Memory Lane: Mattel C.U.T.I.E. Dolls

Thanks to eBay and Goodwill, I've ended up with quite a few toys from my childhood.  I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts on some of these special finds.  My hope is that you, my readers, will either rediscover a long-lost beloved toy or be introduced to toys from another era.  I'm going to try to do at least two of these posts per month.  Ready for the first "walk down memory lane"? ;)

For today, we'll start with a toy that I had nearly forgotten until I ended up on an eBay rabbit trail about a month ago:  Mattel C.U.T.I.E. dolls. :)

The Mattel C.U.T.I.E. dolls were introduced in 1986 as a girl's alternative to the popular M.U.S.C.L.E. men figures already in production (which you can see and read about HERE).  C.U.T.I.E. stands for "Coolest Ultra Tiny Individuals on Earth".  The figures stand at about two inches tall and are solid-colored plastic (in trendy 80s colors, of course). ;) 

The C.U.T.I.E.s were released in small packages of four figures, like the ones pictured in this post, and in large packages of ten figures.  The large packages each had a theme to them, and there were five themes that I'm aware of:

1. "Gym Dollies" featured full-figured women in workout clothes lifting weights and exercising.

2.  "Lovey Doveys" were all dancers or singers or moms...very feminine and sweet.

3.  "Tiny Trendies" were just what they sounded like, figures wearing "cool" fashions of the times (some of which are pretty hilarious now).

4.  "Rockity Rollers" featured rock star-type women performing on musical instruments...some of them featured mohawks and other wild styles.

5.  "Bitsy Babies" were all cute little babies and toddlers.  They were a larger scale than the other C.U.T.I.E.s, making them look like an invasion of giant babies. ;)

The smaller packages did not have themes, but featured random figures from each of the five categories.  Interestingly enough, according to what I found on eBay, each individual figure in the ten packs was always the same color from pack to pack, but figures with the same mold in the smaller packs were different colors.

I don't even remember how I stumbled across these again, but when I did, I instantly remembered having them as a girl.  When I found a few packages for a reasonable price on eBay, I knew I had to have some for my 80s and 90s toy collection. :)

Here is one of the individual packs from the front...

...and the back.  From the price tag, it looks like this originally retailed for $1.99.

An explanation of the C.U.T.I.E. line.

You could send in this part of the box for a free C.U.T.I.E.s poster.

More package details:

So here's a close look at one of the cuties.  She is one of the "Tiny Trendies", and her name is "Rani Rad".  Yeah.  It was the 80s. :}  In the ten pack, she was yellowish orange instead of purple.  

Here's a view from the back.

And this is the guy that I saw by accident online and went, "Oh my goodness, I had that guy!!"  And then the search began. ;)  My mom must have gotten me one of the four packs, because I don't remember having very many of these, and mine was purple like this one, while his color in the ten pack was a red orange.  (Plus, Mom wouldn't have been into getting me figurines with mohawks, and there was at least one in the ten pack he came in.) ;)  He is also a "Tiny Trendies", and his name is "B. Cool".  Since I didn't have the big set, I didn't know his name (and I wouldn't have liked it, anyway), so I always called him Jeff.  

A back view of "Jeff". 

He stands nicely on his own.

I ended up with two sets from eBay, one to keep in the package and one to open.  The little gym gal in the front (whose name, I discovered, is "Sweaty Betty") is a little random.  As near as I can tell, that's the way she's supposed to be, but it sure doesn't look like a proper way to weight train. ;)  There was also at least one figure that didn't stand up like she was supposed to (the pink guitar player in the back).  

Unfortunately, while the M.U.S.C.L.E. men were very popular, the C.U.T.I.E.s were not so successful.  As a result, not many people know about them.  I always thought they were fun, though.  I had a weakness for small toys I could take along with me everywhere. :)  And the nice thing about them being fairly unknown is that they're very reasonably priced on eBay, which is great for collectors on a budget like me. ;)

While doing some research on these, I found a YouTube video that has pictures and names for every single C.U.T.I.E. figure made.  I thought you might enjoy seeing them all, so I went ahead and linked it HERE.  

I hope you enjoyed this first look at toys of the past.  Did any of you have C.U.T.I.E.s?  Is there another 80s or 90s toy you'd like to reminisce about?  Let me know in the comments! :)

A Few EBay Listings Up

Well, it's that time of year again...time to get rid of a few extra doll and toy related items. :)  This is the first of several weekends where I'll have things listed on eBay.  If you're interested in taking a peek, you can see everything I have for sale HERE.

This week is going to be pretty busy for me.  In addition to my art class, I'll be filling in at the school office for one of the ladies who is gone this week.  I'm hoping to get some posts done tonight and have them scheduled for this week, but I'll just have to see how that goes.  Getting myself and the girls ready for the week is my priority. ;)

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. :)

Our Generation "Plaid to Meet You" Playset

While browsing through Target a week or so ago, I happened to spot this little set in the Our Generation section:

It's called "Plaid to Meet You", and includes a doll-sized bag, laptop, and pen...well, it's possibly a pen.

Front view of the package.

Back view

Here's everything out of the package.

The bag is made of a leather-look material and a flannel-like material on top.  It has real working clasps that are easy to open and close.

I love the adorable Scottie dog design on the top flap. :)

The bag opens... 

...and has enough space to store both of the other items inside.

Here is the cute laptop that comes with the set.  When I first saw the package, I thought this was a notebook or something.  When I realized it was a laptop, I was so excited!  I've been looking for a reasonably-priced doll-sized laptop for a while.

Here's a view of the front when it's closed.

And here it is open.  The screen on the inside is from the Our Generation website.

The side includes indentations that give the impression of the various plug ins on a laptop.

The laptop is marked "Our Generation by Battat" and "Made in China" on the bottom.

And here is what I assumed to be a pen, although I thought it was kind of silly that they didn't put a point on it.  When my mom saw it, she thought that maybe it was supposed to be a stylus for the laptop.  

What do you guys think?

The set is very compatible with American Girl dolls.  Here, Charlie shows how she can hold the bag.

The laptop is slightly small for her, at least for a standard-sized laptop.  This doesn't bug me too much, though.  Laptops are getting smaller all the time.  Maybe she's just got a more compact model. ;)

I'm looking forward to incorporating this computer into Tess and Maggie's photostories for their blog.  Of course, now I'll have to come up with another excuse besides "we couldn't get to the computer" when I'm behind on their posts. :} 

I'm very happy with this fun little set from Our Generation.  It was just $6.99 and is made well.  If any of your dolls have been begging for a computer of their own, this just might be the perfect thing for you. ;)

Shortly after I purchased this set and before I managed to get around to reviewing it, Emily at The Toy Box Philosopher did her own blog review.  I thought I'd link it HERE since she had a lot more pictures and went into more detail.  Enjoy! :)  

Other Clothing for the Ever After High Dolls

Well, this post didn't end up being quite as early on Wednesday as I had hoped (especially for those of you on the East Coast or in other countries), but it's still Wednesday here! ;)  My delay may or may not have had something to do with my discovery of the first season of "Lark Rise to Candleford" (thanks for the introduction, Aunt C!). ;)

I wanted to find some other ideas for clothing for the Ever After High dolls, especially since they have a rather unique body size that doesn't fit Barbie or even most Monster High clothing.  I especially had kiddos and moms in mind with this post, not necessarily collectors. :}  

As a mom, I'm aware that one of the things my girls love most about dolls is dressing, undressing, and redressing them.  They love choosing different outfits for their dolls to wear.  I figured there were probably at least a few other kids out there who felt the same way.

I also figured there were probably more moms out there who would be more interested in this line of dolls if there were some other clothing options that were a little more modest.

Thanks to a comment from one of my readers, misspiggy=awesome, I discovered that the Only Hearts Club doll clothes were the right size for the Ever After High dolls.  I did some searching on eBay, but since the dolls do not appear to be in production anymore, the clothing prices were a little higher than I wanted to pay.

Then my mom stopped by Tuesday Morning and found a few Only Hearts Club outfits for $3.99 each.  Now that's a price I could work with. ;) 

Mom picked up the three party dresses that were in stock:

The back of the package, showing the dresses on the original dolls.

When I first saw the dresses, I was excited about the color schemes.  I thought they'd work perfectly for Raven, Briar, and Apple.

And I was right! :) 

The silver and purple dress works well with Raven's silver, purple and black accessories and coloring.  The jacket was just a tad bit long in the arms.

The pink looked perfect on Briar Beauty.

Even though the white dress washed Apple out a little more than her original red, the colors still work with her accent pieces. :)

The dresses came with the purses you see pictured above.  They also came with tights and shoes which did not fit.

As you can see, their original purses work well with the new dresses, too.

While I still prefer the coloring and detail of the dolls' original outfits, I think these dresses are a very pleasing alternative for someone looking for a more modest outfit for their Ever After High dolls.

I also found a few fun Etsy offerings for the Ever After High gals.  I pinned them to a board on my Pinterest account, which you can see HERE.  I'll be sure to add more as I discover them.  

Have any of you found any other extra outfits for the EAH crowd?