No joke, that's legit her name.
Bunnie Candie...that's arguably the dumbest one yet. I think it sounds like a euphemism for rabbit turds, and another lady on Failbook says it sounds like a stripper's name! Not to mention that Bunnie looks just like Cara Raelean and Stella Rae, but that's beside the point. I love dolly names...and when you have as many as I do then you see repeats. Commonly used names like Jane, Sally, and Susie pop up a lot, and today I'm going to TRY to count how many Susies I've heard of. I own at least three myself. I'm gonna try to go in chronological order.
SUSIE WALKER
COMPANY: Reliable
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1954-1957
I presume that this Susie was a rival to the then-popular Saucy Walker. The gimmick is the same, the material is the same, and the dolls even look a bit alike in the face. Reliable often did that, did copies of other dolls that were good sellers. Heck, all companies did that, and still do! This one's got a sweet face, but some of the others I've seen look a little possessed.
SUZY WALKER TAKES A TRIP
COMPANY: Unknown
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1950s or 60s
I wasn't able to find much information on this doll other than a couple'a pictures and a listing each on eBay and on Etsy. From what I can tell Suzy is a small hard plastic walker with sleep eyes and a cute outfit. Her eyes freak me out a little, but this one pictured has hair to die for.
SUZY PLAYPAL
COMPANY: Ideal
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1959-1960
SUSIE WALKER
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1954-1957
I presume that this Susie was a rival to the then-popular Saucy Walker. The gimmick is the same, the material is the same, and the dolls even look a bit alike in the face. Reliable often did that, did copies of other dolls that were good sellers. Heck, all companies did that, and still do! This one's got a sweet face, but some of the others I've seen look a little possessed.
SUZY WALKER TAKES A TRIP
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1950s or 60s
I wasn't able to find much information on this doll other than a couple'a pictures and a listing each on eBay and on Etsy. From what I can tell Suzy is a small hard plastic walker with sleep eyes and a cute outfit. Her eyes freak me out a little, but this one pictured has hair to die for.
SUZY PLAYPAL
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1959-1960
A member of the Patti Playpal family, Suzy is a big doll, at 28 inches. She's my favorite of the Playpal bunch because she has a sweet little face. Alas, I have no room! With the entry of my animals to Casa Pizarro I've had to put away most of the dolls I do have, thanks to Tommy's lousy little nails. But Suzy Playpal is still a favorite of mine.
SUZY CUTE
SUZY CUTE
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1964
I think Suzy Cute was one of the first baby dolls I reviewed in full. I haven't done much with her since, but she's still loved and valued. I admit that Suzy's catchy commercial was what gave me the gimmies. Louis Armstrong was in it, for crying out loud! I freaking love Louis Armstrong. And true to her name, Suzy is pretty cute. I love her smile, with her little baby teeth showing. It's also worth noting that Suzy Cute's name is a play on "Susie-Q." I counted plenty of dolls with that moniker, far more than could be listed here.
SUSIE SAD-EYES
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1960s and 70s
I found my other Susie Sad-Eyes! She was on my roll-top desk with my ball-jointed dolls...and a large accumulation of other crap. This Susie is pretty much "what you see is what you get." She's a hollow plastic doll with big sad eyes and overall serious expressions, and some of 'em add to the drama with sallow circles under their eyes. Susie Sad-Eyes goes by many other names, some of which incorporate the name "Susie" and some of which do not, but for the most part she's the same doll.
SUSIE SCRIBBLES
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1987
This Susie could write and draw, though being a doll, her work does indeed look like the scribbles of a young child. Thank goodness she writes on paper, not in books or on the wall. My sister drew on her bedroom wall one time, and I never did find out what possessed her to do such a thing. We'd been told from the word "go" NOT to draw on walls. Oh nelly, did my sister get a spanking for that one! But Susie Scribbles is a good girl. Give her some paper, some fresh batteries, and her cassette tape, and she's good to go.
SO SURPRISED SUZIE
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1990-1991
This Suzie is...kinda the poster child for the Baby Face line, and she's also the easiest of the Baby Face dolls to find. Never mind, I was glad of that, as it meant it was easier to replace my childhood friend. All of the Baby Face dolls had kid-friendly, easy to remember names, stuff like Natalie, Sarah, Louise, Brooke, stuff like that. There was a Sally in the mix too, and I may have to do a post like this for the Sally dolls that I know. But of all my Susies, and of all my dolls in general, Suzie is...well, I won't say she's the absolute biggest character, but she's in the running.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Talk to the hand. Maybe she should've been So Sassy Suzie instead of So Surprised Suzie.
SURPRISE HAT SUSIE
COMPANY: Tyco
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1995
Susie falls under the "glitzy toddler doll" category and got a brief mention in a recent post. Her gimmick is simple and pretty cute: under her nineties-style hat she conceals hair in one of four color combinations, so she's sort of like a blind box before blind boxes came into style. Otherwise Susie is pretty basic, with five rotating joints and an outfit that...I guess was in style in 1995. I've always been about as stylish as a railroad tie, so I wouldn't know.
SUSIE
SURPRISE HAT SUSIE
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1995
Susie falls under the "glitzy toddler doll" category and got a brief mention in a recent post. Her gimmick is simple and pretty cute: under her nineties-style hat she conceals hair in one of four color combinations, so she's sort of like a blind box before blind boxes came into style. Otherwise Susie is pretty basic, with five rotating joints and an outfit that...I guess was in style in 1995. I've always been about as stylish as a railroad tie, so I wouldn't know.
SUSIE
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2003-present day
Yep, this one's just plain Susie. I THINK Susie is still being made! This Susie is Barbie-sized and has a drop-dead gorgeous face. I loved this doll from the minute I saw her in Haute Doll, years and years ago. Susie is Barbie-sized but is a smidge slimmer and...at the time she had more joints than Barbie, though I think the Made to Move bunch could give her a run for her money. I freaking love this doll, though.
SUSIE SOFT SOUNDS
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1979
This doll's smaller sister recently popped into my "weird dolls" post, though I don't think she's that weird. Like Baby Soft Sounds Susie makes baby noises, and if what I've read is true then she's motion-activated...kinda like some of the obnoxious decorations my family had at Halloween and at Christmas. You could turn 'em off, and you could even take out the batteries, but from time to time they'd still go off. That gave us quite a turn more than once, especially when the item went off at night. Same sort of thing with this Susie.
SUZY SNAPSHOT
COMPANY: Galoob
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1991
Good ol' Galoob! Suzy Snapshot belongs soundly in the glitzy toddler doll category, but I didn't think to take screenshots of her commercial until after I'd put that post up. Funny, I remembered to screenshot Twist 'n' Style Tiffany's commercial, but not Suzy Snapshot's. Anyway, Suzy is attached to a little camera, and as the lens is "focused" she can change the positions of her arms and upper body, not terribly unlike Fashion Photo Barbie and her buddies. Unlike the other glitzy toddler dolls that I've seen, I think Suzy was legit supposed to be a child model; the others, I'm fairly certain, are just playing dress-up. Or that's the way I choose to look at it.
SUSIE STRETCH
COMPANY: Irwin Toys,
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1995
This Suzie reminds me of a semi-life-sized Betty Spaghetty. She had long arms and legs that could stretch until the doll's overall height was about five feet. She also had a sleeping and an awake face, she was good for cuddles, and that's...about it on a stick. I'd have liked her; I love things that can stretch.
This Suzie reminds me of a semi-life-sized Betty Spaghetty. She had long arms and legs that could stretch until the doll's overall height was about five feet. She also had a sleeping and an awake face, she was good for cuddles, and that's...about it on a stick. I'd have liked her; I love things that can stretch.
SUSI
COMPANY: Estrela
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1966-current day
From what I've read Susi is alive and well in her home country of Brazil. Having looked at pictures of the vintage doll, I figure that she's based either off Ideal's Tammy, Pedigree's Sindy, or both because she looks a lot like both of 'em. She doesn't now, LOL! But indeed, the original Susi was indeed modelled after Tammy, only gaining inset eyes in 1969. I usually like dolls with inset eyes, but in this case I prefer the painted eyes, as the inset eyes are a bit large for Susi's head. Still, a fifty-nine-year run is not to be sneezed at in the doll world. A run that length puts Susi in a league with Barbie and Licca-chan.
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1966-current day
From what I've read Susi is alive and well in her home country of Brazil. Having looked at pictures of the vintage doll, I figure that she's based either off Ideal's Tammy, Pedigree's Sindy, or both because she looks a lot like both of 'em. She doesn't now, LOL! But indeed, the original Susi was indeed modelled after Tammy, only gaining inset eyes in 1969. I usually like dolls with inset eyes, but in this case I prefer the painted eyes, as the inset eyes are a bit large for Susi's head. Still, a fifty-nine-year run is not to be sneezed at in the doll world. A run that length puts Susi in a league with Barbie and Licca-chan.
SUSIE SO SMART
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2001
This Susie was similar to Julie (1980s) and Amazing Amy and her bunch in that she could interact with her toys. If she said she was hungry, you gave her her cookie. If she was thirsty, she wanted her sippy cup. And if she was in the mood to make some noise she had a harmonica. A harmonica, of all things! The appropriate noises accompanied all three accessories...and as far as I know that's the extent of it. Susie wasn't as verbose as Julie or Amy, but she did enuff to keep one occupied.
SUSIE SOUR STRAW
COMPANY: the one and only MGA Entertainment
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2024-present day
This young lady is one of the Yummiland Lip Gloss dolls that's currently in stores. These are not to be confused with THIS Yummi-Land, yet another MGA doll...and come to think of it, my old Yummi-Land doll has a pet named Susie! I like these, with their bright colors and translucent hair. As many of these dolls as there are a Susie of some variant was inevitable, but at least she's cute. I love green and pink together. And speaking of Yummi-Land...
SUSIE STRAWBELLA
COMPANY: MGA Entertainment again!
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2006-2008
Susie was one of the debut Soda Pop Girls. Remember that my Betsy Bubblegum was an Ice Cream Pop doll. Anywho, Susie appeared in several items of media for the Yummi-Land line, and also as a styling head, but her debut doll was her only doll. I kinda wish I'd picked this one instead of Betsy; her coloring is great from what I can tell.
That's nowhere NEAR a comprehensive list of the dolls in this world named some variant of Susie, but y'all get my drift. It's an easy name to remember, an easy name to say and spell, and thus it loans itself well to dolls. Do any of y'all have any favorites that I missed?
Cheers,
RagingMoon1987
This Susie was similar to Julie (1980s) and Amazing Amy and her bunch in that she could interact with her toys. If she said she was hungry, you gave her her cookie. If she was thirsty, she wanted her sippy cup. And if she was in the mood to make some noise she had a harmonica. A harmonica, of all things! The appropriate noises accompanied all three accessories...and as far as I know that's the extent of it. Susie wasn't as verbose as Julie or Amy, but she did enuff to keep one occupied.
SUSIE SOUR STRAW
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2024-present day
This young lady is one of the Yummiland Lip Gloss dolls that's currently in stores. These are not to be confused with THIS Yummi-Land, yet another MGA doll...and come to think of it, my old Yummi-Land doll has a pet named Susie! I like these, with their bright colors and translucent hair. As many of these dolls as there are a Susie of some variant was inevitable, but at least she's cute. I love green and pink together. And speaking of Yummi-Land...
SUSIE STRAWBELLA
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2006-2008
Susie was one of the debut Soda Pop Girls. Remember that my Betsy Bubblegum was an Ice Cream Pop doll. Anywho, Susie appeared in several items of media for the Yummi-Land line, and also as a styling head, but her debut doll was her only doll. I kinda wish I'd picked this one instead of Betsy; her coloring is great from what I can tell.
That's nowhere NEAR a comprehensive list of the dolls in this world named some variant of Susie, but y'all get my drift. It's an easy name to remember, an easy name to say and spell, and thus it loans itself well to dolls. Do any of y'all have any favorites that I missed?
Cheers,
RagingMoon1987
No comments:
Post a Comment