I've moved this topic to the front because it's an adorable site, he's added quite a few new dolls and it meets our need to stay in touch with our inner child Our stress levels these days are overwhelming. We need some distraction. Here's a link sent to me by a friend I've had since we were 13 years old. You must see it, especially if you were / are a doll lover -- and even if you're not. It's really quite amazing.

Juan Albuerne's Movie Stars

Once you go through the group of dolls, I'm wondering which are your favorites. Which do you think are most like the celebrities they depict?  I've chosen two.

Dearest

The dolls are great!! I needed the distraction.

Thanks Dearest!   Your friend is very talented.   Took me back to thinking about my favorite doll as a child.  She is about 3 feet tall, hard, dressed in little girl's clothes, with real hair, whose eyeballs complete with eyelashes moved when she laid down or got up,  and when I would hold her arms out straight and walk she would walk stiff legged and her head would move from side to side.  Such high tech compared to today's dolls. LOL  I got her when I was 3 years old so she is in very loved condition and needs to go to a good doll hospital, but I have never trusted anyone with my precious memory.  :)  My sister was 5 so her doll was better cared for.  We still have the metal doll bed and highchair between us.      ~Helen

Enjoyed that Dearest. I'm stuck in bed with my lap top, heating pad, and the TV. It was nice to look at. My favorites were Audrey Hepburn and James Dean. The artist has so many well done. Tex

Definitely enjoyed the dolls, Dearest.  Loved them all, especially Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, and Cher!  I still love dolls.  I always go to the doll pages in the Christmas catalog!  Will always be a little girl about dolls!

"Thanks Dearest!   Your friend is very talented."

Helen, my friend is not the artist. The artist is one Juan Albuerne, and he's in Spain. I'm glad you liked the site and that it brought back sweet memories.  I was luckier in the doll department because I was the only girl of 3 children.

I remember so many of my dolls. My favorite was one I referred to as "Brenda Doll." I remember my mom bringing her to me when I was home sick from school. She was a smaller doll than the dolls most of us were accustomed to back then except for the dolls from foreign countries. They were usually small dolls. I had a collection of those. Brenda doll was the first small doll I remember with bendable arms and legs, so she could sit like none of my other dolls. I also had a big Judy doll I loved (I probably should've gone into therapy to find out why all my dolls had a name followed by "doll" - LOL) Anyway, I dragged Judy Doll with me everywhere. She was indestructable.

I remember my grandmother giving me a bride doll with a note attached. The words are embedded in my mind forever, "I know one day you will be as beautiful a bride as this one. Don't touch her. Just look at her." How can you give a doll to a child and tell her not to touch her? Well, I couldn't name her. You can't name a doll you have no relationship with. So, I called her --  Bride Doll. My mother kept her wrapped in plastic. It drove me nuts that I couldn't play with her. That's not right to do to a kid. One day, I simply couldn't hold back any longer. I took her out of the plastic, took off her fancy veil, combed her hair, took off her crinolines, bloomers and dress and put them back on. I put her back in the plastic before my mother saw and never really got any great pleasure from her. Now, about 45 years later, she's lying somewhere around my folks house  -- bald. I think one leg eventually fell off and her eyes are all whacked out.  But I don't care. She and I were never friends.

After writing this, I'm afraid the men in the white jackets are going to come get me

Dearest

Dearest....Loved all the dolls but Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys are my picks. Thank You..that was fun!

Thanks Dearest, I love the dolls, especially Audrey Hepburn and Marlyn Monroe. I just gave my Bride doll to my oldest daughter. I got her for my 8th Birthday and I'm 54 now I'm kinda sorry I gave her away now.    Nan

These are fantastic - thanks, Dearest.  I think that the ones that look most like the celebrities are Cher, Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (the one on the first page, not the 4th) and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.  They're all so clever that it's hard to choose a favorite, but I think that at the moment my favorite is... I just can't decide.  I've looked at them all at least 3 times each and they're all so clever.

(I don't think that the Shirley Temple looks anything like her)

Thanks for sharing this fun diversion!

Dearest, I love the dolls!  I thought the one in the upper right corner was Julia Roberts, but then I found Julia farther down.  Maybe it's Penelope Cruz in the upper right.  

Your post about your bride doll made me remember my own bride doll in the 1950s.   Like you, they gave it to me and I couldn't really play with her.  She sat in my room and looked pretty.  Her legs and arms were hard and shiny.  I don't know if it was plastic yet or not.  I don't know what happened to her.  She got lost somehow through the years of growing up and moving and everything.  

I still have five dolls that have become my treasures.  One is called a Tony Doll.  I got her in the 1950s also, by sending in a box top from a Tony home permanent!  She's about 9 inches tall and has her original hair and is in very good condition.  

I also have a Tiny Tears doll in excellent condition.  Finally, I have a Barbie circa 1963, and a Ken, and even Barbie's best friend, Midge!  Midge is my greatest treasure, because her hair is still in a perfect tight flip.  Most of my little girlfriends with Midge dolls combed the hair so much they ruined it.  

I have a lot of the original clothing and accessories, too.  I suppose I could have everything evaluated, but I don't really care what they would be worth, because I will keep them until I die, and then I've already told my daughter she must keep them until she dies.  

But it IS fun, you are right!  

Dearest,Just found this little off beat thread and love it.  I think Julia Roberts is pretty good considering we can't see the eyes.  Loved your own doll memories.  As a child I had a  much loved doll called Rosemary and a friend poked her eyes out.  Well maybe she was not a friend, anyway, my beloved Rosemary went off to the doll hospital to be fixed.  But they sent her back with a different head.  Can you believe that?  She was never the same after that.  I still have her and that doll hospital still haunts me!    I did have other dolls but she was a special one.  I also had a bride doll and was not supposed to play with her.  She was very boring complete with pearl earrings( well plastic no doubt) Strange how we remember these things.  Must go back and have another look of some of those lovely creations. Fun site.

Thanks Dearest for this thread.  Was indeed a nice diversion.

Im with you Mary and Susey, I liked the Cher doll!  Just saw her farewell concert the other night too.  Wow.  She looks amazing.

My fav doll was my Chatty Kathy.  Pull her string and she talked.  hehe

I never got into Barbies, dont know why.

I'm gonna look at the site again when I have more time!

Thanks again!  I enjoyed reading everyone's stories!

warm alohas,Lolly

Thanks Dearest ...all the dolls are precious. Cher looked sooooo real... I love the outfit of Kate Winslet for Titanic..love those beautiful hats.... Thanks for sharing your dollies and bringing back wonderful memories:D... Blessings, Stacy

I remember these - thanks for bringing them back out again, Dearest

Yes, they are lovely and many are so close to these women in their hey day. We still have my daughter's Barbies in the roofspace. I said to DH that the next time he goes up to bring them down so I can dress them and do their hair. What's this about returning to girlydom? And the men in white coats...they're here!

Well you can tell from my name, that I sure love dolls!
I love how his costumes are entirely accurate!
I looked first at the Kate Winslet Titanic dolls.
Both dresses I saw were great and his repaints are really nice!
I'll have to look at more now!!
Thanks for the link!

I forgot to mention and see I can't edit, but I collect dolls from mainly the 60s, Barbie, Kiddles, Dawn dolls from the 70s, Dolly Darlings, etc. Mostly anything 60s in toys really are cool to me.
Do you all remember Fun Flowers?
We sure loved playing with thingmaker sets whether it was bugs or flowers.

I really enjoyed looking at all the dolls! Thanks for bringing this thread back up to the top!

Thanks so much Dearest for sharing this. My daily routine when a child on a Saturday morning was to play with my barbies so just spent a half hour looking at theses beautiful dolls. i have to say my two favorites are marilyn monroe and cher, although their all beautiful.

Beautiful!.. but I can't choose a favorite... I like them all. I also liked the carcitures... very talented...

These are amazing! It's interesting how some people's faces lend themselves to dolls better than others. My faves were Elizabeth Taylor, Cher, Audrey Hepburn and James Dean. Was surprised that there wasn't a Dolly Parton or Pam Anderson doll, or a Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. And the one of Naomi Campbell should have her hitting another doll. That would make it more realistic. I love the little squinty eyes on Renee Zellweger. I can relate because I have those too. What about more guy dolls? Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt or George Clooney? Or classics like Cary Grant or Bogie or Errol Flynn?

Even at 48 years old, I still have a lot of my dolls and stuffed animals from childhood. My mom wouldn't let me have a Barbie until I was 11. Her attitude was a little girl didn't need to be playing with a doll that mature (she wouldn't let me get my ears pierced until I was 18 either). When I finally got one (my only one) it was a Malibu Barbie with the suntan. She also has a (sorta) shag haircut now, thanks to my "talent" with the scissors. My mom thought the clothes were too expensive, so she made some herself. Not quite as fashionable as the store-bought ones, but I loved them anyway. These days if a little girl is still playing with Barbies at 9, she's considered a freak. How times have changed.

I think my favorite doll (which I still have) was my Chrissy doll, the one with the red hair that grows out of the top of her head. I also have her...sister? cousin?...Velvet (the blond one) and a African-American Chrissy. Mom made clothes for Chrissy too.

Thanks Dearest. This was awesome.

Has anyone heard of Midge, who was Barbie's best friend? I have her, in perfect condition (she has freckles!) I love her hair (which I never touched)--it's a flip and very precise all the way around the back with little bangs in front. I had a teensy comb that came with Barbie's nightgown set, and at the most I would very carefully straighten Midge's hair, but I never combed through it. I also have Ken, Barbie's boyfriend. His hair wore a bit thin in a couple of places because he didn't have much to begin with. I have a Barbie from 1962 or thereabouts, also perfect--her lipstick and eye make-up are like new and she has short, thick black hair that I would touch up with the teensy comb but I never yanked the comb through it. I think the very earliest Barbies had a ponytail that was tied near their head and again at the end. Mine came a bit later with the short bouffant style. All three dolls are in their original boxes with stands, and all are wearing the original swimming suit; Midge has a two-piece, blue and aqua, and Barbie has a one piece red suit that they came in when they were purchased. I have some of the Barbie clothing, but those kits were expensive and I was only permitted to buy the ones under $5.00 at the time. They would come with appropriate accessories--I have a chef's apron for Barbie with a white hat and utensils for grilling and a mitt! I also have her babysitting kit, with a baby that fits into a basket with a little blanket. I think I lost the tiny baby bottle, but most of the kits were kept intact, which is amazing, considering I have moved a few times.

I've never had any of these appraised. They are all safe in my closet and I seldom even take them out. I don't know who to bequeath them to when I die; it may have to be a friend since I cannot trust anyone in my family with them. I don't want to sell the dolls and would rather someone kept them like I did, for another 50 years.

Dolls always scared me. They still do, I don't know why. I used to think they came alive when I wasn't looking, and were going to harm me.
Same goes for puppets and clowns. But I'm crazy like that.

CSugarGrove -- I remember Midge! Wasn't she a brunette? Sounds like you have a great collection. You must have been much more responsible than me as a child. All my dolls' hair looks like they spent a lot of time under the bed.

Armadillo -- funny you're scared of dolls. My aunt is too. She hates them and always has. I'm not scared of clowns, but I don't like them. I don't think they're funny or cute -- they're creepy and weird. And that goes for Ronald McDonald, Clarabelle and Bozo too. I have a HUGE (probably 4 feet in height) yellow teddy bear with big plastic eyes that my niece was TERRIFIED of. She still won't sleep in the back bedroom of my mom's house because that's where it used to be, and she's 22 now.

What really freaks me out though are ventriloquist dummies. I heard about some museum you can go to that has classrooms and offices and such with all the desks and whatever occupied by these dummies. I'm sure that if you go in there at night, they all come alive and kill you. My brother got one of these things for Christmas last year (he's a semi-professional magician, and thought it would be good addition to the act). Every time I would look up on Christmas morning, that thing would be looking at me. And every once in a while, my brother would stick his hand in its back and make it do a bloodcurdling scream (my brother is a strange guy.)

Those are the WORST!!!!!!!

Ventriloquist dummies creep me out. And that museum? Never! I won't go into a wax museum for the same reason, they will come alive and kill me. But if I am ever forced to go into one of these places, I'll bring a flame-thrower, to melt the wax and burn the dummies, and make the world safe for fraidy cats like me.

My mother bought me the doll "Thumbalina" when I was little and I was so freaked out that I made her put it in the coat closet - then i became afraid of the coat closet - add me to those who are creeped out by dolls! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Dearest,

WOW!! I can't believe how closely those dolls resemble the stars!!! That's amazing! Thanks!

JoniTX50