Miss World Rexard Doll

This is another of the Rexard Miss world dolls I'm not sure which one as she came without the box, if anyone knows please let me know in a comment.

My 33 inch Furga Doll

I have loads of dolls I have now inherited since my dad no longer has an attic to keep them in, I'll be photographing them and adding more detailed photographs of some of the other dolls I've already added.

Didn't realise how few I actually had photographed and added to the blog there are loads so it should be quite busy round here again.

The doll I'm adding today was a Christmas present from childhood, she was as tall as me when I got her (she stands 33 inches) and it would have been around 1984 when I received her. The marking on the back of her neck says "Furga" and then in smaller writing "Italy". She seems to be quite rare too as I can't find any pictures or many references at all to a Furga doll of this size that must have been produced in the early 1980's.

Sadly she no longer has her original outfit, though I do remember she had black dungarees and a yellow top with a musical note on it there were also yellow plastic shoes. She has blinking eyes, and apparently was supposed to walk when you moved her arms, but she never really did very well as I recall. Her legs do kind of move forward when you move the arms now but it hardly looks like walking.

 I really love the detail in her face and think she's lovely now, but she gave me the creeps when I was a child so I hardly played with her. Perhaps this was a good thing as she's still in quite good condition. She has some faint pen marks and other dirt but I'm sure I'll find a way to clean them off.

She's actually wearing some of my old clothes from childhood and I could dress her in clothes for a three or four year old, I must find her a better outfit.

Three Porcelain dolls, Two By Alberon

These three porcelain dolls would now be considered vintage as they date from the 80's, I remember them being displaced in a glass cabinet at our house as a child. The Alberon ones still have their boxes and stands.

Stuffed Dolls From Thailand.

Can't believe it's been so long since I last updated this blog, people wondering what happened to my doll collection will be pleased to know I have just discovered many more dolls I've inherited from my mother. As well as all the old dolls from my childhood that were previously stored in my fathers attic.
The first I'm going to share are these hand made stuffed dolls from Thailand. I recall they were purchased during the 80's from the Greenpeace catalogue so will have been fair trade. The cards that come with each of them read:

Akha call themselves A-kha, ethnically the Akha belong to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family. They live in the northern Thailand at an altitude of approximately 1,000m. The Akha are shifting cultivators. They cultivate dry rice for consumption and grow corn, millet, peppers etc. As additional subsistence crops. The most enjoyable event of Akha is, the four day swinging ceremony, held during mid-Aug and. Mid-Sep

Lisu - The Lisu inhabit the mountainous hinterland of Northern Thailand. They grow rice corn and vegetables as subsistence crops practising shifting cultivation and they also grow opium for sale. The Lisu have no political leader at village level this differentiates them from other tribes. They are principally animists and ancestor - worshippers and their reputation as individualists makes them quite distinct.

Yao- The Yao or mien as they call themselves, can be found in Kwangsi and Kwangtung provinces of South China, and North Thailand. The Yao are practise shifting cultivation growing rice and corn. The Yao have adopted many characteristics of Chinese culture, for example they hold the new year celebration on the same day as the Chinese 

Sadly the card for one of the dolls seems to have been lost, but they have barely been taken of the packaging, and apart from that are in great condition. Can't wait until I have Suitable glass cabinet to display all these dolls in. The detail in the costume and faces is really lovely, there limbs do move so could have pictured them seated but decided to leave them standing. 

New Early Eighties Sindy Annuals Arrived

The Sindy Annauls I won on eBay arrived today and I was pleased with the condition they are in, they don't have quite as many pictures of the Sindy outfits made that year as I'd hoped but they will still be useful. I did learn that 4 of the evening gowns for Sindy designed in the early eighties were designed by the Emanuels (the same people who designed pincess Diana's wedding dress) so I'll have to keep a lookout for those on eBay. :)

Please Help Me Identify These Dolls Outfits.

You might think because you aren't a doll collector you won't be able to help, but if you are 70's or 80's child who played with Barbie or Sindy you can as that's when they date from. Please check out this short slide show and leave a comment if you recognise anything. You can pause it using the buttons at the bottom of the picture that appear again when you mouse over and enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.
And they open in a new window so don't worry if you are using Blog Explosion it won't effect your surfing. Thanks in advance.

Still Working On The Last Dolls Hair, And New Additions To My Collection

I've noticed a lot of people on youtube making spoofs of the American show robot chicken with Barbie dolls. I was thinking of starting one myself using Sindy dolls, and using more British humour (which is not what you think it is if you still think we like Benny Hill!) Would anyone be interested in seeing that? Do you think it would be funny? I would make it with the same kind of humour they use in Robot Chicken, just with a British slant. Anyway here are some pictures of the latest additions to my doll collection.

I have got a new addition to my Sindy collection, from the markings on her head I can tell she dates from about 1983 to 1985, so she's nearly as old as me!
The other doll in the above picture is how far I've got on re-rooting the doll in the post below, she needs much more work I've just been really busy lately.

And this is a pocahontas Disney doll my friend gave me as he knew I collected Sindy dolls, sadly he passed away shortly afterwards. I intend to try and restore her hair but I probably won't re-root her as it's quite a tough job and if the doll doesn't need it we quite often don't we just restore the dolls original hair.