$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: Raggedy Ann and Andy Go Out To Play!
My mom recently cleaned up two Raggedy dolls– as in Raggedy Ann and Andy! Here are some photos from a post-makeover photo session my mom held! You can find more of my mom’s photos on flickr– Barbee0913.
As always, we ask that you don’t steal/edit these photos. You never know, maybe they’ll end up in our cafepress site…
My Twinn Dolls
Years ago, I received a MyTwinn doll as a present. My Twinn dolls are dolls designed to look like you. They are 23″ tall and have a total of 18 joints for possibility and balance. They are wigged and similar to American Girl dolls have stuffed torso with vinyl limbs. When ordering a My Twinn doll, you have a good deal of control over the look of the doll. My Twinn specialists will choose a head mold closest to the photo you send in with your order and design the doll with the proper skin-tone, eye color, and even style the hair to really look like the ‘subject’ of the doll. It’s really quite neat! My Twinn also sells clothing that will fit both the dolls and their child-sized human owners (and me, apparently!). For a more in depth look at the creation process, watch this Youtube video. It shows the care that goes into a My Twinn doll.
Those in the doll community will probably remember a few years back when My Twinn was having a bit of trouble financially and because of that, was not keeping up with their orders or taking the time they should on the dolls that did go out. By all accounts, they seem to be back on track now. The quality isn’t as superb as when I got mine back in the late 90′s/early 2000′s, but they still make great gifts for both the young and old. A detailed history of My Twinn can be found on Logan’s Ladies.
Recently, I ordered a few outfits for my own My Twinn doll. I thought I’d share a few of those shots with you!
Meet Ashley. She actually does look like me! In this shot, she’s wearing her original denim outfit that I received her in. She’s been wearing it for years! That’s one of the reasons I jumped at getting a few affordable outfits for her!
This is Patty. She’s my mom’s doll. She’s designed to look like my mom as a kid. Originally, they were supposed to come out with more fashions that could be used for decade dolls like these, but they never really did that. Now, Patty is wearing an adorable riding jacket found on sale on the website. Seriously, this outfit is so adorable! (Patty is modeling on a FurReal S’mores.)
One of the new outfits, this is the Vampire Princess outfit. It’s adorable. The hat is adorned with a bow in the back (not pictured). It comes with purple shoes, too!
And here’s a close up of Ashley’s face. Adorable, isn’t it? For those who are looking at ordering a My Twinn, remember they can put in freckles, birthmarks, etc, so let them know!
I’ll be sharing more fun My Twinn photo’s eventually, but for now, I’ll leave you with this. I would have loved to model for the My Twinn catalogue and these girls actually got a chance to do it AND keep the doll. It’s a little disconcerting that the girl with straight hair had to have her hair curled to make it match the doll, but this is a fun little behind the scene’s look! More videos on YT.
Thanks for visiting and subscribe for updates!
Thanks to Doll Diaries for featuring this article!
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!
Monster High Dead Tired– On Store Shelves Now!
If you haven’t already heard, Monster High Dead Tired is out and in stores now! I found mine at Toys R Us. From what I can tell based on my hunt, stores have been receiving one case of Dead Tired dolls and the cases include one Frankie, Ghoulia, and Cleo and two Draculaura’s. Toys R Us also had the Draculaura/Clawd giftset. The Hydration Station and Clawdeen’s Bed were not on the shelves.
Here are a few pictures of the new Dead Tired gang!
As always, don’t steal these photos. What do you think of the line so far?
Photo-Spam: Hujoo Baby Is
Took some pictures of my new Hujoo Baby Is. Enjoy!
Above photo taken by my mom
Above photo taken by my mom
The night gown belongs to Kelly from the Snoozing Sisters Kelly/Stacie set. The Disney one piece belongs to a baby from the Heart Family line.
Photospam: Ghoulia and Holt Have Arrived!!
My mom has had a tradition for the past few weeks. Everyday, she checks the major toy websites for Ghoulia, the adorable zombie in the Monster High Collection. You see, Ghoulia is incredibly rare to find on store shelves and online due to the fact that they come one to a shipping box. She’s such a hot item you have to grab her while you see her! I’m happy to announce that at least one Ghoulia and Holt have arrived at our little homestead!
How did this day that I never thought would happen actually happen? Here’s a quick recap– mom and I went to Toys R Us to spend our TRU money and went to the Monster High Aisle. There was a row of dolls placed on the shelf with every other doll box faced backwards. I saw Holt’s graphic and grabbed him immediately. Then, as I’m looking at Holt, mom says, “Okay. I’ll take Ghoulia!”.
There was a Ghoulia in one of the backwards boxes that you couldn’t see the doll graphic on! She really exists! I let mom keep Ghoulia. Having one in the house is better than nothing and eventually I hope to find one for my collection. I think mom will have an easier time finding Holt than me finding Ghoulia, but it will happen!
I owe these guys a full review, but for right now, here’s some photospam of Ghoulia and Holt!
NOTE: THESE PICTURES ARE NOT TO BE USED ONLINE IN ANY FORM, UNLESS GIVEN PERMISSION BY ME.
A hidden love?
Ghoulia: Tada! I really do exist!
Frankie and Holt chat over music.
Uh-oh, what will Cleo say if she finds out!
Ghoulia makes it a point to befriend Jackson, as well as Holt.
Holt Hyde and his other persona Jackson Jeckyll
The monster Frankie’s been looking for?
As you can see, relationships are being made fast here in the Monster High family! To keep up with new pictures, find me (Kewpie83) or my mom (Barbee0913) on flickr!
Do you have Ghoulia and Holt? Where did you find them? Were you looking for them or was it fate? Tell us your story in the comments!!!!
As always, subscribe for instant updates via my right sidebar!!!
Photospam: The Monster High Gang Hangs Out!
This past week my mom took her Monster High dolls out for a quick photoshoot. Here’s some of the shots that came out of that shoot! Do not use images without permission. ASK if you’d like to use them.
I love the group shot of all my mom’s dolls! It really shows off the variety of the Monster High line!
This is one of my favorite shots from the photoshoot. Deuce looks great in this Generation Girl room!
This is the girls hanging out in the lounge. Is it a beach party or a dressy function? Who knows?!
Deuce being suave…
Smile for your close up! I like the Gloom Beach Frankie. As my mom pointed out, she looks younger with her hair down.
The couple sneaks a few minutes of alone time by the gardens.
Ready to party!
Frankie in all her looks….
I just bought this bed for my collection. Review coming soon! Quick thoughts? It’s really cute!
The gang doing another group photo…
Frankie and the gang take the car out for a spin!
They probably should have cleared it with the owner of the vehicle first…
And that’s it for the photospam! I hope you enjoyed. As a reminder– do not use images without permission. ASK if you’d like to use them. Seriously, I don’t bite…
