What can I say, I like doing posts like these. They keep the blog alive and hopefully keep y'all entertained while I wait to hear from my doctor. Nope, still haven't heard back from him. He said he was sending my X-ray to "someone else," presumably for a second opinion, but I haven't heard anything yet. That said, today's dolls will largely be baby dolls, and most of the images will be screenshots from YouTube because I don't own most of these. Apologies.
BABY THIS 'N' THAT
COMPANY: Remco
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1976, 1990
Baby This 'n' That! Baby This 'n' That! She does a lot of this and she does a lot of that! I think I've told this story before, but one time while my great-grandfather was playing with one of the family babies it apparently loaded its pants, and Great-Grandpa hollered "One of y'all better get in here! This baby's done a lot of that!" I guess he was too good to change diapers himself. Baby This 'n' That doesn't load her pants like some baby dolls do, though. Rather, she holds items in her hands, items like a rattle and a toy telephone, and she moves her arms when you squeeze her goofy-looking little toes. She also can move her mouth, which I didn't remember her doing, and I just think she's cute. The family joke helps my opinion of her a bit too, of course.
Now here's where my head spun a little bit. In 1990 Baby This 'n' That got a revival and an update.
I didn't know this doll existed. I didn't know Remco was even still in business in 1990. Awww, phooey, there's plenty that I don't know, about dolls and about a lot of other things I like. Sweet Baby This 'n' That didn't do everything that her seventies self did, but she did brush her hair, sip on a straw, and blow kisses, so that's something. Again, she's cute, and she appears to be...kinda obscure. eBay has PLENTY of the older Baby This 'n' That, but the 1990 version...not so much. Challenge accepted.
MAKE ME BETTER BABY
COMPANY: Geoffrey, Inc.
YEAR: 1998
Make Me Better Baby was strictly a Toys R Us thing, but otherwise she was your average little sickie. She'd cough, get red glowing cheeks, and run a fever, or she'd develop a red glowing ear and moan in pain, but either way the remedy was the same. Cough syrup for the cough, ear drops for the ear, and she'd announce "All better!" This doll-child appealed to me because I've always been attracted to sick dolls, and because she had short, low-maintenance hair, but I didn't like her enuff to want her or ask for her. I was able to find a used one on eBay though, and guess what? The white version has violet eyes! I always like that. Oh, and surprise, surprise, Baby Alive has/had a doll with the same name and the same gimmick.
Her cheeks even light up! Poor love could also receive a shot, which makes me cringe because I hate the thought of babies getting stuck with sharp things. I'm pro-vax, mind y'all, and a lot of those shots prevent very, very bad things from happening to innocent little kids, but no one in their right mind likes hurting small children...or small pets either, for that matter. My animals always ran a fever when they got their first round of shots, but it kept my dogs from getting parvo so it was worth it. A more recent Baby Alive with the same name trades the shot for a tissue box...or maybe those are baby wipes. This one does load her pants, after all.
I'm willing to bet there are other Make Me Better Babies out there, but the one from Toys R Us kinda started it all.
POTTY DOTTY
COMPANY: Playmates Toys
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1998
I hated this doll when she was in production, and I'm willing to bet other kids did too, because this pet is pretty obscure. The picture is pretty self-explanatory; Dotty is a drink and wet doll, though she didn't actually drink because she's mechanical. She'd react to her bottle, then she'd announce to her "mommy" that she has to go potty, and then when you put her on her little potty she...makes a sound like she's taking a leak. But there's a catch! If you don't get her panties off fast enuff she makes the tinkling sound anyway and then she says "Uh-oh, I'm sorry, Mommy!" Believe me, Dotty, sciatica does a number of fun things to one's body that I wasn't originally aware of, so I understand accidents. The human nervous system is so weird; kidney stones make one throw up, and sciatic nerve problems screw around with a lot more than just one's ability to walk. Anyway, what really bugged me about Potty Dotty growing up were her huge, wide-set eyes. She's just a funny-lookin' little goober...kinda like Baby Alive, now that I think of it. She was innocent enuff, though. Indeed, I'd rather have a doll that makes a tinkling sound than one that craps slime.
SHOP 'N' BOP BABY
COMPANY: Playmates Toys
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1998
Now I know why this doll's commercial was always shown immediately after Potty Dotty's! Both Playmates dolls, both a little strange. Shop 'n' Bop's gimmick was admittedly stranger than Potty Dotty's was, but then again I loved shopping carts when I was little. I loved riding in them, I loved riding under them (that was possible at one of the grocery stores in Malden), and I loved helping push them "like a big girl." I was never allowed to ride on the front of the cart, like Shop 'n' Bop did here.
Mama and Daddy thought it wasn't safe to hang onto the front, and indeed some of the stores had signs up warning parents not to let their kids ride the carts like that. Some little brats did it anyway, and I saw at least one kid get injured that way. I don't think Shop 'n' Bop sold well either, by the way, as pickin's on eBay are pretty slim.
BOUNCY BABY
COMPANY: MGA Entertainment
Year of production: 1996-1997
MGA Entertainment's first doll is a far cry from the dolls that followed her! Indeed, when someone brings up MGA in conversation the first dolls I think of are usually Bratz, L.O.L. Surprises, or Rainbow High. I thought Bouncy Baby was cute, but like other dolls I've seen she was more of a toy than collector fodder, so I never got nor really wanted this one. Bouncy's gimmick is
another simple one: squeeze one wrist and she'll sing one song, squeeze her other wrist and she'll sing another, press her tummy and she giggles. Despite what the commercial suggests, one apparently does not have to bounce this doll to get her to sing. She has a soft body with simple clothes and hair that's easy to take care of, and those look like rainbow highlights in that lousy screenshot, but they're actually streamers on her hair bow. I love that. Everything's better with a hair bow.
In 1998 Bouncy Baby spawned a spinoff, one that was around until 2000 or so. She was
Bathtime Bouncy Baby.
This version of Bouncy Baby could be played with in the tub or in the pool, though I don't think getting her fully submerged was a smart idea. According to an archived Reddit post this doll was capable of singing and vocalizing at the tiniest little movement, and taking out the batteries did no good. My sister thus would've HATED this doll! Still would, probably! Anyway, I didn't find this doll's commercial anywhere near as catchy, but I liked her a lot better than the original Bouncy Baby because of her brightly colored swimsuit. I also got to hold a friend's Bathtime Bouncy Baby, and her vinyl felt nice. I liked this doll quite a bit.
BABY GO BOOM
COMPANY: GC Toys
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2001
Oh, I remember this one! She did and said a number of things that I did and said when I was small, and thus I thought she was really cute. Baby Go Boom did pratfalls, kicked her legs, and talked and giggled. She also reacted when you tickled her, which I think is cute despite the fact that I loathe being tickled myself. I think it's interesting, by the way, that when you're an adult and you do a pratfall it can do some serious damage; indeed, that's part of the reason why my sciatica is so bad. But when you're a little kid you're lighter and have a diaper covering your tushie, and falling down isn't as big a deal. Indeed, Baby Go Boom makes a big joke of falling down and going "boom," rather than crying about falling like some children do. So this doll is a cute doll, but...well, she's mechanical. Y'all know I've got an aversion to mechanical dolls, even though I seem to have plenty of 'em, LOL.
KINDER GARDEN BABIES
COMPANY: Up Up and Away, Marvel Entertainment, Toy Biz, Playmates Toys
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1997-2005
I really loved these! Kinder Garden Babies were small baby dolls that resided in fabric flowers, and the flowers in turn converted into carriers for the doll. They were scented like the flower that they replicated, and oh my, were there a LOT of flowers! The two pictured above are a blueberry and a raspberry, but because they're from the Playmates era I don't know if they had names or not. Up Up and Away's blueberry doll was named Briget, and Toy Biz named their blueberry Brenda, so the names varied anyway. Perri Pussywillow, from Toy Biz, and Betsy Beehive, from Up Up and Away are my two favorites. Perri is both a wildflower and a cat, and she shares a name with
a Little Golden Book that I once loved. Betsy is...well, bee-themed! I love bees.
There was also a spinoff of the regular Kinder Garden Babies called
Water Lilies, and like Bathtime Bouncy Baby they could be put in the water. Their hovel converted into a shower, and I have a hazy recollection of the hovels floating as well, but I may be mistaken there. When I was a child I liked these the best since I loved to play in the water. These seem to be a bit more obscure than the regular Kinder Garden Babies, but I liked 'em enuff to ask for one. Alas, there were none to be found in podunk Malden or anywhere close, so I never got one. These also remind me a little of
the Shining Stars, which I discussed in the past; both are small baby dolls, both have cute carriers that appealed to my fantasy-flavored imagination, and I need both of 'em like I need a hole in my head.
BABY AH-CHOOCOMPANY: Mattel
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 2007-2009
This one's cute, and like Make Me Better Baby she's a doll that I actually would've played with as a kid (I loved to doctor and baby my stuffed animals). Baby Ah-Choo's gimmick is
self-explanatory: she's got a cold and her owner has to get her through it. Squeeze her tummy and the poor love sneezes, coughs, asks for help blowing her nose, and reacts to her thermometer and her medicine spoon. She also asks to be held and occasionally will sigh "
make it go away." Poor dolly, I think we all know what that's like. Indeed, I remember being sick during my sophomore year of college. I had a simple cold like Baby Ah-Choo does, but my throat tickled so bad that I couldn't stop coughing, and in the middle of the night I wailed "MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!" Of course the tickle DIDN'T stop no matter what I did, and I scared the bejesus out of my roommate when I yelled, LOL. That was the night I mixed sleeping pills with cough syrup, so desperate was I to MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOOP, and y'all can probably predict how that went. Arguably the dumbest thing I ever did. Anyway, during that same illness I also desperately wanted to be held, even though I was a full twenty-two years old! So I can relate with this doll. As an aside, Baby Ah-Choo is kinda different from the sickies I grew up with, in that she came in Caucasian, Latina, and Afro-American variations. By 2009 this was commonplace.
Since I'm here on the subject of sick dolls,
Li'l Sniffles is also worthy of mention. She's a little older than Baby Ah-Choo is; I remember her from my high school days, but though I've searched her commercial is not on YouTube. Li'l Sniffles does many of the same things that Baby Ah-Choo does, but she also sings when she feels well, and her manners are a tad better than Baby Ah-Choo's are. When she asks for her soup or her meds she says "please," and after she's received what she's asked for she says "Thanks, Mommy." I don't know how popular either doll was, but I was able to find both of them on eBay for reasonable prices. With Lulu Achoo, Hedda Get Bedda, and Bless You Baby Tender Love hanging around, I doubt I need more sick dolls.
PRINTEMPSCOMPANY: Sekiguchi
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1970s
I found this image on Pinterest, so if this is your doll, please let me know and I'll either credit you or take the picture down, your choice. I offer my compliments to your collection; I can't tell if those are Smart Dolls or Dollfie Dreams in the background, but this is a beautiful trio. Printemps actually did go on my wish list...for about five minutes! At minute six I saw their prices on eBay and that was the end of it. $375 for one of these??? Forget it! If I'm gonna cough up multiple Benjamins for a doll I want it to be a Smart Doll or a super-nice Simon and Halbig. Printemps is an interesting little creature, though. She's got the aesthetic common to both dolls of the seventies and to Japanese dolls of any decade, complete with huge, hypnotic eyes. The eyes have a catch:
they initially look dark, but
they glow bright blue when the light hits them just right. I love the creepy factor! I also love their otherwise mild faces.
MAKE ME UP DARLINGSCOMPANY: Hasbro
YEARS OF PRODUCTION: 1989-1990
This entry is a little ill-timed, as I recently brought Cookin' Cathy home, and she's popped into the blog a couple'a times already.
Make Me Up Darlings are a last-minute addition to this post (I wanted an even ten), but they're still pretty interesting, and I didn't discuss them in depth the last two times Cathy popped into the blog, so yeah. These small dolls were scented, and they also had faces that would change with warm or cold water, like so. Even their eye color could change, though I can't yet test this with Cathy. Hot water issues, y'know. The Make Me Up Darlings also came with outfits and accessories that fit their theme. Mary Mermaid, seen above, came with a tailfin that would allow her to do the Ariel thing without giving up her voice. Cookin' Cathy's wardrobe change is less drastic; she's got an overskirt that doubles as an apron, plus an oven mitt.
According to
Ghost of the Doll there were two waves with six dolls each, and three playsets with one doll and extra accessories, but the gimmick remained the same. The dolls could be dressed as animals, as fantasy beings, or as everyday occupations; my favorite of them all is
Chessie Cheerleader, because she shares a name with one of my cats, AND with my favorite railroad mascot, after whom my cat is named. I like
Annie Artist too, with her bright outfit and hot pink hair. The dolls are a little cartoonish, but then a lot of dolls are. They'd fit right in with my Strawberry Shortcake/Cherry Merry Muffin bunch.
As usual, dear readers, your input is welcomed.
Love,
RagingMoon1987
