The Story of Sindy

It's always fun discovering old stuff and breathing life right back into them! When my parents were in the process of moving out of Toronto to live in New Jersey, I helped clear the basement where a majority of my sister's toys, mostly the unwanted and forgotten ones, resided. Her dolls resided there. She never liked dolls like I do so I kept the ones I found, in case she changed her mind one day. She was still a kid then. My aunts gave away my toys when my family moved to Canada and I didn't want my little sister to find herself looking back at her old junk one day and finding none, like what happened to me. I'm super sentimental that way.

Fast forward to now and she still hasn't changed her mind and assured me that dolls still creeped her out. Hahaha! Since she didn't like her dolls, it makes me wonder how this one got an eyebrow rub to begin with. I had her wrapped in tissue paper so it wasn't me. I wonder if my sister tossed it around at some point to fight with her Digimon toys. Plus the doll is missing pieces of her attire including shoes. I do think I was the guilty one to tinker with the outfit. That's why she was nude when I found her in my pile.

So again, I'm going to mention how I'd been looking through mountains of doll stuff to organize when I found naked Sindy. For many many years, she was just a doll from my sister's childhood, hiding in the closet. I've actually decided to put her in the 'to go' pile weeks ago.

I honestly thought, for the longest time, that this doll was a Barbie knock-off. Upon further inspection, I saw the Hasbro stamp on her back. That made me curious so I looked her up. It turns out, she's an American-styled Sindy. I was like, "whaaaaaa???". I love the round-faced Sindy by Pedigree, by the way! That's the Sindy doll that I'm familiar with. Check out this LINK for some Hasbro Sindy history. It shed some light into my confusion. Very interesting stuff!

I discovered that I had in hand a Fairy Princess Sindy doll by Hasbro from 1993. The hunt began. I was certain that her wings and pink clothing pieces were gone but I remember finding pieces of gold fairy-shaped earrings scattered in different containers just weeks ago. I also had a vague memory of keeping a one-piece fairy type of outfit somewhere. All hope was not lost. Miraculously, I found the pieces that belonged to Sindy. I couldn't believe how I managed to not lose her earrings!

Just a blog post ago, I was talking about a doll that pretty much gave me the finger and demanded to stay in my house. Sindy seems to be singing the same tune. I guess she's still a keeper. This time she won't be in confinement. Who knows? Maybe my sister will still change her mind on her old dolls one day. Sindy's hair is disheveled and her one brow looks scarred from a Digimon battle but she will still be here, waiting.

When I look at the photos I took, it almost seems to reflect the doll's happiness to be revived and appreciated after decades being forgotten. There's just something about dolls from childhood. They're like legendary creatures from a magical place, where you're the hero and they're your trusty sidekick in battling boredom, sometimes loneliness, a place with endless summers, eternal playtime and pastry cakes for breakfast and dinner. This totally makes me wish I still had my first Barbie, Magic Moves!

This was the old photo that helped me
remember that Sindy's one-piece fairy outfit
was still kicking somehwere!

**Note: Sindy's feet are bigger than Barbie's and not tippy-toed. Takara Jenny's shoes fit her well. In the photograph showing her shoes, she is actually wearing a vintage pair of Takara Jenny's shoes...also belonging to my sister.