davidd's A Doll A Day 2018

[davidd]

She looks like she bought old derelict bar and she's going to turn it into the hottest spot in town! Maybe a popular beach bar....

That is extremely close to one of the planned... okay, tentatively and nebulously pre-visualized, maybe... sub-plots for The Dollie Dungeon photo-story, should it ever return. So either the story idea is not very original, or else the set is so evocative that it almost tells the story by itself!

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23 August – The Bratz Action Heroez Minifigs Attempt to Organize a Group Portrait

[Alliecat]

Haha, that's cute. Are they arguing about who didn't bring a spare battery?
The bar shot is cool too.

[neon_jellyfish]

She looks like she bought old derelict bar and she's going to turn it into the hottest spot in town! Maybe a popular beach bar....

That is extremely close to one of the planned... okay, tentatively and nebulously pre-visualized, maybe... sub-plots for The Dollie Dungeon photo-story, should it ever return. So either the story idea is not very original, or else the set is so evocative that it almost tells the story by itself!

B) is correct!

I see Action Heroez are using the new camera. What a fun photo!

[Cornflower Blue]

These are cute figures. I don't think I've seen them before.

[davidd]

Are they arguing about who didn't bring a spare battery?

Or snarking about how the other three aren't nearly as photogenic as they are!

I see Action Heroez are using the new camera.

Well... not exactly. This is a FujiFilm FinePix S1 camera that I thought would be an adequate substitute for a DSLR camera. It is not. Plus, it is starting to have some annoying issues with sticking buttons.
The new camera is still in its shipping box because I haven't had time to properly open it yet.

These are cute figures. I don't think I've seen them before.

The Bratz Action Heroez vinyl minifigs were included with the Bratz Action Heroez dolls. There were five figures in the line, introduced in the Fall of 2013. They weren't around for very long.

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24 August – Monster High "New Scaremester" Jinafire Long

Was Jinafire's surname, "Long," ever elained? I mean, c'mon, she's a Chinese dragon! Shouldn't her last name have been "Leong" or "Leung" or "Liang"? Did Mattel change the name to avoid sounding too "ethnic"?

According to the Monster High wiki:

""Long" is based on "lóng" is the Chinese word for "dragon", while the Vietnamese word is something similar which is "rồng" or "con rồng".
Jinafire's name is not a traditional Chinese name, as the family name goes last unlike most East Asian names, and "Jinafire" is not a real Chinese name; since it is based on the name "Jennifer" and "jin", the Chinese word for gold or money, while her name "Long" only means "dragon" in Chinese."

I guess that makes sense.

I guess.

[Lejays17]

Some of the puns / elanations only really work if you squint, and I think Jinafire is one of those.

Do like the backdrop on her pic, I might have to dig out some of my postcards to use as backdrops.

[neon_jellyfish]

NS Jinafire isa beauty! I love her green eyeshadows.

[Alliecat]

She's a dragon? OK... some days I'd like to be a dragon too. (insert fire-breathing smiley)
Such a cute backdrop. Did you make it?

[davidd]

Do like the backdrop on her pic, I might have to dig out some of my postcards to use as backdrops.

Such a cute backdrop. Did you make it?

The backdrop is a decorative picture I found at a weekend swap meet in Honolulu a few years ago.

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25 August – William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States
and 10th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
... and a penguin

The President Taft miniature plastic figure (about 2-3/4 inches / 7cm tall) is one of a series of U.S. Presidents figures manufactured by the Marx toy company from the late-1950s until about 1968. The original line of figures included all the presidents from George Washington through Richard Nixon. But I only have this one.

I found this interesting article online, dating from about ten years ago, about a man, a television comedy screenwriter, who collected these figures when he was a boy, and in his adult years decided to eand and continue the series by modeling custom figures of his own of successive presidents and former members of the Supreme Court.

The penguin is cast from metal and belonged to my grandparents. It was a souvenir from somewhere, but the writing has long ago rubbed off. In fact, I had never noticed that some of the smudges on his tummy were writing until after snapping this photo!

In the background is an old glass telephone pole insulator that I found while hiking behind my house.

[dargosmydaddy]

I love the diversity of your pictures-- this one really amuses me

[neon_jellyfish]

Golden!

[Lejays17]

I like the diversity of the figures in this one.

I used to have a few of those wire insulators, but the ones I had were ceramic, and were from the abandoned telegraph stations in Central Australia.

[davidd]

I used to have a few of those wire insulators, but the ones I had were ceramic, and were from the abandoned telegraph stations in Central Australia.

Perhaps those insulators supported the very wires over which news of bushranger Ned Kelly's capture was transmitted! Similarly, the old poles and insulators from where I now live may have been subject to sabotage by notorious bandit Butch Cassidy and his gang! Exciting history to think about, contained in a bit of cast-off rubbish.

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26 August – Deep Sea Diver

I think this ineensive deep sea diver toy dates to the late 1960s or early 1970s. He stands about ten inches tall and is made of thin, hollow moulded plastic. He has lead weights in his feet and vent holes molded into his body that allow him to sink into the dangerous depths. He is missing the flexible corrugated plastic hose that once connected to his air tanks.

The image in the background is a detail from a promotional poster for the Ocean Crawler Dive Watch Company. The box art for Ocean Crawler watches is very dramatic and "old school," reminiscent of the advertising art style popular in the 1930s or 1940s. Several months ago I wrote to Ocean Crawler and asked them if the had ever produced posters or prints based on their box art. They kindly responded by saying, "that's a good idea," and a few weeks later they sent me one of a limited edition run of promotional posters!

One of these days I hope to be able to afford an Ocean Crawler dive watch. But, y'know, priorities... a Smart Doll will probably need to come first!

[Alliecat]

How cool that the company sent you a poster! I'd never heard of this company.
Interesting figures.

[neon_jellyfish]

The poster looks cool and the little deep sea diver looks genuinely terrified by the Kraken (or maybe the fact that he has lost his means to breathe)! I love seeing these old treasures!