Sketches of the French doll, Babette, from the 1977 film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure; I thought the one in close-up looked inadvertently creepy because of the play of shadows on her face. Scanned from The Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy, which is also where these came from.
My god, this barbarian warlord’s hair is fabulous. He even comes with a comb!
More realistically, looking at this, I can kind of understand now why Mattel decided to market most of The Evil Horde villains separately from the main She-Ra: Princess of Power line in the ’80s. Seeing Ogra, Skull-Masked Barbarian Warlord in the standard Golden Girl packaging is a pretty incongruous sight. (I’m also not sure how many young lasses of the Reagan era would want to wear his dazzling diecast gemstone shield, but who am I to judge?)
… also also, “Dual of the Ancients”? Really, bio-writer?
Photos from eBay.
Aaand the reason I scanned Trina Robbins’ Robotech paper dolls to begin with… Lance “Lancer” Belmont, with optional Yellow Dancer outfit! For 1987, that is kind of incredible.
This is the last of the paper dolls in the book. If anyone wants to print any of the four out, dress them up and take photos, I’d love to see your efforts. (I’m not reimbursing anyone for ink, though!)
Scan from Robotech Art 2.
Sera/Solzie paper doll, drawn by… underground feminist comix pioneer and Vampirella co-creator Trina Robbins? Huh!
Scan from Robotech Art 2.
Musica paper doll, drawn by… underground feminist comix pioneer and Vampirella co-creator Trina Robbins? Huh!
Scan from Robotech Art 2.
Lynn Minmay/Linn Minmei paper doll, drawn by… underground feminist comix pioneer and Vampirella co-creator Trina Robbins? Huh!
Scan from Robotech Art 2.
The last scan I made from my collection of German Toy Fair catalogs showing Hasbro’s attempt to market Sindy, a pre-existing European doll property. Included here are beachwear for Sindy and her boyfriend Paul, a set of jewelry, and… a collection of lacy lingerie. That’s… uh, that’s kind of weird, Europe. On the other hand, “French knickers” is a pretty amusing term.
Here’s another “Sindy” scan from my collection of German Toy Fair catalogs, which features Sindy, her friend Imani, and Sindy’s “Ken” equivalent, Paul.
Spotlighted on this page is “Pop Star” Paul, which appears to depict him moments after a horrific accident in a glitter factory. Alternately, Paul and his friends all about to appear on EuroVision. Could go either way, really.
In the 1990s, Hasbro tried to challenge Barbie’s dominance of the European doll market by licensing and redesigning Sindy, a pre-existing doll property. It didn’t go very well for them, but some… interesting specimens of the line showed up in German Toy Fair catalogs I bought off eBay, and I felt compelled to share.
Here, for instance, is “Rasta-Hair Sindy” - Sindy with blond dreadlocks - wearing a sweater that would cause seizures if she were capable of locomotion.
