A Francie Tale
While I impatiently wait for my Freeze Frame Avantguard doll, I decided to give attention to dolls I haven't played with for some time: my OOAK Francie dolls. Originally, I wanted to create a mini picture gallery of my Francie dolls in this blog but I've been lazy to play dress-up these days. With all the beautiful dolls I have in my possession, nothing captures me like Francie does. She's got the sweetest doll face I've ever seen. Too bad, she was only produced for a short period of time, less than ten years, I think.
The facts: Francie first got introduced in 1966 as Barbie's mod cousin. She's slightly smaller built than Barbie at around 11". And she's the first doll with "real" (or should I say, rooted) eyelashes. She's got the funkiest wardrobe I have ever seen...being mod and all....Plus, I had never heard of the word "kicky" before Francie's existence in my doll vocabulary! She's been reproduced three times so far by Mattel: 1996 30th Anniversary Francie, 1997 The Wild Bunch Black Francie and 2005 Smashin' Satin No Bangs Francie, none of which compare to the original Francie face mold, unfortunately.
Here's a collage of my vintage Francie dolls since the love affair that began in 2007 :
Cute, right??? The dolls you see on top all have certain flaws because of old age. They're all waaaaay older than me, actually. I think that's part of their appeal. I've always liked old things. Although, I wouldn't mind having my very own minty mint Francie doll someday.....still crossing my fingers for that lottery winner career to take off!
Here are my two OOAK Francies in kimonos:
These are the only two OOAKs I have in my entire doll collection. What can I say? Francie makes me do things! The black-haired Francie is a reroot and repaint by Laurie Everton of thebarbiecanvas.com. She originally came to me in a worn down bend-leg Francie body that I have since replaced with a nicer straight-legged one. She is wearing a Takara Jenny kimono. The blonde Francie is a reroot and repaint by Lisa of morethanmod.com. It's a Quick Curl Francie head on a Growing Pretty Hair Francie body. I got her kimono from e-bay. Cute as she is, for some reason, the Quick Curl Francie head looks slightly fatter than normal....
I dream of a day when Mattel reproduces a Francie doll in the exact likeness of her vintage self, or at the very least, as close to it as possible. Robert Best, the designer for the silkstone doll collection, is considering giving Francie a silkstone incarnation....I wouldn't mind that either as long as she looks like vintage Francie!
The facts: Francie first got introduced in 1966 as Barbie's mod cousin. She's slightly smaller built than Barbie at around 11". And she's the first doll with "real" (or should I say, rooted) eyelashes. She's got the funkiest wardrobe I have ever seen...being mod and all....Plus, I had never heard of the word "kicky" before Francie's existence in my doll vocabulary! She's been reproduced three times so far by Mattel: 1996 30th Anniversary Francie, 1997 The Wild Bunch Black Francie and 2005 Smashin' Satin No Bangs Francie, none of which compare to the original Francie face mold, unfortunately.
Here's a collage of my vintage Francie dolls since the love affair that began in 2007 :
Cute, right??? The dolls you see on top all have certain flaws because of old age. They're all waaaaay older than me, actually. I think that's part of their appeal. I've always liked old things. Although, I wouldn't mind having my very own minty mint Francie doll someday.....still crossing my fingers for that lottery winner career to take off!
Here are my two OOAK Francies in kimonos:
These are the only two OOAKs I have in my entire doll collection. What can I say? Francie makes me do things! The black-haired Francie is a reroot and repaint by Laurie Everton of thebarbiecanvas.com. She originally came to me in a worn down bend-leg Francie body that I have since replaced with a nicer straight-legged one. She is wearing a Takara Jenny kimono. The blonde Francie is a reroot and repaint by Lisa of morethanmod.com. It's a Quick Curl Francie head on a Growing Pretty Hair Francie body. I got her kimono from e-bay. Cute as she is, for some reason, the Quick Curl Francie head looks slightly fatter than normal....
I dream of a day when Mattel reproduces a Francie doll in the exact likeness of her vintage self, or at the very least, as close to it as possible. Robert Best, the designer for the silkstone doll collection, is considering giving Francie a silkstone incarnation....I wouldn't mind that either as long as she looks like vintage Francie!
I love Francie too! Some of the other mod dolls(not PJ) look like they are sucking a lemon. Their cheeks seem sunken in. Francie has the cutest little pout combined with a knowing smile. She had a great wardrobe but with Teen Skipper, bellybutton body dolls, and Model Muse body dolls added to the Mattel collection, she has an event wider clothing range to choose from.
ReplyDelete