The Manikins

I mentioned in my previous post that the lovely little Toddler, Iona, was not alone in the parcel that came from my special dolly friend in the US.  Iona was actually accompanied by two very unusual (to me) dolls, and as soon as I saw them I thought they were worth researching a little. 

The dolls are actually called 'manikins' and from what I can find on the Internet, they were made by a company called Latexture of New York City, who produced these figures alongside Simplicity, (the pattern company who were also based in NYC) who produced the patterns specifically for this size of 'doll'.  The original 'dolls' would have come in a box which included a pattern, a wooden stand, a tape measure, some thread, a little pair of rounded end scissors, and possibly other sewing paraphernalia for the budding seamstress.

The box, as far as I can see, was made of hard cardboard.  I found the following couple of photos of what the complete sets probably looked like:

The two manikins that I received are without their boxes, they are from the 1940s I believe and that was apparent as soon as I saw them, the style of their hair is very 1940s.  When I say 'hair', they have molded on hair and it is painted a glossy deep brown.  The bodies are only jointed at the shoulders and apparently the arms pop in and out on 'pegs'....I think these pegs might have been prone to breaking as a lot of the dolls I've seen for sale, are missing one or both of their arms.  Both mine have their arms and are in quite good condition, although one has some pin pricks to her torso as well as a bit of damage to her face paint.   I'm guessing she was the one who was used by a seamstress to make outfits.  

Both girls are approx 13 inches tall and they have slim bodies with small bust and hips and not a considerable difference between their top and bottom halves in measurements.  This must have made it a lot easier for young seamstresses to work with, no need for masses of darts....I'm just guessing here as unfortunately I don't have the patterns.

Here are their basic measurements:

Height: Approx 13 inches

 

Bust: 13.5cm

Waist: 10.75cm

Hips: 14cm

Inside leg: 16.75cm

 

Although both of these 'dolls' appear to be the same sculpt, there are some subtle differences between them.  As you can below, one of the dolls has a slither of paint missing from the end of her nose so I will refer to her as 'girl A' (shown on the left above) and the other as 'girl B'.   In the photo above and below, you might be mistaken into thinking that the girl on the left, 'girl A' has a smaller head than her companion, I thought the same at first, but it is actually that her 'posture' is better and you will see this more clearly in my photos of them from the side.  Both girls faces are exactly 3cm long from the edge of their molded hair to the bottom of their chins. 
 

Also, it looks as if 'girl B' has a thicker neck, again this is because of her posture, both girls necks measure exactly 6cm round.

 

Both girls' faces are quite simply painted; their eyelashes, as you can see below, are all painted to one side of both eyes, so although one eye has lashes on the outside edge of the eye and nothing towards the inner eye, so the other eye has them painted so that her inner eyelid has the lashes, whilst her outer eyelid has nothing but blue eyeliner!    They both have blue eyes to match the eyeliner and red 'rosebud' painted lips which I think  probably reflect the fashions of the day.

'Girl A'

 

'Girl B'

Here, from the side, you can see that 'girl B' has a more pronounced 'slouch' than her companion.  I suspect that this was caused by age or maybe even warmth as at the base of her neck I can just about make out some very fine wrinkles in the plastic, but these were so fine that I couldn't really get them to show up properly in photos....

Seeing the girls full length from the side is interesting as you would think that the girl on the right, 'girl B' is slightly shorter than the other.  This is just an illusion though as they are exactly the same height.  I have measured both girls all over and there is only one difference that I can see in their measurements, and that is 'girl B' has slightly shorter arms!  Both of her arms are each 13cm long, whereas the other girl's arms measure 14cm.  Also 'girl B' has a bit of a 'problem' with her left leg in that the ankle is slightly curved, so causing her not to be able to stand up as straight as the other girl.

In the rear view you can see the damage to 'girl A', probably caused by sewing needles or pins.  

You can also see the makers mark.  Both girls are marked with the words 'Fashiondol' (yes just the one 'L' in doll...and the copyright ©️ across the small of their backs, nothing more. 

Also as you'll see above, both girls are 'wearing' painted on high wedged shoes.  I believe that these shoes would have originally had 'pegs' attached to them, so that they could be pushed into the wooden stands that the girls would have originally come with.


Apart from their posture, there are a couple of other differences that I want to mention.  Firstly and most obviously to me, are the differences in the definition of the molding on the girls.  'Girl A' has much more definition to her mold than the other girl.  Her hair is more detailed, her company name on her back is slightly easier to read as it's imprinted better and her ears in particular are far more detailed than 'girl B'. 

This difference in the two dolls is really easy to see on their hair, for example.....

Girl A

And 'Girl B'

 

And here you can see the differences in their ears.....with 'girl B's ears, on the right, being almost flat compared to the girl on the left.....

As well as those differences, their skin tones are also different, with 'girl A' having a more beige toned skin colour compared to the other girl's skin which has a more rosy tone to it.  Their hair colour though is exactly the same, from this angle the colour reminds me of lovely shiny conkers!! 😄

Apart from that, both girls more or less feel the same, their bodies are completely hollow so they are 'squidgy' and slightly pliable, although because of their age I've not squashed their bodies in too much as I don't want their surface paint, if that is indeed what it is, to get any further damage to it.

Well I hope you have enjoyed seeing these two 'manikin' dolls, I know that I have enjoyed receiving them and trying to find out all I can about them, which sadly hasn't been much.  I don't know if they'll stay as I am supposed to be downsizing further, (and my friend sent them to me with a note to sell if I wanted to) but we shall see....I mean they really don't take up too much room, do they? 😉😊

Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting!

Big hugs, Sharon in Spain xxx

Dylan & Olivia....Two Redheads!

Thank you for all the comments that helped me to decide on which would be Dylan's (Little Cosmos Doll Robin) wig.  I have chosen the red one as I think both the colour and the style suit her.  The wispy tendrils of hair around her face give her a sweet and child-like appearance, which I love!

So here she is today in her dungarees by TTYA, enjoying a bit of early evening shade.

I'm really delighted with this little sweetie!

Also this week I made a simple summer dress for another doll, but the bodice was too tight.  The benefit of having many different dolls is that I was able to give it to another one of my little cuties, my Olivia Kish who is slimmer than the doll it was intended for.  The cute fabric was a gift from my lovely friend Sue in the UK.  I've got quite a bit left over so will probably make another dress from the same fabric for Dylan or maybe for Bastian when she arrives :)

Well that's me done for the night, I've had too many late nights and early mornings recently.....time for bed!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Big hugs Sharon xxx

Just some old photos.....

My son is over here for a week on holiday and so for the next couple of days we are at home and my dolls, apart from one, are not....so I thought I'd share some old photos as I've not had the time or the resources to take new ones.  I hope you enjoy seeing these 'oldies' from my 'adopted out doll' photo archives :)

This first little girl was Judy, a Caio Bella tanned Judy by Bambicrony in South Korea.  She was a sweet little thing and had a lovely face up.  I remember selling her as I needed the money for another 'must have' doll, thinking that I could easily replace her at a later date. 

And I did indeed replace her!  With another tanned Judy with the same sculpt and face painting.  I used the same plum coloured glass eyes and even the same wig (not in the photo below of course) but this doll never seemed to 'hit the spot' like the first Judy, so she also was sent out into the world for adoption!!! 

The next photos are of one of the Blythes I customised some years ago.  I called her Candi but she was actually a Blythe Border Spirit.  In the first photo you can see how she looked after I worked on her, I was really pleased with how she came out.

After a while I thought she might benefit from pink hair so I dyed her blond hair using a cherry coloured fabric dye, and it came out this great deep pink colour!

Some time afterwards I rerooted her scalp with a soft baby pink hair and put it into two plaits.  I also gave her some freckles.  My friend Janet Myhill Dabbs fell in love with her and asked if she could adopt her, so last year Candi went to live in the UK where she is happy being Janet's first (and I believe, only) Blythe.

This next doll was called Briar and she was sculpted by the American artist Anita Collins, also known as Sleetwealth.   Briar was a very limited edition doll but I just had to have her!  I loved her haughty look, she was so beautiful but also very aloof looking, her serious but elegant sculpt really appealed to me.  However, I have to admit that really I am not a collector of more mature sculpted dolls, preferring child dolls, so this lovely girl didn't stay here long.  But I enjoyed photographing her whilst she was here.

Having said that, she did do a great job babysitting these two little Lati White tiny Belles, who really could be a handful sometimes!!

The next lovely girl is a Hello Harvest Blythe customised by the very talented Spanish artist Barb McFly Stark, also known as Little Miss No Name.  This was my first custom Blythe and I just fell in love with her the minute I saw her up for sale.   After a couple of years here, Cali, as she was called by the artist, went to live with another friend in the US.

The next photos are of a small Yosd sized BJD (ball jointed doll) from the now defunct company called Custom House.  She is an Ange Ai Honey Hani and she really was a sweet doll.  She was made before the company started to have problems and she arrived within a month after me ordering her and she was in perfect condition.  Sadly this wasn't the case with later dolls and there were horrendous problems for collectors who not only waited more than a year for their dolls but found that they were full of problems once they arrived.  :(

The little girl in the following photos also came from Custom House and she is the same size as the one above but she is an Ange Ai Uri who I had home tanned and painted by the Spanish artist Olga Ramirez, also known as Vainilladolly.  She was a real cutie but went to live in the UK a couple of years ago. 

These overalls have been worn by many of my dolls over the years.  As they were the first pair I made in this size, I decided to keep them and they really have had a lot of wear, from being worn by tall girls like this one, or with rolled up legs for shorter girls.  In the photos below they're being worn by Ganga by Dollstown, she was approx 45cm tall and had a very slim build.  She is another doll that I'd like to own again but probably would prefer her in light tan rather than this skin colour that I had before as it's a challenge to photograph her pale resin in the bright sunshine we get here.

Wonderfully grumpy profile!

Finally for now, some photos of another long gone girl, a tanned Mini Riz by Planetdoll with a custom faceup by Mystical Maz on Den of Angels.  This doll was a lovely one, very slim and child-life with the serious expression that I love, although not a great poser.  I don't really regret that she is no longer here, after all I can't keep every doll that I buy, but when I see her photos I do wonder about her!!

Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my old photos in the absence of anything new, but I'll soon have some new photos for you, hopefully!  I hope you're all having a great weekend and hope the week ahead is a good one for you!

Big hugs Sharon xx

Action figures....but who are they? UPDATED!

A couple of weeks ago I bought a bunch of little action figures from the secondhand market, I thought they might make good 'pretend' BJDs for my bigger dolls as these little plastic figures are multi jointed, although not ball jointed.  I got 5 of them and thought I'd look on the internet to see if they are from a children's cartoon/tv programme/Anime or something.  However, despite quite a bit of research, I cannot find anything similar.  They don't have any markings on them except that each one has a number on the bottom of one foot.

I thought I'd share them on here in the hope that someone might recognise them and might be able to throw some light on who they are and where they come from!  I am hoping that one of my readers, jSarie, in particular, might be able to help!!

So here they are.  They are approx 5 to 6 inches tall, made of all plastic and have moulded on hair, all but the boy with glasses, are multi jointed.  They can stand on their own but not on the artificial grass that I tried posing them on!

This girl looks very Asian with her black hair and almond shaped eyes.  I'm not sure what those brown raised lines are above her eyebrows though!

I think this is a girl because of her pink hair, outfit and pink wings but I could be wrong:

This  yellow haired one, which I think could be a boy, has little 'horns' or at least the 'stubs' of horns on his head, plus a feline sort of tail which is also hinged!  But his feet are more like 'hooves':

This bespectacled boy also has a microphone attached to his glasses.  He isn't as articulated as the others, only having joints at his neck, shoulders, hips and knees.  His ankles and wrists are not jointed, unlike the others:

The gang:

Close ups:

Thanks for stopping by, I hope one of you can maybe throw some light on these 'characters', just out of curiosity!

UPDATE!
A friend of mine in the US sent my photos to her son and he remembered seeing something like these characters in a cartoon on the Cartoon Network TV channel back in the 1990s.  I decided to search on that and have now found the show these characters came from!
It was called Code Lyoko and is actually FRENCH!  The final episode ran on the 19th December 2013!  And he was a little out on timing, they apparently first aired in 2003.  And I found lots of information on Wikipedia, here

A lot of the information I read says that there are a group of 5 students but in the photo below there are six and yet in others there are only 4.  I wonder if there is another little fellow out there waiting to be brought home to join the rest of his friends? :)

So mystery solved!  I'm glad that finally I know who these little dolls represent!

Thanks again for stopping by :)