More dolls for my imaginary collection

I love doing these "dolls that I like but don't need" posts!  They can be a mite dangerous to my pocketbook, but I still enjoy putting them together. 

MOMMY'S HAVING A BABY

COMPANY:  Tyco
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1992

The title pretty much says it all:  Mommy Doll is pregnant and "gives birth" to a baby doll.  She even has her own little ultrasound machine to "look" at the baby.  Baby Doll also comes with some accessories, and she drinks and wets like many good baby dolls do.  Mommy has jointed arms to hold Baby, and a dress to wear post-partum.  It's a cute concept, though I can see where some parents might've been freaked out some.  My own mother lifted an eyebrow when I told her about this one, LOL.

MAGIC POTTY BABY

COMPANY:  Tyco
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1992

Coexisting with Mommy's Having a Baby was this poppet, who had a gimmick similar to that of Potty Dotty.  Sit her on her toidy and she goes!  Unlike Potty Dotty, Magic Potty Baby's commode does all the dirty work, making tinkling and flushing noises.  The doll herself is partially stuffed and is cute enuff on her own without the pot.  She could be either white or black.

PEBBLES AND BAMM-BAMM

COMPANY:  Ideal
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:
Believe it or not, Uncle Man-Child reminded me of these one night.  We never will be super-close, but we're getting along better, and one night he...I forget exactly what it was he said, but I think he said it was a shame that Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm (the children from The Flintstones) weren't made into dolls.  Surprise, they were!  They appear to be nothing more than cute little baby dolls done up in the likenesses of Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble, but they sure are cute!  I went for a look on eBay shortly after that, and to my surprise Bamm-Bamm is the easier one to find.  Usually the girl doll is the easier one to find, but not this time!

CHIKA-CHAN

COMPANY:  Shiba
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1970, give or take a year.

The subreddit r/DollsOfAsia can be a dangerous place to go if you love dolls but are short on cash.  Since Chika-chan is foreign she's hard to come by here in the U.S., and as such she can go for a pretty penny.  Shame too, because she's cute.  "Chan" is a Japanese honorific, meaning that Chika-chan would have to be from there.  If the source I found is correct then Chika only had blonde hair...meaning that the doll pictured above is her friend Chiko-chan.  Chiko was either a redhead or a brunette.  Both dolls appear to have an internal armature, and thus they remind me a little of Tutti and Todd.  I'm fond of Asian dolls, so it should be no surprise that I like Chika-chan and Chico-chan.

ARGIGI AND BRIGIGI

COMPANY:  Hugo Limited
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:

These remind me a little of Poppy Parker in the face.  According to Cardigan Argigi is the lead character and Brigigi is her bestie.  If the chatter on Reddit is to be believed, these dolls are independently produced and have small production numbers, kinda like some of the smaller art dolls that I've seen on Etsy.  As of writing all the dolls are out of stock, so I have no idea what prices we're dealing with, but I bet y'all a bottom dollar these dolls are pricey.  They're cute, though.

PEACHY

COMPANY:  Mattel
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1973

C'mon, y'all know darn good and well that Mattel will have an entry somewhere!  Peachy reminds me of the story Treesa told me about herself and her Blooming Doll.  Violet is a puppet, and Treesa used her as a ventriloquist dummy of sorts.  Peachy is...well, she's kinda like that; she comes with four stick puppets and she manipulates them as such.  She also talks via a pull string, and apparently her speech changes with the puppets.  Pretty cool!  I wouldn't mind seeing this doll in action...<pauses to browse YouTube>...I think that's it, yeah.  Peachy could be either black or white, and both variants are cute.  I have to admit, I'm very interested in this one...no, bad Moon!  Stay off eBay!

PENNY PUPPY WALKER

COMPANY:  Bradgate/Palitoy

YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1972

Bradgate was (I think) a subdivision of Palitoy, meaning that Penny Puppy Walker here is likely a British/European thing.  Y'all know of old how I like foreign releases.  Penny is a walker like a great many dolls, but instead of relying on batteries she relies on...air.  Y'all see that yellow and red thing and the tube around Penny's foot?  The tube attaches to her somewhere and the child would press on those red buttons to get her moving.  The commercial shows that her dog will move to, utilizing the same mechanism.  Pretty cool!  I admit that I almost bought this one just because of that.  I love how dated the fashions in the commercial are, by the way.  Very early seventies.  As an aside, French company Clodrey made a very similar doll during the same timeframe.  Her name was Nini the Trotter and her face was different from Penny's, but otherwise they're the same doll.  Spoiler alert, Clodrey dolls will be making an appearance in the blog soon.  I've seen and found some cute ones.

BABY GROWS UP

COMPANY:  Mattel
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1978

Don't confuse this doll with the Baby Alive doll!  Dolls that "grow up" aren't as common as dolls who drink, wet, cry, walk, you get me, but they're definitely out there.  Unclad images of Baby Grows Up show that her torso gets longer as she "grows," and as far as I know her legs don't have to be manually straightened like the Baby Alive doll's legs do.  I can remember one doll from the nineties whose legs had to be straightened by hand to transform her from a crawler to a walker, and to me it looked like a good way to break your doll.  Not that Baby Grows Up can't break, but she seems a bit more robust than similar grow-up dolls.

COME TO ME BABY CRAWL 'N' WALK

COMPANY:  Toy Biz
YEARS OF PRODUCTION:  1998

This is the doll I was thinking of above.  I was ten by 1998 and finally beginning to pay attention to dolls, but I was also still diligently watching Nickelodeon and the toy commercials that accompany kids' programs, so I remember this one pretty well.  She can crawl, and if her legs are pulled straight she can walk.  She apparently is activated by noise, as she moves when you call to her.  Hmmm, does that mean that if I don't take her batteries out she'll start moving when I beller for my dogs, or when the thunder gets too close?  Jeez, I hope not!

That takes care of this bunch!

Love,
RagingMoon1987

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?  

LOL,
RagingMoon1987

Annabelle claims a victim...possibly

Got the news this morning from KFVS, and oh nelly, is this one a doll-related doozy of a story!  Just about everyone that I know is familiar with Annabelle, a doll that is supposedly possessed.  Indeed, I've gotten more jokes about Annabelle than I care to admit.  For the record, the real Annabelle does not look like the little psycho in the movies.

No, and I think that's what makes her even more creepy.  On the surface Annabelle is...an ordinary Raggedy Ann doll!

I knew Annabelle was real, but I didn't know she was a Raggedy Ann doll!  Anyway, a paranormal expert from New England was touring with Annabelle, which to me sounds like an incredibly dumb thing to do, and apparently Annabelle agrees.  The paranormal expert, a gentleman named Dan Rivera, died suddenly during this tour.  The medical experts don't know why yet, but the timing is...kinda creepy.  I mean, Mr. Rivera was handling Annabelle with his bare hands!  Now I figure that the stories of Annabelle trying to stab someone are probably apocryphal (there is one alleged case of that happening), but y'all wouldn't catch me dead bare-handing this little gal!

I've read a few too many ghost stories, okay???  I believe that items can indeed be cursed, and they're best avoided unless one has a priest in tow.  But what say y'all?  Was Dan Rivera a victim of Annabelle, or of rotten luck?

Creepy love,
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