Posts
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Sunday, January 29, 2017
Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: We Salute Mary Tyler Moore, a Most Excellent Woman...
Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: We Salute Mary Tyler Moore, a Most Excellent Woman...: Even now, is my role model, and I've watched her since I was a toddler. She made the name "Laura" special to me as Laura Pet...
Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: We Salute Mary Tyler Moore, a Most Excellent Woman...
Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: We Salute Mary Tyler Moore, a Most Excellent Woman...: Even now, is my role model, and I've watched her since I was a toddler. She made the name "Laura" special to me as Laura Pet...
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Winnie the Pooh Day and R. John Wright
Thanks to R. John Wright for reminding us to celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day today!!
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| Public Domain |
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| Original Pooh and Friends Public Domain |
Doll Museum: Doll Xmas and January Pourri
Doll Museum: Doll Xmas and January Pourri: Madame Secretary and the Mini, spider drone : You know it's the hottest toy/accessory when it appears on one of the hottest shows on TV...
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Antique Doll Collector Magazine: January Interview: R. Lane Herron
Antique Doll Collector Magazine: January Interview: R. Lane Herron: R. Lane Herron January Interview We are honored and privileged this month to post an interview with my friend, renowned doll art...
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Recent Finds
Lately, I've slowed down collecting considerably. I am involved in moving and finding homes for my other love, a library of books, and also have a lot of post holiday responsibilities. I also enjoy writing about dolls and collecting, and have had many opportunities lately. Some of you might have caught posts I wrote for R. John Wright's Design Blog and Ruby Lane. Not all of them are about dolls, but many are doll related. Below, the first picture is of my lovely cat, Miss Bangles, who loves her dolls and collectibles. This group is from a store I wrote on for About.com, Nancy's Toys and Treasures. Nancy is retiring, and this is a selection of Ever After, Monster High, Japanese celluloid, and 1960s Peanuts characters.
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| Miss Kitty Bangles Collects |
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| A Vintage papier mache angel, late 60s, early 70s, with her present, a knit scarf. |
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| Vintage, wax look sugar plum fairy |
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| My Christmas Doll, Tiffany |
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| Vintage Bisque Character doll with a pouty face |
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| 1870s Parian with a molded snood |
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| I finally finished one of my shadow boxes, "Remarkable Creatures: The Fossil Shop." The fossils are real. |
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| Inside one of my glass cases; celluloid baby; she came with a wardrobe. |
Sunday, January 8, 2017
God Speed, John Glenn
They blazed a pathway to the moon,
The heroes of the hour.
They made the outer darkness feel
Man's growing mighty power.
They moved through God's enormous home
of stars and worlds and space,
And strived to reach a farther goal where
Shining Planets Wait.
***
God sees us go,
He goes with us,
His thoughts in every mind.
His planets everywhere;
His life, His breath in all mankind.
How could we go away from God?
From him no place is far.
For God who made this world of ours
Made all the worlds that are.
Astronaut's Hymn, sung in my 4th Grade Choir School, Mrs. P directing.
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| John Glenn Public Domain |
Here is a tribute to the Hero of the Hour for All time. I grew up during the space program, when interest in NASA was at its peak.
Space Dolls, Aliens and Killer Meteorites? Maybe not!
Space toy and dolls are as popular as ever, but so is
interest in “real space collectibles” like meteorites and the various
telescopes and other implements used to study the heavens.
My family belongs to our local Astronomy Club and takes part
in Astronomy Day every year. The
Planetarium where our club meets has displayed a moon rock in the past, but
also comic books and other types of models and space memorabilia.
Below is a summary of the recent news story about a man
supposedly killed by a meteorite, as well as some background information about
space objects and space dolls and collectibles.
Recently, international media was abuzz with a story about a
man in India
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| Eclipse of the Moon, Dino Milani |
On Saturday February 6, 2016, something fell from the sky
and crashed into the campus of an engineering college located in Vellore , India
NASA announced the victim was not killed by a meteorite. Besides the folks at NASA, other scientists,
including one investigating the site of the crash in India
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| Spock Action Figure, Public Domain |
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| Buck Rogers, Vintage Alien Figures, Tsagaris Collection |
At this point, it looks like the falling object was space
junk that entered the earth’s atmosphere. Still, one person’s space junk can be
another person’s collectible. Remember
Jack Nicholson’s astronaut character in “Terms of Endearment?” His house was filled with space collectibles
and NASA memorabilia.
Still, the myth of the meteorite fall is alive and well in
popular culture, yet a meteorite did land in Russia
in a major metropolitan area in Chelyabinsk
There are unconfirmed reports of perhaps five or six people
killed in China over 1000
years ago, and another about someone killed in India
In 1954, a rare confirmed report notes that a woman in Alabama
So what are meteorites?
According to New England Meteoritical Services, they are pieces of
“other bodies’ in the solar system that fall to earth when “a meteor or ‘shooting
star’ flashes through our atmosphere” at speeds of 32,000 to 150,000 miles per
hour. Most are created when asteroids
collide. A few fall from the moon, and the rest from other planets, comets, and
a very rare few from Mars. For example,
around 60,000 meteorites have been found on Earth; only 124 have been confirmed
to be Martian. The oldest are chondrites, stone meteorites formed 4.56 billion
years ago. The other very rare type of
stone meteorite is called an achondrite.
Because of their rarity and primitive origins, meteorites are sought
after by collectors and scientists.
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| Star Trek by Mego, Public Domain. Also in author's collection |
Collectible meteorites and space objects appear at rock,
gem, and mineral shows, though they may be very small. I even purchased a piece of the planet Venus,
or so I was told, that looks like the head of a very tiny pin. It is encased in
its own special protective box.
Besides meteorites and other space artifacts, many
collectors like to collect astronaut dolls, figures, and toys. Aliens and space vehicles also have their devotees.
We only have to look at reruns of “That 70s Show” or past
and current episodes of “Big Bang Theory” to see examples of “Star Wars” and
“Star Trek” action figures and collectibles.
Some “Star Wars” action figures can fetch over
$100,000. Entire books are devoted to
them, and even Madame Alexander and Ideal have made dolls of the
characters. Target and Walmart offer 31
inch and 48 inch action figures that often talk and make sound that represent
Darth Vader, Storm Troopers, and other “Star Wars” characters. Each new film has spawned countless figures,
dolls, licensed objects, plush figures, beanies, mechanicals dolls, and all
sorts of toys. We have quite a
collection of Hallmark Star Wars Christmas ornaments as well, and a large, plus
Yoda holding a Halloween Pumpkin. We
also have ornaments to create a Yoda pumpkin at Halloween, and a Yoda mask.
With the untimely death of Carrie Fisher on the eve of the latest movie, interest in Star Wars is stronger than ever. Spooky alien figures inspired by Living Dead Dolls and Svengoolie movies also spark an interest in space and rocket culture.
Even Christmas, with its astronaut ornaments, some by Hallmark, which includes The Eagle has Landed, Star Wars and Star Trek, Sputnik ornaments are hot collectibles.
Star Trek has had its share of toys and celebrity dolls from
the shows beginning. “Star Trek” only
aired a few years as a prime time show, but it quickly made up for its lack of
network longevity in syndication and video popularity. Mego dolls and figures of the characters are
very desirable, and newer figures also sell well. There are even bisque collectors’ dolls and a
Star Trek Ken and Barbie Set. Hallmark also has provided a series of
ornaments, some mechanical, of the characters and their space ships. “Star Trek; The Next Generation” and “Star
Trek Deep Space Nine” have inspired many dolls, action figures, and other
projects in various price ranges. In the
early 90s, one of my friends offered an original Star Trek jersey in her
shop. We often visited the model of The Enterprise displayed at Riverside , Iowa
My Spock dolls are especially important to me, since I had
the honor of meeting Leonard Nimoy and obtaining his autograph. I also was able to obtain the autograph of
James Doohan, engineer “Scotty.” These
objects are nice to display with dolls of the era.
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| Paper Dolls Public Domain |
The G.I. Joe astronaut hand his space capsule are classics
by Hasbro. Major Matt Mason and his
various accessories are unusual and fun to own. Barbie has appeared as an astronaut at least
3 times, as have Snoopy of The Peanuts Gang and Disney’s Goofy and Mickey
Mouse. Lot of other astronaut sets and toys, some with Martians and other aliens have been made and are still sold by dollar stories.
Warner Bros. Martian has been created as a doll. Roswell
Aliens are popular Halloween props in all media. ET appears as a plush doll, and as a talking
doll and mini action figure. The extra
terrestrial from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” were popular in the 30s
along with the “Gremlins” characters. I have a blow up alien doll dressed in a blue, calico dress my mom made. Another doll wears a dress with an alien embroidered on the front, done by doll dress designer extraordinaire, Roberta Evans.
The Alien Queen from “Alien” made during the late 70s is a
rare collectible, but smaller figures from the 90s do well, too. I missed out on the large figure, but found a
smaller one complete with molded high heels!
My mother, as was her want, knitted her a red outfit. She also dressed one of my green Roswell
Alien dolls.
The Martian Spy Girl and Mork have appeared in doll form,
and let’s not forget that even Superman was from another planet. Lots of my Superman dolls came from
Metropolis, IL, home of Superman, and of a museum devoted to him. Wonderwoman also comes from another
planet. Mattel brought us Spectra, a
Barbie type figure that was jointed with metallic paint on her arms and legs,
and Guardians of the Galaxy. They also
created Masters of the Universe and Galoob gave us The Golden Girl Figures.
This is just a sampling of what is available; don’t forget tiny little plastic
spacemen and their ships that still appear on dollar store shelves.
Dr. Who figures and toys are extremely popular, and if you
look, you can find the knitted figures from the film “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy. My favorite Dr. Who characters
are those by Robert Tonner and the smaller figures of The Clockwork Men.
Star Wars Public Domain
RIP Princess Leia
|
I have aliens and space men created during the 1930s, and we
also have a Flash Gordon rocket and a Buddy –L model of the space shuttle. More alien toys became popular after Orson
Welles broadcast “The War of the Worlds.”
“Battle Star Galactica”, “Toy Story”, “Red Dwarf” and “Small Soldiers”
also provided us with dolls and toys.
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| Dr. Who Public Domain. Check Pinterest for Boards on The Doctor |
We don’t have the space to go into dolls and figures that
represent The Zodiac,
This just in, as I’m typing, “Yanni” is doing a special from
Cairo , Egypt
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Public Domain
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So, next time you look up at the stars, or read about
astronomy, remember that dolls and collectibles appeal to scientists, and to
other creatures of the heavens, too!
| Public Domain |
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Remarkable Creatures: The Fossil Shop by Ellen Tsagaris, a Shadowbox. The Jar on the topmost
shelf with the black lid contains meteorites. The description is on the white poster on the wall up and to its right.
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References*
“All about meteorites.” Armagh
Planetarium. Retrieved from http://
armaghplanet.com/html/meteorites.html.
Biswas, Soutik.
“Did a meteorite kill a man in India
Hauser, Christine. “That wasn’t a meteorite that killed a
man in India
Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/world/asia/that-wasnt-
a-meteorite-that-killed-a-man-in-india-sasa-says.html?_r=0.
Majumdar, Roshni,
et al. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/10/asia/india-metorite-ma
n-kille/index.html.
Malhotra, Aditi.
“Meteorite milled man at Indian college, says Chief Minster.”
The Wall
Street Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs/wsj.com/indiarealtime/
2016
/02/08/meteorite-kiled-man-at-indian-college-says-chief-minister/tab/p . . .
Mars Meteorites. NASA. Retrieved from
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/index.html.
*Remember, also, to follow up with the links within the
article and to consult guides to vintage toys, action figures, toy soldiers,
Hallmark ornaments, and Star Wars collectibles.
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Antique Doll Collector Magazine: Merry Christmas a...
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Antique Doll Collector Magazine: Merry Christmas a...: Antique Doll Collector Magazine: Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah! A Peaceful 20... : We wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season, and a Safe...
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Μουσείο κουκλών του Δρ Ε στα Ελληνικά : Petite Γαλλικά bébés, μικροσκοπικά όλα-bisque mign...
Μουσείο κουκλών του Δρ Ε στα Ελληνικά : Petite Γαλλικά bébés, μικροσκοπικά όλα-bisque mign...: Petite Γαλλικά bébés, μικροσκοπικά όλα-bisque mignonettes — Ναι, θα είναι εκεί στην πανέμορφη ποικιλία. Για να μην αναφέρουμε τη μεγάλη λί...
For Samy: Theriault's, The Legend, the Auctions, The Dolls!
Petite French bébés, tiny all-bisque mignonettes — yes,
they'll be there in gorgeous array. Not to mention great little German bisque
characters. These dolls are all so rare to find in tiny sizes, and so wonderful
to fit right into your doll displays with no concern about finding space. Here
are a few wonderful choices from both auction days.
*******************************************************************
Two full color art quality hardbound catalogs
("Fascination, the Musée de la Poupée", auction of January 8; and
"The Voyage Continues", auction of January 7) are available for a
combined special price of $129, certain to capture a prominent spot in your home
(includes after-sale price key and free shipping). To order the catalogs or for
more auction information call 800-638-0422 or visit theriaults.com
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| Courtesy, Theriault's |
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| Courtesy, Theriault's |
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