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Gay CurmudgeonSpring has arrived in the Valley of the Dolls. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dollcollector" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dollcollector</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dollphotographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dollphotographer</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/barbie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#barbie</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fashiondolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fashiondolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/midge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#midge</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/spring" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#spring</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/valleyofthedolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#valleyofthedolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/playtime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#playtime</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/toys" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#toys</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/vintagetoys" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#vintagetoys</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#photography</a>

J. Steven YorkI sometimes go to absurd and pointless effort making or modifying props for my "Minions at Work" action Figure photo comics. I enjoy it, and especially now (how about this failed timeline, huh?), I find it to be an anxiety reliever and mood booster. I found this weird but interesting fashion doll sink (Maybe from the "Monster High" line? Just a guess...) in a thrift store. Originally the stand was black and the sink itself a dark pink. I gave the stand a weathered antique gold finish with acrylic paints, and tried to give the sink more of a natural sea-shell look. The drain was painted with metallic chrome and black brush markers (my first time using the, VERY nice!) and I also used the chrome marker to detail the faucet and valve handles. Now it will go with the collection of set items for the evil steampunk submarine Naughtyless, belonging to supervillain Captain Rehab. Unlikely it will ever appear as more than a background piece, but maybe I'll think of something more prominent to do with it. <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/MinionsAtWork" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MinionsAtWork</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/PulphouseFictionMagazine" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PulphouseFictionMagazine</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/actionfigures" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#actionfigures</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/fashiondolls" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fashiondolls</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/comics" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#comics</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/photocomics" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#photocomics</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/making" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#making</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/makers" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#makers</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/minatures" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#minatures</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/dioramas" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dioramas</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/comics" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#comics</a>

Gay CurmudgeonHappy Black History Month from Alan, and the Valley of the Dolls! <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/BlackHistoryMonth2025" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BlackHistoryMonth2025</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/blackhistorymonth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#blackhistorymonth</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/blackhistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#blackhistory</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/paulrobeson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#paulrobeson</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/civilrights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#civilrights</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/equalrights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#equalrights</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/martinlutherking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#martinlutherking</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/mlk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mlk</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dollcollector" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dollcollector</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dollphotographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dollphotographer</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fashiondolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fashiondolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/vintagedolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#vintagedolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/1960s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#1960s</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/twentiethcentury" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#twentiethcentury</a>

J. Steven YorkIn pursuit of my goal of cobbling together parts of multiple dolls and action figures to create a more realistic ideal female character body for a new "Minions at Work" photo comic character, I decided last night to take apart a cheap, low-end Barbie that I had in my parts box, just to get some idea of how they were assembled before cutting into the rarer, more expensive, better articulated versions. This is the bottom-of-the-line sort of Barbie, with stiff arms and legs, and only five points of articulation (shoulders, hips, neck), the sort you see hanging in drug stores and discount stores, often selling for less than $10. I really expected it to be simple in construction and relatively fragile. I couldn't have been more wrong! I went after it with a Dremel rotary tool with a cutting disk, slicing into the sides. This thing is build like a tank! It seems to be designed with the idea that little girls and going to come after it will sledge hammers. The picture below shows the inside of the two halves of the body. I expected pins connecting the half, and figured there's be between two and four. I think I counted about TEN through-pins holding the halves together! It took a LOT of cutting and prying to get it apart, not just with flat screwdrivers, but with a mini-pry bar, and a flush-cutter to reach inside and cut some of the more stubborn and difficult to reach with the Dremel pins. Clearly, a lot of thought and engineering goes into making these thing both cheap to make, and tough. When I was a kid in the 60s (and already taking my toys apart to see how they work) I was really impressed with how sophisticated Mattel toys were inside. Back then, I believe, they hired of engineers from aerospace and other high-tech industries, and it showed. Without computers and electronics, they were building toys with often only a single motor, controlling multiple functions that could be mechanical, but sometimes also including light and sound. I thought those days were gone, but looking at this makes me suspect I underestimated them. I've always had an interest in toy design, but I sadly admit my sexism in thinking that "girl" toys were usually simple and unsophisticated (though in the 60s, dolls that talked, walked, chewed, danced, blinked and many other functions, were common, so that wasn't true even then). Toys aren't what they used to be in a lot of ways. A lot of things are hamstrung by modern safety requirements, and with much smaller toy market these days forces prices down, limits the savings of volume production, and reduces R&D budgets. There are electronics now, but they generally have be kept cheap and simple. But there's still a lot of cleverness out there. Anyway, at some point I'm going to have to sacrifice one of the more sophisticated Barbies to see if I can adapt them to use better jointed arms and legs and more realistic hands I've taken from other toys. <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/toys" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#toys</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/toydesign" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#toydesign</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/engineering" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#engineering</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/dolls" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dolls</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/actionfigures" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#actionfigures</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/productDesign" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#productDesign</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/Mattel" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Mattel</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/Barbie" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Barbie</a> <a href="https://catodon.social/tags/FashionDolls" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FashionDolls</a>

Gay CurmudgeonLibby, Big Ricky, and Skipper celebrate Halloween in the Valley of the Dolls. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dollcollector" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dollcollector</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dollphotographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dollphotographer</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/barbie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#barbie</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/littlechapfamily" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#littlechapfamily</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fashiondolls" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fashiondolls</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/autumn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#autumn</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fall</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/halloween" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#halloween</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/allhallowseve" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#allhallowseve</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/masks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#masks</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/costumes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#costumes</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/hayride" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#hayride</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/haywagon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#haywagon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/countryside" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#countryside</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/foliage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#foliage</a>

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