Throwback Thursday review: Susie Sad-Eyes

Ladies and germs, Halloween is upon us!  Every year around this time I try to do something kinda freaky, and...well, I'm not sure how freaky she is, but some folks are really creeped out by this doll.  Susie Sad-Eyes sort of made her photographic debut here TWO Octobers ago, but y'all know how I'm the queen of procrastination.  Usually she is known as Susie Sad-Eyes, Sad Susie, or plain old Sad Eyes Doll. Some of Susie's sisters came in rain gear and were called "Susie Slicker," while her Afro-American self was called "Soul Sister."  Mine, however, is straight-up Susie Sad-Eyes.  This one is Susie with an "s" in the middle, by the way; So Surprised Suzie has a "z," and Suzy Cute has both a "z" and a "y."

Killecrankie, who on Earth thought this one up???  These little goobers remind me of the Biggers that Miss Emily reviewed (here and here), only nowhere near as happy.  According to multiple websites Susie is/was a cheaply-made mass-produced doll dating from the sixties and seventies, and her big, solemn eyes were based on...ewww, on Margaret Keane paintings.  Several companies made these dolls, with one name standing out:  S. Rosenburg Co., Incorporated, the company that produced my Cherry Fizz doll (zowwee, that post was a long time ago).  The oldest Susie dolls are older than the original Blythe, but apparently not as old as Little Miss No-Name.  I don't own a Little Miss No-Name (yet), but for reference sake here's Susie with Jaylin, my factory Blythe.  Pity that Jaylin can't tip her head to look at her companion, because these two always look a little or a lot put-out by something.

Okay, they usually look put-out, though Jaylin is also capable of looking incredibly smug.  As y'all can see, Susie is quite a bit smaller than Jaylin, though they do have torsos of a similar size.  This would likely mean that Susie can also share dresses with Licca-chan and Elly-chan, though they too are a bit taller than Susie.

On the other hand, Ayame (It's a Small World Japan) and Whimzee are considerably smaller than Susie, and I highly doubt that she can wear their clothes. 

For a final size comparison, here's how Susie measures up to Fluff (vintage Skipper friend) and Joie (Creatable World.

Pity I can't get at my Stacie dolls, because they're of similar size to Susie...or they are if my memory serves me right.  90's-era Stacie dolls were pretty little.  Anyway, as I noted in that post about Technicolor bell-bottoms, there's a photography book dedicated to Susie Sad-Eyes, one entitled Susie Says, by the one and only Gina Garan.  Ms. Garan is credited with giving Blythe new life with her first book, so I figured I'd grab Susie before she becomes super-popular again.  Granted, Susie is already popular on Flickr, and she has a few groups on Failbook too.  Plus, Susie Says has been out for TEN YEARS, so I'm a little late to the party.  Oh well, better late than never!  My Susie is a little better-looking than some, but none of these dolls will ever win any beauty contests.  I've seen brown-haired Susie dolls, a handful of blondes, and one or two redheads (one of them was a reroot).  I was fortunate enuff to find a redhead of my own.

I also have a brunette Susie Sad-Eyes somewhere in the mix, but she looks more narked off than sad, AND her legs are frozen.  So y'all get the coppertop.  Her hair is supposed to be straight, but it developed a kink somewhere along the line that hasn't yet relaxed out.  The fibers are fairly stiff and hold kinks like mad.  Regarding the style, she's got a center part and bangs up front, like so.

The rooting is...so-so.  It looks fine when Susie's hair is down or pulled into a low ponytail, but a parted style is OUT!!!

Regarding the face, Susie has several different names, varying hair and eye colors, and widely differing bodies, but she always has this face.

Eye color varied as much as hair color did with these dolls.  My brunette Susie has aqua eyes, while Copperhead's are amber.  Like all good Susie Sad-Eyes dolls her lids are dark and heavy, and the lower lid is ringed with shadow.

Some of these dolls have green circles painted under their eyes, making them look ill as well as sad.  I don't like this effect and I'm glad that neither of my Susie dolls have this paint.  Right now my only surviving picture of Raven Susie is this one from the technicolor bell-bottoms post, and it'll give y'all an idea of what her eye paint looks like.  Both Raven and Copperhead have flubs in their right eyes, LOL.

See Copperhead's flub?  These dolls were very cheaply produced, so I'm surprised these mistakes are the only paint errors.

Susie's sullen little mouth has only a touch of blush-colored paint.  Some of these dolls have rosier lips, but mine does not.

Susie's ears are simple little affairs with no piercings...and a little dust.

A simple, average head, and with a simple, average head goes a simple, average body.  The arms are vinyl, and the rest is hard, hollow plastic.  I presume that Susie is supposed to be a child, because she's got a child's build.

Since Susie is cheaply made she has the joints one might expect.  Her head is a ball joint and thus is her best joint.  She can turn and tip her head.

Surprise, surprise, her head comes off easily...but it doesn't go back ON easily so I usually leave it alone.

The rest of Susie's posing is about what you'd expect.  Her arms rotate like so.

Her hands have a lot of flash on the seams, but it's possible to see knuckles and nails in there.  Not all of my dolls have that, and I can always pare away that flash.  Shudder...I hate X-ACTO knives!

Like the shoulders, Susie's hip joints are par for the course.  They're hollow plastic, straight up and down, with an angled joint at the hip.  This means that Susie can stand, sit like a bimbo on Quaaludes, and do front-to-back splits, like so.

Susie's stubby little legs are made of blown plastic like her torso, and...well, they're legs.  She knows how to use them, though.

The seams on Susie's legs are rough, though they're not the worst I've ever seen.  Interestingly, the toes on her right foot are almost nonexistent; her left foot has simple toes.

From the side one can see that...oh, I'd say three millimeters of the right foot are missing.  That's a lot for a doll this size.  

Susie can't stand on her own, and I think the deformed foot may be part of the problem.  It should also be noted that not all Susies have bodies like this; Tam owns one that is made of softer vinyl.  That particular little doll is better quality overall.

Susie Sad-Eyes and her similarly morose cronies weren't the most fashionable poppets to begin with, and my Susie CERTAINLY wasn't fashionable when she arrived (she was nude).  Etsy has plenty of options, but they're usually marked for Blythe or for Licca-chan, with Susie being mentioned in the "also fits" list.  That said, this little dress was made specifically for Susie dolls, and it fits my doll perfectly.  Etsy shop is IDressDolls and they focus largely on undergarments, but there are a few little dresses to be had too.  

Even though that dress was made with Susie in mind, I decided to swap Licca's and Susie's dresses anyway.

Since Licca has longer legs than Susie the green dress proved way too short in the skirt and a bit too short in the sleeves, though it fits perfectly across the shoulders and bust.  In a similar manner Licca's dress is long on Susie, but again it fits across the bust and shoulders with aplomb.  Licca's shoes even fit, though I wouldn't make Susie wear these particular shoes.  They have a slight high heel and Susie's feet are flat, end of story.  Flat shoes for Licca or Blythe may work, though.

Speaking of Blythe, Jaylin has a few things lying around idle.  I'll start with pajamas, since it's almost impossible to go wrong with pajamas.

I forget which Etsy shop these came from, but I think Jaylin has worn them maybe ONCE.  They've got "NY" all over them, giving off sort of a New York vibe.  Since they're pajamas they're big on Susie's small body, but they fit her without too much fuss.  This other outfit came in a blind bag, and I wasn't too sure about the fit of it at first.

Well, we see the results, LOL.  The crocheted top is a little tight around the shoulders, enuff that I had a little trouble fastening the button, but the rest of the outfit fits Susie perfectly.  Even the boots fit, and they help Susie stand on her own.  I won't forget that this outfit is Jaylin's, but she's okay to lend it out for now.  

For a lark I put Susie in Ayame's kimono.

Ayame's obi fastens in the back like a good obi should, and y'all can't tell it, but I couldn't get it fastened.  This whole kimono fits Susie more like a happi coat than a kimono...but it fits pretty well across the shoulders.  Ayame has the same body and measurements as Cherry Merry Muffin, so mayyyybe the occasional CMM piece might fit Susie Sad-Eyes.  But don't bet on it.  That's alright, because some Licca-chan and Blythe pieces do fit, as long as one avoids long skirts and pants.

Before I wrap this up I want to go on a brief tangent, one that applies to my other Susie doll.  That Susie has a "dress me" body with frozen legs and huge shoes, which kinda limits what I can dress her in.  Good ol' Tam presented a lovely idea on her blog that I'm itching to try.  She saddled her "dress me" Susie with a Harry Potter body, and even the tones match!  It's not a perfect fix since the Harry Potter neck knob is smaller than the whole in Susie's head, but Tam makes it work.  So Imma try that and get back to y'all.  

That's a good place to break this off.

BAD
*Overall quality of my particular doll is pretty average.  Some have better bodies and some have worse.
*The hair is stiff and can't be restyled, except for a basic ponytail.
*Mayyyybe my doll's lip paint could be better???  I've seen some of these dolls with pretty lips.
*Some variants have a stiff "dress me" body.  Some folks don't like those, so keep that in mind.
*Some variants are hard to find.  I've NEVER seen Soul Sister for a reasonable price.

GOOD
*No specific appearance other than the head.  Just about any hair or eye color can be found.
*Semi-easy to find, as long as you're not looking for Soul Sister!
*Hair is low-maintenance, despite being long.  
*Can wear Blythe and Licca-chan clothes as long as the items aren't too long.  Shoes even fit.
*Under the right conditions, Susie can be very photogenic.  I understand now why Gina Garan put Susie Says together.
*Can be customized readily, for those of y'all that are into that.

Whew!  I almost didn't get this one done in time!  That was on me, procrastinating and being lazy as sin; Susie herself is quite simple.  What you see is what you get:  a solemn-faced doll with a vinyl head and a stiff plastic body, who looks good in a wide array of clothes despite being quite different from both Blythe and Licca-chan.  Susie is popular among those who like their dolls a little weird or creepy, and of course, fans of vintage dolls.  And I can see why, since she's lightweight, easy to tote around, and low-maintenance.  If Susie Sad-Eyes lights your fire, beware of "dress me" bodies and know that rebodying is an option, and also know that obtaining clothes is a cinch if you have access to Etsy.  Also...beware of bad lighting.  Susie can look downright sinister in the wrong light.

Happy Halloween, y'all!  True to the forecast it's raining and isn't supposed to stop 'til after midnight, so I'm staying in and keeping the lights off.  If any of y'all do go out, be safe, watch for pets, kids, and drunks, and have fun.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Throwback Thursday review: Soda Fizz Kids Cherry Fizz

This post deals not only with a highly obscure doll that I know very little about, but it also fuses two things that I like.  It's very rare when two of my interests cross paths but it DOES happen, and today is one of those occasions, where the doll in question meets...SODA???  Yep, my favorite junk food!  Meet Cherry Fizz, no relation to the soda that denizens of Sesame Street enjoy, Figgy Fizz.  She is a member of the Soda Fizz Kids.

Last year when December was young I needed a pick-me-up after filling out the financial report at the library for the first time (it was a nightmare, but we got it done), and during an Etsy-browsing session I found Cherry Fizz.  She was very, VERY cheap so I plunked down the eight bucks without knowing jack squat about the doll.  I do know that this doll was apparently inspired by Mattel's Kola Kiddles, a subset of Liddle Kiddles that came packaged in little soda bottles, and I also know that Cherry was made by a company called S. Rosenberg Co., Inc.  Fun World also made these, but that's the extent of my knowledge.  Normally I try to review dolls that I actually know a thing or two about, but this one...well, she's a doll in a bottle!  A bottle of soda, no less.  As I insinuated above I am very fond of soda pop, or "podie slop," as my crazy father put it (he loved word play).  Soda was a big deal in Malden at one time, as the town was home to a Pepsi bottling plant, and I...well, I just like soda.  I enjoy my hometown's ties to it, I love the bright colors of the bottles and their contents, and of course I love the taste.  Unfortunately I have to be extremely careful about what soda I pick because so much of it has caffeine.  Caffeine is a big Bozo no-no for folks who get kidney stones, and guess who gets kidney stones?  Yep, no more Pepsi for me, or Coke, or Mountain Dew, or...well, I've actually got a lot of caffeine-free soda to choose from, and I like all of them anyway so no problem!  I drink soda for the taste, not for the caffeine kick.  Soda fascinates me though, to the point that I'd like to find a bottle of Orbitz and add it to my small but growing collection of weird stuff.  Yes, Orbitz.  Orbitz was a short-lived soft drink that was available in Canada during 1997, and it had floating balls of gelatin in it, making it a sort of a love child between Sprite and bubble tea.  Since Orbitz was a Canadian entity I never got to taste it, but the taste was reportedly like cough syrup (shudder) so I didn't miss out on anything.  Anyway, unopened bottles have subsequently become collector's items due to their interesting appearance, thus a bottle of Orbitz and a can of Bon Vivant soup would look good on my bookshelf with my Pepsi bottle stamped with "Malden, MO."  If I explain why I want a can of Bon Vivant soup we'll be here even longer, so just follow this link for an explanation of the situation, and this link for an image of the cans, which were quite attractive.  Notice that the can in the linked image is bulging, a clue to why we don't see Bon Vivant soup in stores anymore.

LOL, how's that for a digression!  Start a paragraph with a sentence about pick-me-ups, segue into a discussion on flopped foods, end it with a lesson on my eccentricities!  Anyway, dolls in little bottles were a apparently a thing back in the sixties, and it wasn't just soda bottles either.  Mattel released several lines of Liddle Kiddles in bottles of soda or perfume, and Remco released a baby in a baby bottle (appropriately named Bottle Baby).  I figure that both Rosenberg and Remco were trying to emulate Mattel and their success with the Liddle Kiddles, but AGAIN I'm rambling.  Some of y'all may be wondering how I'm going to get this doll out of the bottle, since the bottle is hard plastic and the neck is too small for the doll to get through.  Elementary, my dear readers!  The bottom part of the bottle pops off like so, and the doll slides out.

Push, bottle, push!  LOL, Cherry Fizz is three inches tall, and to my surprise she's taller than most of my other little dolls.  She's taller than Sweets Sunshine and the Quints.

She's also ever so slightly taller than my tallest Liddle Kiddle, Greta Griddle.

However, she's shorter than my Kelly-sized Sparkle Girl.  Don't these little imps make a cute pair?

Just for giggles, here's how Cherry Fizz's bottle compares to the aforementioned Pepsi bottle.

Here's the stamp, for anyone that's curious.  I see it as a symbol of what my town once was...and sadly, how far it's fallen since the seventies.

Right, then.  I seem to have a knack for picking out candy and sweet-themed dolls, don't I???  First there were the Cupcakes, then there was Lime Chiffon, then came Cherry Merry Muffin, then another Cupcake, and now Cherry Fizz makes her debut!  Anywho, I think I should point out right here that the Soda Fizz Kids were not as eye-catching as the Kola Kiddles were.  If I'd been a little kid during the 1960's I probably would've gone for a Kiddle due to their outrageous hair colors, which is odd considering I chose one with brown hair instead of yellow or green (we'll meet her next week).  But Cherry doesn't need brightly colored hair to be cute, right?  She wears a short dark brown bob with bangs.

The fibers are smooth and soft, but the cut is uneven in a few places, particularly on the right side of Cherry's face.

The root job is arguably the strangest one I've ever seen on a doll.  I thought Bozena and Aminta had unusual root jobs, but Cherry has them both beat.  She has...I think she has a grand total of three rows of plugs, and these are rooted to hang in two separate directions.

This single line of plugs is thickly and solidly rooted, meaning that Cherry appears to have more hair than she does, and that the hair she does have is not falling out.  I find it ironic that this Liddle Kiddle clone, who may have cost a dime back in her day, has a firmer root job than my Little Apple Doll, who cost me fifty bucks and sometimes goes for more.

Now the face.  There's something very familiar about this face.  Cherry does bear a passing resemblance to the Liddle Kiddles that I assume she's emulating, but there's another doll out there that she looks even more like.  The name just isn't coming to me, but there's some doll out there that looks a bit like Cherry does.  Since the name refuses to come to me, here's what Cherry's face looks like up close.

Small dolls like this can be a landmine for paint gaffes and indeed Cherry's face isn't perfect, but it's better than some larger dolls that I've seen.  Her eyes are blue with single-stroke brown eyebrows, thick painted upper lashes and...brown eyeshadow???  On a kid this age?

Yes, that's what it appears to be!  The white of Cherry's right eye has bled a bit onto the area outside of the molded indentation, and the irises are simply painted, consisting of blue crescents around a black center, but they get the job done.  Between the eyes Cherry has a pug nose, and below that she has a watermelon mouth that is not painted evenly.

Uneven or no, this color is more what I prefer for lip paint as it stands out better than the pale stuff that the Quints got.

No blush on this gal's cheekbones or anything over-the-top except for that brown eyeshadow and those cherry-colored lips, and no earrings either.  Cherry does have cute little ears though.  They are largely hidden underneath her hair, but they ARE there.

Wait a minute, I remember who this doll reminds me of!  That cute little watermelon smile reminds me of one of Licca-chan's little sisters, Maki-chan!  The saucy little eyes are a little like Maki's too.  She could also pass for a child or baby sister of my Barbie clone Jennifer, with their blue eyes and dark hair.

I may pretend that these two are relatives from now on.

Now to this body.  The presence of makeup on Cherry's eyelids threw me for a loop because of her body, as it has the proportions and shape of a very young child, either a big baby or a young toddler.

Her back, to my surprise, is marked, though it only reads the place of her manufacture:  Hong Kong.

It's possible to see in the above picture that the seams on Cherry's body are a little rough (look under her right arm), but I've seen a lot worse.  Anyway, Cherry's torso is hard plastic and her limbs are made of firm, smooth vinyl (just like her head).  Both of her arms are fully straight, and her hands are open with palms down, like so.  Her fingers are simply molded, with little divisions and no nails or creases.

Her little legs are pudgy and slightly bent at the knee.  They have little dimples on the knees, which is surprising given the lack of definition on the arms.  The toes are molded like the fingers, with little divisions in between but not much else.

Since Cherry is named after a red fruit it might be rational to assume that she'd be wearing red...but she's not.  Cherry's dress is yellow, a color that I'd expect a lemon-flavored doll to wear.

It's a pretty simple little dress, with a fitted velour bodice and a two-layer skirt.  The top layer is yellow lace and the bottom layer is plain white fabric of some kind.  The back closes with a single snap.

Attached to this snap is a paper tag reading "Made in HONG KONG."

Here's the interior.  It's a little sloppy, about what one should expect from a doll that probably cost a nickel back in the day, maybe less.  The seams have loose threads galore, and the hems are not finished, but so far nothing appears to be in danger of falling apart.

Completing the look are these little soft vinyl flats.

Nothing really to see here.  The molding is rough around the edges, but they serve their purpose.  I can always trim that extra stuff off if I like, so no harm done.  The bottoms of the shoes are stamped "MADE IN HONG KONG," though we already knew that because it's tattooed on Cherry's back.

No diaper, which to make a bad pun, is a bummer.  This dress is a short one, and it could do with something underneath to keep Cherry decent.

With Cherry out of the way let's look now at her hovel.

As I said earlier, this soda bottle looks quite a bit like the bottles that some Liddle Kiddles reside in.  It also makes me think of Yummi Land, a brief MGA line that had little girl dolls in soda bottles.  Yummi Land dolls bear a striking resemblance to Moxie Girlz and Bratz Kidz, and indeed I considered all three lines to be related...cousins, maybe.  But as usual, I'm rambling.  Cherry's bottle is made of hard, clear, glass-like plastic.  The front is emblazoned with a red sticker reading "CHERRY FIZZ KIDS" on it.  Sometimes the sticker would read "SODA FIZZ KIDS" instead, which makes more sense to me since that's the name of the line, but some of these dolls were marked with their flavor.  Lime Fizz was one of these, and Cherry Fizz is as well.  The bottle itself has a few melt marks here and there; these are age-related and are to be expected.

Also no surprise were these tape marks, which likely held the bottom of the bottle on.

The bottle cap is plain and red and smooth with a few teensy ragged areas.  It will provide an interesting comparison to an item that next week's doll will have.

The bottom of this bottle is marked "MADE IN HONG KONG" and is held on with friction...or tape, since friction alone doesn't cut the mustard.  It even still has a price tag on it! 

Hook's has been defunct since 1994 (we've got CVS now), and this doll is a lot older than that.  I love seeing stuff like this, though; these stickers provide a little insight about which store sold what and for what price at a time when I wasn't even a forethought. 

These Soda Fizz Kids apparently came in several variations, with some having slim, straight legs and the overall body shape of an older child.  These taller dolls appear to be wired internally like Liddle Kiddles are, and if so then that may make an interesting comparison review...someday.  Right now it's time for good and bad.

BAD
*ONE ROW OF HAIR!!!  That one row does the job well, but it's still ONE ROW OF HAIR!!!
*Paint job isn't even in places
*Seams are a little rough
*NO UNDERPANTS!!!  That's a bit of a problem given this doll's short dress.
*Bottom of the bottle falls off a lot.

GOOD
*Cute!  I love this doll's face!
*Sturdy.  Doll, dress, and bottle are all holding strong after all these years.
*Surprisingly well-made, especially for a knockoff.
*Perfect size for playing with.  Little kids can wag this doll around in their hands, and adults can use her as a child for Barbie-sized dolls.
*Presentation is clever, though not necessarily original.  There aren't too many dolls running around in bottles.

For a clone doll, Cherry Fizz has a lot going for her.  She's cute, she's well-made and not falling apart at the seams, and what's not to like about a doll that resides in her own little bottle?  The problems that I found are largely minor and wouldn't affect play value.  Collectible, though?  Well...not unless you like small dolls (like I do), or if you like clone dolls (like I do), OR if you like Liddle Kiddles and dolls in that general category (like I do).  Largely the Soda Fizz Kids are obscure little goodies that make an interesting addition to a Kiddle kollection, and that's largely why I got my little Cherry.  Well, that and she looks adorable in the lap of a larger doll.

Love, monkeys, and lollipops,
RagingMoon1987