Other Collectibles: 2004 Archives

click for auction.

I've had this outfit for two months, and have been waiting til the wintery holidays to put it on Kisara. Um. I had no idea the hood had little bear ears. This wins as the cutest Takara outfit ever. I don't understand why they can't come out with such cuteness for Blythe. And for 1800 yen too. The shoes are even better than usual.

Pardon the holiday clutter. All my toys come out of storage. Wee!

And then there's this! Wee lefton-like devil figgers. I picked these up for a pittance (as in: under $10, yo) on my last trip to Reno. They're missing their little pitch forks, so we'll have to rig something up for that. But they are SO TINY. The wee ones are about 1".

Wah! My Volks issue Haute Doll just flew through the mailbox. Woo! And my geektastic autographs arrived from Godzillafest.

I am replete.

Which hasn't always been the case. Like seafood, I was once allergic to Christmas. A lot of it was because I used to work retail. And people are just evil when shopping during the holidays. I would work twelve exhaustive evil hours on Christmas eve, and then hurl at the thought of "celebrating" something every angry young heathen opposes on principal anyway.

Some time in my late twenties I rediscovered the christmas tree. And bright sparkly ornaments. And creepy santas. And over the years I've reclaimed the holiday for myself. I love the smell of the tree, and roasting a turkey in my tiny apartment size stove. Last year Mr. Kallisti and I celebrated our first Christmas together and it was sublime.

So. We got up early and went and picked up our christmas tree. Yip! Last year we bought grab bags of olde ornaments at Thrift Town in The City for $3 a bag. Lots of crap but got a lot of gems too. So we actually have a bunch of ornaments already.

Also. Mr. Kallisti's mother sent three huge boxes full of presents. Some wrapped, some old heirlooms she wanted us to have. Like old victorian postcard and scap albums. And his grandparents kewpie cake topper. Eeeeeeeeeee! She knitted me a pink froofy scarf to match my new coat, and knitted one for Fifi too! Ah!

So, back to cleaning the house and setting up the glowing gnome and creepy santas.

The kimono is coming out FAB. I should be done in a day or two. So fun. I'm going to go start my "All Creatures Great and Small" marathon.

Just got back from another morning at Japantown in SF. Picked up... a ton of books at Kinokinuya *cringe*... I know, I know. I just got rid of FIVE CRATES. And now I bring home, erm... 7 more books.

Such is the life of an incurable collector.

But they are the awesome books. I'll spend the weekend in the tub flipping through them. Yum.

Oh yeah. So the octopus. Took Mr. Kallisti to Isobune. He'd never been to a sushi boat place. He's really been enjoying the plethora of sushi/fresh fish out here (he's recently from Michigan). So we did the sushi boat thing! I was very adventurous. And ate everything that looked pretty. Including teensy octopus that looked like it was in a red pepper sauce and wrapped in seaweed. Tiny suckers! I am very proud and triumphant (I've been terrified of seafood for most of my life. This is big stuff). I had all kinds of critters. But my favorite was a giant handroll of unagi, avocado and crab. OH MY GAWD. I almost ate two of them, but they were huge.

So yeah, I'm feelin' all replete. And stuff.

So. Before I go start on my kimono project (got the pattern resized! woo!) I grabbed a couple pictures of Fifi. She doesn't wear her default FCS wig too much, but it is soooo lovely. And I hadn't tried any dark eyes in her and thought she might look swell in Demelza's default cobalt. And day'um! Dark eyes make her look much more demure. I still love her so much. If anyone ever thinks these dolls aren't worth their price tag... oh man. They're like nothin' on earth.

And it is very cool a few other people are going to try the Kimono Project™ ! We should all post results. Here's the pattern, to refresh. Enlarge 121% to fit SD13.

Oh, and we bought seven sets of re-ment. Eeeee! Mr. Kallisti has the knack of picking the set we want. And I don't. So we went back and bought a bunch of the baby sets and I still didn't get the ones I wanted! *cry*

But we got some cooly cool ones. Woo.

Oh yeah, and *cough*... I'm currently in the market for 18mm nice glass eyes in pretty colors. My girls wear 20mm. And all I have are some red mac creatives that I *think* are 18mm.

And I don't know how to find nice Lusis eyes! 12mm! Heck!

Over and out... that is Saturday's report. It is cold. Brrrr!

Normally I would have just forgotten about them after all this time (three weeks ago), but some of them were too funny not to share. Click piccie below for gallery:

Thanksgiving was the lovely. We made roasted garlic mashed potatoes, italian sausage and sourdough stuffing, grease beans, and homemade organic cranberry sauce with orange and apple and spicey things. Mmmm. My brother took care of the exquisite bird. And then gave us half of it to take home. Oh boy. Since my stepmother complained about the hillbilly music we were playin', we put on the Cyndi Lauper & Love & Rockets. Which made my night. They never play my music. My brother usually plays John Denver or Mack Davis. But since we brought him bottle of bourbon he promised not to. Oh, and I had mudslides all night.

It was warm and fuzzy with lots of poo talk during dinner. I hearts my fambly.

We picked up eleven old spice jars during our trip to Reno a few weeks ago (there's good junk shoppin' them thar ways, yesiree). I came home today and Mr. Kallisti had built me the mooooost beeeyootiful spice rack EVER. I can't believe it, it is so awesome. The edges are all smoove and rounded, and it is painted a bright cherry red w/ wee li'l mushrooms to keep the jars in place. Forgive the crappy flash picture, I couldn't even wait for him to mount it on the wall before I took a picture.

Who's lucky!?!?!

Anyone have this Araki book? Is it any good? Lots of his artwork/figures?

I just special ordered an assload of books from Kinokuniya, though I did finally figure out the Amazon.co.jp ordering system in English, I can save the shipping money by picking them up myself. TONS of toy books! Ayumi Uyama, Rune, Dolly Dolly, random... !!! Melissa pointed one vintage Japanese toy book out and it just snowballed from there.

OH BOY. I loves me some picture books.

my conservative, christian, REPUBLICAN mother-in-law. She sends a weekly card, and this week she signs it:

"Well we're stuck with George W. again for 4 more years. Lord help us all. Love & Hugs, Mom"

Made me laugh.

And Ashcroft resigned.

And there are new Dolly books out there: &

Anyone know how to order from Amazon.co.jp? Or should I just call Kinokuniya bookstore and special order? Need more silly toy books.

Mr. Kallisti emails that a wee package from Australia is awaiting me.

A BAD FAIRY! A BAD FAIRY!

Christina's picture. She so cute she needs her own cage.

Oh, Christina. I can't wait. You have no idea the sweet balm she will be on my crushed soul. I bleed! I die!

I have so many pictures to take, but with daylight savings there is no light when I get home from work. Sadness.

I just got that funny feelin' in my stomach. I CAN'T BELIEVE I SOLD ELSA!!!

But I have to keep telling myself "Loving Elsa Lanchester does not mean one has to own big ugly Elsa dolls".... sigh.

I still have the small 7" figure though. Nyah!!!

And my Elsa on Vinyl.

I love her.

Shoes for me? Shoes for Fifi? Shoes for me? Shoes for... Fifi always wins. Sigh.

The best ornament ever.

Made in Germany. Brand new from Marshall's, I kid you not.

Posting these because the original releases by whatever toy company were so abysmal. Still, I would have LOVED a Galadriel that looked like Cate Blanchette, as I am secretly in love with her. Anyway, the costumes for these two are much better than the previous editions, with an overall better package. Barbie & Ken only retail for about $40 each, due out October/November.

Spent the morning taking all of Biscuit's poo toys away. He thinks the catbox is an endless supply of poo footballs. Gross! And he french kisses us with that mouth. Mr. Kallisti is all "I feel like such a bad father, look at his face."

The cutest $59

And yes, that is a wee skull & crossbones tank and y-front set in the bottom corner. *weep*

K, I know you want to hear about the "granny pr0n" first. We've been suddenly struck with a severe case of summer. In the Bay Area that generally lasts from sept. 1st through sept. 29th. And then it rains until March (when we're not having a drought). So. It's been to hot to stay indoors, Saturday we tried driving around but all exits from the area were clogged with Labor Day Weekend Flotsam so we scooted sideways over to antique shop mecca -- Martinez! Found my dad an old, hand smithied cowbell that he wanted for his yard gate. That was gratifying, actually found random item we were looking for. But the random item we WEREN'T looking for was even more fun. Some vintage 1930's fabric caught my eye. Hrm. Pink pot holders. And then the neon sticker on top "Naughty Pot Holders." Wtf!?! A quick inspection had me giggling insanely and scuttling for the counter to quickly pay my devastating $6 for the two potholders. I call them "granny porn" because it tickles me to think someone's grandmother stitched these. Without further adieu:

I also love 20's-40's dolls, and have collected just a few. Here are some of my other darlings lying around the house. I may be off on the date allocations. Some of them I'm sure on, some of them I guess.

click for giant pic!

40's Composition Nun doll, Carnival prize dolls in chalkware (20's) and celluloid (30's-40's), 1930's Old Rubber Donald Duck (belonged to my Dad), 40's French Can Can Dancer, 30's Celluloid & Velveteen Monkey & a mini Celluloid Black Carnival Doll, and a couple baby rolly pollies (30's and modern repro).

70's Hawaiian Kissy Face Girl, 40's Sr. Suavé, and a Photo of the Del Rio Midget Singing Group. Then there is Living Dead Girls Siamese Twins, 50's Japanese Kimono Girl, and another 40's French Can Can girl.

And Biscuit insisted on horning in on the photo op. Li'l slut.

Trying to prepare for unemployment free time crafting heaven. I need to finally revamp my Boudoir Doll. She's so lovely with a painted silk face and is 28" tall, but has badly sewn on mohair wig and is naked. Sadness.

There are these patterns for dress:

http://www.clothdollsupply.com/past6.html

I think these are my favorites:

And then I need to make her a wig, probably using mohair. I believe she had coiled braids because there is glue marks down by her chin. Perhaps I could recreate that? Should I do fantasy color or something true to type? Blonde, black or blue? Teehee.

Link of interest: The Boudoir Queen!

Yay. The cover of the new Dolly Dolly 5. My favorite. You can preorder from HLJ.com!

I can't even show you half the stuff we got, they're prezzies. My brother's 40th birthday is next weekend, and I got some celebratory loot for le Marquis as his birthday was Wednesday, and he also moved into his own very own New Orleans mansion on the same day. Weee!

But this is what we brought home for meeeee! My birthday is coming up, so prezzies for me too. Thank you Mr. Kallisti!!!!

We made a day trip to Martinez, the birthplace of the Martini! Yay! But they also have one of the best li'l old style Main Streets covered with antique stores. Great stuff too.

The baby table in blue and white and the blue tin high chair are for Demelza. Then we have two sets of paper dolls, Hayley Mills (yayayay!) and really sweet Japanese paper dolls, inside there is boys and girls and lots of traditional and mod outfits. And theeeeen, there is the "River Boat" Enid Collins box. Reminds me of New Orleans and is in my favorite green, so it will match everything I own. And a red velveteen reindeer for my christmas display. Yay. Then there is a hat stand covered in red and green flower paper that is very darkened by seventy years of gramma smokin' heavily. But I've always wanted a little hat stand, Fifi can hang her wig on it. Oh boy, and down on the lower right is a whole set of Japanese animal shaped pencil sharpeners. These are the cutest thing on the planet, and are brand new in box from some unknown era, could have been last year but I doubt it. As long as you ignore the large hole in their booties, these will make the best Blythe pets. Freaky! My favorite is the li'l black and white fellow in the front.

I'm sorry, I love talking about all my crap.

So, we were goin' to our favorite Indian restaurant Friday on Solano, and had a toss up of the two films playing next door of "King Arthur" & "Shrek 2." Everything that I've read about "King Arthur" so far has not been very good, sounds like it was going to be too much like "Gladiator" (bleh!) and the leather pictish bikini was becoming too much for me to bear. So when we saw Shrek was only 95 minutes we said "yeah!"

Um, I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in I don't know how long. That thing is fucking hilarious. Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders & Antonio Banderas as additions to the cast were my favorite.

Also, I have a long standing crush on Fiona. Because, well... she looks just like me. It is nice to see a heroine you can relate to once in awhile, even if she happens to be an ogre. I was so sad that they didn't make any ogre-Fiona figures for the last movie (only pretty princess ones) so we made a quest to find ogre Fiona's for me to play with. A "just my size" doll. And, um, as much as I hate Blockbuster, they had an exclusive 8" Fiona for $8.99. Now, she just needs some clothes (these Barbie ones don't fit too good, what a familiar situation!!!):

Also, she comes with these big ass granny underpants. So cute!

Part of the art of dominating the household with my crap is making sure I share in Mr. Kallisti's interests and give them their just due.

WELL. We have a gorgeous deco hutch in our mini-dining room (currently Kallisti's Play Hut) that I originally intended for Mr. Kallisti's things and the stuff we like to collect together. Up until this weekend it was a disorganized pit. I finally decided to clean it out, pack up the stuff that wasn't on the "oh my gawd I love it so much" list and display his kicky kollections with verve.

Top shelf: girly collectibles. He's got another 8 or so of the girly peek-a-boo glasses but we haven't unearthed them in the garage yet. 2nd shelf: corn collectibles (he's my corn-fed midwestern boy and he likes his corn). 3rd shelf: BBQ, meat and cooking stuff we've bought together. Bottom shelf: Our weddin' license and picture, squashed penny passport and Cafe Du Monde coffee can for pennies. Yip!

His grandmother's S&P shakers and my grandmother's scary clown bank. I think we go together frightfully well.

That rascally ebay. Sigh. Another 1920's "Marie" chalkware carnival doll. All for meeeeeeeeeeee! She's got her eye stickers, so cute! My other one doesn't.

Just got back from seeing "Farenheit 9/11" and I must say it is a must see. Even for those sitting on the fence of political issues. Go. Now. We got all angry and punk rock and went and got coffee at B&N afterwards. Rawr. Kick ass. I think if Dubya lasts another four years in office I will die, I will simply perish. And move to Canada. And we thought Reagan was bad. Yeehaw! As the credits rolled I saw Mr. Kallisti flicking away tears of anger and frustration. My quiet giant is distressed. And wants to punch heads.

Along with coffee we picked up the new "Toy Review" magazine. Can I just say... Wee, severed heads!

"Elizabeth Bathory" by McFarlane

And Bleeding Edge actually has a cuuuuute 7". She will look awesome on the desk.

Eva Destruction, they should have done her in the 12" version, shit dang. Lookie, boobs!

I wouldn't mind getting one of their 12" girls and repainting her, they've got nice big faces and white skin. But their paint jobs are so hideous. Bleh!

Toys sometimes make it aaaaaaall better.

"Legends of Ireland: Faerie Queen Barbie." This almost has me. Dagnabbit. I'm such a fuckin' hippy sometimes. She kinda looks like Shirley Maclaine.

The Bard is currently for sale at TRU... very pretty but does not freak me like the above.

And as if that weren't enough, they're doing an Elizabeth I that actually doesn't suck, i.e. she's got the high forehead . Here's the original portrait for reference. I have a feeling she's going to be an outrageously expensive porcelain. But, aaaaaaaaaaargh! Eliza the Faerie Queen is my true love.

But I could easily see buying all of these and then putting them in a box and never looking at them. I will not do that anymore. Poop. So I post them here.

I used the excuse that I needed to get new facial scrub to make a day trip into the city today as Sephora is the only place I know that carries my cleanser. Woo. Mr. Kallisti was game.

Mr. Kallisti will play...

We went to the Castro last weekend and found one of the naughty boy shops (187334 kinds of loob! who knew!?!?) had the Tom of Finland figure on sale! $20 cheaper than ebay even! And I get to support my local homo loob shop.

This guy rocks, btw, and it's not even just about the 3 detachable peniseseses. He's got an awesome face sculpt, *very* Tom! And he comes with a condom for you AND him!

In any case, I've been dying for him for months, we couldn't resist the bargain. So home he came. And he's been mounting every girl on my desk ever since. I came home to find the above posted to the absinthe forum this evening.

Bloo Barbie looks an awful lot like Paris Hilton, no?

Sideshow is releasing their delux X-Files figure midyear. It's been so long since the series ended, and even longer since they had a good year. I miss them SO much. There's Scully, Mulder & CSM. Oh boy.

I love Sideshow toys, ironically I only own their Elsa Lanchester "Bride of Frankenstein" though.

I wouldn't mind adding either one of these lovely fellows:

I feel like Janet from Rocky Horror, jumping up and down screaming "I got it! I got it!" Every once in awhile, Ebay throws you a bone. Look at this little cutie:

A chalk carnival prize from the 30's, known as the "Apache Babe." I've been coveting her for quite awhile and let's just say I got her for WAY below market value.

From The Chalkman's website (I also have his book):

"The forever popular APACHE BABE. No relation to our native Americans, this Apache has a French origin. Design by Burt Gittins as an APACHE DANCER of the 1920's. Some of our earlier movies showed Apache dancing where the couple, throughout the dance would have a cigarette dangling from their mouths, and hats tilted to the side of their head. There have been many copies produced of this figure, but nothing compares to the great quality of the original."

As a money saving scheme we've decided to not buy any dolls unless their skin is bloo or they have nipples.

So Sunday we went on The Quest for the Bloo Fairy (Fairytopia Barbie). We already knew that the Targets near us only had the pink and the purple fairies so we decided to hit every store within a 40 mile radius. Including a TRU and a KB Toys.

We hit FOUR FREAKIN' TARGET STORES. And no Bloo Fairy.

So we got these instead (note: my loverly husband did all the following photoshop magic):

My Scene "Quava Gulch Tiki Lounge"

Cheap plastic toys just don't get much better than this. Ok, so we love tiki stuff. The Bay Area has always been a polynesian mecca of the tacky 60's drunk old man kind. I don't mind so much when this kind of thing goes mainstream, because I don't give a toss about mainstream culture. And I can get cool crap like this for my girls to hang out in.

Billy is servin' the cocktails. Ain't that sweet! Oh, and the volcano is actually a souvenir mug we got from the Peppermill Casino & Hotel in Reno this last Christmas. Sweet, eh?

Living Dead Dolls Fashion Victims: Kitty
An Official Review

I hadn't seen these in person yet. There were two in beat up boxes left on some mall shop shelf. At first I was surprised by how big they were. A real meaty 13". The first thing I thought was "how R. Crumb!"... both dolls were bursting out of their tops, and clearly they had nipples! That, for us, is nearly an immediate sell. The faces seem like angry squashed melons. But honest, the more I look at her, the more the angry melon face fits with the artistic integrity of the doll. Whatever. What struck me next is that clearly the quality of their outfits was much superior to most dolls of the price range ($30-$40). Kitty was wearing her red and black pvc cheerleader outfit, and it was very well made, fit snugly, and was also really cool. She comes with a pleather catsuit as well. Oh, and please note the surprise "Deadmate of the Month" poster that was included. We didn't take that picture, we scanned it. We ripped the box open when we went for snacks and felt up her boobs. The whole body is kind of a hard bendy rubber, like gumby, but better. Her hands, feet and legs are jointed, but the elbows must rely on wire. In any case, pretty cool, despite the unfortunate features.

And no, neither her clothes nor her shoes will fit on any 1/6th dolls, not even a Barbie. She's just too big!