tweenhood desire achieved

My first Christmas present to myself came today. (I am quite sure the Folio books will have to wait for me at the post office: no news of them being shipped yet, and it's only about 12 days before I leave town. But that's okay.)

Anyway. I say "tweenhood" because these dolls were out in 1982 or 83 and I would already have been on the cusp of teenagerhood (which is also why I didn't have so very many - again, trying to seem more sophisticated than I really was, and so denying some things I wanted. Also, lack of allowance money....)

But here she is. Orange Blossom. (My Strawberry Shortcake collection is now more diverse....)

The boxes are very like the original boxes I remember. (the lights from my tree are reflecting on the plastic on the front there).

And here she is, unboxed:

It's hard to get a good photo of a darker-skinned doll, at least with the webcam. But the little shoes! I love the shoes. And the dress, which is like two ruffles - one for the top and one for the skirt.

(And yes. I am in my pajamas at just past 5:30 pm. It was a long day, don't judge.)

She does have a scent but it is not identifiably "orangey" and these dolls do tend to lose their scent a bit once out of the box.

I trimmed the little plastic thingies holding the hat on so I could ruffle up/adjust her hair so it looked better, and also so I could put the hat on at a more flattering angle.

I always chuckle when I remove these from boxes - way back when I was a high schooler collecting dolls, there were a lot of arguments in the doll magazines about whether or not to remove from boxes. A lot of people were really hardcore that the dolls should not merely have their boxes kept (I usually don't, any more - no room) but should be NRFB - never removed from box. And even back then, when I still believed I could sell them for actual money some day, I thought that seemed like no fun.

Nowadays, I realize that you're not going to recoup any sort of investment on these. It's only the really old rare stuff - like the old Jumeau bisque dolls, or the odd rare celebrity dolls of the 1940s - that fetches high prices, and you're better off unboxing and enjoying. (And also - some modern doll collectors have found their dolls get discolored or otherwise spoiled from the packing materials. So even more reason to let the dolls be free and have fun).

But yeah. I once bitterly remarked the only good thing about adulthood is that you have a bigger allowance (and if you're like me, no one to roll their eyes/comment you should save your money/ask you 'wouldn't it be nicer to donate that cash somewhere?' when you spend it on a toy). And while it's not the SAME as being, say, seven, and young enough to actually construct elaborate imaginary worlds around these dolls, and spend hours playing with them....still, they're awfully nice little things to have, they make life for me nicer and more fun.