Birthday Haul

Sunday, July 13 was my birthday. My daughters made it a very special day for me by taking me out to eat, taking me shopping, buying me flowers and making a birthday cake. Previously, we had also gone to Frankenmuth, MI to a store called Bronner's where they have awesome Christmas ornaments. I also had made some previous purchases that I will now share with you all.

First, here are the flowers from my girls.

At Bronner's, I got some Christmas ornaments that are great 1:6 scale items. These included some musical instruments and some dogs.

Now let me show you my doll purchases.  This first group is what I had purchased earlier from ebay and Barbie Collector.

Here are the latest Dynamite boys that I got from Ebay. They were purchased nude and I dressed them in Ken clothes and Clear Lan clothes.

From Barbie Collector, I got Fan Bing Bing and the Redhead Barbie Look Red Carpet doll.  From a doll dealer, I got the Asian Barbie Look Red Carpet doll and the Jazz Baby doll.

Scarlett and Rhett were from Barbie Collector.

Of course, I rebodied all of the ladies except for Jazz Baby as she already had an articulated body.  The Barbie Look dolls were rebodied on Elvis Barbie bodies I got on clearance from TRU.  Fan Bing Bing was rebodied on a Dynamite Girls Spooky Sookie body and Scarlett received a Raquelle Glam Luxe body. 

When my daughter took me out birthday shopping, I got a Teen Belle, Teen Dorothy and a Pirate Fairy doll. 

The Teen Belle doll and Pirate Fairy doll both have articulation at the elbows, wrists and knees. However, the Dorothy doll did not have articulation.  I rebodied Dorothy on a Liv body I had in stock.  I took the braids out of her hair and Belle's hair. Hmmm. Don't you think they look kind of like sisters??

A couple of the dolls have agreed to demonstrate the musical instruments and dogs so you can see them for scale.

Well, that is it for now.  Quite a haul, don't you think?!

Quick Post Re: Barbie Style Nikki Doll

Just a quick post to tell you that the Barbie Style Nikki Doll is now available on Mattel.com. I know several of you were wanting to get her, so I thought I would let you know. 

More later on my latest purchases and what I got at Bronner's Christmas store in Frankenmuth, MI.

Also, I was finally able to figure out how to add the various types of follow me buttons.

Have a nice day!

The Doll That Started It All

I got my first Barbie doll when I was 8 or 9 years old.  My sister had received the Black haired Ponytail Barbie the previous year, so I wanted one too. I am a natural blonde, and in my youth my hair was a very light blonde - almost platinum so it was a no brainer that I got the Platinum Blonde Bubble Cut Barbie. My sister and I played for hours on end with those dolls. We dressed them up, talked for them and it was so much fun! I still had my doll when I was in high school, but was too grown up to admit that I still liked her (LOL). We gave them to my young niece to play with and later they were sold in a garage sale.

When I became an adult, I still was interested in the fashion doll, but somehow thought it would be too embarrassing to purchase dolls for myself, but I would always play Barbies with my nieces when I saw them.  When I got my daughter Alyssa in 1996 from China, it opened up the opportunity to get her some Barbie dolls. Starting with her third birthday, I got her a new doll for every occasion and reward possible. And she loved that I would play Barbie for hours on end with her. I instilled in her the love of the doll, and every time she opened a new Barbie, she would say: "Thank you, Mom, just what I always wanted." Now that she is a teen, she has given me most of her dolls to add to my stash! My youngest daughter also fell in love with Barbie and we sometimes still play with them together.

I then started to buy dolls for myself also and began collecting the Dolls of the World series, however, I longed for the doll of my youth to return. I discovered eBay, and began my quest. At that time, I was most interested in searching through the vintage dolls. It took a while, and I did find and purchase several vintage dolls before finally finding a vintage Platinum Blonde Bubble Cut doll in good condition. Here she is!

Here is another of her full body view.  Note that her dress is vintage as well.

Before I found her, I purchased a Platinum reproduction, pictured below.

Other vintage dolls I purchased along the way (see a pattern here??)

Barbies and Kens:

Midges and Alans:

My favorite gal with her vintage beau!

And my favorite Midge with Alan!

And that is how it all began for me.  I now probably have between 400 and 500 dolls in my collection.  You think a monster has been created???

Thanks for looking!

A Beginning!

I have been thinking for a while now about starting my own doll blog.  I have been inspired by the musings of Vanessa Morrison, Roville, Muff, The Waverlys, Limbe Dolls, A Philly collector and many more.  I have been coming up with several story ideas in my head, but just haven't developed them yet.  I do not know if I will create a series, do short stories, or what. I will start by introducing my collection and characters and families I have already created. 

I actually started typing this intro in July 2013! But many things have happened since that time.  I had a cervical fusion surgery in August and am now recovering from major lower back surgery in late March.  The recovery has been long due to the damage I had, but the point is now I am recovering. For those of you whom I have talked to about starting my blog, I apologize.  Since I had moved my collection down to my basement and was unable to go up and down stairs -- well you get the idea.

First, let me introduce my mini-me. Like me, she is a single mother of two. Both daughters (like mine!) are adopted from China.

Phyllis:  Hello! I am Phyllis Hanaly and I am here with my daughters Alyssa (seated on the left) and Hannah on the right. Alyssa is 16 and Hannah is 12. We reside in Hanaly Corners, Michigan with many other dolly residents. Our little town is under construction and we hope to share with you all the progress of our growth and will introduce the residents, old and new!

My daughters did a lot of the moving of boxes down the basement, so the current condition is pretty unorganized!

I have been doing some quick setup of some of the doll houses. I have a lot of work to do! I have done some basis furniture set up, but a lot is still Barbie pink.  
I have placement of rooms, but haven't put in the walls yet. I will share my progress as I get things done.  Here are some photos.

Well, that is all for now!  I finally got started at least. I hope you all enjoy the progress I make on my little town and the stories of the residents as they share a day in their little plastic lives!