🔮 Hazel Toffee Doll 🔮

This adorable little lady is a Toffee Doll called "Hazel" from the first line of these dolls introduced  in 2009 by Huckleberry Toys, the dolls were designed by Riri Fukuju.
Riri Fukuju also designs and sells other dolls, which you can view on her website here:    http://www.cuddleafluffy.com/  details of her blog can also be found on that site.  

 Toffee dolls are a very different type of doll, as they are a kind of half "Doll" half  Teddy "Bear".  As you can see from the "nude" images of Hazel below:

Photo From Toffee Dolls Website

They have faces and hands that are made of  Polyurethane plastic and large glass eyes. 
Their bodies are hand sewn from fabric as are their clothes, and their hair is also applied by hand. 
They are articulated in the same way old fashioned Teddy Bears are; at the neck, shoulders and hips; like Teddies their legs cannot be bent from the knees, neither can their arms move at the elbows.
The dolls are 12 inches high, each one in the series is Limited Edition, the first wave of these dolls had a Limited amount of 1,000 dolls in each design.
The each one comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, showing which number they are in the batch of 1,000 and a backdrop insert in her box.

Here's what Hazel looks like in her box:

Photo From Toffee Dolls Website

They come with a stand and an outfit (this can be removed and swapped which other Toffee Dolls, if you have more than one, that is!).

Hazel is wears a "Gothic" Inspired outfit; dress patterned with Bat silhouettes  little lace up shoes decorated with white pearls, arm warmers and  Bat shaped Wings, she also has a cute little bat shaped pendant on her necklace..

Photo from Toffee Dolls Website

Each  doll  in this series has a completely different personality as evidenced by their outfit and each come in a  hand made and decorated box which contains a "backdrop" of the doll's own particular "Environment" which is great for posing them against and taking photos, their faces are also hand painted.

Image from Toffee Doll Website

This is "Hazel's Story": "The ominous night holds untold secrets in its shadows in between the moonlight and fog. Hazel is a creature of the night and she loves to be mischievous."

Photo from Toffee Dolls Website

Here's how she looks posed against it.

It is worth mentioning, that as each of these dolls is hand crafted, they do not always come out of the production room identical, some have different coloured fabrics used for their costumes and well as their bodies, than shown in the pictures.

Photo from Toffee Dolls Website

I really love her fluffy little cat-ears, and those beautiful cat like piercing eyes of hers, I also love her hair colour and the style of it, and the fact that her outfit is mostly purple and black, I'm a Goth at heart, and she suits my mood most days... I also have a thing about Bats and Cats, so it's not hard to see how she could be a winner in my book!
I love how they decided that the best background art for Hazel would be a fog shrouded street, with rows of Victorian style houses, lit by old fashioned gas lamps, it's just the perfect setting for any self-respecting little Vampire of undetermined age to prowl around looking for a Midnight snack!

Her box matches the fabric of her dress, as does her little bat pendant, hanging around her neck, bless!

While I was looking at listings for Hazel on Ebay, I found a listing where the seller had written a couple of sentences about the doll they were selling and the First time any Toffee Doll was sold anywhere, I found this very interesting, as I never knew the doll had been sold as a "way to test the market", so I decided to copy and paste it below: 

"The very first one premiered at the Disney World Doll and Teddy Bear show where a prototype of the doll was auctioned. She went for well over $1,000. I was not the lucky winner- I had to drop out of the bidding".

Anyway, that's about all I can say about Hazel for now, but not Toffee Dolls... Stay Tuned for my next post, when I'll tell you all about "Sakura"!

♪ Ozzy Osbourne Bark Moon Limited Edition Doll ♫

"From Art Asylum comes this collectible doll in the Ozzy Osbourne toy-line!"

The package has a press for demo section cut away, so you can try before you buy.

The figure is a limited edition, with 50000 made and distributed for sale, that's actually quite large for a limited run!

The figure stands,18 inches tall, and is highly collectible, due in part to it's limited status  but also due to the quality of the detail on the figure's face, outfit and the box as well!

When pressed the button plays a remixed version of  the song, "Bark At The Moon."

The back of the box contains the following information:

"In 1983 Ozzy Osbourne released "Bark at the Moon". This original dynamic album rocked the world and hit double platinum sales."

In case you are wondering, "Double Platinum Record Sales, means, 2 Million copies of this Album were sold!

 I also love the fact that under the title: "Inmates" it lists the following information:-

 "Sculpted by Paul Komoda and Jose Rodriguez based on the make-up and special effects of Greg Cannom. Designed in conjunction with Art Asylum."

I have to say, I love that touch, so many times when I have held dolls and figures in my collection, I have wondered who the Sculptor and Designers were and whether they minded being never being associated with the figures and remaining unknown to the people who love and collect the items they had such a large part in the creation of!

The figure was released in 1999 by Fun 4 All Collectibles.

 Come to think of it, I really have to find out what else they've produced as if this one is an idea of the quality to expect from this company, they will definitely be worth checking out!

This photo's rights belong to
killen-enterprises, who is currently offering this item for sale on Ebay.

(Please note, the Seller's name when clicked provides a link to their Ebay listing for this item).

The figure has been sculpted to resemble the cover of Ozzy' 1983 "bark at the Moon" album cover sleeve, which you can compare with the images of that cover, and the back cover's artwork, below :

Photo found on Google Images.

Ok, so these are CD Cover pictures, that's only because it would be a pain for me to take out my vinyl  photograph it, then upload it for the purpose of this post, not that I really think that matters as the artwork is exactly the same in both cases!

This  promo photo, shows make up better...

Photo Found on Google Images.

The weird thing about this figure, is I have always found the Ozzy make up and cover for this album, more miss than hit... not only does it feel very contrived to me, but the make up job is really not very good...

I mean, Presumably he is a werewolf, judging by the fur and the name of the album, back photo pose... but what then, has happened to his nose, and why do I always think Nosferatu when I see it?

Anyway that doesn't matter because this figure is just so cool, I mean just look this figure, the attention to detail is exquisite, the costume he's wearing is spot on, the packaging looks great and is very informative, giving a history of the character / inspiration for the figure as well as the songs lyrics and information about the figure itself.

I have a soft spot for Werewolves, always have had, since my childhood, and I guess that is part of the reason why this figure appeals to me... also, I really love the detail on his hands, the pose they are holding is to my mind, perfect.

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?!!

Betty - Downs Syndrome Doll - Reactions from Doll Collectors on Multiply

I think I've already posted about this doll, but if I did I certainly didn't post the reactions it got from My Dolls More Doll Buddies, so here it is from there.

Btw, I may have several double posts on here, if I do I'm sorry but it's due to my importing every thing from Multiply onto my Blog as the Social Networking part of Multiply was being closed, I wanted to be able to save all my posts / uploads and put them somewhere safe, hence the merge and possibility of double posting ho hum, anyhoo, if you haven't seen this little cutie before, or you have but you'd like to read more reactions to the doll, read on...

carnice05 wrote on May 18, '09
she is sweet, a picture of innocence, you get all sorts of dolls now, colour, race gender, I would welcome her into society, great for young people to recognise her type of disability as an individual, and not all classed the same. when and where I was growing up, kids in wheelchairs, learning disabilities  down syndrome, regardless of their disability were classed as ' spastic' ps.. does bratz dolls teach little girls to become little bratz,
dollectabledonna wrote on May 18, '09
Good concept, But i think they could have made her look a bit better without her tongue hanging out, I was brought up with disability in my family and think yes its great to educate but the best way to do that is not to point out the differences but to teach that everyone is individual , dolls are great but only if they reflect the whole ,
lilacmermaid wrote on May 18, '09
I have a real love for downs syndrome children and adults, i think it's good to have all kinds of dolls but personally i think they could have done a better job, the eyes and mouth are wrong for me. When i remember the little girl that i fell in love with one summer on holiday when she was camped near to us was her lovely eyes, without the bags shown here and here gorgeous smile without the tongue showing. They have however done a good job on the feet which are cute just like any babies feet are, my tenpenneth, lol, Janet.x
weebairns wrote on May 18, '09
Being the mother of a child with Asperges Syndrome, my youngest son James has it, (its a mild form of autism), I totally agree that anyone with a disability should be helped to see although they may be a little different, they have the same rights as everyone else, so think these dolls could help, but I agree that the face could have been modelled better. Great idea though
juliejunejulie wrote on May 18, '09, edited on May 18, '09
She is hideous. The idea is good but the doll is a beast, the maker could have done a bit more research as this is a Downs clown. My friends Girl Fay Looked nothing like this, sadly she passed away at 18mths as she had a heart problem.
kitschartherb wrote on May 18, '09
I think she's pretty cute too...I do have a problem with the tongue, and you'd think a doctor who treats such children would have designed the face a little better...I find people with down's syndrome are more often than not always happy and smiling and I think that should have been portrayed in the doll....the tongue and the small ears is what's upsetting parents mostly...but I think maybe a few of these dolls in playgroups etc would go a long way to educating young "able bodied" children that we are not all born the same and there is a place for everyone in society regardless of physical differences...

You're right John, they used to say that when I was young too and it's never sat too well with me I could never understand why when they were just people who cant do some things the same as me...my cousin's boy had down's (before my time) but I'm told by everyone who knew him that he was such a happy and contented little boy and a joy to be around...I think that aspect more than any other is what should have been portrayed in these dolls

Boy doll of John's I have to find!

I fell in love with this little guy as soon as I saw him, sadly so did most of the other women in the Doll Group!

I have no idea how he does it but John has managed to find a few more, so a couple of the girls are now lucky owners of him too!

Sadly, I wasn't among them, and now my quest begins to find this boy, and anything else about him I can. Having an I.D for him would make finding one for myself so much easier, so if any of you have any info... please share with poor old Herbie, Thank you!

I have to find this boy doll he's gorgeous!!

Gross Q - Kewpie with Skeleton & Organs showing Anatomically correct ( I think so anyway!) Phone Charm

Images from www.strapyaworld.com

Ever wanted to know what's inside a Kewpie? lol 

I fell in love with this little guy as soon as I saw him, as the Strapya World website was the only place I'd seen him, and had shown up as being "Out of stock" when I tried to purchase him, I decided to email them and find out when they'd be having a new shipment of stock in.

Sadly, Kosuke Fujii from Strapya World  mailed me to say this is product is discontinued *sob*

So.... If anyone has one of these and wants to sell it ... please Message me with details, I'd love to on this little cutie and would happily re-home him for you!  :D


**Blog Update**

Just found the crazy Advert for it too lol all in Japanese tho' but that don't matter it's cool!!

...Will have to post again when I can upload it :( I've just spent the best part of an hour trying too! Ah well can't be helped.

Midnight Magic Dolls

Hmmm... what can I say? as a competitor to MH or even a cheaper alternative these girls don't come close, I'm sure if one was given as a gift instead of a Monster High doll that was expected or even begged for, these girls just wouldn't cut it at all.... 

But...as a cheaper alternative with similar proportions for Custom work or as Practise dolls, I reckon these girls would be pretty good.... now I'm just hoping we get them in the shops over here as the import costs via ebay make them roughly the same price, and in some cases dearer than going to Argos and buying the real thing, and let's be honest, why buy one of these if you could buy the real thing for the same money or cheaper??

That said, I'm very interested in them, I'd love to be able to hold one out the box and see how she compares, and as they don't have all the "themed" face and body art of Operetta or Frankie Stein they are pretty much a blank canvas.

The only thing I do find weird is some of the choices made in terms of skin tone, it seems to me that going from left to right (see pic below), the skin tones are made to resemble Ghoulia, Lagoona, Draculaura & Frankie Stein.

                             Dolls names are (left to right) Pippa, Mila, Adele & Kayley.

Boxed Pippa

Ok so I get it that she's most likely supposed to be a zombie, but why is her skin such a dark shade of grey, it looks crazy!

Back of Pippa's Box

I have to admit, I do really like the boxes, the shape of them and the colours of this one especially.

Boxed Kayley

Back of Kayley's Box

Boxed Mila

Back of Mila's Box

Adele

Back of Adele's Box

(Images of boxed dolls, found on Ebay)

The writing on the back of the boxes gives the "story" behind the dolls and reads as follows:

"Midnight Magic day & Night - The Midnight Magic saga begins in the small town of Johnsville, in Nowhere, USA.  

It is June and a very special event is taking place for four intelligent, daring young ladies. Audra, Melanie, Katie and Patty are graduating from grade school and are going to be attending Park View High School in the Fall. 

The girls have been best friends since Kindergarten and are very excited to be graduating and attending High School. Melanie, the leader of the group suggests that they all take a Summer School class in order to get a jumpstart on their studies and to get acclimated to High School classes as quickly as possible.  

They all have a high aptitude in Science and so they enrol in a Chemistry Class.  It is very unusual for Freshmen to be taking this type of advanced class but the girls tested so well that the instructor decided to make an exception. 

The instructor of the class is the brilliant but odd Professor Sparks. The girls are very hard workers and volunteer for extra work with the Professor for extra credit. 

The Professor is working on a number of different projects and being absent minded he leaves one of his experiments in the school laboratory.  

Patty, the most curious of the four decides to take a sip of the concoction that the Professor has  left out.  She also convinces Audra, Melanie and Katie to take a sip as well. 

The concoction turns out to be a formula that is supposed to make your skin soft and smooth, instead the formula transforms the girls, totally changing their looks and giving each one a supernatural power.

 This transformation takes place every night at Midnight, however it only lasts until dawn.

                                                    Audra becomes Adele.
                                                    Melanie transforms into Mila.
                                                    Katie becomes Kayley.
                                                    Patty transforms into Pippa."
                                                
                                                   www.midnight-magic.com

I've had a look around the website, address above, but it appears to still be under construction, not all the links work, sadly.

                                   Here's a few pictures I've taken from there...

Don't quote me on this but my guess is Pippa is based on Ghoulia Yelps, Mila on Lagoona, Adele on Draculaura & Kayley on Clawdeen. I have no idea what the dumbbells clipart is about, but I had to chuckle at the owl and cat clip art on this site, Ghoulia & Clawdeen references anyone?!

Adele

Coffin lockers...hmmm now where have I seen them before?!

Kayley

Oh a "brainy" one, wow now that's original!

Mila

Dumbbells and Angel's wings ok, you've got me there! 

I suspect the wings might be a reference to C.A Cupid, but the dumbbells? Not a clue.

      

It's probably because they seem to have taken "inspiration" from several of the Monster High Dolls, and made dolls to look very similar to specific ones, but when it comes to "personality" from what I can gather from the website's doll pages, they seem to have mixed and matched aspects of different Monster High dolls and combined them to make each doll's "story"

As for what the individual "stories" are and which doll has which specific "Supernatural power" (possibly as evidenced by her appearance?) I have no idea as this area of the Website is also unavailable due to yet another "dead link" on the site.

Sadly the link to view Pippa doesn't work at present, so I could only get screenshots of three of the dolls.

From the research I've been doing on other sites, these dolls seem to have the same body size, shape and articulation, or as close as damn it, to the Monster High Dolls, although they are slightly taller. their feet slightly wider and their backs have a deeper curve.

These dolls are currently being sold in stores such as Target & Dollar Store and Walmart in the US for $5.00 each!

I gather that the price is somewhat consistent with the quality of the dolls, that said, they are not flimsy and easily broken as you might expect for the price, although this may be because I have yet to here how they hold up to play and they are definitely much prettier than the "Gothic Angels" Monster High Clones (if you can really call them that!) on the market.

As soon as they become available in the UK (without the shipping costs) I'll definitely get one or a few to customise!

Perfect Pair Tomy & Kelly Dolls - Exclusive to David's Bridal

Doing my usual "search for this, find something else, get side-tracked" routine on the internet, I came across this pair of seriously adorable Tomy & Kelly Dolls.

Normally I'm not really a fan of these dolls, but man, this little couple are adorable!

Tomy's afro is just perfect, I've never seen these two as African - American dolls before and boy am I surprised how much it suits them!

I think I've also found a neat thing to do with the ones I have in my "victims box"!

 Although I have no idea how to make Tomy's hair so dam perfect!!

I guess you want to see what I'm raving about now huh? Well ok then...

More Wishlist Toys or If only I had £350 to spend on a doll :(

1960's Pedigree Red Head Mitzi Doll - Sindy Friend

A few years ago I stumbled upon this doll online quite by accident, while trying to get an I.D for a Sindy I'd gotten in a bulk buy of dolls, and it was love at first sight!

 What I didn't realise when I began my search for her is that she is stupidly rare and as a result, everyone and their mother's are also searching for her... which also means if found , she has an even stupider price tag attached to her *sigh*

I'd happily settle for just the head, as I'm not a collector who has to have everything, I don't want her because she is rare, or will make me money later on, I just collect the things that appeal to me, so quite often I pass up on other "Sindy Family Members & Friends" in favour of a valueless clone doll that I think I can make something of, but this girl, I just want because I've fallen under her spell!!

Dream Date Outfit (complete with beret) - Original "out of box wear"

http://www.oursindymuseum.com/196768sindysnewfriends.htm

So what is it tat makes her so rare & sought after? In a nutshell, there were less made, why? I have no idea, as to me she as such a beautiful face and I think if I'd have been bought one as a child instead of a Sindy, I'd have been just as happy, if not happier!

I suspect the Blonde version of this doll is much rarer as in the last 5 years, I have only ever seen three Red Head Mitzi dolls  come up for sale on Ebay, but not a single Blonde one!

So what is the appeal? For me, it's mostly the awesome colour of her hair, it's not often you find dolls with hair so bright from that era, and then there's that face, it's so different to the other "teenage" dolls of the time,so beautifully sculpted and when dressed, she really does have an air of "chic" about her which is hard to define but very easy to see!

And so to her "story":

Mitzi arrived from France in 1968 another addition to the ever increasing Sindy Set.
Available with either blonde or striking flame red hair, Mitzi had massive blue eyes and was given a basic Sindy body, with no markings.  Being the same size as Sindy she could share Sindy's ever increasing stylish wardrobe.
.

When sold she came in a cardboard box with with an Eiffel Tower charm and a free Dream Date outfit (see above photo) Below is the Blonde version of Mitzi in her original Dream Date Outfit, posed beside her box.

If this image belongs to you, please let me know so I can credit you.

While she has the exact same face as the Flame Haired version, and is most likely much rarer, I just don't like her as much as the Redhead, that hair colour really seems to make something in Mitzi's face just ping out!

Finally though, one has come up on Ebay (pictures below), sadly well out of my price range, as although I am a "collector" and I would add her to my collection, I'm not THAT desperate to have her to complete my collection or whatever!

The photo above is a beautiful flame haired Mitzi which has recently come up on Ebay, I think she may have been given a slight haircut at some point, although the seller doesn't mention this and it could just be the way her hair is "styled", but it does look at little shorter than it should be when compared to the Mitzi in picture 1.

  The seller wants £350.00 for her (Buy It Now) and has refused two offers already, so I guess it's £350.00 or nothing, but that does beggar the question, why put open to offers on the listing? Anyhoo, if you have £350.00 and you want to buy her, here's the link:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Rare-1960s-Sindy-MITZI-Doll-Flame-Red-Hair-/170936236184?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D130792578473%26ps%3D54

*******       05/12/2012 -     *********        UPDATE ON EBAY LISTING                   *******

I was just reading back over this post, and I thought "Hmmm, I wonder if she sold?" so I followed the link and went to take a peek.

It turns out she didn't!  And it seems I am not the only person who wanted her but NOT for that price!

I have to say that given the financial climate at present, and it being so close to Christmas too, I am pretty surprised that the seller turned down 3 offers, but then again I of course have no way of knowing how much each of those offers were for! 

While I was cropping my screen shot, I noticed the Seller had relisted, so I went back and checked out that  listing...

Same thing, only one offer this time though, but I can't help thinking, that out of a total of 4 offers made, one of them must have come close to an acceptable price surely? And if not and if £350.00 is the only price the seller is willing to accept, then why not make the listing a Buy It Now or don't check the "Make me an Offer" box while listing!

This to me seems to sum up "The Curse of Mitzi" as I like to call it... She hardly ever comes up at auction, so when she does the Seller can pretty much set the price...any price, and more often than not, there is always someone with a shedful of cash who's more than happy to pay it.

The thing is most sellers are savvy to this and so they start the bidding much lower, and set a reserve, this makes loads of people sit up and think, "I can't believe that price, or that I can be the only one who's seem this listing.... Sod it, I'm going for it" and place a bid...

Then the fun really starts, as if a bidder has been the highest bidder on an auction that's ending soon, or even for a few days, they are more than likely to get into a bidding war, with the next person who bids, and the next etc, thereby pushing the price right up, as there is something very addictive about beating the person who has just tried to "gazump" you after you've been bidding on an item for several days and been the highest bidder for at least part of that time!

In this way, I have seen a Mitzi sell for over £500.00, who certainly wasn't in as good shape as this lovely lady!

Bid Wars are really what every seller wants on Ebay, otherwise every item would be down as a Buy It Now listing!

Setting a Reserve safeguards the seller in this situation, as if the item does not reach the amount they want at the end of the auction, it remains unsold. This also encourages bidders to save that seller and hope they re-list and in some cases to even bid more generously next time!

I've seen this time and time again with Mitzi, which is why I know I will sadly never own one, but I do have plans to make myself a Custom Girl as close to her as possible, and who knows, maybe one day I'll be in a Charity Shop and I won't believe my luck after rooting about in the toy bin and coming up with one!

Oh well, a girl can dream a?!!