Oh the dilemma!

I posted her on Flickr when I first recieved her and asked my friends for help, one suggested I use arms from a clone doll while I figure out what else o do, so I did only they are pretty puny looking arms (all I had from a very very cheap clone) but they look okish and with something long on them it wouldn't show...

I guess I'll never have her back as she should be so I could just make her Ooak and yes thanks for the idea about the hair but what's inside her head is plenty enuff to fill the gap so I'll just glue it in...

The back will be a bit harder to fathom tho' as Simon's idea is great but I love the shape of her waist and would like to show it off so I'm gonna have to think about this pretty hard...

I have been looking on ebay for arms too but meh no luck so far :( anyhoo I'll defo show her off again when I've worked out what can be done to her. Right now she remains a backless work in progress!

Sale photo

Sale photo of 7 Sindys I bought as do-her-uppers, when I posted this pic' on Flickr I discovered that the one on the far right (pink haired) is a Sindy Quick Change doll from 1982.

I found an Ebay listing for a boxed one, which was completed and sold for £89.99! Here's the photograph from that listing for reference: 

 She comes with 3 colour change pens and a remover pen for "dying" her hair, and a spare head on a stand, possibly for trying out make up on, or keeping as is for when you want her to look a bit more "norm"!

Anyhoo, back to my girl, apart from the slightly fuzzy ends, her hair was in excellent condition and I loved the purple parts too, I found it quite inspiring so I se to work hunting out a suitable outfi for her to wear.

And behold, "Purple Punky Sindy" was born! I have to admit I am so in love with the way she looks that this is now her permanent outfit..

She's wearing a 1/16th outfit (I think it's by Dragonforce) and "blythe boots"... as you can see the arms are a little long, but they are held in place with tiny safety pins so normal style arms should fit fine or as close as dam it also... this Sindy doesn't have any fingers anyway!


The shorts fit perfectly and are not too baggy in places (just enough for you to be able to get them on and off without a struggle) and the tights actually fit better than regular Sindy/Barbie ones do (no baggyness at the back etc) they also are not so thin that they rip when being put on/taken off!


So all in all I'd say this size outfit is ideal for Sindy and yay looks pretty awesome too! So I'll definately be buying some more 1/6th outfits for my creations when I'm again inspired :)

Reproduction Sindys:

BEA 1970s Cabin Crew Uniform:- Sindy is wearing a replica of the uniform that was introduced just before the merger of the British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). It became the first uniform of the newly-created British Airways. The Original uniform was worn from 1972 too 1977 and the stewardesses had a choice of red, white and blue blouses to allow them to express their individuality.


BOAC 1950s Cabin Crew "Paper Dress"
uniform:-Sindy is at the height of Fashion in this replica of the paper shift dress, which was worn by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) stewardesses in 1967 on flights between New York and the Caribbean. The dress had to be cut to 3 inches above the knee, which was in accordance with uniform s

tandards and the look was completed with beaded pumps and a flower in the hair, which Sindy is modelling






No more Brokeback Mountain for this Tonto!


He's found himself a lovely lady and is off to see the World, just as soon as he can work out how to get her out of the box!
1950s BEA Cabin Crew In Uniform :- Sindy Looks Stylish wearing the British European Airways (BEA) Uniform Introduced in 1954 and worn until 1960. With the nipped-in waist of the jacket & pleat at the back of the skirt, it reflects the couture fashion silhouette of the 1950's.


Made for British Airways
Each Doll is Brand New and Boxed
The Dolls are as follows
.
All these dolls feature the Sindy CLASSIC head specially created to achieve the original Vintage Sindy Look.

BOAC 1960's Cabin Crew Uniform:- This Stylish uniform , modelled by Sindy, was worn by Stewardesses on British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) worldwide routes from 1952 to 1969. Sindy is also wearing the latest style hat issued in 1966. Again you get one blonde and one brunette doll.

Brazilian Sindy:

Susi -The Brazilian Version Of Sindy 

Made by Estrela for the Brazilian market... this little lady comes with tribal tattoo (in white) well kinda tribal ... it's the logo at the front of the box done like a tat' and this weird little gadet for twirling her and your hair as well as spiral hair clips for you to wear... and she's mine..."ALL MINE"!!!

                        Vintage restoration / experimental Goth Sindy:

                                                   Sindy Flock Haired Tester Doll!

I'd already started on her fringe as she's a "Ghost Sindy" I thought she should be a bit Goth but as the rest of her head was pretty wrecked an not a good candidate for a re root so I thought I'd see if I could do the "Bouffant Headbutt Style" flocking on it! 

After which I whacked on a pair of L.B.E black "Patent leather" trousers and a Pullip corset and she had her new outfit to go with her new hairdo!

"Tonight Matthew, Sindy is going to be.... Lily Allen!!"

The Sindy on the left was half rerooted at the time of this photo, she's since been completed, see hard headed Sindy below comparison pictures..

"I wanna go over there...."


Ghetto Sindy regrets agreeing to baby sit her little sis' when she wants to go out cruising the neighbourhood!


Lol she's a Slipknot fan only she's pretending to be all gangsta 'cos she fancies one of the boys who hangs on on the end of the street!


Facially she's near on exactly Sindy and she has the added bonus of having articulated limbs... so great to pose and 'cos of her hand shape she can actually hold onto things...like Sindy's fingers in this shot! lol she's not realy a Sindy more of a Zodiac Toys

Sindy Re-Roots:

Before & After Sindy re-root...

Just finished and my finger hurts :(

Sorry the "after" shot is a bit hazy I can't seem to take photo's for toffee today anyhoo, you get the gist!!

replacement hair is from a barbie Hair Grow refill ... Stolen!!

Pedigree Sindy re-root in Fairy's Breath Nylon

Finally got the rest of the hair needed yesterday so I was busy finishing this little lady off last night!

Gave here some pink lipgloss too ... shame the pic's a bit blurrey tho' sorry guys but this was the best snap I could manage hahaha

Hasbro "Smirky" Sindy!

Head re-rooted in Pillarbox Red Saran, lips & Eyebrows repainted. I finished this little girl a month or two ago (finally!) but have only just got around to photographing her and showing her off! I've just realised she still needs a bit of work as she has a faint "face line" which I'll have to either remove or bring the hair line down a little...hmmm

Clones and other "Family" Members:

Camay Tammy Clone - Moved in today!

I just love the pattern on her dress too it's so 50's with a touch of christmas too!!

Tammy's First close up!!

She's in perfect condition, no crazy chops to her hair or bitten toes or hands either!

Jeez I do believe I'm in love!!

Vintage Zodiac Jointed doll 

Debenhams "Sindy"