$2.00? Why not!
I’m not huge on the summer season. It usually equals sticky, humid weather, unwelcome insects, and the inability to go anywhere without a crowd. However, there is one thing I really do love about summer and that would be the ‘yard sale’. There are good yard sales and there are not so good yard sales. You never know what treasures you’ll find when you decide to pull your car over and take a peek at what others are parting with.
I normally look for toys and dolls at yard sales (surprise, surprise!). My neck of the woods is filled with ‘new’ families, those with young children, so I usually don’t find a ton of things that are up my alley. Yesterday, however, I stumbled upon an item that literally made me pause– a mint in box New Kids on the Block Stage.
If you were around in the 80′s and 90′s, you know exactly what I’m talking about. For those who are younger, here’s a recap: New Kids on the Block was a popular boy band between 1984 and 1994. The group consisted of Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood and was known for catchy pop songs, flashy outfits and hair, and awesome group choreography. New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) was hugely successful and they have since reunited for various reunion tours, one of which was with another popular boy band, the Backstreet Boys.
Give ‘Hangin’ Tough’ a listen…
Or why not ‘Please Don’t Go Girl’?
Hasbro jumped onto the New Kids on the Block bandwagon in 1990 with well crafted celebrity dolls and an awesome ‘stage’ playset.
Back to the yard sale, this stage was sitting in a slightly damaged box and marked $2.00. Upon inspection, I noticed all the pieces were uncut and still in their bags. The girl working the yard sale said her grandmother had dropped it off. It looks as if her before-mentioned grandmother originally paid $20.00 for the playset at a doll/toy show. Needless to say, at $2.00, it was a steal.
NKOTB Stage- the box
The first thing I noticed about this set was that the stage pictured on the box was drastically different from what was inside the box. The framework was the same, but the colors must have been changed after this promo shot was taken.
The Stage
You’ll notice that the pieces originally intended to be blue have been changed to bright yellow. I’m used to prototypes looking different than the final release, but it’s worth noting how different the color choices are between both stages!
I have to admit, I had trouble putting the set together. I had to enlist my mother’s help to get this set put together properly. I love the vast number of props this came with (ie: mics, mic stands, speakers, spots, guitars, keyboards, etc) and love, love, love the photos. Better still, the photos of the boys clip on, so if I wanted to ‘dress the set’ differently, I could print out my own photos and clip them on!
The Monster High Band
My NKOTB dolls are currently in a box (yes, I own them all in their ‘everyday’ look). Instead of whipping them out and making a big mess, I decided to use what I’ve deemed as my ‘Monster High Band’ to show off this playset. (From left to right, you’ll see G1 Ghoulia, DotD Frankie, G2 Lagoona, and DotD Clawdeen.)
On lead guitar, Frankie
Lagoona rocks on the drums!
Frankie and Clawdeen battle it out!
Rock on!
For $2.00, this set was a steal. I can only hope that finding this so early on in the summer means that there are more awesome yard sale finds to come!
Do you have a favorite yard sale find? Were you a NKOTB fan? Leave a comment!
Photospam: Jem and the Holograms Concert Clash board game
I’ve been on a Jem kick recently. With the addition of Synergy to my collection and deciding to re-watch the series, I’ve been pretty obsessed about looking up random facts and searching for fun products on eBay. One of my purchases because of this obsession? The Jem and the Holograms Concert Clash board game. I don’t remember this coming out as a kid, but I know I probably wanted it really bad. I was (and still am) a total Jem girl!
The premise of the game? According to the instructions, “Those nasty misfits are challenging Jem and the Holograms to a Battle of the Bands. The Holograms are trying to collect all their records and bring them to the battle. But the Misfits are blocking them at every turn. The only way to outwit the Misfits is for the Holograms to split up and each try to get as many records as possible. Which hologram will make it to the battle of the Bands first with the records she needs to win?” The game has Jem, Aja, Kimber, and Shana tokens, a record player shaped spinner, and some fantastic board art. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it has a truly outrageous cassette tape with Jem songs on it (that are also used for game play)?! Want to see some pictures?
So what do you think? Did you want one of these as a kid? Share!
Dolly Report- Jem and the Holograms
As promised, I’ve started up my Dolly Reports! What doll line graces us with its presence this week? Jem and the Holograms!
Back in 1985, Hasbro had an idea for a doll line about a female musical group with truly outrageous fashions. This group would soon be known as Jem and the Holograms! To market their doll line, Hasbro used something that was very popular back in the 80′s– cartoons.
The Jem and the Holograms cartoon debuted October of 1985 and ran for 65 episodes! It’s hard to give a good description of the show (for me anyways!), but I’ll try! The show follows Jerrica Benton, owner of Starlight Music and the Starlight Home for Girls, as she tries to outwit conniving record producer/rival Eric Raymond. Eric is set on putting Starlight Music out of business and in order to do so, employs ‘The Misfits’, a wild rock group. To combat ‘The Misfits’, Jerrica uses holographic earrings to turn into Jem, lead singer of Jem and the Holograms! Together with her friends Kimber, Aja, and Shana, the band has to outwit Eric and The Misfits, while dealing with their own obstacles! One of the best things about Jem and the Holograms is that the storylines usually crossover into multiple episodes. Not to forget the music in the series!
The Jem Doll line is known for a few things. First off, they’re known for some truly outrageous fashions. Fashions are usually pretty flashy and bright. Secondly, they’re know for some wild hair. Jem/Jerrica has a mix of pink/white blonde hair, while her hologram friends have colors as out there as blue, purple, and bright red! Personally, I love the hair colors. It adds a neat element to the dolls! Last, the doll line is known for their facepaint and size. Jem dolls are taller and thicker than your typical Barbie doll. They have a different look and each has unique make up. Funnily enough, the make up doesn’t match the make up in the cartoons. It would have been interesting to see a doll that modeled the cartoon look.
The doll line ran through 1987 and grew to encompass a grand number of dolls, including two hologram, misfits, and Rio lines, secondary characters like Danse, Synergy, and Video, various playsets, including the Rock’n Roadster, and even Starlight girls Ashley, Ba-Nee, and Krissy! Prototypes for season three characters ‘The Stingers’ were created, but never mass produced due to the cancelation of the line. (Too bad, as the prototypes looked GREAT!)
This Christmas, I made it a goal to ask for more Jem and the Holograms dolls. You see, while I am a product of the 80′s, I only received one during their original run. That one being a first edition Jerrica/Jem with light up earrings. A few years back I found a Shana at a toy show. At JemCon 2007, I picked up my first Misfit, Pizzazz, and Jems boyfriend, Rio! My mom, who is fantastic about listening to Christmas/Birthday idea’s, ran with the Jem and the Holograms idea and ended up wrapping up a second generation Kimber and Aja for me!!!
My collection is not complete by far, but the fact that I have the complete Jem and the Holograms (minus season 2′s Raya) makes me pretty happy! Next up on my Jem wishlist? Stormer, Synergy, and the Rock’n Roadster!
Here’s a bit of photo-spam of my dolls!
There are some great resources for Jem info on the web. ‘Totally Jem’ is a great resources and still gets updated on a frequent basis! And don’t forget the great, creative people who OOAK Jem dolls, like JemGirl!
Do you have a Jem collection or have fond memories of the cartoon/doll line line? Leave a comment and share!
