Odd Toys From Europe

These are some toys that were sent to us by Dan's sister who is currently teaching in England.

This is a set of Barbabapa characters from France. They are from a children's book by
Annette Tison and Talus Taylor. There is also a series of short children's cartoons that can be seen on YouTube . They are a family of shape-shifting creatures.

Here they are out of the box. The ones in this set are:

Barbapapa - The father of the group. He's the big pink one.
Barbamama - The mother of the group. She is the black female holding a baby bottle.
Barbotine - One of the daughters. She is the small orange female holding a turtle.
Barbalala - Another daughter. She is the small green female holding panpipes.
Barbidur - One ofthe sons. He is the red one who has shape-shifted into a little devil.

There is another set that has Barbapapa shape-shifting into a heart and his other four children.


This is a MiroStars 3 Player Pack. It is a blind box assortment of plastic soccer figures. This box also contains instruction sheet on how to make squads with the figures (they have player stats on the bottom of their bases) and three tiny bags of jelly beans.


The ones we got were:

Bridge from Manchester City
Brown from Manchester United
Eduardo from Arsenal (he is one of the 8 players who are only available in the three player packs.)

These guys look like they are from a Jib Jab greeting card.

Photo Studio In-A-Box

Once again I've been a slacker and neglected my blog. I have been doing things -really! Dan and I took a quick trip to San Diego in early June. We bought new computers to replace our old ones (it was time to say goodbye to Windows XP.) We have been transferring the data from the old computers to the new ones while getting used to Windows 7. I've been working on the art room and recently got a "Photo Studio In-A-Box". It is a portable light box that folds into its own carrying case. It came with small tripod, two small lamps and a reversible background. Very useful for taking photos of small items for ebay.


In this photo, taken in my fabulous art room, I am preparing to take a photo of one of my collectible figures.

Here is my Ugly Doll Ice Bat Action Figure. They are bind boxed and come in 6 different glow in the dark colors. Mine is regular glow in the dark and is 3 inches tall. See how nice and even the lighting is!

This is something we found at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Torrance on our way to San Diego. I don't know Japanese but after poking around the Internet I found they are from a children's book called Dzukan Dwarfs. We decided to get two of them.

They come with a background card that has information about the character in Japanese. If you look closely there is another of these creatures in the window and some others between the refrigerator and the cabinets. This one is about 1 and 1/2 inches tall (including the stand.)

This one is flying high. I wish there was a translation for these, they are very mysterious.

Status Report

Wow! I let two months slip by without a new post.

Earlier this year my sisters and I were helping our parents to move out of their house so it could be sold. They haven't been able to sell it so they have taken off the market and will rent it out until the prices get better. Before they rent it they were advised by people they know to make some changes to appeal to renters. They were told to take down all of the wallpaper, the wood paneling, and paint the walls in a neutral color.

Last weekend my sisters, significant others, and myself had a work party to do some of the tasks. I thought the removal of the wood paneling would be the hard part. However the guys were able to take it down with no problems. The wallpaper was another matter. It took all day to remove the wallpaper from the entry hallway, kitchen and dinning area. And that was with help from the guys when they had finished with the paneling. I hate wallpaper.

On Wednesday I went over to help my parents with some painting. They had already started with that and had painted one bedroom. I helped them finish another bedroom, painted the hallway and started on another bedroom. I didn't mind the painting since I got to use the long handled roller so I could paint up to the ceiling!

Dan and I have also been working on our place. We took all of the stuff that was in the work/art room and set up some shelves, the Expedit series, from Ikea. Dan did most of the assembly but I helped, too! We just need to bolt them to the walls and then I can put all of the stuff back in order.

Here are some pictures:

Looking through the doorway into the room.

This is the medium sized Expedit shelf unit with the desk attached.

The smaller Expedit shelf unit next to a desk acquired at a garage sale and chair donated by my parents.

The largest Expedit shelf unit next to the medium size. The large is about 6 feet tall.

An older bookcase that we already had.

File drawers that my Dad gave me. Don't have much that will fit under the low window.

February!

It's February already? January just flew by. I've been trying to get things organized at home so I can have a more efficient work space. In the mean time here are some Valentines from the early 1970s for your viewing pleasure.

Holiday Decorations

It's Christmas Eve. The holiday baking is done and the presents are wrapped. We never got a tree so we don't really have much in the way of decorations. We hung a few ornaments on the chandelier that we acquired between last Christmas and this Christmas:

• The Barbie ornament was found at a garage sale.
• The Mach 5 and View Master ornament set are from the 2008 Hallmark collection so they were on sale.
• The two small retro ornaments were in a gift basket that Dan won at a school raffle.
• The Chimpanzee was purchased at a store in Escondido that was next to the motel we stayed at.

The items in the other photos were found at a garage sale by Dan's sister. They are called Snow Stick. You are supposed to wet them with a sponge and stick them to your windows. I decided not to try these on our windows. There are two different sets. One religious and one assorted Christmas designs. The Holy Family had been used so were not there but there were shepherds, angels, and the Magi. The other set had bells, holly, a candy cane, and the scary jack-in-the-box. Maybe I will try them next year.

Nutrcracker Suite

Here is one of the 45 rpm classical music boxed sets that my dad gave to me. The sets are from the 50s and vary in the number of records in them. My example, The Nutcracker Suite, has three made of clear red vinyl. The Beethoven's Ninth Symphony set had eight records while the Mikado is a two volume set with a total of eleven records.

The artwork on the box sets vary as well. Some like the Nutcracker set have very creative illustrations. Others are rather bland with just the name of the composer, the piece, orchestra, conductor, and some of the performers. The sets also came with inserts that have a some information on the composer and piece being performed.

My Dad collected these record sets when he was in the service. He liked them because they are compact and he moved around a lot. He also has a 45 rpm record players with the auto changer that I will probably take as well even though it needs some work. These records are fun to listen to but it's a bother to keep changing the records with the player I have now.

December Again

Well it's December again and I'm not ready. I've been trying to organize things and making a bigger mess. We haven't got a tree or started to decorate yet.

Actually, I just put up a festive fireplace screen I got from my parents. My parents are going to be moving soon. They are moving from a four bedroom house to a two bedroom apartment. My sisters and I have been helping them go through the things they have accumulated through the years. That means I've been adding to my accumulation of stuff. So far I've taken the rocking chair they got the year I was born, my mom's cookbooks and cookie cutters, my dad's collection of 45s in boxed sets, lots of books, and some of my old artwork from school. I also got some art supplies, dad's artwork, and an unfinished painting of his that he thinks I should finish (oh! the pressure!)

I've posted a photo of a wonderful pin I got from my parents back in 1975 for our first Christmas in that house. The pin is two inches tall by 1 and 1/4 of an inch wide.