Peking Opera dolls

These cute Peking opera dolls I got from my travel to Beijing last year. They are made of of hard plastic.

Daruma doll

One of my latest acquisitions is this Japanese Daruma doll. Daruma dolls, according to wikipedia,

is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man (Dharma), vary greatly in color and design depending on region and artist. Though considered an omocha, meaning toy, Daruma has a design that is rich in symbolism and is regarded more as a talisman of good luck to the Japanese. Daruma dolls are seen as a symbol of perseverance and good luck, making them a popular gift of encouragement. The doll has also been commercialized by many Buddhist temples to use alongside goal setting.

My dolls will have a home

Datu Lubay Doll Collection will soon have a home. We shall open the Balay ni Datu Lubay Toys Museum this quarter. Aside from the dolls, we will also display folk and contemporary toys, art works, and folk arts. Balay ni Datu Lubay is at 1 Progreso cor Gobierno Sts., San Jose, Antique, Philippines.

Little Indian Girl

This porcelain native American Indian girl comes with her own certificate of authenticity. I got her from amazon.com. And she travelled far from my sister's house in Riverside, Ca.

Barbie Spain & Sumatra

Here are the recent releases of the Barbie Dolls of the World series. Sumatra, Indonesia and Spain. Sumatra is wearing a Balinese dancer's costume, while Spain is wearing the classic Flamenco dancer's costume. Very elegant. Now I promise to buy every new release of the collectibles. By January, they will release France - in Cancan dancer's costume- and Scotland, complete with a bagpipe.

The Barbies

I decided to include Barbies in my collection because of the Dolls of the World series. My first one is the Princess of Ancient Mexico (see bottom), which I bought in Penang, Malaysia. Now I regret that I did not buy the Princess of England that stood beside her. She was gone when I went back to Parkson Grand Penang.

Irish Dance of the Festivals of the World series

Cinco de Mayo (Mexico), Festivals of the World

In my wish list are the Chinese New Year and the Oktoberfest Barbies. The last one was sold for 9.99 USD at amazon.com one time, but I was half-decided to buy it, so I did not finish the purchase. The next day, it was selling at 16.99 USD. Waaaah! I wasn't ready to pay more for something offered for less just a day before. I thought it was anomalous.

Princess of the Danish Court

Princess of the Portuguese Court

Princess of Ancient Mexico

The Princess of the Portuguese and Danish Courts were given to me by my sister Jane who lives in Riverside, Ca. There's still plenty of their kind that I have to get, but they were released some years ago, definitely not available in the toy shops anymore.

In my recent shopping at amazon, I got the France, Russia, and Germany Barbies of the Europe edition (ca 2004-2006), and the Queen Elizabeth of the Great Eras series. Now, am very excited with this purchase. I hope Janey will send the balikbayan box very soon.

The Barbies in my doll collection will be specially grouped as The Shine Collection, in honor of my niece Shine, who should be getting all these Barbies. I buy her the play line instead, and I keep the collectibles for her.

Photos of all Barbies in this blog are from amazon.com. Mine still have to schedule a photo shoot.

alice in wonderland

These are from the Barbie as Alice in Wonderland series. Sorry the pics are small because I just got them from Amazon.com. Thanks, amazon. I did not want to take mine out of the box for picture taking. Not yet, because am waiting for the new display case I ordered, and I am bringing the whole collection to a new home. Here are the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and Alice herself.

Watch out for the new dollies

I received my orders from amazon and from barbiecollector.com yesterday. Thanks to Nanay who brought them all the way from Riverside, Ca. and to my sis Jane, who added to great items to my collection - a princess of the Portuguese court and a princess of the Danish court Barbie. These two are in my wishlist and I almost lost hope of having them because they're no longer in the barbie collector catalogue. Thanks very much, Janey.

The Portuguese and Danish court princess join the princess of Ancient Mexico, Cinco de Mayo, Irish Dance Festival, Sumatra and Spain barbies in my collection. I am waiting for the France and Scotland barbies of the Dolls of the World series to be released by January, according to barbiecollector.com. Have you seen the Scarlet Macaw barbie featured this month?

Also a reason for joy are the three Barbies of the Alice in Wonderland series - Alice herself, the Queen of Hearts, and the Madhatter. I bought them at only 12 USD each from barbiecollector.com. From amazon, I am happy with the Ling doll in blue Chinese dress, and the 19" Duckhouse porcelain doll in gypsy costume. The Indian doll is quite a disappointment, but it comes with a certificate too.

While in Manila over the weekend, I made the rounds of major toyshops and malls and debated with my conscience to use my credit card or not for the Barbie collectibles I saw. These are the Vera Wang edition (11,000 Php), Artist Barbie (5,000 Php), Juicy Couture (6,000 Php), Tarina Tarantino (3,000), and Holiday 2008 (3,000). Fashion Barbies are not yet in my collection policy, but these collectibles are really excellently dressed, and could cause envy in one's collection. But in this time of crisis, I thought it was not moral for me to buy them. Perhaps I had to wait for another time, when barbiecollector.com gives hefty discounts again. Or when friends buy them for me.

Meanwhile, Nenita Dolls have come up with tableaux editions of Philippine dolls in various settings. I saw them at Kultura shops. They will be my next objects of desire, including the complete line of Santacruzan dolls.

Japanese egg dolls

These ceramic egg dolls are from Japan. It's wonderful how the Japanese make different kinds of dolls, from the very sophisticated geisha dolls to the round-faced ones, from paper dolls to bamboo stick dolls. These two are really cute, and I fool my nephews they are made from ostrich eggs, so they take care not to break them.

The Royal Guards

These Royal Guards came from different countries. The tallest one is from Eduard; he picked it up in London during his last visit there. The shorter one in red uniform is also from him, but came from Denmark. The middle one in white uniform I bought from an antique shop in Penang, Malaysia. All three are of the same make. Their plastic eyes open and close.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is definitely not in my collection policy at first. But who would refuse her? So I am starting a new collection of pop culture dolls, too. I bought her in Malaysia (tip: Barbies are cheaper there, and are often sold at bargains - check Parkson Grand) for my niece Shine, but she preferred dress-up play dolls. She couldn't dress-up Wonder Woman any other way, so she's left standing in a corner most of the time. I sequestered Wonder Woman, with Shine's consent, of course!

Austrian maestros

These figurines are my source of pride. Eduard sent them to me from Austria. I used them as visual aids for my Humanities class, but they belong to my doll collection now. They are (from left to right) Johan Strauss, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludvig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert. They shall represent Austria, until Ed gets a real Austrian doll for me. They are actually Made in Italy, though.

Karen Long Necks

The Karen long-neck women are found in Northern Thailand, and are quite an attraction. These cloth dolls I bought at Changmai. I should have given them out friends, but they look quite charming as a group, so I decided to keep them.

Blue Hawaii

This Hawaiian gal in blue grass skirt is a present from Peter Solis Nery. Peter and Randy recently wed in California, and they had a honeymoon in Hawaii. He picked up this dancing doll for me, as they were planning a second honeymoon in Boracay. She dances to "Pearly Shell". She's made in China, but genuinely bought in Hawaii. Thanks Petey. She's escorted by Blaine, one of Barbie's Californian friends. I got him in Malaysia. He is vanilla scented.

Sawasdee

Sawasdee ka! This Thai girl is greeting you with the traditional Thai wai. She is a wooden doll, very common in Thailand, and very easy to get in any souvenir shop in Bangkok. Think Chatuchak weekend market. But mine I bought from the souvenir shop of Taksila Hotel in Mahasarakham, Khon Kaen province in northeastern Thailand. She is actually more than 14" tall, but her whole body picture doesn't look good; it's better to see her up close.

The teenie-weenies

At one time, I was obsessed with these Small Kids Dolls of the World edition, and frequented Toy Kingdom to check if a new doll is out. There were like 30 nations included in the series. But I wasn't able to complete them because I realized they all look the same, save for the color of hair. The most distinct one is Miss Kenya at the rear, which surprisingly is being sold in one on-line shop for more than 10$. These dolls sell only for 69 pesos (a little more than a dollar) in the Philippines. They are made in China, of course. If you go to Toy Kingdom now, the only doll left unsold is Miss Kenya.

Notice the very indistinct Miss Philippines in the foreground, with red skirt under black apron and white blouse. Miss India in blue with pink sari looks good, Miss Argentina is a cowgirl, and Miss Italy is in that blue blouse and green skirt. If this were little Miss Universe parade of nations, the winner would be.... Miss Kenya.

These are a group of figurines that I picked up from bargain stores. The most interesting of them are the seven little kids (3 on the chair and 4 in the foreground). The Dutch couple at the left are actually salt and paper shakers. Little Miss Africa with a drum has a broken base when I bought for 10 pesos.

Chinese puppets

These are finger puppets made of terracotta. I found them at an antique shop along the famously sleazy Chulia St. in Penang, Malaysia. This is my precious find in my Asian puppets collection.

Next to them is this hand puppet with head of plaster and a body of rolled cardboard. The head and hands are tied to a stick; the feet dangle on strips of cloth. It is labelled Made in Taiwan. This came with Dr. Maria Laosunthara's collection shipped to me from Thailand. For display, I prop him up on a miniature wooden chair I found at an Indian shop in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.

Bride without groom

Pity this bride without a groom. She does not meet my collection policy, but she's on sale at half the price. Who wouldn't fall in love with her? She easily the prettiest in my collection.

The Bobsey twins

There's nothing significant between this pair, except that they look scholarly, which added to their cuteness. They are one of those Made in China porcelain dolls being sold at a bargain after a month on display. The two below are virtual non-entities, but when you walk into a store and find them selling at 50 pesos (1$), what would you do? My niece Shine finds them interesting anyway.

Cover girl

This porcelain doll is a cover girl. She was featured in my book "Agi, agi may putay sa dahi," a collection of gay stories in Kinaray-a. It was the first gay stories collection by one author in Western Visayas, and also the first book published entirely in Kinaray-a. But let's go back to the doll. The doll was given to me by Ed when he came home from Austria. But it is Made in China, so I was only half-thrilled because I expected an authentic Austrian doll. To be honest, I suspect he bought this at SM when he arrived in Iloilo City. (Didn't tell me because I did not want to break his heart. Ed, if you read this, I can explain.) But that doesn't mean I love Ed less. He more than redeemed himself by sending me figurines of Austria's famous musicians - Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss. Although those figurines were Made in Italy. Maybe Austria, being a relatively small country does not really produce anything as they can afford to import, except perhaps for those divinely delicious chocolates with marzipan filling, engraved with Mozart's face - Mozartkugeln or something. Ed sends me that too, if only to make me feel like having Mozart's genius in me. hahaha.

So this doll ended up as the cover girl for my book. Well, sharing it with my brother Vaun. Here they are:

The book is still available at www.bookoto.com, if you want a copy. Go buy.