Dolls that y'all remember (and a couple'a rabbit trails)

It's another one of those times, a long gap between regularly scheduled posts where I discuss dolls that don't belong to me but strike my fancy in some way or another.  Or it WAS a long gap when I strung this post together.  I've rescheduled other reviews so many times that November has been (and will continue to be) a busy month here on the blog.  Now...every time I do one of these posts, one of y'all remembers a doll that you or a family member had growing up that WASN'T in that post.  Some of these were new to me and some weren't, so here's what y'all came up with.  I'm going in no special order here.

BABY CHECK-UP

COMPANY:  Kenner

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1993

One of Treesa's sisters owned Baby Check-Up, and this little doll sounds like my type!  Even at my age I love playing Dolly Doctor, and as I'll discuss eventually I did when I was small.  I personally never owned this one, but I do remember her commercial and how her thermometer had a smiley face and a frowny face to determine the doll's well-being.  Yep, this one's another sickie like Baby Ah-Choo and Li'l Sniffles!  If Baby Check-Up is indeed feeling poorly then she gets medicine...but not in a spoon!  This doll gets her meds from a dropper, which in retrospect is probably the best way to medicate a very small child.  Shudder, I associate medicine drops with having an ear infection!  I don't remember much about having that ear infection (I was two), but I do remember that horrid medicine!  In addition to her meds and her thermometer Baby Check-Up comes with a stethoscope, and I think one could listen to her heart whenever they wanted, whether the doll was sick or not.  The doll herself was a soft-bodied doll with permanently attached clothes like My Lickety Treats has, and she could be either a black doll or a blonde with violet eyes.  She had three friends, Puppy Check-Up, Kitty Check-Up, and Newborn Baby Check-Up, and together the four made up a line of toys kinda like the Li'l Miss bunch.  Newborn freaks me out a little because she has to have X-rays done!  It's never good when anyone needs an X-ray, but it's particularly not good when a very small child needs one.  But then again, accidents and illnesses happen to everyone in real life, so why not with a baby doll?  

By the way, look at Baby Check-Up's body shape.  It looks a lot like the one that Baby Needs-a-Name has.

They're both Kenner dolls, so that makes sense.

BABY GET WELL

COMPANY:  Tyco

YEAR OF PRODUCTION:  1992

Christa from Newfoundland shared her memories of this doll with me.  Her Nan was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and kept asking for her baby (Christa's mama, grown by then).  So the family got her a Baby Get Well doll to help, and Christa says that Nan loved it!  The doll was subsequently handed down to Christa's mother and then Christa herself, and she still works.  The gimmick is highly similar to that of Make Me Better Baby, right down to the coughing and the glowing cheeks.  She'll cough and sneeze and legit say she doesn't feel good, and as is often the case with these dolls a dose of pretend medicine does the trick.

Christa's memory made me think of my own grandmother's decline, and some of the people I met while I was visiting her (remember that she spent her last year of life in a nursing home).  There was another lady who carried a very pretty baby doll around, and when I complimented her on her doll she replied "Oh, she's not a doll!  She's my baby!"  I made a note of that and adjusted my speech accordingly the next time I saw the lady.  She was a sweetie, and every time I saw her she'd lost a little more of herself, though she still knew who her baby was.  It was sad to watch that, but then that's a reality for some folks. 

BABY BUBBLES

COMPANY:  Ideal
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1989-1990

Treesa mentioned this one as one of her own childhood favorites, and imagine my delight when she said that Baby Bubbles is an Ideal doll!  Ideal dolls will always hold a special place in my heart.  Baby Bubbles would have to be one of Ideal's later jobs, as Mattel bought Ideal in 1997.  As to the doll herself, Baby Bubbles drools and blows bubbles with her mouth, like all babies do.  I know I LOVED blowing spit bubbles, especially after I'd been crying, as the bubbles were always the biggest then.  Now...I have a doll, one of the Cry Babies, who has to have her head filled with water before she can cry effectively.  Thus I wonder where Baby Bubbles gets her water.  I wondered that same thing with these two, Take Care of Me Twins.

One burped and started to drool, and the other developed a runny nose after sneezing.  The only way I can explain it is that all three of these dolls took a bottle beforehand (like Bless You Baby Tender Love does), and the bottle in turn provided the liquid one requires to bubble or drool or snot around.  Baby Bubbles's commercial seems to imply just that.  I don't know if Baby Bubbles came as a doll of color or not, as all the examples I found were white, so if y'all know better please let me know.

FLOWER MAGIC MARY

COMPANY:  Tyco

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1995

File under "glitzy toddler doll."  Treesa's sister who owned Baby Check-Up (I think you called her "A" in the comments, Treesa) also owned Flower Magic Mary.  This doll apparently has a gimmick similar to that of Li'l Miss Magic Jewels, only with flowers.  One "watered" her dress with a watering can, and flowers would "bloom."  Now that I think of it, I do remember this doll, and particularly the flowers that materialized out of nowhere and stuck to the doll...or to me.  I thought it was an interesting idea.  Regarding ethnic diversity, Flower Magic Mary could be either blonde, brunette, or Afro-American, and all three of 'em are cute.

I love the big nineties hat.  Overall that's a lot of pink, but this doll is still really cute. I have to admit that I'm tempted to find her...no wait, I have her!  Treesa sent me her sister's doll!

What a treasure she is!

MY PRETTY TOPSY TAIL

COMPANY:  Tyco
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1993-1994

Another glitzy toddler doll!  This doll and the next are the result of a rabbit trail triggered by Flower Magic Mary.  Someone had asked Ghost of the Doll about the identity of her childhood doll, a medium-sized poppet with long blonde hair, a pink and silver dress, and a tool that could style her hair.  Flower Magic Mary was one of the guesses, as was My Pretty Topsy Tail.  Neither Mary nor Topsy turned out to be the one, but I was intrigued because I'd never heard of Topsy.  Topsy is obviously a hair play doll, and she came with styling tools and do-dads to achieve and decorate various hairstyles, including one tool that's similar to the one that Featherageous Jade used back in the day.  Shucks, I hope Topsy's tool isn't as hard to use as Jade's was!  I don't know who the doll in the image belongs to, by the way; both Xanadu and someone on Ghost's forum used it, so I am too.  Xanadu owned Topsy Tail at one point, by the way, and I have to say that I think poor ol' Topsy looks a little possessed.

TWIST 'N' STYLE TIFFANY

COMPANY:  Hasbro

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1994

Yet another glitzy toddler doll.  The doll in Ghost's forum turned out to be this one, Twist 'n' Style Tiffany.  Tiffany's gimmick was sort of a mashup of Flower Magic Mary's and My Pretty Topsy Tail's.  Her hair could be done up in infinite ways like Topsy's, but she also has a hair drier and flowers that go in her hair, similar to Mary.  The drier doesn't apply the flowers the same way that Mary's watering can does, but the similarity is there.  And get this:  the hair drier is a braiding tool!  Beads also made an appearance, so there were a lot of styles one could conjure up.

I can't 100% tell from grainy screenshots, but it looks like Tiffany's black and white selves have different faces.  Big surprise, I like the black doll better.  Don't Call Me Doll also made note of the black variant; for most of the dolls he'd discussed in that video, only the white variant appeared in commercials

My Size Barbie was a thing during Twist 'n' Style Tiffany's run, and these big Barbies were notorious for having black variations that were "dipped."  What you had was your usual white doll, white features and all, and then she was dipped in paint of the appropriate color...I think that's how it went.  The result was a doll with black coloration (they had the appropriate hair rooted in) but a nose and a mouth like the white doll.  Not an ugly doll by any means, but not very racially appropriate either, especially considering that Mattel's Asha and Nichelle molds were very much available for sizing up by 1994.  Anyway, Tiffany is clearly not a dipped white doll, and I'm glad of that.  Unfortunately I couldn't find the black version of Tiffany.

Moon Girl was a bad, bad girl buying this one when surgery was by then a possibility (it's pretty much a given now), but I think this doll's so cute!  There's a learning curve in getting her hair styled, but as my doll shows, it can be done.

PEPPERMINT ROSE

COMPANY:  Mattel and American Greetings
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1992

Jeanie remembered these little dolls.  Peppermint and rose are not two flavors that I'd think to combine, but there's a reason for the odd combination.  Peppermint Rose and company were perfume dolls that came twenty-four of these...Perfume Petals, twelve for one scent and twelve for another, that could be mixed with water to make perfume of sorts.  The dolls themselves followed a similar path with two scented skirts that could be layered or worn alone.  There were four characters, and they have an interesting anatomy, sharing bodies with Skipper dolls of the era and head molds with another Mattel doll, Lady Lovelylocks.  Indeed, Peppermint Rose and Lady Lovelylocks make a cute pair and...well, I think they could pass for sisters.  Regarding the line themselves, the dolls are okay.  I'm glad that a black friend was included, and I'm glad that Vanilla Daisy has unabashedly red hair, but I wish Lemon Kiss Lily's ensemble incorporated more yellow than it did.  Piddling little complaint, I know, but when you think of lemons, you think yellow, am I right or am I right?  Still, I like the concept behind these, and the possibility that they can share clothes with Skipper.  I wonder if their necks are fragile like Skipper's?  Veni Vidi Dolli warns that Lemon Kiss Lily's shoes are fragile, so maybe these dolls' heads pop off easily too...or maybe not!  I dunno.  I hope not!  I am tempted, however, to seek out one of these dolls and compare her to my other American Greetings child...er, children.
<show Orange and Lime>
Pretty different from Peppermint Rose, though no less adorable.  Oh yes, there were also supposed to be petal refills and extra outfits to be had, but Ghost of the Doll couldn't find any evidence that they were ever produced.  Bummer if they weren't, because those extra outfits were cute.  There were plushies and pets that made it to production, though.

BABY THAT-A-WAY

COMPANY:  Mattel
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:  1974

Barb the Evil Genius says that her sister owned this one and dang, she cute!  This little stinkertoy is a crawler, kinda like some of my dolls are walkers.  As the box itself put it, this doll crawls around getting into mischief, the way babies WILL do if they're not watched.  She came in white and black versions, and she reminds me a lot of one of my favorite seventies Mattel dolls, Baby Come Back.  Only Baby Come Back's eyes are brown.

Baby That-a-Way's eyes are blue and are glancing to the side, making her look that much more impish.  I love this doll!  Don't need, but Baby That-a-Way is adorable!

OOPSIE DAISY 

COMPANY:  Irwin

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1988, 1997

I didn't know this doll was around as long as she was!  Treesa's sister K owned this one, and I remember the commercials.  She's a crawler like Baby That-a-Away, but she sometimes falls while crawling.  Yep, that can be done!  I know from personal experience.  Daisy's hands will slip out from under her, and she'll fall and cry for her mama before picking herself back up.  I remember this doll freaking me out a little when I was a kid, because I don't know of any baby that crawls on its knees with its feet sticking up.  Usually their feet drag.  I like this doll, though.  Like so many dolls that I like her gimmick is pretty simple, and y'all can't tell from that screenshot, but Daisy has a sweet face.  Unfortunately...guess where this poor doll's batteries go.  Right up the ol' rear end.  I guess when one stops to think about it, it makes sense for a doll's batteries to go in their butts.  The butt is a nice, wide part of the body that is easily concealed by clothes, and batteries take up a fair amount of room.  Button Daisy's onesie back up and no one sees the batteries or the compartment.  But just the same, I'm glad these are dolls and not real little children!

Hey, I just thought of something.  If you play with Oopsie Daisy or Baby That-a-Way at night, are they night crawlers?  

YouTube speaks: dolls of the nineties

<pauses to double-check>  Okay, I KNOW I've got the date right this time.  I don't know where the hell my brain was last week, but anyway, I know I've got some nineties fans out there, so for today I'm breaking down one of Beauty Inside a Box's videos, one about dolls of the nineties that he considers significant.  Some of the dolls in his video have been discussed here and some haven't, but...whatever, let's do this!  How many of 'em do y'all remember???

First entry is...uh...

BARBIE

COMPANY:  Mattel
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1959-present day

This is strictly my opinion, but Barbie was pretty kick-a$$ in the nineties.  Beauty noted that Barbie seamlessly changed her style as the nineties progressed (doesn't she always?).  Early in the nineties she had big hair and big sparkly dresses, and by the time the millennium rolled around that had sleekened out, just as our own fashions did.  Beauty called out several as standouts, including Rappin' Rockin' Barbie, Earring Magic Barbie (and Ken), Teen Talk Barbie, Totally Hair Barbie, Shani, the Generation Girls (whom I freaking LOVED), and a plethora of princesses and mermaids.  Yep, Mattel loved princesses waaaay before the glut of CGI movies came out.  Beauty in the Box also noted that hair play was big for nineties Barbie dolls, and indeed it was.  I'll never forget using Cut 'n' Style Barbie's scissors on my own hair, or what happened to my posterior as a result, LOL!  I also remember Dep, the hair gel that came with Totally Hair Barbie, because Mama used that on my hair before church more than once.  Ewwww, I hated the way it felt!  It smelled nice, but I hated that cold, squidgy feeling in my hair.  I like hair gel just fine now, but when I was five I hated the crap.  But yeah, Beauty called out several dolls that were special during the nineties, and because the decade was so dynamic for Barbie and her friends he only scratched the surface.  He did note that Totally Hair Barbie was the best-selling Barbie of all time and that Barbie hasn't reached a high like that sense, but in general Barbie still remains a cultural icon.  Can't argue with that!  

As for me, my favorite dolls of this era are Sit in Style Barbie and company, Cool Times Midge, Hula Hair Christie, Cut 'n' Style Barbie, and of course, Hip 2 Be Square Barbie.  I promise I have my old H2BS doll around here somewhere!  Both she and my Cut 'n' Style girl are the redheads, of course.  Even when I was little I loved red hair.  I don't yet own a Sit in Style Barbie, by the way, despite my love for the line.  I need to fix that...

SKY DANCERS

COMPANY:  Galoob
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1994-2000

Oh, the Sky Dancers!  Part fairy, part ballerina, part dangerous, a whole lotta fun for my sister and me.  Beauty states that Sky Dancers were predicted to be a flop since flying toys were "a boy's thing."  Uh...I LOVED toys that flew, and I was very soundly a girl.  A tomboy, yes, but still a girl.  Flying toys could do something I couldn't and desperately wanted to do, LOL!  But yeah, I owned a couple'a these and loved the snot out of 'em.  Moon Shimmer and Crystal Rose were my duo, and Sister had a nice giftset that included three Sky Dancers with tinsel hair.  Oh, how we enjoyed these!  On sunny or not-so-sunny days we'd take our dolls out and play with them until one of the dolls landed in someone else's yard and we had to retrieve them.  Our neighbors were always nice about it, thank God.  We were also fortunate that no one's doll landed way up in the tree; I mean, we did have to fetch a baseball bat to poke one down every so often, but none of our dolls ever became irretrievable.  As to Beauty's description of the dolls, he mentioned the ones that lit up, the ones with ribbons attached, and the little ones, Fairy Fliers.  He also made note of a scented line, stating that scented things were big in the nineties.  Indeed, there will be more scented dolls to come, so stay tuned.

Unfortunately the Sky Dancers proved to be fairly dangerous.  Sister and I were aware of the dangers; the instructions soundly warned us to aim the toys AWAY from people and pets, and Mama and Daddy always yelled "BE CAREFUL WITH EYES!!!" from the back door.  The worst thing that happened to us was I ended up winded after one of Sister's dolls went awry and hit me in the stomach.  That scared us both, but I wasn't hurt seriously, not even bruised.  Other children weren't so lucky, and Sky Dancers eventually got slapped with a recall.  The dolls got revivals in 2005 and in 2013, but those lines didn't go as far.  It's kinda too bad that they didn't, but the reissues weren't any safer than the original dolls.  Still, I have fond memories of these, and Beauty does too.  He also suffered from tree woes, LOL.  Beauty's more extensive discussion of Sky Dancers can be found HERE.

SINDY

COMPANY:  Hasbro, later Vivid Imaginations

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  Hasbro had the license from 1987 to 1996, while Vivid Imaginations had it from 1998 to 2003.  In all Sindy has been around since 1963, with several hiatuses.  

I've spoken of Sindy many a time, but today we're looking at the Hasbro line, which I presume was meant to rival Barbie.  In the nineties Sindy went heavy on the pink and the fantasy, just as Barbie did.  Also like Barbie, hair was big, as her Crimp and Style, Wild Hair, and Rainbow Hair selves show.  My doll is Crimp and Style Sindy, and my Wild Hair doll is around somewhere as well.  Crimp and Style is kinda like Bead Blast Barbie and Cabbage Patch's Crimp 'n' Curl Girls rolled into one.

Oh, as an aside, look at the comments in this video, of Party Lights Sindy.  Who's comment do you see???  Seven years can do a lot to change one's opinions, and now I think these Hasbro Sindy dolls are pretty awesome.  Sad to say I remember nothing of them, since they were foreign releases.  Step away from eBay, Moon...you do not need Party Lights Sindy...YOU DO NOT!!!

Like the Sky Dancers, Hasbro Sindy has a skeleton in her closet, that being a lawsuit from Mattel.  Yep, Mattel sued Hasbro claiming that Sindy looked too much like Barbie.  Mattel won, by the way...sort of.  Hasbro agreed to change Sindy's face, so that sounds like a Mattel win to me.  But I still like Sindy.  I daresay that I like her face better than I do Barbie's.  Unfortunately for me, Sindy was a British thing, so I have no childhood memories of her.  Beauty states that Sindy never became as big a thing as Barbie, but she gave it the old college try.  I commend her for that, as going up against Barbie isn't easy!

LI'L MISS

COMPANY:  Mattel
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1989-1993

Yep, I'm talking about the Li'l Miss line again!  I think this is the third post this year where I've discussed the Li'l Miss bunch.  The troupe of glitzy toddler dolls began in 1989 with Li'l Miss Makeup and went from there.  Most of these dolls (all of them?) had temperature-sensitive hair, clothes, or facepaint that allowed their young stylist-mommies to glam the dolls up or down.  The only exception to this rule was this young lady, Li'l Miss Magic Jewels.

As far as I know nothing about her changed color, but her magic wand did bejewel her hair and gown.  I don't own Li'l Miss Magic Jewels, but I do own four of her jewels, worn by Flower Magic Mary.

The only doll I remember from this line is Li'l Miss Magic Hair, complete with her heart-shaped stamps and all that jazz.  I remember the commercial, being mildly interested, and never saying anything because I didn't do dolls then.  I loved those colors in her hair, though!  I also remember Li'l Miss Magic Jewels and being enchanted by the magic wand.  ANYTHING that materialized out of nothing fascinated me back then!  Oh, and fun fact about Li'l Miss Singing Mermaid:  Lady Gaga owned one as a child, if Beauty's information is accurate.  Pretty cool!

Before I move on, Beauty mentioned at the end of this segment that this doll, Princess Bride, was supposed to be a member of the Li'l Miss series...

...but he didn't say much else about her.  Princess Bride is indeed clearly a toddler doll (child marriage?  Yikes...), and her pearls turned colors with various water temperatures.  Her dress also was apparently reversible.  Ghost of the Doll lists this poppet as a completely different entity from the Li'l Miss bunch, so I'd love to know how Beauty knows that this doll was supposed to be an extension of that line.  No hate meant, of course; I just want to know how he knows.

CUPCAKES

COMPANY:  Tonka, Kenner
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1990-1992

I've discussed these in the past, and I even owned one when I was little, but for a recap Cupcakes were small dolls that folded up into toy cupcakes or other sweets, simple as that.  I owned Taffy Tammy, and I admired the Sugar and Shine and Princess Parfait waves from afar.  Taffy Tammy was from the Tonka era, and devious little Beri Blue hails from the Kenner era.  Remember her?  I always thought she looked like she was up to some sort of mischief.

Taffy Tammy smelled heavenly, and Beri Blue did too before I washed her hair.  Oh, she still smelled nice afterwards, but she smelled of Dawn rather than blueberries.  Anyway, due to their bright colors, baked goods theme, and scented gimmick, Beauty hypothesizes (and I agree) that the Cupcakes were trying to rival Strawberry Shortcake.  Strawberry and company were attempting a revival while the Cupcakes were around, so this theory holds water.  The THQ Strawberry Shortcake didn't even touch her Kenner self in terms of popularity, though.  They were cute, but I'm told they smelled pretty nasty.  The Cupcakes were around longer and probably smelled better, but they weren't around for long either.

PEPPERMINT ROSE

COMPANY:  Mattel
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1992

Okay, I know for a fact that I've got at least one Peppermint Rose fan out there.  I know precious little about the line, but apparently Pep and company were a collaboration between Mattel and American Greetings, meaning that Peppermint Rose and Strawberry Shortcake could be considered distant cousins.  Like Strawberry and like the Cupcakes these dolls were scented and came with makings for small bottles of perfume.  They also share faces with Lady Lovelylocks, and Beauty loves both lines as a result (so do I, LOL; I think that head is cute).  I have plans to discuss Peppermint Rose in a future post, so I won't say much more other than that I do not remember these from my childhood.  I like the idea, though.

SPICE GIRLS

COMPANY:  Galoob
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1997-1999

I remember these from the old Sears Wish Books and I...I thought the dolls were ugly.  The girls themselves were pretty, and to me the dolls looked possessed and bitchy.  In fact, I wasn't a fan of the Spice Girls, period.  Nothing against the women themselves, but their music wasn't my thing.  But ANYWAY, the Spice Girls were a British thing like Sindy, but UNLIKE Sindy, the Spice Girls had a decent following here in the U.S., and I had a few classmates that had or wanted these dolls for Christmas or birthdays.  Ginger (Geri Halliwell) and Posh (Victoria Beckham) were the ones my friends all liked, for this reason or that.  Either way there were multiple waves of these (I was only aware of the one pictured above), and believe it or not, I actually liked the concert collection.  The Spice Girls wore these lovely metallic outfits that weren't quite as tacky as other costumes, and they just looked nice together.  The last few waves didn't include Ginger, as she left the group in 1998.

STARR MODEL AGENCY

COMPANY:  JPI, Jakks Pacific

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1996

I had NEVER heard of these (they are no relation to this Starr), but as usual Tam's blog came through.  Starr Model Agency consisted of several tiny, well-dressed dolls that were...well, models!  They were close in size to Dawn, Pippa, and other "pocket" dolls of the past, only with nineties-style fashions and eyes that look just this side of possessed.  LOL, another possessed-looking doll!  Interestingly, one of the characters (there were six) was named Dawn, and she even had straight blonde hair like Topper Dawn!  Both Beauty and I wonder if Jakks didn't intend that as a reference to the older Dawn doll.  But either way there were several lines that followed various modelling themes, and even a stage/runway-type thing that the dolls could use.  Hmmm...now I wonder if Starr can share her clothes with Dawn...may have to investigate that.  I still have a Dawn post waiting in the wings, by the way.  

MELANIE'S MALL

COMPANY:  CapToys

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1996-1997

Never heard of this one either (duh, it doesn't pop up on Ghost of the Doll like some of CapToys' stuff does), though Melanie and her boyfriend look a lot like the dolls that lived in my dollhouse when I was a kid.  Like Starr, Melanie was a little doll (four inches), and she was accompanied with pieces of a shopping mall.  A little doll came with each piece, so if one collected the whole set one could have both a large mall and a crowded one.  Not a bad aesthetic, as long as you didn't mind a glut of blondes.  The girl dolls had legit hair, too; sometimes miniature dolls don't have real hair (2000s Polly Pocket), but Melanie and her girlfriends did.  The boys...not so much.  Let's face it, it's usually easier to mold a male doll's hair than root it.  Beauty didn't have much to say about this bunch, other than that it played into the mall culture that was prevalent in the eighties and nineties.  Sigh...I got in on the very tail end of that, and I gotta admit that I have some lovely memories of shopping malls, as well as one terrifying experience that I'll relate in some other post.  But yeah, when I was very, very little (we're talkin' like one or two years old) West Park Mall was jumping.  Had a fountain at the center like a lot of malls did back then, and it was the place to be.  How I loved that fountain!  Now malls aren't all that much (I think West Park Mall might be considered a dead mall), but for awhile they were the place for kids and teens to hang out.  I love how this toy captures that.

PRETTY CRAZY CURLS

COMPANY:  Playmates Toys

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1997-1998

Now this one I am familiar with, because I own her.  The last of the glitzy toddler dolls.  I had read and heard that this doll didn't see a lot of success, but she was around for a full year so that's something.  Anywho, Pretty Crazy Curls came with hair curlers and some accessories that my little doll is missing (ribbon streamers), and she was accompanied by two brightly colored pets.  Beauty mentions the dog, Curly, but there was also a pony, Lucky.  Other than that Beauty didn't have much to say about this doll either, other than that...oh my, she's got similarities to P.J. Sparkles and the Li'l Miss bunch.  He's definitely not the only one to notice that, but he's not wrong either.  

SURPRISE HAT SUZIE

COMPANY:  Tyco
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1995

I own this one too!  Susie is a hair play doll like Pretty Crazy Curls is, but she hides all her stuff in her hat.  My doll has sequins, beads, ribbons, and a funny-looking headband that one could weave into her hair.  Seriously, a blunt-ended sewing needle is one of this doll's accessories, and one uses that to "sew" her hair into the headband.  I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds a bit maddening.  Susie also has a bit of a blind bag gimmick, in that she has a colored streak in her hair, but no one knows what color it will be until the hat comes off.  Lastly, Susie's hat doubles as a storage purse for her hair doodads that aren't being used, so there's that.  And again, Beauty notices this doll's similarities to P.J. Sparkles and Li'l Miss.  Oh, and if y'all are worried about Susie's hair doodads spilling out when her hat comes off, don't be.  They initially come ensconced in plastic bags.  What happens after the bags are open is up to y'all!

PRINCESS GWENEVERE AND THE JEWEL RIDERS

COMPANY:  Kenner, Hasbro

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:

Back to the "dolls I've never heard of" list we go!  I saw the cartoon listed on a website for ITV, so I presume that this is another British line, thus explaining why I've never heard of the line.  There were three waves of these produced and at least one that made it to the planning stage, and Beauty compares these to She-Ra, from the eighties.  I wonder how popular these were, since they were action figures aimed at girls rather than actual dolls, but I love the colors!

BETTY SPAGHETTY

COMPANY:  Ohio Art Company, Moose Toys

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1998-2004, 2007-2008 (OAC), 2016-2017 (MT)

I freaking LOVE Betty Spaghetty!  Never owned her, can't afford her now, but I love her.  Betty Spaghetty was an appropriately named little doll with long, noodly, bendy limbs and body parts that detached and could be switched around.  Seriously, you could do pert near anything you wanted with these dolls.  She almost always came with beads that could be braided into her hair, and she often had a friend or family member packaged with her.  Hmmm, I apologize, as I did own a Betty Spaghetty set, but it was a trio of Happy Meal dolls rather than legit Ohio Art dolls.  Not that that bothered me much; I wiled away many an afternoon sliding beads into the dolls' hair and switching their body segments.

During my search on eBay I stumbled across a Betty Spaghetty clone, one that I'd never heard of before.  Meet Lanny Lanyard.

Lanny was made by Buddy Toy, whoever they are, and her joints are very different from Betty's.  If I can ever find an affordable Betty set I'll compare her and Lanny.  Beauty called Betty and her crew "experimental," which is actually a good way to explain her considering that toy companies were doing a lot of that at the time (What's Her Face! is a good example).  Some of it succeeded (Betty Spaghetty still has fans to this day), and some of it flopped, but it all made for an interesting stroll down the toy isle.

MY LITTLE PONY

COMPANY:  Hasbro

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1997-2003

Hmmm, I associate these more with the eighties, but I had a trillion of them and I was solidly a nineties child.  Beauty notes that indeed, Generation 1 ended around 1992, and Generation 2...kinda floundered.  They got their start in 1997, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I like the Gen 2 ponies.  They've got sweet faces and bright colors, and to me they kinda look like the Gen 1 ponies grew past the awkward preteen stage.  But y'know how it is with change.  Strawberry Shortcake fans hate change too, and oh good night, do Whovians hate change!  Apparently MLP fans hate change too, because these ponies didn't enjoy the long success that G1 did.  Beauty says they didn't last through 1999, but I found some sources that say G2 was around until 2003.  I don't remember; I was fixated on Barbie and the Bratz by 2003.

DISNEY

COMPANY:  Various

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1990-1999 (and beyond!)

So we're gonna be specific and talk about Disney dolls!  The nineties were the height of the Disney Renaissance, with a number of decent movies being released, and if there was a female in the movie there was gonna be a doll.  Pocahontas?  Doll.  Aladdin?  Doll.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame?  Doll.  Jeez, whoever thought that making The Hunchback of Notre Dame into a cartoon would be a good idea???  Beauty notes that the "Disney Princesses" line wasn't a thing back then, and indeed the princesses I remember were one-offs that were sold separately, like Holiday Princess Snow White (1998).

Today she'd be part of a whole series of winter-themed dolls.  Hmmm...how do you do a winter-themed Elsa, when winter is ALREADY her theme???  LOL, Elsa was a twinkle in the eye back in the nineties, though.  Beauty called out Pocahontas for her popularity, and indeed I remember there being a lot of the dolls (I personally don't like the movie much).  One even paddled her own canoe, and that one I did like.  My sister owned Sun Colors Pocahontas for awhile, and I wish I still had her (I gave her to a little kid who needed her more).  I also remember Belle being a big deal since Belle was the new girl on the block back then, and...shucks, there was a line with light-up jewels, but I can't remember the name of it!  That was the first line I can remember where several princesses had the same theme.  Cinderella's shoes lit up, Belle had a rose on her dress that glowed, and the gems on Aurora's crown lit up.  I loved those.  So yeah, I remember quite a few of these.

For Beauty Inside A Box, those were the dolls he remembered, and he knew of some that I didn't even know existed.  If I were making the list I probably would've added the Cabbage Patch Kids since they were still pretty popular in the nineties, and definitely Polly Pocket too, since my friends and I were big fans of those teeny-weeny little dolls.  As usual, I invite y'all to share your opinions, what you might add to the list or such.

Love,
RagingMoon1987