2023 in Review, part 4: Teen Babysitters

 

My teens got an unexpected addition late in the year with the arrival of Remco Babysitters Club "Kristy." She was in an eBay lot with unhelpful photos and limited description, but between the two dolls in it, at least one was definitely on my wish list as something, and the price with free shipping was great.

Doing a body comparison with the two 10-inch girls reveals a lot of similarity. Lacy (Totsy) has bendier legs due to their internal wire, while Kristy (Remco) has regular click legs that don't click very well any more. Lacy has a more developed chest. Kristy's arms are set more "outward." These bodies are so similar, though, that I now wonder if Lacey is not a Skipper clone (since she's neither anime-eyed nor tall), but a Babysitters Club clone. The timing on mold stamps is plausible.

A quick Googling for Babysitters Club dolls isn't showing me a short-haired blonde, but cloning is sometimes more of the concept than of the specifics. Lacey would have been compatible with them and able to wear most clothing.

The addition of Kristy does raise the question of how much height equals age. Babysitters Club gals were canonically in junior high, so 14 at the absolute oldest. I've been treating Lacey as about 16, and thus old enough to date canonically 16-year-old Teen Skipper.

From the faces, Kristy is significantly younger than Lacey, Honestly, Lacey's proportions look to me like she's the younger sister of a 14-inch adult, not a 12-inch adult. However, 14-inch is a size that doesn't interest me, so Kristy just hit her growth spurt, while Lacey is naturally petite.

Kristy is too young to be a rival in Lacey and Skipper's romance.

Kristy makes a reasonable sister for Creata "Today's Girls" Hillary, though Hillary's head is larger than Kristy's, and her expression looks more mature.

The parentage of Kid Kore Baby Allison remains unknown, though she now is very well-supplied with sitters! Acquiring Baby Allison was one of those weird unexplained urges that hits a doll collector occasionally. If I were Mom, I'd soon have two of each Kid Kore baby, plus representatives from multiple other brands. However, I bought my favorite baby first, so there's no need for more. The only other baby that tempts me is the Totsy Native American baby, as that one also has hip and shoulder joints.

 

Over the long haul, if I keep Kristy, that skintone mismatch between head and body, plus the worsening condition of her legs, makes it likely I'd find a better articulated body for her. I'm not sure how well she fits into the community, but every time I question buying her, I notice she has amazing hair (much better quality than the usual 1990s fiber) and a sweet, if someone vacant, face.

Happy Halloween!

 

While Kelsey takes three Katies and Hilary to the spa for intense hair treatments (the fourth Katie has a cold), the other grown-up and teen members of the community decided to throw a Halloween party. They grabbed whatever was at hand for costumes.

Kenzo: Extra on Supernatural who gets killed in the teaser.

Kylie: Sexy witch. She's regretting this and wishing she'd picked something with a serious message, or at least easier to sit down in.

Skipper: Emmy award, mostly because she's been looking for an occasion to wear this dress.

Lacey: Daughter of international diplomat, dressed for visit to Asian country.

Teresa: Also a sexy witch. Not regretting it.

Cinderelsa: Doesn't need a costume because being a bodiless head is creepy enough.

Totsy "Teen Fun Lacey" joins the fam

Meet the new-to-me Skipper-equivalent from circa 1994, Totsy's "Teen Fun Lacey." I bought her on eBay unboxed, so figuring out her identity involved lucking into finding a listing for a similar doll on its card (and priced at $40! -- but I don't buy vintage dolls NRFB or MIB because I don't like boxes. Leave them for people who do!

 

It was the 1990s, curling irons were a gal's most important accessory.

I love her face. She even has dimples at the side of her mouth. She spent two weeks basking in a baggie of baking soda because she arrived reeking of cigarette smoke. The seller had a rant in her listings about how buyers are ridiculous over smoke scent and she has no control over lingering scents from estate sales where she buys... but I think she herself is a chain smoker, because this scent was not lingering. It was racing ahead to announce itself. (I left her positive feedback anyway, because the rant was a red flag I chose to ignore due to wanting the doll a lot.)

To you, it's a dollar-store small size. To me, it's a lifetime supply.

Lacey has also had a full day of soaking her hair in fabric softener, which seems to work better on 1990s hair than conditioner. This came out well enough that I didn't boil wash her, and I'm thinking of running all the 1990s gals through intense fabric softener treatment.

Lacey is 9.5" tall and has the reached puberty, but not blossomed to Barbie degrees yet. The 1990s were the era of aging up Skipper, so Lacey is probably intended to be in her mid-teens, while the main Totsy fashion doll slides into adulthood along with Barbie.

Her feet are flat. Her legs are a different, softer material than her arms, and they look a little wiggly for a reason.

She has the wired, bendy legs that Kid Kore was known for in this period! (She's definitely Totsy, though -- the marking is on her back.)

Here's an awkward size comparison parade, made more so by my not having a standard-sized Skipper of any era.

L:R Kid Kore Kelsey, Petite Barbie, Lacey, Teen Skipper

Lacey is shorter than Petite Barbie and much shorter than Kelsey or Teen Skipper. (This moment was when I decided Petite Barbie was ready to leave for a new home. I was so excited about the new Barbie body types when they were released, as well as the more visible ethnic variety, but the face-ups have not aged well with me, except on Kens, which we'll talk about later. I find myself preferring 1990s dolls, even though that wasn't my childhood and I have no specific nostalgia for the era.)

I'm so cute!

Lacey can wear some Sparkle Girlz clothing, like the dress above. The day before she emerged from her fabric softener adventures, I'd been at Dollar Tree and found a sparkly green dress, in the standard Barbie-esque clothes, that I was pretty sure would be a good fit.

Ready for prom!

It fits perfectly! The heeled shoes do fine on her little flat feet because her ankles are flexible.

Here, she's settling in with Skipper and Kelsey, looking a little younger than both. When I eventually find a Kid Kore Piper that hits right, she'll get a same-sized friend.