What's in a name?

I like names.  I like human names, I like hurricane names, I like doll names, and I especially love looking at Cabbage Patch Kid names.  I've got some nice combinations in my collection, like Owen Presley and Cleopatra Chantale (yes, I've gotten compliments on that one), and then I've heard some humdingers, like Charlene Darlene, Karissa Larissa, and my new favorite, Bunnie Candie.  I couldn't resist bringing Bunnie Candie home, by the way; she's a little Preemie.

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

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

COMPANY:  Topper
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

COMPANY:  Various
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

COMPANY:  Wonderama Toys
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

COMPANY:  Galoob
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

COMPANY:  R&D
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

COMPANY:  Fisher Price
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.

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.

SUSIE SO SMART

COMPANY:  DSI Toys

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

More random dolls that I don't need but like

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-CHOO

COMPANY:  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.

PRINTEMPS

COMPANY:  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 DARLINGS

COMPANY:  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