Visit to the Tonner Store

When I lived in Woodstock, NY, it was a 15 minute drive to the Tonner store. Now, it takes about 3 hours and doesn't happen very often. This past Saturday was the first time I've seen the store since it moved to Wall St. in Kingston.
It's always fun to spend time chatting with Dr. Noreen. We could talk for hours and cure all the world's ills.
For those that don't know my story with Noreen, here it is. It was 14 or 15 years ago when I went to my first Tonner trunk sale. It was held out-of-doors at the old building on Lucas Avenue. I was really just beginning my collecting as I had accumulated a few Tiny Kitty dolls prior to then. I saw 16" Tylers, Emmes and a few others for the first time that day and met Noreen. She predicted what was to come as far as my collecting would go. Who knew? It's a very fond memory.

These are iPhone pictures. Please remember that you can click to enlarge them.
Enjoy!

You can see all of the current lines Tonner Doll Company offers here:
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/shop-collections

Tonner Archive:  http://www.tonnerdoll.com/archive

Tonner's Sindy Collection

Many were once wild about the original Sindy doll. That would be back in 1963 when Pedigree Dolls and Toys created her. She was a best-selling toy in the UK at the end of the 60's. Throughout the end of the 20th century through to the beginning of the 21st, there were several manufacturers who tried to bring Sindy back to her glory days. Looking back now, the fashions and the accessories were wonderful for the day. She had everything! As a child, I would have loved this doll and all of the goodies. There is a tremendous amount of play value in what I see here.

I've actually had a few pieces of Sindy furniture in my collection, namely the dining room, bedroom, living room and beach lounge. They are perfectly scaled for Fashion Royalty dolls.

Sindy was a wholesome-looking doll compared to most Barbie dolls and there's probably not a parent who boycotted a store due to any of the versions.

There are currently about 4000 listings on eBay under the worldwide search, "Sindy."

                Above, a favorite accessory, hot rollers.  Below, the indispensable stereo record player.

So, why is Robert Tonner doing Sindy? What does he have in mind? I can certainly see where well made furniture and accessories would be a hit with the 1/6 crowd. Tonner's furniture is always a success, well scaled for the doll and a sell out.
But what about the doll herself?

Cute? Check.
Wholesome? Check.
Well-attired? Check.

But why isn't she articulated? She's a reproduction but one can upgrade a reproduction to provide more play value.

This is the "Just Sindy Basic Doll" who is available at Cherished Friends (NJ store) for $59.99. I hate to say this but I can find a similar dolls in Target or Walmart for $19. I'm sure Tonner's Sindy is a fine quality - much better than a $19.99 doll but it's all about perceived value.

This is Sindy Summer Fun Dressed Doll who is also available at Cherished Friends for $84.99.

Are these fashion dolls or toys?  If they are toys, they're priced too high. If they're fashion dolls, I don't know where to go with that one.



I wish them luck.

Sindy's Golden Jubilee Exhibition

One of the blogs I follow is called For the Love of Dolls. Today Papusile Mele posted an interesting interview with a woman who organized an exhibition at the Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre in Great Britain.
Here is the link to the blog and the interview:

Sindystar: An Interview About the Doll Next Door

Robert Tonner and Vintage Sindy! What?

Starting at minute mark 17:00 Robert Tonner appears to discuss his company's plans to reproduce vintage Sindy dolls.

I have the 20 minute video set to begin a few seconds before Robert's appearance.

http://youtu.be/DzH6VC7oK1Y?t=16m40s

The 4th annual Sindy convention celebrated her 50th birthday on Saturday, July 27th. in the UK.
The only contact I ever had with Sindy was scouring the internet for 1/6 scale furniture for my Fashion Royalty dolls.

Over the years I've had Sindy beds, dressing tables, wardrobes, a lamp table, breakfronts, dressers, a dining table with chairs, a fabulous writing desk with ottoman and sofas. It was great stuff and you can still find it on eBay.

The earliest Sindy product was made by Pedigree. There's a really cute standing hairdryer on eBay (UK) right now for £19.99. I'm so tempted.

My picture of the Sindy Lounger with added umbrellas.

My picture of the bench that went with the dressing table.

My picture of the writing bureau.

There are wonderful pieces of Sindy dolls, furniture and accessories out there. 

Sindy is the free, swinging girl that every little girl longs to be. Sindy has sports clothes, glamour clothes, everyday clothes — a dog, skates, a gramophone — everything... Every genuine Sindy outfit is a child's dream come true. Each one is designed for today's fashionable young women by today's leading women designers. They are authentic miniature replicas of the latest adult clothes.

If you would like to know more about Sindy, Wikipedia has an excellent page:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindy

 

Two final images are copyrighted Pedigree Toys.